The Student-Centered Shift: Empowered International Schools and Classrooms Through Project-Based Learning

Taking the first steps 👣 into design project-based experiences can be a scary thought for a lot of teachers...

It certainly was for me.

How will I ensure students acquire the mandated curriculum? Assess learning? Where will I find the time to plan, scaffold the experience, and ensure students reach meaningful outcomes?

Chris Bush, Economics Teacher, and Head of Student Voice and Leadership at University High School had similar reservations. But with the help of Chat GPT and AI acting as a co-pilot, he finally had a tool to not only answer these questions, but dramatically enhance the experience for learners.

Check out our full conversation and learn how to:

👣 Use Chat GPT to most effectively to co-design curricular rich learning experiences

👣 Use AI + Chat GPT to personalize and create differentiated pathways

👣 Create a 'Clone' of yourself using AI to act as a personal tutor

👣 Put Chat GPT into our student's hands to improve learning outcomes

Connect with Chris: Linked In (@chrisjbush),

Watch the Video on Youtube: Full Interview

Join the Upcoming Webinar: 'Engineering Your First Project-Based Experience:' www.transformschool.com/gptpbl

Chris' Bio:

Chris Bush is the Head of Student Voice and Leadership at University High School. He specialises in guiding teachers and professionals to utilise the transformative potential of AI. Chris' expertise lies in enabling teachers to transform traditional learning into modern, student-centred experiences, where AI is integrated for a range of purposes, from clarifying complex concepts to enhancing practical skill development. His background includes a focus on curriculum development, including roles as Head of Curriculum and Innovation at Prahran High School and with the Safe Schools Coalition Australia, where he authored National Curriculum resources.

Chris Bush is currently Head of Student Voice and Leadership at University High School. He specialises in guiding teachers and professionals to harness AI's transformative potential. His background includes a focus on curriculum development, having previously worked as Head of Curriculum and Innovation at Prahran High School and for the Safe School Coalition Australia where he authored National Curriculum resources.

What if you could re-imagine schooling to be student-centered? Build from the ground up?

That's what Connect Academy did when it was given carte blanche to re-imagine schooling for students in the Poway District.

It re-imagined:

How we organize learning experiences, by making them interdisciplinary, and community focused.

How we organize learners, by making classes mixed grade level, and inclusive of all abilities.

How we organize the school day, by creating extended blocks of time, and project-based opportunities.

How we CONNECT students, by connecting them meaningfully in daily advisories, and homerooms.

Connect Academy isn't some fancy prep school built for elite families that live in the Hollywood Hills; it's a public, inclusive school built for kids of all backgrounds, nationalities, and socio-economic status.

Learn more about their journey from learning experience designers/teachers Joe Gizzo and Karen Rogers, and you can build in these student-centered elements in your classroom or school.

Learn more about Connect Academy: https://connectacademy.powayusd.com/ , Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/Connect_PUSD, Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/connect_academy_pusd/ & https://www.instagram.com/naturaldesigners/

Connect with Karen: LinkedIn, Twitter (X), Personal Site: https://sites.google.com/powayusd.com/karen-elaine/home

Karen's Bio: Karen Elaine Rogers is a visionary who focuses on big picture and deeper purpose. Having directed multiple early childhood centers, started or revamped children's education programs, and pastoring a large and growing non-profit for families, she also fostered and then adopted many children in the first 20 years of her career. As an outside the box thinker who thrives in flexibility and clear purpose, KarenElaine has spent the last 10 years in public education. Focused on behavior modification and music therapy in her time in special education, she then piloted a project and brain based TK/K program in one of Poway Unified School District's Title 1 schools, and then helped launch the district's first hybrid Independent Study school while recently being awarded as Teacher of the Year. Strategizing tasks by building teams & investing in those closest to her, KarenElaine leads with empathy and focuses on team strengths. Her creative and innovative mind is constantly impassioned to dream, collaborate or share. Possessing a way with words, her ability to weave a great story, articulate vision, and influence an audience are what inspires. She aims to transform education & be part of life's most exciting pursuits with women, children and families while living simply with nature!

