The Student-Centered Shift: Empowered International Schools and Classrooms Through Project-Based Learning

So many schools are spending millions of dollars to reconfigure learning environments to be more fit for the '21st century' and project-based learning. But when the spaces are finally built, they don't have the effect on teaching and learning that they desired.  Why? Because the LEARNERS weren't involved in designing them.  But what if they were? And what if it was their first project?  In this episode, I sat down with Natural Pod CEO Bridegitte Alomes and CSO Michelle Carpenter to discuss their process for designing learning environments which include ALL stakeholders. Learn more about this process and how including learners in proposal writing, presentations, prototypes, and 3-D renderings for learning spaces informed the build for one of the most innovative campuses in the country!  Learn more and connect with Natural Pod: Instagram/Twitter (@naturalpod), LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/2749692/), Website (www.naturalpod.com)  Bridgitte Alomes Bio: Bridgitte Alomes, Founder and CEO of Natural Pod, is a thought leader dedicated to creating better learning environments through the use of beautifully designed, high quality education furniture made from healthy, sustainable materials, with an emphasis on environmental awareness and stewardship. Through her work with Natural Pod, Bridgitte is committed to sharing the importance of learning environment design with the global education and design community, shifting the paradigm of learning spaces toward a more collaborative, intentional, and student-centric model. Bridgitte also serves as President on the board of the Green Schools National Network, creating broad-based initiatives aimed at fostering healthy, sustainable K-12 schools. Michelle Carpenter's Bio: Michelle E. Carpenter is the chief strategy officer (CSO) at Natural Pod, a company focused on creating better learning environments. Michelle specializes in developing, communicating, executing, and sustaining strategic initiatives, ensuring Natural Pod thoughtfully supports students and educators within their learning environments. Michelle is deeply engaged with A4LE, specifically the SchoolsNEXT student design competition, where students design their version of the school of the future.

How can the most innovative square mile on the planet also be plagued by racial injustice 2 blocks away? And what can we do about it? This is just one of the many difficult questions teens at 'Innovators For Purpose' are tackling through project-based experiences they design in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They are building installations. Publishing books. Creating augmented reality simulations. Building educational games. And producing podcasts. And they are using a few simple, innovative tools to guide them.  In this interview, we unpack some of these innovative tools including the 'Innovators Compass,' with its creator Ela Bur, and co-founders of 'Innovators For a Purpose' Michael and Donna Dawson. Through our short chat you will learn how to use similar tools to seamlessly facilitate a multitude of student projects within your own context, and transform the community as a result. Sample Innovators' Compass for Two Blocks Project:  Connect with Ela on LinkedIn, Twitter (@elabenur)  Connect with Donna on LinkedIn.  Connect with Michael on LinkedIn.  Learn more about 'Innovators' for a Purpose': Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Website: innovatorsforpurpose.org  Learn more about the 'Innovators' Compass' and '2 Blocks Project:' https://innovatorsforpurpose.org/2blocks  Michael Dawson's Bio: Co-founder and CEO of IFp, career has spanned engineering, marketing and sales in High Tech as well as entrepreneurial endeavors resulting in a hybrid of technical skills, business acumen, design savviness, relationship building abilities and an undeniable entrepreneurial spirit. Holds Bachelor & Master in Electrical Engineering Degrees from the University of South Florida and an MBA from Babson College. Donna Dawson's Bio: Co-founder of iFp, VP Youth Empowerment, visionary thinker with a zeal for art and the art making process. Inventive art educator with a proven capacity for promoting a respectful, caring, safe and inclusive classroom. Creates engaging learning experiences focused on Human Centered Design Principles, Character Development and Professional Identity that inspires youth to pursue Design and STEM careers. Holds a Bachelor of Arts in Art Education with over 20 years teaching experience and a certified K-12 instructor.  Ela's Bio: Ela supports educators and organizations making postive change with Design Thinking. Over 13 prior years at innovation firm IDEO, Ela was a design practitioner, project leader, team coach, facilitator for clients, and co-founder of IDEO’s Leadership Studio. Ela teaches courses from product design to life design at pioneering Olin College. She has led featured workshops at venues from MIT (her alma mater) to the National Science Teachers’ Association, AIGA, International Development Design Summit, and US Conference on AIDS. With many co-experimenters, she developed Innovators’ Compass (#innovatorscompass, innovatorscompass.org), 5 powerful questions in one visual tool used from preschools to companies and communities to creatively and collaboratively navigate challenges. Ela’s daughters are her inspiration. 

