Strategies
Overview
We have identified patterns in the actions teachers take in classrooms where students are growing as leaders of a better future. These transformational classrooms have shown that growing students in this way calls for more relational, student-led, discovery-oriented teaching and learning.
Discover
Check out this compilation of clips from some of the teachers, students, classrooms, schools, and communities that were part of our Global Learning Loops. What do these classrooms have in common? What key strategies do you see?
Learn
Our studies suggest that five families of actions (which we are calling “strategies”) distinguish transformational classrooms. Under each of these, you will observe five specific actions (for a total of 25 actions) often found in these classrooms.
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Love & Connect |
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Build relationships |
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Foster belonging |
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Nurture culture |
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Know yourself |
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Be human |
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Listen & Envision |
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Broaden perspectives |
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Host dialogue & discussion |
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Partner with families & community |
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Critically examine history |
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Collectively envision success |
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Learn & Design |
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Build critical knowledge |
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Plan backwards |
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Value learner variability & ownership |
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Expect higher-order thinking |
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Leverage learning theory |
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Facilitate & Challenge |
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Facilitate effectively |
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Manage norms & rituals |
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Foster collective discovery |
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Flexibly adjust course |
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Monitor learning & progress |
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Reflect & Grow |
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Take care of yourself |
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Pause & reflect |
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Find & foster allies |
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Seek feedback |
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Learn & unlearn |
“It turns out, if you are a teacher working to help students improve their lives and their communities’ futures, you do things very differently than teachers who are working to raise test scores.”
— Franco Mosso, CEO & Co-founder, Enseña Perú
“It turns out, if you are a teacher working to help students improve their lives and their communities’ futures, you do things very differently than teachers who are working to raise test scores.”
— Franco Mosso, CEO & Co-founder, Enseña Perú
Do
Explore an emerging toolkit of strategies for developing student leadership designed for teachers and teacher coaches, and other recommended resources:
TACL
Strength in Unity 2: Co-Constructing a Learning Community of Parent Advocates
In this video from 2015, watch how Teach For India fellow Pooja Chopra collaborated with her students' mothers to design a business and build their skillsets to be advocates for their daughters' learning and dreams.
TACL
Why: Collective, Contextualized Vision
Through this video from 2014, virtually visit communities and classrooms around the world and learn from educators, families, and students about the power of asking WHY. Explore the power of contextualized visions of student success to inform classro...
Climate Education
TACL
Funghi Thinking - Egoitz Etxeandia (Empieza por Educar)
This video from 2022 shows how Empieza por Educar alumnus Egoitz Etxeandia Romero and his students engage in Funghi Thinking, a project which applies the Project Based Learning perspective and his multi-level, multi-subject and multi-challenge based ...
TACL
Leading With Strengths: A Leadership Development Session From Teach For All’s Global Leadership Accelerator
Dive into leadership transformation with this 2020 session video that not only unlocks leadership potential but tackles the challenges of deficit-based thinking. Learn how to shift from deficits to strengths, overcoming obstacles in the process.
TACL
Teaching and Learning Programmatic Cycle
This article provides a visualization of the cycle from vision-setting, to teaching and learning, to measurement and programmatic improvement, which then goes back to inform vision setting.
TACL
Bring Your Strengths to Life & Live More Fully
Character strengths are the positive parts of your personality that make you feel authentic and engaged. You possess all 24 character strengths in different degrees, giving you a unique character strengths profile. Discover your greatest qualities an
Share
To share your insights, questions, resources, and challenges related to developing visions of student success, create a post on our Padlet using the "+" icon.
In this Padlet, the content is both user-generated and subject to moderation to ensure a safe and engaging experience.
Our Glossary
In our attempt to capture the real spirit of the classrooms we have studied, we have sometimes intentionally used words and phrases in a slightly unusual way.
We invite you to learn more about our language choices by exploring our Glossary.