Joe's Bio: Joe Gizzo has been a teacher in Poway Unified School District for 24 years. He teaches middle school digital arts and computer science at Connect Academy, PUSD's innovative, hybrid school. Joe strives to build empathy in students to help to create a school culture where everyone is welcomed, valued, and respected. Joe's students have won many awards, including Digital Art awards from the SD County Fair and Museum of Photographic Arts, Jostens yearbook awards, Outstanding Activities and Leadership Program awards, and the California Association of Student Leaders Service Award. Joe's awards include the Bob Burton Spirit Award, Area G Service Award, SD County Fair Teacher of the Year, School & District Teacher of the Year, honored as one of San Diego County's top Teachers, Teen Ink's Educator of the Year, and California's designee for the Warren Shull Award. What is truly remarkable is Joe has accomplished all he has while battling a rare & incurable auto-immune disease. His story is truly inspirational for students and teachers alike.

How are you finishing off the semester before Winter Break?

While many classrooms finish with final exams, as learner-centered practitioners, we understand that it's far more POWERFUL to let our students share their learning.

Public Exhibitions are one of the best ways to do this.

Exhibitions provide the perfect platform for learners to share their learning journeys, artifacts/products and work they developed along the way, and the transformations they experienced as a result.

How, as learner-centered practitioners, do we ensure our exhibitions provide this opportunity?

Using real case studies and concrete examples, I provide 5 key things to consider. Through these 5 simple tips, you will learn how to curate a beautiful space; equip students; foster audience and visitor interaction; and empower learners to take control of the process.

Read on the Blog: https://transformschool.com/2023/12/03/exhibiting-student-work-five-things-to-consider/

Take the 12 Shifts Scorecard: https://transformschool.com/12shiftsmastermind/

Get the free 'PBL Starter Kit': https://transformschool.com/pblstarterkit/

How do we better include learners and learning profiles often left behind in traditional settings? What if we could custom-fit learning experiences around their unique strengths, gifts, capabilities and needs? What if understanding the brain's intracacies and high yield therapeutic approaches helped us support and empower them in the learning process?

In this episode, Cheryl, Founder and Acting Head of Cajal Academy addresses these questions in context of a program tailor-made for what she calls 'exceptional learners.' All learners, year 1-12 have analytical/reasoning/creative thinking skills in the 'gifted' range, coupled with pronounced learning, social and emotional differences. Through our conversation, we learn how to:

• Create environments that invite, excite and stimulate these 'exceptional learners'
• Design scaffolds to support these learners through learning journeys and project-based experiences
• Use neuroscience to help amplify their special strengths, and overcome their challenges
• Include them in the process

Unravel tips, strategies and insights that pave the way for classrooms where every project is an opportunity for diverse minds to shine!

Connect with Cheryl: LinkedIn

Learn more about Cajal Academy: https://www.cajalacademy.org/

Sign up for the PBL Symposium: https://www.21c-learning.com/events/student-agency-and-pbl-symposium/

Take the 12 Shifts for 'Learner-Centered Environments' Scorecard: https://transformschool.com/12shiftsmastermind

Cheryl's Bio:

Cheryl is the co-founder, President and acting Head of School for Cajal Academy, Inc.: a new, non-profit independent school that is innovating education by integrating insights from the fields of neuropsychology and neurophysiology to make them actionable in the classroom. She is also the Founder and CEO of freedible, the social sharing platform where people with specialty diets can find and share the recipes, life hacks and community they need to thrive. What these two ventures have in common is a passion for creating inclusive and scientifically-informed solutions at the social level to the challenges posed by individual differences and disabilities. And, they fuel my love for tackling complex problems, picking apart the details and creating from them a new whole. I am also a passionate advocate for others; I believe that a solution that only works for people with education, resources or health is no solution at all. Her two driving passions are inclusion and empowerment; connecting with new people, whether it's one-on-one or as a public speaker, runs a close third. Cheryl 'wears her heart' on her sleeve, and believes in the responsibility of speaking her own mind- determined to leave this world a better place than it was when she found it.

How much voice and ownership do you provide students in their learning journey?

I understand the fears the fears of inviting too much input:

What if students go in a direction I can't support? Steer too far away from mandated curriculum? Decide on projects and products I've never developed myself?

And so oftentimes we keep learning experiences locked in a tightly sealed, 'teacher-centred box.' But what happens when we open up that box? Provide some basic parameters and frameworks, but invite students to help choose how to fill it?

What might student engagement and empowerment look like then?

In my conversation with learner-centered practitioner, Dr. Dom discusses her experience with a project she 'co-designed' with learners fromm start to finish. She shares her journey of involving students in developing learning materials, building partnerships with local schools to enhance the English curriculum, and the creation of 'Teaching Materials.' From our conversation, we learn the importance of forming driving questions for projects, facilitating feedback and reflection, and nurturing collaboration and inquiry among students.

