ABCDE of Learner Needs

All behavior is communication. What are your students telling you?

All behavior is communication — including and especially what we might consider bad behavior. Often, in response to our students’ undesirable behavior, we institute rewards- or compliance-based systems in our classrooms and schools. But external motivation systems do not create classrooms of students who are interested and invested in their education. In fact, they are actively harmful to the pursuit of an engaging, effective learning environment. Rather than focusing on rewards- and compliance-based systems, educators can instead invest their resources into identifying and addressing their students’ core needs.

Psychologist William Glasser defined five core human needs “which provide motivation for all that we do.” Inspired and informed by his work, as well as decades of research by psychologists, educators, and child development experts and nearly 30 years of direct experience working with teachers and school leaders, Center for Inspired Teaching has framed these needs in the context of school: Autonomy, Belonging, Competence, Developmental Appropriateness, and Engagement. Because we learn and grow best when our needs are met, when we’re not thriving, these unmet needs are likely the root of the problem.

The Inspired Teaching ABCDE of Learner Needs assessment tool provides an effective, simple framework for identifying and addressing gaps in students’ — and teachers’ — core needs. Learn more below.

Center for Inspired Teaching and our ABCDE of Learner Needs framework has been selected for the HundrED Global Collection 2024! As one of 100 chosen innovations — out of more than 3,000 applicants worldwide — the ABCDE of Learner Needs has been recognized by HundrED’s panel of expert judges as an important tool educators everywhere can use to create classrooms rich with intrinsic motivation and where both students and teachers are engaged and enthusiastic. Learn more about HundrED and the Global Collection here.

What better way to ring in 2024 than with your Hooray For 2024 calendar from Center for Inspired Teaching? Featuring insights, strategies, and resources for bringing our ABCDE of Learner Needs framework into the classroom every month, all year long, the Hooray For 2024 calendar is a beautiful, useful, and joyful FREE resource for educators. Download yours today at the button below!

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Digital Guidebooks

Whether you are an administrator, teacher, student, or caregiver, we all need Autonomy, Belonging, Competence, Developmental Appropriateness, Engagement, and Fun in order to learn and thrive.

We CAN meet these needs in schools and we don’t need to go to extreme measures to do so. This Guidebook includes links to classroom activities, printable reflection and planning sheets, posters for your classroom walls, and a whole section designed to be shared with families.

This resource is made available through the generous support of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation.

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This resource contains the same concepts as our original ABCDE of Learner Needs Guidebook but the examples, research, and activities included are tailored to the early childhood experience. Please share this guide with any early childhood educators in your life and let us know how you use it.

This resource is made possible through the generous support of PNC Bank.

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Individual Classroom Resources

Additional Research→

All Inspired Teaching resources are research-based, developed through in-depth study of existing data and informed by on-the-ground experience of the teachers and school leaders in our community. Learn more about the research behind the ABCDE of Learner Needs, as well as additional sources of information to strengthen your understanding.

“Something powerful happens when we switch from viewing problematic behavior as disruption, defiance, or disobedience, and see it instead as the result of unmet needs. We start looking for lasting solutions rather than handing out short-term rewards or punishments.”

– Aleta Margolis, Founder and President

To have more insights, information, and resources like ABCDE of Learner Needs delivered directly to your inbox every week, subscribe to Hooray For Monday!

If you are interested in creating a custom approach for your classroom based on ABCDE of Learner Needs, please contact Director of Teaching and Learning Jenna Fournel: jenna@inspiredteaching.org

Micaiah Anderson

Community Outreach Specialist

As a Community Outreach Specialist, Micaiah is responsible for program promotion and outreach support for Inspired Teaching events and workshops. Micaiah has a passion for collaborating with community members to build-power and connect. She is an educator with a heart for youth and has experience supporting students fight injustices within their schools and communities. She has a BA in Political Science from, the real HU, Hampton University & anticipates graduating in May 2024 with a Masters of Arts degree in Educational Policy Transformation from Georgetown University.

AUTONOMY

"I want to have a say in what happens to me."

Autonomy is the need for independence; the ability to make choices, to create, to explore, and to express oneself freely; to have sufficient space, to move around, and to feel unrestricted with opportunities to exercise free will.

Brady Maiden

Outreach Coordinator

As the Outreach Coordinator, Brady helps maintain Inspired Teaching’s social media presence and supports the organization’s mission to connect with DC community leaders, educators, and parents. Brady has her Master’s in Public Policy from George Mason University and her BS in Political Science from Northern Arizona University. She is passionate about community, equity, and coalition building recognizing that learning and growing with the community at large is how we continue to be impactful.

What brings you joy in life?

I find joy in spending time with my friends and family and meeting new people. I like going to concerts and festivals, and finding new books to read.

The Learner’s Cycle, Wonder-Experiment-Learn, and the Teacher’s Cycle, Observe-Plan-Instigate, comprise Inspired Teaching’s approach to engaging students in inquiry-based learning.

When they are engaged in the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, students are immersed in learning. They take the lead in designing authentic learning experiences around their own interests and their school’s standards of learning. Each discovery leads to a new question which in turn leads to more wondering and more learning. In the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, Learn is not a destination or an endpoint; it is a deeper understanding, leading to a deeper wondering and new possibilities that create new entry points to further exploration. The cycle continues because what students have learned generates more wonderings that require more experiments that foster more learning – and on and on.

The Observe-Plan-Instigate Cycle is the work of an Inspired Teacher. While a student is expected to follow the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, the teacher joins them on the learning journey while following their own cycle of Observe-Plan-Instigate. This cycle ultimately serves to ensure an inquiry-based atmosphere is at play in the classroom.

Jaqueta Abbey

Teaching and Learning Specialist

Jaqueta is the Teaching and Learning Specialist for Inspired Teaching. In addition to her current role with Inspired Teaching, Jaqueta is a first-grade teaching assistant. Her background features a variety of traditional and non-traditional experiences in the field of education, including working as an adjunct professor, teaching summer reading programs to children and adults, and tutoring children in the foster care system. Jaqueta earned a B.A. in Communication Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an M.A. in Interactive Media from Elon University.

What brings you joy in life?

Creative self-expression! In addition to my passion for storytelling, I love dancing of all kinds. I've studied belly dance, bachata, and Brazilian Zouk among other styles. I also enjoy glass fusing, crocheting, photography, and cross stitching. These art forms allow me to express myself and build connections with other people at the same time. I think life would be a lot less vibrant without artists and storytellers!

Michelle Welk

Communication & Marketing Specialist

As Communications and Marketing Specialist, Michelle is responsible for finding and creating new ways to highlight Inspired Teaching and promote its programs in order to expand and deepen the organization's impact. Michelle has worked in communications in an array of settings, from creative agencies to state politics to national nonprofits. She has a BA in Journalism from Temple University in Philadelphia and is passionate about education, access, and equity.

What brings you joy in life?

My son, the beach, making a persuasive argument and good food!

Max Peterson

Real World History Assistant Teacher

Max received his Bachelor’s degree in History and African American Studies from Boston University in May 2016. He has worked in museum curation at the Museum of the White Mountains in New Hampshire and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Max has worked with young people of varying ages from young children to young adults transitioning to college.

Feedback and Accountability

We grow through feedback and an understanding that the quality of our work is a reflection of what we are learning, but the shift to remote learning this spring disrupted a lot of the tools teachers were used to using to evaluate student growth. How might we do things differently this fall? Participants in this workshop will explore ways to bring meaningful assessment into the virtual and/or socially-distanced classroom and approaches to student feedback that strengthen motivation, and build relationships and achievement.