Center for Inspired Teaching is transforming education through innovative teacher training. We are building a better school experience for children by helping teachers move from information providers to Instigators of Thought. When students learn not just what to think but how to think, they will succeed in the classroom today and in college and careers tomorrow.

Teachers in Center for Inspired Teaching’s programs learn how to place themselves in the role of the learner so they can understand and appreciate students’ way of looking at the world. As a result, our teachers’ ability to empathize, individualize instruction, and engage their students increases significantly. Placing empathy at the core of teachers’ practice ensures that students learn in safe and productive environments, going beyond covering the curriculum to learn the skills they need in order to thrive.

Problem

Policymakers' intense focus on academic achievement and standardized testing has resulted in a narrowing of student assessment, teacher evaluation, and even teacher training. Schools and teachers now prioritize ensuring students' academic success over the essential work of cultivating their social and emotional development. Teachers are assessed and trained based on their students' ability to pass a test. While essential, academic development is only one type of data, only one skill that children need. To truly succeed at both school and life, students need socio-emotional skills, and young classrooms are the best nurturing ground for these skills. Teacher training and professional development programs must train educators to create classrooms that build students' empathy.

Solution

In order to teach students how to think, not just what to think, to ensure school is a place where students go beyond covering the curriculum and genuinely learn the skills they need to thrive, teachers must place empathy at the core of their practice. Inspired Teaching trains teachers to listen to, observe, and deeply understand their students. Our teachers learn how to get a glimpse into students’ minds, to understand and appreciate students’ way of looking at the world. As a result teachers’ ability to empathize, to individualize instruction, and to engage their students increases significantly. Our training activates teachers' empathy for students and, through hands-on activities, teachers become learners again so they understand learning and the school experience from the child's perspective. Ultimately, Inspired Teaching is using empathy as a powerful and highly innovative way to elevate and transform not only teacher training programs, but the teaching profession itself.

Example

Center for Inspired Teaching founded a charter school that opened this August. Inspired Teaching is the primary professional development provider for the school, helping it to build an empathetic culture. School “rules” are written not about “you” or “I”, but about “everyone” to communicate that care is taken for the community as a whole. Everyone learns. Everyone is safe. Everyone builds community. This practice invites students to think about their actions in terms of their impact on others, not their compliance with the school’s policies. Teachers are selected and trained to teach, manage the classroom, and build relationships with students and families from a place of mutual respect and understanding. All instructional practices, discipline processes, and school events are designed with students’ developmental needs in mind. School discipline is also based on the approach of restorative justice. Restorative justice uses conflict resolution techniques that turn conflicts into opportunities for learning – and where both the “perpetrator” and the “victim” are part of the resolution process. Students are made aware of the concerning behavior and are engaged to understand how such behavior compromised the safety of the learning environment. A high priority is placed on supporting the student in not feeling shamed or excluded, but rather to repair the relationship with his or her peer and preparing for a positive re-entry to the classroom community. Students are given the opportunity to “fix” the circumstance by working with those affected by the behavior.

Marketplace

Inspired Teaching works closely with Capital City Public Charter School to train new teachers; teachers-in-residence complete a full year of residency at this school before entering their own classroom as the lead teacher. CCPS shares our priority of training teachers to develop empathetic classrooms, engaging students in active learning as real-world problem solvers, and creating classrooms that celebrate their diversity. There are a number of other professional development programs for teachers, and new teacher certification programs, including Teach For America, DC Teaching Fellows, Urban Teacher Center, Capital Teaching Residency and university programs. We are distinguished by our commitment to developing the whole child, and prioritizing students' socio-emotional learning.