What would happen to learning if you collapsed the timetable, paired teachers, and co-designed community and passion driven projects? This is what American International School does for one week each year with its "PBL intensives." It is now in iteration 3.0.  The results have been incredible...  Teachers have re-configured their classrooms to be more learner-centered. Built partnerships for learning experiences with the community to make them more authentic.  Invited student voice and agency to ensure learning meets their needs.  In short, it's transformed the culture around teaching and learning. Zachary Post, the Midddle School Principal was at the helm of these PBL intensives. I sat down with Zach to learn a bit more about them, and how we can use a week off the timetable to accelerate, onboard, and 'power up' PBL on our own campuses as well.     Connect w/ Zach: zpost@ais.edu.hk Watch the Trailer Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TFsBDSPXp0MJ1FlntvyLLdhwp1BM_7d0/view  EARCOS write-up around the PBL intensives: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zkkf9yYJkbeWefanyRh-D7iFKBnFgwlh/view  Zach's Bio: With 21 years of experience, including serving as a middle school principal at the American International School in Hong Kong since 2016, Zach has dedicated his career to building organizational capacity in support of project-based learning. In the early 2000s, Zach started his career at a progressive charter school in Portland, Oregon. Since 2009, he has worked internationally, including the Carol Morgan School in the Dominican Republic, Saigon South Intl. School in Vietnam, and the American Intl. School in Hong Kong. Zach has often presented at regional conferences and offered professional development on project-based learning. He is most interested in opening up pathways for teacher leadership and creating the conditions for innovation to take hold. Cognitive Coaching and Critical Friends Group work have been important components that have helped Zach to collectively establish a culture of trust, collaboration, and reflection amongst faculty and students. Zach is happy to exchange ideas and resource and can be reached at zpost@ais.edu.hk.

What if before developing 'Projects' we first built Partnerships? Connected students with real People? Became more familar with our Place? Purpose? This is what Dr. Jane Shore, Director of Community Partnerships at the Revolution School advocates for in her unique version of 'PBL.'  Learn more about how she co-creates this space with learners and how to seamlessly:  Build partnerships with your own community Co-create curriculum with key community partners Engage students in learning experiences that connect them to place and purpose Attract the right kind of teachers (or as she calls 'unicorn ninjas') to facilitate the process Learn more about Jane's work: schoolofthought.substack.com  , revolutionschool.org   Connect with Jane: Twitter: @shorejaneshore, LinkedIn: @jane-r-shore Fill out the Interest form for the global PBL community: https://forms.gle/WUqKY3ex8Yy4m9kb7  Jane's Bio:  Dr. Jane Shore is a corner sitter, energized by the perspectives gained at the intersections between research & practice, school & community, learning & leading, data & visuals. Jane loves to co-design and explore answers to research questions that cross boundaries like, “How might we meaningfully capture the impact of hard to measure things?”As a member of the founding team at a place-based, progressive high school in Philadelphia called Revolution School, Jane serves as the Director of Community Partnerships and Research. She loves connecting and building community, especially with and for young people. She is on a mission to open pathways between schools and communities so that the change-making things young people can do now. Her latest obsession is creating hand drawn visualizations representing research and stories. In her work, she has the desire, as @monachalabi puts it, “to take the numb out of numbers.” You can find them in her School of Thought blog, where she takes big evidence ideas and makes them usable. schoolofthought.substack.com She holds a doctorate in Bilingual Special Education from George Washington University, where she was a Title IV bilingual fellow, and a Master’s in Applied Linguistics from Georgetown University. She loves hiking, ocean swimming, and picnic foods. She lives in Philadelphia (and occasionally Massachusetts) with her husband, Walker, their two boys, Avery and Beckett. She just illustrated her first children's book, Imagine Song, with author Melissa Campesi.   

What if schools operated more like a start-up?  Students as entrepreneurs.  Schedules- flexible.  Community as partner.  Community needs, and student-generated solutions as the curriculum.  Teachers as project mentors.  Assessment as value. This is what learning looked like for 14 year old student entrpreneur Raheen Fatima, when she joined a local incubator in Pakistan.  In this podcast episode, I chat with Raheen about what lessons we as edu-innovators can learn from this model, and how we can:  Design learning experiences that reflect real world work Provide students with more agency in their learning journeys Infuse real world stakes and build community partnerships  Help our young people discover their passions and interests, and use them to change the world Learn more about Raheen: LinkedIn, Twitter (@RaheenFatima6) Enroll in the Project Based Design Course for 40% off: https://projectbasedlearning.teachable.com/p/projectbasedlearning1?coupon_code=FALL-SALE  Raheen's Bio: Raheen Fatima is a multi-award-winning GEN-Z Peace & Climate Change Activist. She is also an SDGs Ambassador, Stand-up comedian, Theatre Actor, teacher, Sustainability Entrepreneur, and Podcaster. Raheen’s work has been featured in news outlets including CNN, Cartoon Network, Voice of America, CTV News Canada, and Pakistan National Television. She is a prolific public speaker and has spoken at schools across the country and internationally. She gave her debut TEDx Talk at Acton Youth TEDx. She believes nothing else but bridging the gap through interfaith, intercultural, international dialogue can pave the way for global peace and the achievement of SDGs    

