#48 Q&A With Education Reimagined
Recently, we got the chance to interview and complete a Q&A with Paul Haluszczak, the digital manager for a new nonprofit called Education Reimagined. Focused on reforming the education sector by implementing “learner-centered education”, we were able to learn all about the story behind this nonprofit and the work that they are currently doing.
Q: What is Education Reimagined?
A: Education Reimagined is a national nonprofit committed to making learner-centered education available to every child, regardless of background or circumstance. In our eyes, the learner-centered paradigm for education has as its fundamental mindset that education systems must respond uniquely to each unique, individual learner—to who they are and to what they need at any point in time.
Q: Who created Education Reimagined? How and Why was it created?
A: We are guided by a transformational vision for the future of education created by 28 ideologically diverse education stakeholders brought together to reimagine education. We—education practitioners, scholars, business and union leaders, parents, and advocates—gathered together in 2013 because we believed it was time for a new conversation about education. We concluded that conversation must be focused on transformation rather than reformation. This 18-month dialogue that consisted of six, two-day, in-person meetings was led by Convergence—a national non-profit that convenes sustained dialogues among leaders, doers, and thinkers with conflicting views to create breakthrough solutions on issues of national concern.
Q: What are some of the projects Education Reimagined is currently working on?
A: Our Core Programs consist of SparkHouse, The Learning Lab, and our Movement Builder Network. SparkHouse exists to unite and ignite young learners to be powerful ambassadors for and leaders of the national learner-centered movement. The Learning Lab exists to activate practitioners at work to demonstrate that learner-centered education can address today’s most pressing education challenges. The Movement Builder Network exists to harness the power of national and regional actors to accelerate the movement beyond what we currently see as possible. Additionally, we publish Voyager Weekly, Voyager Monthly, and In Addition—publications that feature the latest stories from the learner-centered movement and challenge readers to view news beyond the education sphere through the learner-centered lens.
Q: How can people get involved?
A: The easiest way to get involved, regardless of the role someone plays in their community, is to first sign up for our publications. From there, depending on the role you play in your community, you can email us at general@educationreimagined.org to discover more about participating in our programs.
Q: What changes do you hope to see within the education sector within the next 10 years?
A: Learner-centered education is not a new idea. However, the time is ripe to see it become available to every community in the United States. As with any large, systemic transformational work, it is difficult to say what will and will not happen five, 10, or 25 years down the road. From our vantage point, we are looking forward to seeing an increased number of learner-centered transformation efforts sprout up in a diverse range of communities. And, we believe a handful of communities will begin to exhibit an ecosystem-wide transformation where public policies, proofs of concept, and public will are catalyzing the ability for this work to become sustainable over the long term.
Author: Megan Chen