After spending two weeks away from home working with school and district teams,  leading workshops and keynoting conferences, which I love and am honored to do, I was still admittedly exhausted. After a much needed low key weekend and home with the family, I had the opportunity to spend two days with leaders from Western Pennsylvania as they visited some of our amazing schools in San Diego. The opportunity to be home and connect with educators to explore the great things happening in San Diego schools was the perfect opportunity for me to be grounded and inspired. It reminded me of this quote that Brene Brown shared in Dare to Lead.

“There is the in-breath and there is the out-breath, and too often we feel like we have to exhale all the time. The inhale is absolutely essential-and then you can exhale.”

— Joan Halifax

Throughout the visits to these schools, I noticed common trends that spanned across diverse schools that I believe are a preview to what I believe will be more and more common in all schools in the next decade. 

1. Culture is Everything

Ruth Hellams from Del Lago kicked off the school visits and reminded us all that culture is everything. She shared,  “If you can’t articulate your vision through real experiences, go back and revisit it.” I love this push to not only have a vision but create the culture that brings it to life–every day. This was a clear focus in each school that we visited and evident from the diverse stakeholders we engaged with. 

2. Teacher Collaboration

Schools and educators that are focused on learner-centered practices not only create such meaningful opportunities for students but are also very intentional about creating time DURING THE SCHOOL DAY to collaborate and embody being learners themselves. For example, Design 39 has an hour every day for teachers to work together, and every time I get to visit I see something new and different that they are trying in the service of kids. The collaboration and ongoing learning is so evident throughout the school. 

3. Focus on Learners and Learning

You have to know what you want and design for it. In a typical system, we design around instruction, not learners and learning. In that mode, we buy programs and resources first and design everything to fit them. Instead, if we are learner-centered, we start with the learners and the learning that is most valuable. Cajon Valley Union School District’s World of Work program empowers learners to know who they are through surveys and self-assessments in order to name their strengths, talents, and interests. The way in which students could articulate their goals and their learning path is a reminder that even our youngest students can drive their own learning if we let them and provide the right structures and tools. Understanding those you serve and providing opportunities for them to better understand themselves and others is central to creating learner-centered environments. 

4. Technology in the Background

A comment was made from some of the visiting leaders that it was a surprise in these innovative schools that  “technology was not the focus.” It is critical that we continue to build the understanding that technology is not the answer to learner-centered education, but instead, we recognize that it can be so powerful when it supports a model that is built on learning and learners and is used to support those goals but not the focus.  In each of our visits, we saw such powerful examples of learning first and technology in the background to support learning, not supplant the educator and human connection!

5. Learner Agency

When you are so used to a compliance-driven model it is often hard to imagine that kids (and all people) can function outside of a control and command environment because you are so used to it. In these visits, educators are always struck by the culture of care and agency rather than control. For example, early elementary school kids are allowed to choose seats, get a drink of water, and even move freely in and out of the classroom. Kids are celebrated and coached to make good choices not scolded, trained, and managed. When you see a student eating, listening to music, or talking to a friend, it is not an affront to the teacher, it’s just kids being kids. The focus in on learning, and what people need not dress code, infractions, and educators being in control. It’s exactly how I want my children to be treated and it is so clear that they feel valued and empowered and frankly get to spend more time on learning, which is the goal!

Please check out Fuerte Elementary School, Design 39 Campus, Flora Vista, Del Lago Academy and the Met School. There are so many aspects of each classroom, teacher, the interactions, the culture, the impact that these highlights don’t even begin to dive into and I am still processing all that I experienced and I am so grateful for the learning opportunity but if I could sum it up it is this: Empowered teachers empower their students. In each of our roles is we can continue to ask what we can do to create meaningful learning experiences and empower learners we are well on our way to seeing more and more of these experiences for each and every student.