During my work with schools to develop new learning spaces, I began each engagement with a Discovery phase. This involved conducting surveys, tours, classroom and school observations, focus group interviews, and workshops. The goal was to understand the school's climate and culture, what the school’s community valued relative to education, teaching and learning, and their views on how space could support the daily experience of school. The information gathered was then used to develop a set of design drivers, five to six statements that outlined the expectations for the teaching and learning experience. These served as a framework to guide the spatial design process, ensuring that their new spaces aligned with their goals for teaching and learning.
At the start of this process, I always asked the school or district to provide me with documentation on the expectations for the daily student learning experience. I was often pointed to the mission and vision of the school/district, given curriculum guides, or perhaps even a Portrait of a Graduate. While these contributed value to the overall Discovery process, I was much more interested in what they expected everyday classroom teaching and learning to look like.
It was my experience that most schools couldn’t articulate their expectations for the daily student learning experience. After several years of design work, I expected that would be the case, yet it still surprised me every time I asked. I’m sure some schools have clearly defined their expectations, and perhaps even done so exceptionally well, yet in my experience, such examples were rare. Many schools had core value statements, which I think are valuable (See The Science Leadership Academy’s (SLA) core values in the second paragraph here), but these usually painted a broad picture of expectations. I wanted to understand how these (and mission/vision, etc.) translated directly into the daily teaching and learning experience. What were the expectations for what teachers were doing, and what was the daily lived experience of students? For my work in space design, having a clear picture of this was essential.
I was also interested in more global questions, specifically about the overall purpose of their school/district, why their schools existed, and what they hoped to accomplish with kids. Almost every answer was the same: college and career readiness. It got to the point where I just expected it, and when I asked about it and why they had that focus, I was given quizzical looks like I was clueless (insert your own joke here).
I think that particular focus can be a good thing, as schools have always helped kids find their place in the world by encouraging them to identify interests and passions while working with them to develop a pathway to obtain a job and career. It certainly is what parents wanted so that their kids didn’t end up living in their basements. So, I think that is a worthwhile aspect of what schools do and will continue to do.
But, isn’t there more? For me, college and career readiness means preparing kids for the workforce. Simply stated, it’s workforce readiness. In 2025 in America, I’m not sure that’s enough. America needs more. Isn’t there something more important, more pressing, something larger than the individual and their goals, that schools can foster? I’m saying this at the same time schools are being attacked, budgets are being slashed, and the divisive climate of the country works against what schools can be and what they can and should accomplish. Schools do not have it easy.
But America doesn’t need more accountants, with my apologies to accountants everywhere.
What America does need is a literate and engaged citizenry that understands democracy and willingly participates in the governance of the country. Why isn’t that the overall focus of schools? Why isn’t that the goal, the thing that drives everything?
You can promote democratic life where college and career is the focus of the school. But you could also promote college and career in a school designed to primarily support the development of democratic citizenry. The overall focus of a school says everything about you and what you value. And I think we need more from schools than job and career preparation, whether after high school or college.
The real question we face: Are schools in America just intended to prepare students to become plumbers or architects? Or, are they intended to develop citizens ready for a democracy? Maybe they weren’t ever intended to do this, but given the current landscape of America, there is no more pressing need.
If so, what would that look like as part of a daily classroom learning experience? What would that mean?
It begins by promoting the creation of community and developing students who see beyond themselves and contribute to the greater good of all. Associated with this is supporting the development of compassionate and empathetic young people who value themselves and others. Back to SLA for a moment. Chris Lehmann, the CEO of SLA, says he wants students to be “thoughtful, wise, passionate, and kind” as a result of their experience at the school. Yes please.
It means that within that community, everyone belongs, is accepted, and is seen. The true measure of the school’s success would be how fully it celebrates this belonging and embraces the belief that diversity makes the community stronger.
It means that a service learning requirement places students in challenging situations and environments that require them to rise up and support others and their community.
It means establishing and grounding schools as the intellectual heart of their community, along with the programs and opportunities that help educate their community in things that matter. A big task indeed, as schools have their hands full, but the moment we are in demands this type of community leadership.
It means employing a systems approach to curriculum development to end the isolation of the singular classroom that creates interdisciplinary, interconnected, and authentic learning experiences, grounded by the study of civics and ethics.
It means that earning experiences in the school focus on inquiry and are based on an unwavering commitment to foster critical, creative, and reflective thinking, stimulate curiosity, and develop the ability to create ideas, ask meaningful questions, and make decisions. Assessment of student progress in such a school would be aligned with these commitments, while the outcome of content-based standardized tests would be recognized but minimized.
It means a focus on the development of skills and dispositions, beyond a focus on mastering content and test score preparation. It means a curriculum based on developing the understanding and behaviors necessary to understand the world, now and into the future.
It means the development and implementation of programs that lead to the development of leaders and leadership skills. Included in this is a greater role for students in the school's operations. Democratic principles are lived by all in the school, and all would contribute to the school’s governance.
It means that time, resources, and opportunities are dedicated to enhancing and uplifting the capacity of the school’s educators.
It means that there are multiple ways for all, including the school’s community, to engage, various ways to learn, numerous ways to contribute, and multiple ways for the individual and community to grow. Together.
It means strategic adoption of connective and generative technologies, including artificial intelligence, that extend the locations for learning beyond the school, providing students and teachers with a virtual space that connects with the physical domains of the school to provide a contemporary and comprehensive space for learning.
It means rethinking and creating new spaces that invite students into learning, that showcase accomplishment and student life, and can be shaped on demand to support different types of learning engagements. In such an experience, all spaces are seen as learning spaces.
The focus for schools in 2025 and beyond must be bold enough to move past the narrow expectation of workforce preparation and expansive enough to embrace the shared work of rebuilding a thriving democracy. Imagine a daily experience where schools serve as vibrant centers of community life, where curiosity fuels learning, where students practice compassion and leadership daily, where inquiry and civic engagement are as fundamental as reading and math. Picture this in spaces designed to inspire, with technologies that connect students to the world, eliminating the boundaries that constrain learning, and with students immersed in learning opportunities that support the development of wisdom, creativity, and social action. In such a school, college and career preparation must assume a secondary role, in favor of an experience where students can discover who they are, what they stand for, and how they can contribute to, sustain, and grow a democratic society.