We leave equipped with tools to start the process with our own students.

Connect with Dom on Instagram. LinkedIn.

Dr. Dom's PBL Website: Resources, Reflection and Journey

Dom's Bio:

Dom currently teaches primary at KPIS International School in Thailand. Dedicated to educational development Dom is a researcher and educator with proficient career history in varied environments, and considers herself an easily approachable and professionally presented individual. A great ability to communicate, build and maintain rapport over wide range of cultures and social backgrounds. Prior self-employment has created a strong motivation to progress efficiently throughout her career. With a pro-active and enthusiastic attitude, Dom is always keen to further develop both leadership principles and strategy execution, within the school environment. Dom believes that, "a social and emotional learning influence is visibly beneficial to another's academic development."

There are several skills that are hard to build in students within the walls of a classroom.

Skills like leadership, community building, survival, mentorship, global citizenship, and expedition planning.

On expeditions outside of the classroom, these skills come naturally; whether it's assisting farmers plant in the marshes of Indonesia (pictured above), or cultural treks to learn about isolated tribes' way of living in the jungles of Thailand.

Justin Bedard, co-founder of Jump! and expert Experiential Learning Facilitator leads teams of students in these kind of experiences on a regular basis. In partnering with schools, his team of facilitators grow global citizens, while supporting classroom teachers to transform from subject teachers to experiential learning facilitators. In our podcast interview, we learn as new experiential learning facilitators:

• The key components of experiential learning and how it differs from traditional learning
• How to support students in honing and developing these skills
• Create the conditions, big questions, and environment that allows for deeper experiential learning to take root within our schools and communities
• How to connect experiential learning opportunities meaningfully to our curriculum
• How to develop the mindsets and tool set required to shift from a teacher to experiential learning facilitators

Connect with Justin: LinkedIn (@justinbedard12)

Learn more about Jump!: https://jumpfoundation.org/

Take the 12 shifts scorecard around transitioning from teacher to facilitator: https://transformschool.com/12shiftsmastermind/

Sign up for the PBL Symposium on 'Building Student Agency Through PBL:' https://www.21c-learning.com/events/student-agency-and-pbl-symposium/

Justin's Bio:

Born in Lilongwei, Malawi, Justin spent my childhood in Indonesia and formative years in China. Justin has a strong passion for community development and educational innovation which is the foundation of which The JUMP! Foundation has been built. Throughout his life, Justin has built a focused commitment to youth development programs around the world. Wearing many hats, he has had the chance to carry out his passion for adventure guiding, organizational consulting, leadership facilitation, community development, and time playing in the wilderness. As a speaker, Justin is comfortable speaking to international audiences of up to 1,000. He is excited to share my thoughts, perspectives and strategies with educators, NGOs, youth leaders, and other Changemakers worldwide.

Designing a learner-centered experience isn't that complicated. It requires only a few shifts in the way we currently design projects, units, and lessons.

Building a learner-centered environment to allows the experience to fly? That takes years.

It requires a long term commitment from staff, leadership, parents and students to create a culture built around the learner. I call that PBL 2.0.

How as a learner-centered leader do you move from PBL 1.0 to PBL 2.0?

Ms. Amina Usman helps us answer this question in the context of her teacher leadership at her PBL School, Beaconhouse TNS. She teaches us how to effectively coach, and create the conditions, culture, and classrooms that allow project-based experiences to reach full potential; while LEARNERS lead the way.

Connect with Ms. Amina: [email protected]

Learn more about TNS/Beaconhouse PBL Schools: https://www.tns.edu.pk/

Take the 12 Shifts for Learner-Centered Environments Scorecard: http://www.transformschool.com/12shiftsmastermind

Register for the November PBL Syposium: https://www.21c-learning.com/events/student-agency-and-pbl-symposium/

Ms. Amina Usman's Bio: Amina has been associated with the early years for the past 15 years, and her passion lies in nurturing young minds. It says if you are once a teacher, you are always a teacher, and the same goes for Amina as she started her career. And although Amina became coordinator 3 years ago, her heart still lies in engaging with young children. Here role as an early years coordinator's is to ensure that young children receive high-quality, developmentally appropriate experiences that meet their individual needs and help them reach their full potential. She works to ensure that early years classrooms are designed in such a way that promotes children's learning and development, with a focus on social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development. Amina's degree is in Diplomacy and strategic studies, but when I joined teaching I did a number of training sessions to improve myself, with early childhood education.

