Experiential learning improves teams’ inquiry cycles

Authors: Matthew Swenson, Ann Helfman, Alix Horton, and Liz Bergeron

In this era of extreme partisanship, increased school and district accountability, and continuing dialogue about the ongoing impacts of the global pandemic, education leaders are under pressure to show measurable and meaningful improvement in outcomes — particularly, and rightly so, for students from marginalized groups. While schools are under increased pressure for improvement now, the result is too often a wide-scale implementation of ideas without a clear hypothesis, success measures, or buy-in from staff. The consequence: frustration, burnout, and the perpetuation of inequities.