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Instruction for Deeper Learning
Instruction for Deeper Learning is a school-wide approach to teaching and learning where students and educators are empowered to come together to create complex and impactful learning experiences.
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Lisa Berg
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Making Learning More Authentic, Engaging & Joyful
We partner with schools to build the capacity to develop daily instruction, curriculum and assessment that are grounded in an understanding of students’ identities, interests, aspirations and potential.
Every day, in each class, the leadership, ideas and reflections of young people drive our efforts to improve their education and achieve equity in schools and beyond.
Hallmarked by methods like project-based learning, field work and student-led performance assessments, Deeper Learning combines social-emotional learning with opportunities for critical thinking and preparation for postsecondary learning. Units culminate in students being able to reflect upon their process, name how they have grown, and present work that matters to them, their future, and their communities.
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Argenis Apolinario
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At my school we don’t just learn — we learn why we learn. This educational philosophy reignited my passion for school, and as the years went by, the flame only grew stronger.
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What Instruction for Deeper Learning Looks Like in Practice
Culturally Relevant Curriculum Design
- Authentic and Liberatory: Develop curriculum with information about students to reflect an expansive understanding of what is relevant
- Agency: Define unit skills and knowledge for student empowerment
- Backward Design: Plan units and assessments that lead to a culminating performance task or project
Inclusive, Challenging Daily Instruction
- SEAD-Integrated Challenge: Design lesson tasks where students hold the cognitive load through ‘just right’ challenge
- Student-Centered: Engage students in active and ongoing inquiry in daily routines
- Access: Differentiate lessons so that all students access higher-order thinking, including in the development of literacy across content areas
- Immersive and Experiential Learning: Bring students into direct interaction with key persons, places and ideas featured in the unit
Equity-Focused Assessment
- Collaborative Data Analysis: Partner with students to draw conclusions from the data and co-design actions that lead to deeper learning
- Reflective Practice: Provide regular opportunities to name lesson intentions, set goals and monitor progress
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Student Outcomes
Belonging
- All students grow and feel a sense of belonging as a result of the integration of academic, social, emotional learning that reflects their interests and identities.
Critical Thinking
- All students demonstrate conceptual understanding, higher order thinking and criticality through work that matters to them, their future and communities.
Adventure
- All students have access to daily, joyful challenge that feels like an adventure.
Reflection
- All students have what they need to reflect upon and guide their own and peers’ learning, and adapt when needed.
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See Instruction for Deeper Learning in Action
Watch the videos to see educators and students engaging in practices that showcase deeper learning in NYC Outward Bound partner schools.
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Each year, the R. Gaynor McCown Excellence in Teaching Award is given to an NYC Outward Bound Schools network teacher who empowers and inspires students, builds community and is a lifelong learner. Meet the 2022 winner, Dana Nelson, a 12th grade Humanities Teacher at Leaders High School.
Meet our 2023 R. Gaynor McCown Awardee Sedina Montoya, a Humanities, Literacy & Language Teacher at MS 839.
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How We Support Instruction for Deeper Learning
We partner with schools to build the capacity to develop Instruction for Deeper Learning. We do this through a combination of Coaching and Networked Learning.
Coaching
We partner with schools to decide on an annual scope of coaching based on how leaders envision instruction changing within 1-3 years, as named in their strategic plans and vision for deeper learning.
Learn More: Coaching
Networked Learning
Communities of Practice gather teachers from across the pathway to collectively learn about and implement deeper learning classroom practices.
Learn More: Networked Learning
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Partner With Us
Instruction for Deeper Learning partnership includes:
10 days of coaching
Two teachers joining a Community of Practice (CoP)
CoPs include:
Science, Tech and Engineering Teachers
Arts Educators for Deeper Learning
Centering Students with Disabilities with Active Learning Tasks That Foster Student Voice and Leadership
Inclusive Literacy Practices for Deeper Learning
Restorative Practices Leaders*
Integrating Postsecondary*
*These CoPs are intended to include non-instructional staff (leaders, counselors, social workers, etc.)
Two pathway convenings
Two leaders/teachers participating in our kick-off and end-of-year convenings with all schools in our network
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