This is what St. Andrew’s School in Potomac, Maryland learned. St. Andrew’s, long known for their commitment to having all teachers understand how the brain learns so that they can serve their students best, wanted to take their developed capacity in this area and bridge it with Diversity, Equity, and Belonging pedagogical practices. LEARNS began working with the school to review their curriculum and to establish a research-informed understanding of “belonging.” As the adults in the community worked together in mixed-division groups and departments, they came to understand belonging as personally, interpersonally, school, and community/world dependent. They also began to appreciate the ways in which our sessions were designed from the beginning to put them in a position to learn and listen in different ways to and for their colleagues and students. We are thrilled that, while the “what” of our work was curriculum and pedagogy, the “why” of our work was to examine the complexities of community and discover growth edge areas for the school. We’re excited to design further listening engagement for St. Andrew’s in the coming year!

Our Work With St. Andrews School, Potomac, Maryland:

• Change leadership coaching

• Iterative feedback on learning tools 

• In-person and zoom workshops for all school employees throughout the school year 

• Listening practice and community building

• Curriculum audit process redesign

• Research and distillation of findings

• Facilitation

“The LEARNS Collaborative Team, led by Dr. Furlonge, were great partners in elevating our school's collective understanding of the research behind listening and how we can further our abilities to hear the many diverse voices--faculty, staff, students, administrators, and parents--that shape the whole child's school experience. The LEARNS team also provided additional sets of ears to help us collect data and explore current practices as we designed a Framework for the Future of Learners and Learning at St. Andrew's.”

– Glenn Whitman, Executive Director the Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning at St. Andrew's