Are you planning to launch your very first project-based experience in the 2022-2023 school year? That can be exciting and terrifying all at the same time.  This episode provides insights and tips from teaching team Michelle Willis and Dave Sheenan who launched their first project in the 2021-2022 school year. Through the re-telling of their 'Suenos Unidos' (Dreamers Unite) project, they teach us how to: Take an existing unit and turn it into a project-based experience Become comfortable in the 'messiness' of PBL Be pleasanty suprised by our students Have previously disengaged students work harder for their classmates than they ever worked for us Discover strengths we never knew our students had  View the 'Suenos Unidos' Project Site: https://sites.google.com/gomperscharter.org/pbl/home  Get the PBL Design Certificate Course for 40% off: https://projectbasedlearning.teachable.com/p/projectbasedlearning1?coupon_code=FALL-SALE Connect with Michelle on Instagram: @lilswills Michelle and Dave's Bios: Ms.Willis currently works at Gompers Preparatory Academy, she is going into her 10th year as an 11th grade English teacher. She is a strong believer in briding the equity gap in education by supporting ALL learners and learning styles. She is also a mom, a coach, a corny joke teller, comedy lover and overall nerd. She can be found listening music, working out or working on her writing skills. But you’ll most likely find her goofing around with her two year old son or contemplating the contradictions of modern day life. Mr. Sheehan has worked at Gompers Preparatory Academy for the past ten years as a high school Special Education teacher. A former teacher of the year, Mr. Sheehan believes all students, regardless of their disabilities, have the capabilities to learn and grow. When he's not focused on his job, you can find him hanging out with friends and taking care of his family: his nephew, Ry, his cat, Stella, and his dog, Trinity.

What happens when we provide time for students to pursue their passions, and connect them to a deeper purpose through projects they design?  This was the big question behind the Capstone Program at Hawaii Prep Academy; a learner-centered initiative that affords students 3 hours a week during their their 5th, 8th and 12th grade years to develop projects that are meaningful to them.  One 8th grade learner used the time to start the school's first LGBTQ+ club; while another used it to co-design reforestation projects with a local NGO.  I sat down with Dagan Bernstein, the program coordinator to learn more about the program, and how we as edu-transformers can: Help our students discover their passions and connect them to a greater purpose Scaffold and support the project process by using the 6 'P's'  Shift from Teacher to Project Mentor by adopting a growth mindset Start a similar initiative in our classrooms or schools Dagan's Website: dagan.education Dagan's Blog: dagan.blog Connect with Dagan on Twitter (@DaganBernstein) and LinkedIn (@DaganBernstein) Dagan's Bio: Dagan currently works as the K-8 Capstone Coordinator at Hawai’i Preparatory Academy in Waimea on Hawai’i Island with additional experience in music, digital media, and mathematics instruction. A strong believer in developing student agency and supporting skills for a “future curriculum”, he is an advocate for using design, futures, and music thinking to support productive collaboration among educators. Dagan is also a musician who loves writing, recording, and performing at farmer’s markets and coffee shops throughout Hawai’i Island.

What do you think of when you hear the term 'learner agency?' You might envisage students having some "voice" and "choice" around what they learn, or where they sit in class.  And while that's a nice start, learner agency is more than allowing students some choice in what they learn. It's about involving them in every step of the journey. Imagine a school with... 🙌🏼 Student- run electives. 🙌🏼 Seventy + student led businesses to carry out the school's day to day operations. 🙌🏼 Timetables that are created and carried out by a student design team. 🙌🏼 A school board that includes young learners. 🙌🏼 100+ Individualised Learning Plans that students co-design. That's Templestowe College, or more affectionately known as "Take Control" College in Australia. It's one of Hundred.org's top 100 most innovative schools in the world. And Peter Hutton was the mastermind at its helm.  I was lucky enough to sit down with Peter to learn more about how he built this kind of learner agency; and how we as learner-centered champions can heed the lessons to build more student agency in our classrooms and schools. Connect with Peter: LinkedIn, Twitter Join Future Schools: https://futureschools.education/ Take the 12 Shifts for Learner-Centered Classrooms Scorecard: www.transformschool.com/12shiftsmastermind Peter's Bio: Peter is a maverick, a free radical, a challenger of the status quo. His strength is in transformational insight and supporting educational leaders to build innovative and adaptive cultures. As a person with dyslexia, Peter sees the world differently. Co-founding the Future Schools Alliance in 2018, Peter now works with a community of 100 member schools to significantly improve the lives of young people by transforming the education system to promote purpose-filled empowered learning and equip them for times of exponential change. Peter was the former Principal of Templestowe College which has been recognised by Finland’s HundrED organisationas one of the most innovative schools in the world.

