Today on the podcast we’re digging into student agency and the lessons Dr. Annalies Corbin has learned from her work pioneering microschools and portable innovation labs. Who is Dr. Corbin, you ask?
Well, she’s the CEO and founder of the PAST Foundation. “From a single school partnership in 2006, Annalies has grown PAST’s supporters across the nation, building a reputation for both transforming teaching and learning by understanding tomorrow’s education needs. In 2015, Annalies’ commitment to transforming schools led to the development of PAST Innovation Lab. Connecting directly with teachers through online professional development courses, MAEd program and on-site workshops, PAST Innovation Lab impacts more classrooms and expands learning opportunities for teachers and students everywhere. In 23 years, PAST has impacted more than 2,300,000 students, over 20,000 teachers across 42 states, hosting nearly 20,000 visitors and building hundreds of partnerships” (Foundation Website).
To connect further after the show, you can find Annalies hosting the podcast, Learning Unboxed, or read her new book, Hacking Schools: Five Strategies to Link Learning to Life.
I think you’re going to be really intrigued by the programs the PAST foundation has put into action, and the ways they can be applied to ELA. So let’s dive in.
The Most Exciting Thing Dr. Corbin sees in Education Today
Schools are starting to ask “what if?” Many communities are questioning traditional practices and starting to reimagine what learning might look like…
Choice Matters
The traditional education system is outdated in so many ways, and certainly today’s kids don’t fit whatever mold it was originally imagined for. They’re connected, they interact with the world in ways we haven’t seen before, and they crave autonomy.
Giving students agency across their learning is critically important, but it doesn’t have to be just another thing for teachers to do. It can actually be freeing, bringing joy into the classroom for kids and teachers.
Imagine your learning goal is to get kids to the ocean. Which is going to be easier and nicer, sending them all through the same small, cramped tunnel to get there? Or giving them the wide expanse of the beach and letting them run, skip, wander, or race down to the water with any help they need along the way? What’s going to be more memorable for them? Which is going to give them a sense for this environment? Help them learn about themselves as learners? (OK, I know I’m taking the metaphor pretty far. But I think it works!)
Developing Agency in a Student-to-Student Context
In her work traveling to many schools, Dr. Corbin has had the chance to see agency in action in dynamic learning environments. In these schools, agency is everywhere, showing up across contexts like student-to-student, student-to-community, teacher-to-administration, etc. You can see it in the conversations, the way students approach tasks, the way they write, and the products they produce.
So what is student-to-student agency, and why does it matter? We want students to develop their ability to collaborate and problem-solve with peers, respectfully arguing their opinion in any group, which is NOT an easy skill to learn. Naturally, in any group setting, one student’s agency is going to brush up against others. So as students develop their agency in the student-to-student context, they have to learn how to share the space and the goal, negotiating where and how to focus their energies.
Sometimes that looks like a lot of different ideas coalescing under one umbrella. Whatever it looks like, it’s an important part of dynamic schools.
Ideas from Microschools
The PAST foundation has partnered to create several microschools, like the Early IT Microschool and the Innovations in Medicine and Biotechnology Microschool. So I wanted to ask Annalies about the thinking behind these innovative programs, and how we might apply them to the ELA sphere even without the ability to create a full independent program like this.
She shared about the idea of a micro opportunity to learn about something with real depth. Perhaps in an area where several sets of standards come together and create room to spend real time and energy diving into something, to the point where it really becomes tangible for the students. Then they can decide whether that area is something that pulls them for further exploration later as a career possibility or whether it really doesn’t, and they are more informed to move in another direction. Either way, they’re ready to make choices about their futures after the chance to spend deep and relevant time on something.
Portable Innovation Labs
The PAST Foundation operates ten portable innovation lab hubs across Ohio – so cool, right? At their Central Ohio hub, for example, teachers can check out these labs: Drones & Vertiports, Garbology, Assistive Technology, Autonomous Delivery, Forensics, 3D Printer, Digital Microscopes, Fairytale Forensics, Alternative Energy, Goodnight Littles, Science of Fragrance, AR/VR, Clean H20, Microcontroller Robotics, Ecological Inquiry: Story Telling, Ecological Inquiry: Nature Photography, and Ecological Inquiry: Bird Exploration.
Each lab includes materials, lessons, and a way to share your ideas and adaptations for the classroom back to the group so that future educators can learn from your innovation. When teachers return it after check-out, the hub will make sure it is clean and organized, and any broken bits have been replaced, before it goes out again.
Amazing.
Of course, much of the focus of these labs is on STEM fields, but they’re also literacy-infused in many ways. And maybe more importantly, they provide a model innovators in ELA could easily scoop up and run with. By purchasing sets of materials for use across a district or districts, funding can go much further and use of innovative resources can be more equalized.
What about a portable podcasting lab? A set of 50 popular choice reading books? A class set of Gareth Hinds’ The Odyssey? A Writing makerspace toolkit? A pair of green screens for a digital journalism unit?
If you’re in Ohio, I’d check out the labs and see how you might use one as part of an interdisciplinary STEM/ELA unit. And if you’re not, perhaps you might soon propose the first ELA innovation lab in your district…
Learn more about Annalies, The PAST Foundation, and Hacking Schools
Bio From the PAST Foundation Website: “Dr. Annalies Corbin is the Chief Goddess and CEO the PAST Foundation. In 2000, Dr. Corbin founded the PAST Foundation, an organization she envisioned could lead the way to connecting scientific research with classrooms, schools and communities. From 2000-2006, Annalies concurrently led the PAST Foundation and taught at East Carolina University’s Program in Maritime Studies. In 2005, when PAST opened its headquarters in Columbus, Annalies turned all efforts to building the PAST Foundation, assembling a team that could grow the reach and mission of linking learning to life.
From a single school partnership in 2006, Annalies has grown PAST’s supporters across the nation, building a reputation for both transforming teaching and learning by understanding tomorrow’s education needs. In 2015, Annalies’ commitment to transforming schools led to the development of PAST Innovation Lab. Connecting directly with teachers through online professional development courses, MAEd program and on-site workshops, PAST Innovation Lab impacts more classrooms and expands learning opportunities for teachers and students everywhere. In 23 years, PAST has impacted more than 2,300,000 students, over 20,000 teachers across 42 states, hosting nearly 20,000 visitors and building hundreds of partnerships.
In 2019, Annalies and PAST launched Learning Unboxed. This podcast series highlights industry experts and students talking about the changing needs in the world of teaching, learning and the future of work. Rather than trying to fix a system that is working exactly as it was designed, this series challenges listeners to join the conversation of how we “unbox” education and create innovative solutions to better meet workforce needs. Follow Annalies on social media to join the conversation.”
Find out more about Annalies’ new book, Hacking School, here.
Learn more about The Past Foundation.
Connect with Annalies on Instagram.
