Our Perspective

Executive Director Jane Ehrenfeld reflects on the importance of leading courageous conversations with students, especially in light of the issues occupying our national discourse. She recounts her experience sitting in on the classroom of Inspired Teacher Michael Taylor as he moderated a powerful discussion in his high school social studies class.

Inspired Teaching is proud to collaborate with the National Museum of American History, an internship site for our Real World History program. The goal of the museum is to help people understand the past in order to make sense of the present and shape a more humane future.

When was the last time someone asked you how you are privileged? Teaching and Learning Intern Tess Gann describes one of the ways that the Inspired Teacher Certification Program guides teachers entering the profession to address issues of equity in education.

Center for Inspired Teaching is delighted to feature Ashoka Globalizer, which supports social entrepreneurs in scaling their impact. As a participant in the Re-imagine Learning Globalizer, run in partnership with the LEGO Foundation, Inspired Teaching developed a new strategic plan with the benefit of Globalizer’s resources, thought partnership, and connections.

Inspired Teaching recently attended the international Re-imagine Learning Globalizer Summit in London. The Summit welcomed representatives from the business, philanthropic, nonprofit, and academic sectors, and provided Inspired Teaching the opportunity to share its strategic plan with thought partners and expert advisors from Sesame Workshop, the LEGO Foundation, Accenture, and Ashoka Europe.

Inspired Teaching’s Jane Ehrenfeld shares the goals set forth in Inspired Teaching’s new strategic plan. This plan will guide Inspired Teaching’s work over the next few years as we continue our work to ensure every child experiences engagement-based education and learns to thrive.

“Favoring engagement over compliance and teaching with some openness can lead to the unexpected. Many teachers have been trained to believe that the opposite of total control by the teacher is utter chaos for students. With the right supports, though, the opposite of total teacher control should be shared ownership of the classroom.” Read more from Jane Ehrenfeld, Inspired Teaching’s Executive Director.

Former Inspired Teaching intern Bria Stephens reflects on her time with Inspired Teaching and how the 4 I’s – Intellect, Inquiry, Imagination, and Integrity – will continue to guide her as she enters law school in the fall.

Inspired Teaching is proud to have partnered with Ford’s Theatre. In school year 2015-16, Ford’s Theatre served as an internship site for high school students enrolled in Inspired Teaching’s Real World History course.

“In order for engagement-based education to take hold and spread across the country, we must create a more supportive environment in which teachers practice it. Together with partners across sectors, we must influence institutional norms and shift public expectations of school away from compliance-based education to engagement-based education.” Read more from Inspired Teaching’s Aleta Margolis.