Transformational Learning: Principles for Reimagining Education

For over twenty years, we have been chasing a carrot in education. The carrot represents the continually evolving environment of classrooms, schools, and programs (both formal and informal) that create positive conditions for learning while engaging students in experiences that matter to them.

The goal of this longitudinal journey is to foster student success while equipping learners with essential life skills. These life skills are often captured as employability skills, and there is no shortage of research on what works (and what doesn’t) around helping learners obtain knowledge and master skills for their unique futures.

Our work at Team4Tech has been focused on curating evidence-based practices that prioritize inclusivity, engagement, and empowerment for a global audience. In a completely unplanned yet supportive move, ISTE has developed a set of principles to frame the work on crafting learning experiences that matter.

The Transformational Learning Principles, shared today at ISTELive 2024, offer a set of guiding principles to help educators globally—that “I” in ISTE matters—finally capture the carrot.?

I expect ISTE will deliver these new principles guidance and supporting resources. In the meantime, I want to summarize the core principles and explore implementation considerations to (finally) redesign student learning experiences.

ISTE’s Core Principles of Transformational Learning include three focus areas: Nurture, Guide, and Empower.

ISTE’s principles focus on belonging, connection (or, as I would define it, “making it matter”), and equity. The articulation of this focus area is clearly tied to evidence-based practices. As I think about what the research says about the implementation of these principles, there are a few areas I want to highlight:

• We have to use time and space differently to allow educators to cultivate positive relationships with learners. Look at the master schedule that District 66 in Nebraska has operationalized.
• We have to find ways to help teachers master the art of facilitation to engage students in co-learning and encourage them to co-design their own learning experiences.?

Check out our one-pager on co-learning and co-design to see what strategies you can use immeidately.?

Further, ISTE’s principles emphasize connecting learning to the learner. Evidence-based practices that tailor instruction to meet the individual needs and interests of students must be a part of this effort.

Check out my last rubric for selecting evidence-based practices.

Today, we have to think carefully about how we are aligning (not competing) with efforts to address learner variability, bolstering executive function skills, and setting every learner up for success. Connecting content with students’ prior knowledge and experiences can ignite curiosity and engagement. Technology plays a vital role in enabling new pathways for student expression and exploration. Guide the implementation of these big ideas with the following strategies:

• Leverage technologies to adapt materials, and think about how you can use digital tools to scaffold learning experiences for student success. The lives of today’s learners are filled with personalization; it doesn’t make sense to them to have those opportunities stop at the classroom door.
• Align evidence associated with formative assessments and project-based learning activities with students’ interests and, more importantly, help them find value and application in what they are learning about.?

This isn’t about entertainment; it’s about design. Check out these design resources for educators.

Connecting new learning with students’ prior knowledge and experiences can ignite curiosity and engagement. Digital tools play an important role in enabling new pathways for student expression and exploration.

ISTE’s principles also address responsiveness to students’ cultural and developmental contexts. Educators can celebrate students’ identities and strengths and intentionally remove barriers to learning. We have to look for policies and practices that (often accidentally) disallow learners (especially those with disabilities) from fully using tools that could support them. As educators work to implement these associated practices, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Be thoughtful in your approach to making inclusive, interwoven learning experiences a reality.
• Exploring ways to use AI to design, deliver, archive, scale, and crowdsource professional development at local or regional levels is a must. I would encourage leaders to check out Searchie.io as a pathway to make that a reality.
• We have to think about how we are continually developing expertise with teachers but also with learners. We must build reflection, feedback loops, and continuous improvement into learning experiences for all those who design and participate in them. These efforts will move us all toward mastery and intentionally create opportunities for using critical thinking skills.

Check out my latest observation checklist for identifying examples of critical thinking in learning.?

We can achieve the promise of these principles by leveraging community organizations and creating meaningful ways for our learners to engage with the world around them.?

Written by Dr. Jody Britten for Team4Tech.