CBL: From Educator-Designed to Co-Designed

One of the goals of competency-based learning is to support student agency. In making the shift from educator-designed to co-designed experiences teachers shift the focus from teaching to learning. This course aims to support your transition from a role as a classroom leader and content expert to the role of coach and facilitator. This shift is integral in our work to design for culturally responsive teaching and learning and in our hopes for students to become purposeful, empowered learners, driving their own next steps.

This course is:

• Collaborative: Ideal for individual teachers, school teams, learning leaders, and instructional coaches
• Flexible: Fits within a teacher schedule; you choose your time commitment in this experience.
• Practical: Designed for immediate application; grounded in foundations of competency-based learning while prioritizing action steps educators can take now.

In this course, you will:

• Read research and resources on designing learning environments for student agency.

• Interview a student to bring their voice into the conversation of how to rethink your classroom to promote student-driven experiences.

• Use your student interview to redesign a unit or lesson you currently teach for agency.

The purpose of the Competency-Based Learning series is to guide educators in translating the theoretical underpinnings of CBL into sustainable classroom practices. Each course in this five course will prepare educators to take actions for competency-based learning in their own classrooms and schools.

Regardless of where you teach and the language your school uses for learning goals and grades, a CBL approach offers a mindset and a framework for supporting students in developing skills that transfer across subjects and contexts and that contribute to environments and systems that promote educational equity. You do not need to be an educator in a “CBL school” to join in this series; all five courses are designed to apply to any classroom and curriculum.

Each course is self-paced and includes a downloadable PDF workbook for design and reflection. Participants will leave with practical, tangible work products that can be applied directly to their practice, whether teaching in online, in-person, or in hybrid learning environments this year.

These five courses have relevance as both a series and as individual courses taken on their own. Participants will retain access to all courses to allow for ample time to revisit ideas, resources, and examples.