Mindsets Reflection Tool

School DesignLearner-Centered Mindsets and Beliefs

As we work to create learner-centered environments, examining our own water—our culture, assumptions, and beliefs—is key to cultivating the mindset shifts needed to change the water we’re swimming in. We can do this by visiting other schools implementing learner-centered practices or stepping out of our field and doing analogous experiences.

The next time you plan such an experience, keep this tool by your side, so you can unveil the mindsets present in the environments you’re observing. Remember, no matter how innovative a practice or idea might be, it is the mindsets of the people who are executing that will determine the impact.

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Publications

School Redesign Playbook

For more than a century, schools have been shaped by an industrial-era model built for efficiency, standardization, and compliance. While that design achieved many of its original aims, it has not met the needs of all learners, and it no longer prepares young people for a rapidly changing world. In addition to content knowledge,…

Tools

Forming a Strong School (Re)Design Team

Every successful school redesign starts with the right team. This tool, Forming a Strong School (Re)Design Team, helps leaders intentionally build a group that represents the full school community, from leaders, educators, and learners, to families, and staff, who will guide the redesign process together. Note: We recommend using this tool as a supplementary…

Podcasts

Episode 47: Centering Humanity in the Age of AI—Connection, Curiosity, and Courage (with Michelle Culver)

By loading this video, you agree to the privacy policy of Youtube.Always load Youtube videos on this site.Load VideoListen on SpotifyListen on Apple PodcastsWatch on YouTube Episode Summary: Michelle Culver, Founder of The Rithm Project and longtime educator, joins host Katie Martin to explore what it means to be deeply human in an era…

Blog

Big Moves at West Pk-8: The Power of Distributed Leadership in the School Redesign Process

Colorado Springs is changing fast. Like many communities across the country, it is being shaped by new demographics, emerging opportunities, and the need for creativity and critical thinking like never before. District 11 knew that West PK–8 Campus, one of its oldest schools, couldn’t simply layer new programs on top of old structures to…

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Blog

Measuring What Matters to Enable Meaningful Learner-Centered Change in Your School or District

When we talk about measuring impact, we can look at it through multiple lenses. There’s the impact on an individual learner (young people and adults)—how they’re growing, what competencies they’re developing, and how they perceive their own progress. Then, there’s the impact on the systems (e.g. programs, schools, districts)—how they’re evolving, what conditions are…

Blog

From Training to Professional Learning: Building a Learner-Centered Culture for Educators

For decades, Professional Learning has mirrored the same traditional, school-centered model it seeks to change: experts deliver information, teachers passively receive it, and hours or seat time serve as the measure of learning. These same structures often show up in classrooms, perpetuating a cycle of compliance rather than curiosity. To create deeper, more meaningful…

Tools