Mindsets Reflection Tool

Learner-Centered Mindsets and BeliefsSchool Design

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.

Download this tool by submitting the form below.

Big Moves

Reframe Discipline

School-Centered discipline systems often prioritize control and compliance over connection and development. In learner-centered environments, we see every behavior as an opportunity for deeper learning– about self, others and community. Discipline isn’t about punishment, it’s about repairing harm, restoring relationships and building the skills learners need to thrive both inside and outside of school.…

PublicationsTools

A Learner-Centered Ecosystem

It’s time for a shift from the school-centered education system—where efficiency, standardization, compliance, ranking, sorting, and task completion are top priorities—to a learner-centered paradigm, where we focus on supporting each learner to know who they are, thrive in community, and actively engaged in the world as their best selves. “A Learner-Centered Ecosystem” dives deep…

BlogWebinars & Podcasts

Webinar Recording: Bridging Systems to Transform Student Learning: Lessons From SoCal LiNK

In this webinar, five education leaders share lessons from their experience with SoCal LiNK, a Southern California regional network focused on advancing learner-centered education through collaboration, research, and community building. The webinar panel includes representatives from K–12 schools, higher education, and learner-centered organizations, specifically: Devin Vodicka (LCC Co-CEO), Dr. Alan J. Daly and David…

Blog

Leading Through Transition: Leadership Lessons for Summer and Beyond

In education, the rhythm of the year is deeply cyclical. Each year forms a distinct cohort experience for learners, educators, and families alike. When the cohort concludes, there is a natural transition into the unknown. Students move to new grade levels, teachers adapt to new assignments or even new campuses, and leadership teams lay…

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Blog

The Learning Experience Design Cycle: A Compass for Designing Deeper Learning

As an English teacher co-leading an interdisciplinary project with a science teacher, I had the privilege of working alongside high school seniors as they explored what it truly means to survive. We called it the Science of Survival. Over the course of the project, learners read stories of survival in fiction and nonfiction, interviewed…

Blog

Reading, Writing, and Rising: Centering Literacy in Learner-Centered Education

By Stephanie Buelow and Charlotte Frambaugh Kritzer, Professors of Literacy at the University of Hawaii at Manoa Literacy is the cornerstone of a learner-centered education—it unlocks the ability to think critically, communicate effectively, and engage meaningfully in a rapidly changing world. Few leaders embody this understanding as powerfully as Dr. Lori Gonzalez. A visionary…

Blog

Debunking the Math Myth: How Learner-Centered Classrooms Deepen Understanding

In a learner-centered classroom, math is about more than numbers and formulas—it’s about curiosity, exploration, and making sense of the world. Picture this: It’s 10:00am in Ms. Kim’s 3rd grade classroom and students are gathered on the rug around a chart. Two students have just finished sharing their strategies with the whole class on…