August 8, 2024

Dear Educator,

This week my second book, Evolving Education: Shifting to a Learner-Centered Paradigm turns three! Although I wrote it during the pandemic, it is all about the key shifts that are critical to support the whole learner and align with our modern world. I shared in the intro:

"Learner-centered education puts learners at the center of their own education in order to create more purposeful, personalized, authentic, and competency-based experiences that help them develop skills that empower them to learn, grow, and solve problems that matter to them and others. It’s a paradigm shift that changes how we see learners and how we assess which learning experiences are most effective for each individual. This shift begins with an awareness that if we truly want to develop knowledge, habits, and skills in students, we have to see them, know them, and help them see the full beauty of who they are and what they can become."

This week’s Bright Spot highlights an example of how teachers can start the year with learners' strengths and goals as the foundation.

With Gratitude,

Starting With Learner Strengths

Mesa Union educators wanted to get to know learners and help them understand their strengths and goals. They used their learner profile to talk about goals and aspirations and had each learner do a self-assessment.

During their reflections, learners wrote positive "I can be" statements for each of Mesa Union's six competencies—Creative Problem Solvers, Global Citizens, Confident Learners, Effective Communicators, Critical Thinkers, and Skilled Collaborators. Adding art to the mix elevated the level of ownership each learner felt about their goals. Now, throughout the year, they can reflect on and adjust their goals as their aspirations evolve.

Using your Learner Profile (or Portrait of a Graduate) as a foundation for reflection and goal-setting to start the year is a powerful way to connect with your learners and set a great tone for the year ahead!

Do you set goals with your learners? What strategies should other educators know? Share your story here.

Resources to advance your learner-centered practice

📖 What Happens When You Let Learners Lead?
"Educators talk to us and think about us in a very intentional way designed for us to feel like people with voices and choices…[They] don’t act like they know more than us. They have lots to teach us, and we have lots to learn, but they don’t act like they are above us. They make us feel like we are their equals." Hear more from Embark learners.

🛠️ UPDATED: Back to School BINGO. "Have you checked out our learner-centered strategies? They offer actionable steps educators can take to create personalized, competency-based, authentic, and inclusive and equitable learning experiences." Try out nine new strategies.

📚 Chapter 1: Evolving Education. "When we focus on learners and connect to their interests, needs, and goals, we can create experiences that ignite curiosity, develop passion, and unleash genius." Read the chapter.