Working Together to Re-imagine Learning - Center for Inspired Teaching

September 14, 2016

“Social entrepreneurs are not content with giving people fish or teaching people how to fish. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry.”

– Bill Drayton, Founder and CEO of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public

How can we approach growth beyond direct service? How can we leverage our expertise and partner with like-minded organizations to revolutionize an entire system? How can we transform education so that all children have the opportunity to thrive and learn in a way that is intellectually, emotionally, and physically engaging?

These questions framed Center for Inspired Teaching’s participation in the Re-imagine Learning Globalizer process, an Ashoka initiative run in partnership with the LEGO Foundation. Globalizer was designed to give a small group of leading organizations the tools and support “to strategically and rapidly spread their innovation in order to achieve change on a global scale.” Over six intensive months of strategic planning, each organization worked with a team of volunteer global business leaders and McKinsey & Company consultants to devise its unique role in achieving that vision.

At the culmination of the planning process, the leaders of each participating organization came together for the Globalizer Summit in London. At the Summit, Inspired Teaching’s Founder and President Aleta Margolis, Executive Director Jane Dimyan Ehrenfeld, and Manager of Strategic Initiatives Sammy Magnuson participated in three days devoted to presenting, discussing, and developing promising solutions for large-scale impact on the education system.

Strategy Thought Partners Gib Bulloch of Accenture Development Partners and Hanne Rasmussen of the LEGO Foundation capture written feedback on the Re-imagine Learning Fellows’ plans to scale.

In London, each organization met with four “Strategy Thought Partners.” Carefully selected for their extensive expertise in scaling meaningful innovations, the Strategy Thought Partners gave feedback on the plans developed over the course of the Globalizer process and offered advice on putting them into action. Inspired Teaching met with Hanne Rasmussen, the CEO of the LEGO Foundation; Jeff Dunn, the President and CEO of Sesame Workshop; Gib Bulloch, the Founder and former Executive Director of Accenture Development Partnerships; and Ross Hall, the Director for Education of Ashoka Europe.

The Summit welcomed representatives from the business, philanthropic, nonprofit, and academic sectors. Re-imagine Learning Fellows connected with leaders from the LEGO Group, the Omidyar Network, the Aga Khan Foundation, Google, the Innovation Unit, the Global Partnership for Education, and many more groups about shared areas of interest and possible opportunities to support each other’s work.

(L to R): Ross Hall, Director for Education of Ashoka Europe; Vishal Talreja, Co-founder & CEO of Dream a Dream; Aleta Margolis, Founder & President of Inspired Teaching; Thorsten Kiefer, Founder & CEO of Wash United; and Jane Dimyan Ehrenfeld, Executive Director of Inspired Teaching

The original Re-imagine Learning Challenge Champions, a group that includes Inspired Teaching, came together with new Re-imagine Learning Champions to identify barriers and opportunities in promoting Learning through Play. Following presentations by LEGO and Ashoka, Jane and Sammy facilitated a half-day session with over thirty leaders from dozens of organizations located in Turkey, Thailand, the United Kingdom, India, Colombia, and many more countries worldwide. Despite the many superficial differences among the participants, we shared much in common: strategies for activating young people’s inherent potential; a commitment to treating educators as true partners; and the overwhelming need to shift mindsets about play.

In an activity that framed individual conversations with the Strategy Thought Partners, Aleta challenged the whole group to shift their own mindsets. Directing them to “fill the space,” Aleta asked participants to move around the room, pointing at every object they saw – and then naming it something completely different. One participant pointed at a foosball table and called it a toothbrush; another pointed at Wendy Kopp, Co-founder and CEO of Teach for All, and announced, “Panda bear!”. This deceptively challenging exercise then led to a group discussion about the difficulty of breaking habits in order to think about something familiar in a new way.

The Summit provided an incredible opportunity to strengthen Inspired Teaching’s plans for extending our impact. As Inspired Teaching puts our plans into action, we will draw upon the advice, support, and partnership of the many thoughtful, strategic, and dedicated individuals who attended the Summit. We thank Ashoka, the LEGO Foundation, and our outstanding team of volunteer consultants – Julien Phillips, Francois Barbier, Rachel Vazquez-Reina, David Fuller, and Salman Razzaque – for all of their hard work and brilliant contributions to the work and mission of Center for Inspired Teaching throughout the Re-imagine Learning Globalizer process.

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.