AI is here. And while many schools are still wrapping their heads around how to best use it, some classrooms are already using it to enhance learning experiences.

Whether that's in animating student written memoirs; or acting as a co-pilot in student research and investigation.

AI can improve learning outcomes and make our lives easier when we have the courage to embrace it.

In this episode I sit down with technology/instructional coaches Cora Yang and Dalton Flanagan to learn more about how they are embracing AI and helping teachers across all subjects embrace and integrate it mindfully within their classroom and learning experiences. We learn:

• How to get comfortable and have fun with AI
• Simple ways AI can enhance our learning experiences and engage hard to reach learners
• How AI can help offload some of the things we hate doing as educators, while freeing up time for us to do more of the things we love

Connect with Cora: Twitter and Threads: @coraedtechcoach, Website, LinkedIn

Connect with Dalton: Twitter: @desertclimber, LinkedIn, Website (https://www.daltonflanagan.me/)

Curated List of AI Tools for Teachers: https://t.co/hN1tGeE3Ik

Even more AI Tools: https://aieducator.tools/

Get the Discounted PBL Design Certificate Course: https://projectbasedlearning.teachable.com/p/projectbasedlearning1?coupon_code=30%25-OFF&product_id=2039146

Register for the PBL Symposium in November: https://www.21c-learning.com/events/student-agency-and-pbl-symposium/

Dalton's Bio: Dalton is a Learning and Innovation Coach at Chinese International School in Hong Kong, with over a decade of experience in education. He is by a passion for designing authentic project-based learning experiences, and strives to connect students' learning journeys with cutting-edge technologies, fostering engagement and promoting in-depth exploration. His enthusiasm for experimenting with new technologies drives him to integrate them into the classroom environment. His recent exploration into the realm of advanced AI models, such as Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and ChatGPT, have further expanded his ability to engage and inspire students and educators. As an ardent advocate for knowledge sharing and collaboration, he presents his experiences at conferences worldwide.

Cora's Bio: Meet Cora Yang, a devoted Learning Technology Coach at Renaissance College Hong Kong. Specializing in PYP and MYP tech integration, she enriches education with coding, robotics, VR, digital design, and more. Cora believes technology connects students to real-world opportunities, fostering lifelong learning through innovative projects. Always curious, Cora eagerly explores new tech and shares her knowledge, inspiring students to unlock their potential in our ever-changing world.

What happens when we co-design learning experiences with our students?

Give them choice over the product they create. Questions they pursue. Teammates they assemble.

This was Maheen's big pondering when she began sharing ownership of PBL experiences with her year 3 students. The results were immediate. Learners inquired more critically, brought in talents she never knew they had, and planned presentations of learning that made adult jaws drop.

Learn more about Maheen's story of transformation from PBL 1.0 to PBL 2.0 and how you can achieve the same results in your classroom.

Full Show Transcript

Take the 12 Shifts for Learner-Centred Environments Scorecard: https://www.transformschool.com/12shiftsmastermind

Learn More and Register for the PBL Symposium in November: https://www.21c-learning.com/events/student-agency-and-pbl-symposium/

Connect with Maheen: [email protected]

Maheen's Bio: Maheen is a 3rd Grade teacher from a PBL based school "TNS Beaconhouse" in Lahore, Pakistan. She has experience of teaching primary years and as a homeroom teacher, she is responsible for teaching multiple subjects, along with spending the entire day with her students. At the start of her learning journey with Kyle, she was new to the process of PBL and was having difficulties with inculcating it in her classroom. Now, after her learning journey with Kyle, the PBL process comes naturally to her. Her class has consistently outdone themselves on their projects, which have been guided by student inquiry. Their learning is long lasting and the products the students come up with are full of thoughtful insights. A complete turnaround in a year's time!

We talk a lot about tips, strategies, frameworks, and components of project-based experiences, but we don't talk a lot about mindsets.

How do you develop the mindsets that allow for creativity, agility, uncertainty, and experiences that move in several directions?

