School-Centered vs Learner-Centered Practices

Educators and instructional leaders can use this table as a reflection tool to identify specific opportunities to shift from a school-centered paradigm to a learner-centered paradigm. Please complete the form below to access the resource. Thank you!

Tools

Mindsets Reflection Tool

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…

Blog

Why Stepping Outside Your School Could Be Key to Learner-Centered Change

Culture is the foundation of any learner-centered ecosystem. The big blue outer circle, illustrated in Learner-Centered Collaborative’s Ecosystem model, is representative of a big blue body of water we are all swimming in—in our classrooms, schools, and districts. Culture is something we always feel but might not always recognize while we’re in it. We…

Blog

Reflecting on 2024: A Year of Partnership, Progress, and Possibility

As 2024 draws to a close, we find ourselves reflecting on a year defined by collaboration, growth, and meaningful impact. At Learner-Centered Collaborative, our vision is to create education ecosystems where all learners know who they are, thrive in community, and actively engage in the world as their best selves. Together with our growing…

Podcasts

Episode 38: 5 Years Later: Revisiting 10 Reflections on Change in Education

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 YouTubeEpisode Summary: In this solo episode, Katie Martin, host of the Learner-Centered Collaborative Podcast, reflects on her “10 Reflections on Change in Education” from 2019. Revisiting these themes, Katie…

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Blog

3 Leadership Building Blocks for Meaningful Change in Education

Schools have operated like factories for too long, with top-down control and rigid structures. Real change happens when leaders embrace relationships, shared purpose, and deep collaboration, creating schools that function as dynamic, interconnected communities. When educators work together, trust each other, and share responsibility, small actions can lead to big, lasting improvements. If we…

BlogWebinars

Webinar Recording: Reimagining Education Through Innovative School Design

In this webinar, Learner-Centered Collaborative’s Jesse Ross hosts a conversation with three educators from Escondido Union School District—Dr. Bryanna Norton, Principal of Hidden Valley Middle School, and North Broadway Elementary teachers, Gina Matthew and Katie Taylor. They share the transformative process of school redesign to foster learner-centered practices. The discussion highlights how strategic design…

Blog

Rethinking Time in Schools: From Rigid Blocks to Meaningful Learning

I recently visited two different schools on back-to-back days, and I was struck by the stark contrast in the schedules and the impact on the learning environment. In the first school, the day was broken up into short blocks of reading, math, intervention, recess, lunch, and science. This type of schedule is often…