Your weekly source of learner-centered inspiration
Dear Educator,
This week we got to visit schools in San Diego with 30 educators from Kentucky. My happy place is in the classroom, and I love connecting educators and shining a light on examples that inspire next steps in their practice.
For this week’s Bright Spot, I am so excited to share what’s possible when teachers are empowered to lead.
With Gratitude, Katie
I'd love to hear from you! Reply to this email to share your Bright Spot this week!
BRIGHT SPOT OF THE WEEK
Raising the Bar for Teachers and Learners
Design 39 Campus is a K-12 public school that was designed to do school differently. Yes, it’s a beautiful campus, but the learning that happens is truly the main event.
Kelly Eveleth, one of the 3 amazing teachers who helped design the school, kicked off the tour by sharing, “You are seeing our best version yet.” As a learner-centered lab school, Design 39 has continued to evolve each year as they try new things and learn.
There are so many powerful aspects to highlight, but at the core the agency and powerful learning experiences that exist for students are largely related to the agency that teachers have to design those experiences.
Kelly also reminded us that when you raise the bar for kids they often exceed it. We spend too much time thinking about what kids can’t do and creating systems to control people rather than raising the bar and providing support to get there.
Walking the halls, you might come across learners working independently
Students evolve when they engage in meaningful learning experiences
Learners are empowered to question common practices and ideas, and work purposefully to develop learner agency
Upon seeing the examples above, one visiting teacher acknowledged that this was different than what they were used to. Stacey Lamb, another founding teacher, shared how the teachers put all their practices out on the table to be questioned. As they questioned many common practices, like walking in lines, they couldn’t justify the practice based on their goals for learners, so they omitted that common rule.
With a shared vision of high academic, social and emotional well-being outcomes, teachers are empowered to question policies, test out ideas, and design the best experiences for learners to achieve their goals.
Interested in exploring ways to empower teachers to design new learning experiences for learners in your school or district? Let's connect!
Below are some professional learning resources to support an evolution of learning design in your school or district.
1. The Learner-Centered Collaborative Podcast. It's here! Be the first to listen to episode 1, Embracing Change in Education, with host Katie Martin and special guest, educator, and author George Couros. Listen now.
2. The future of learning. Sabba Quidwai and Devin Vodicka make the case for why Design39 Campus serves as an inspiring national exemplar in learning design. Read now.
3. Common trends in learner-centered schools. Discover 5 key practices in learner-centered schools that I believe are a preview to what will be more common in all schools in the next decade.
LET'S SHARE OUR BRIGHT SPOTS!
How are you empowering teachers in your learning community?
Use #LCBrightSpots to share your experiences on social media!
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Learner-Centered Collaborative, 49 Stevenson Street, San Francisco, CA 94105