Good projects aren't that tough to create.  But somehow we always seem to overcomplicate them. (Me included) What if I told you that the best project prompts could fit on a single post-it note?  Project-Based experiences that have students staying in during lunch, working late hours in the evening, mastering curricular standards, and producing awe inspiring work that makes adult jaws drop.  These are the kind of project-based experiences Gary Stager has educators around the world designing through his Summer Institutes and brilliant book 'Invent to Learn' on a regular basis.  I sat down with Gary to discuss the book and how we as learning experience designers can:  Design curricular rich project prompts that fit on a single post-it note Create learning environments that resemble more cocktail party than they do classroom Design projects that are 'sharable,' and live on well beyond their expiration date Release the shackles of subjects, specialists, timetables, curriculum standards and assessment that often stand in the way of deep and meaningful learning  Act more as 'ethnographers' to capture and document student learning, rather than teachers who deliver instruction   Get Gary's Book 'Invent to Learn': https://inventtolearn.com/ Learn more about Gary: http://professorgarystager.com Connect with Gary on Twitter: @garystager Get the Free PBL Design Starter Kit: https://transformschool.com/pblstarterkit/  Gary's Bio: In addition to being a popular keynote speaker at some of the world’s most prestigious education conferences, Gary Stager is a journalist, teacher educator, consultant, professor, software developer, publisher, and school administrator. An elementary teacher by training, he has taught students from preschool through doctoral studies. In 1990, Dr. Stager led professional development in the world’s first laptop schools and played a major role in the early days of online education. Gary is the founder of the Constructing Modern Knowledge summer institute for educators. Dr. Stager is co-author of Invent To Learn – Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom, called the “bible of the maker movement in schools,” by Larry Magid of CBS and The San Jose Mercury News. Invent To Learn has been translated into nine languages. Dr. Stager’s most recent book is Twenty Things to Do with a Computer Forward 50: Future Visions of Education Inspired by Seymour Papert and Cynthia Solomon’s Seminal Work. When Jean Piaget wanted to better understand how children learn mathematics, he hired Seymour Papert. When Dr. Papert wanted to create a high-tech alternative learning environment for incarcerated at-risk teens, he hired Gary Stager. This work was the basis for Gary’s doctoral dissertation and documented Papert’s most-recent institutional research project. Dr. Stager’s work has earned a Ph.D. in Science and Mathematics Education and he collaborated on a project that won a Grammy Award. Recently, Gary was invited by Fondazione Reggio Children to lead a public seminar on education in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Gary is also on the advisory board of the NSF-funded project, BJC4NYC: Bringing a Rigorous Computer Science Principles Course to the Largest School System in the US. Dr. Stager also maintains the world’s largest archive of text and multimedia by Seymour Papert at The Daily Papert.

How do we build 'future ready' students? Answering this question requires us to change a lot of the underlying structures that govern schools.  Schedules. Curriculum. Learning Experiences. Age groupings.  What if you could start from scratch and build from the ground up? That's exactly what Cameron Fox, Head of School at Verso International School did to build future ready 'citizen designers.' In this episode, Cameron unveils the 🪄 magic and teaches us how to:  Craft a simple, yet aspirational vision for learning experiences Co-design spaces that allow for them to flourish Ditch the traditional timetable in favor of longer learning blocks that allow for deeper learning and human-centered design  Build 'future ready' skills in students Transform your classroom/school into a public exhibition space for their work Connect wtih Cameron: LinkedIn, Twitter (@HeadVERSO) Learn more about Verso: http://www.verso.ac.th/ Enroll in the Free Edu-Transformer Book Study: https://forms.gle/crK4r8DHk6MZ7Twy7 Cameron's Bio: Cameron is currently the Founding Head of School at VERSO International School, Thailand - the first international school in the world to develop its conceptual blueprint in partnership with the world’s leading design and innovation company, IDEO. Cameron has been involved with this pioneering school project since its inception in 2015, leading a team of international learning designers as they re-engineer a traditional US college-prep curriculum into a progressive, competency-based program using project-based learning and human-centered design practices. Originally from Scotland, Cameron spent 26 years working as an educator and international school leader in Hong Kong before moving to Bangkok in 2019. He was the Head of School at the American International School in Hong Kong for more than 15 years and is an experienced WASC Chair who regularly leads visiting committees to international schools across the EARCOS region.