In this episode, Thompson Morrison and Kavita Tanna, Founders of Ustawi Movement Global expose us to a process that builds these mindsets in both students and teachers; changing them from compliant learners to creative geniuses. We peel back the layers of this process and speak with educator Linda Amici about the transformational results she has seen in her classroom. Through it, you will learn:

• Why agility and adaptability are the #1 future skills, and how to develop it in our learners
• A simple framework to transform compliant learners to creative powerhouses
• How to make learning a continual conversation and not a didactic mode of delivery
• How to use a learning process developed in real world industries like tech/software to guide experiences in our classrooms
• How to help our learners reach their creative potential

Connect with Thompson Morrison: [email protected]

Connect with Kavita Tanna: Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook

Connect with Linda Amici: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter

Learn More about the DIG Framework: https://www.amazon.com/Dayton-Experiment-reimagined-education-unleashed/dp/0578634392

Thompson's Bio: Thompson Morrison is the co-author of The Dayton Experiment, a book that tells a story of a five-year journey of reimagining the learning culture of a small rural school in Dayton, Oregon. A software executive deeply versed in the fast, iterative learning cycles that underpin Agile methodologies, he partnered with Jami Fluke, the principal of Dayton Middle School and High School, to reimagine the learning culture in order to unleash the creative genius of every student. From that experience, a learning framework was developed, Designed InGenuity (DiG), which has now been introduced to hundreds of educators around the world, helping to inspire the transformation of schools now on five continents. His most recent book, The Joyful Sandbox, explores how this framework is being used by schools to bring learning alive.

Kavita's Bio: Kavita is a facilitator of mission-driven work with communities around the world. Now pursuing her fourth career as a Global Education Coach, she brings the life experiences of business and classroom teaching to this work of transforming learning in communities. Kavita's mission is to connect with like-minded individuals who wish to empower all people through meaningful, interconnected, and globally-minded conversations. She is a graduate of the Brain-SET Environment Certificate, through which early childhood educators are empowered to design environments with the intention of children learning in calm spaces to support the development of their brains. As a lifelong learner, Kavita is completing a Master's degree with Antioch University, focusing on creating, sustaining and regenerating transformative learning communities using systems thinking. In regular one-to-one meetings, facilitation of team gatherings and large group workshops, Kavita coaches school leaders and classroom educators to recognise the roles they play in shaping the identities, attitudes and behaviours of all learners. By co-designing learning experiences, she offers practical ideas for global and intercultural-mindedness for all learners, including parents, educators and leaders. Through her work as a passionate advocate and mentor for social-emotional-ethical wellbeing integration in the lives of all people, Kavita's vision is to co-create a harmonious world in which all living systems can flourish.

Linda's Bio: Linda Amici is an educator with a passion to empower future leaders to "be the change" the world needs. As a middle school instructional coach for the Westerville City School District and part-time faculty member for Otterbein University, she seeks to inspire those around her to embrace a growth mindset and take educational risks to innovate transformational practices. Changing the world has led Linda to opportunities that reach beyond the borders of the US. She has worked overseas on projects to bring health and clean water to remote locations in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and the Amazon river basin in Peru. Stateside, she supports international students on their exchange year as they share culture with US host families. She is energized by learning about new cultures and working with diverse teams to solve global issues. Linda graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor's degree in Education and holds a Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She has had the honor of presenting and collaborating with PBL Works, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), National Center for Urban School Transformation, and she currently serves as an AMLE Schools of Distinction Evaluator. Linda graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor's degree in Education and holds a Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She has had the honor of presenting and collaborating with PBL Works, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), National Center for Urban School Transformation, and she currently serves as an AMLE Schools of Distinction Evaluator. In 2019, Linda was selected as the Sanford Inspirational Award recipient by the National University System for the state of Ohio. She has been recognized as a Great Educational Mentor by her school district, and she was awarded a Martha Holden Jennings Foundation Deeper Learning Grant to awaken learner curiosity within her educational community. She currently serves as the National Teach Plus Fellow for Ohio and is a part of the AMLE support team. In 2019, Linda was selected as the Sanford Inspirational Award recipient by the National University System for the state of Ohio. She has been recognized as a Great Educational Mentor by her school district, and she was awarded a Martha Holden Jennings Foundation Deeper Learning Grant to awaken learner curiosity within her educational community. She currently serves as the National Teach Plus Fellow for Ohio and is a part of the AMLE support team. Linda is a mother to six children, one dog, and a small herd of guinea pigs. In her free time, she enjoys reading, biking, kayaking, and keeping herself and her community strong and healthy by teaching fitness classes to all ages. Connect with her on Twitter at @LindaAmici