Open Way Learning

Open Way Learning
Our Mission: Co-designing innovative school cultures.
Our Vision: Every learner can change the world. Innovative schools empower that change to happen now.
OWL FAQs
Who We Are
We are a 501(c)3 nonprofit with a singular focus on
helping schools develop, sustain, and scale systems
of learner-centered innovation that better prepare
students for the realities of the 4th Industrial
Revolution, especially students historically
furthest from opportunity.
Design Sprints
Customized workshops that use design thinking and agile tools to help schools and districts identify, adapt, and refine proven, learner-centered strategies (experiential learning, mastery learning, makerspaces, advisory, etc.) to ultimately address local challenges with local talent.
Sustained Support
Targeted coaching, study visits, and co-design sessions that leverage local assets as we grow in-house capacity to sustain and scale learner-centered strategies, thus baking them into the school's culture.
Open Source Resources
Rather than hoard "intellectual property" in a competitive and inequitable manner, all of our tools & resources are available to our partners via a Creative Commons license so that they can be remixed to better meet local needs and goals. Find examples here, including the OWL Maturity Model.
Collaborative Networks
Open Way Learning believes in the transformative power of crowdsourced change. As such, we sponsor a growing network of education stakeholders that share a passion for positive disruption through collective efficacy and action. Learn more here.
Our Theory of Change
We believe that every learning community has the capacity for authentic innovation. It is with that belief that we help schools use Open Design to radically improve the relevance and meaning of the teaching and learning environment for students. Our work is never based on cookie-cutter, one-size-fits all programs. Rather, we employ a highly-customized, empathy driven approach that is grounded in the following core principles - what we call the ingredients of true, learner-centered innovation:

Living Mission & Vision
The school not only understands its "why" and "how," but is living them through the actions & outcomes one sees in every classroom, every lesson, every day.

Collective Leadership
Everyone is empowered to grow their skill, talent, and leadership capacity by exercising autonomy, mastery, and purpose in the work they do for and with students.

Radical Collaboration
The default mode of every interaction and decision is collaborative - between students, between peers, and between stakeholders in the local community and beyond.

Open Source Sharing
The school is an authentic learning organization, committed to collective efficacy through the open sharing, critique, and revision of ideas and resources.

Systemic
Innovation
The school uses a continuous improvement mindset to design, implement, and refine strategies that better prepare students for the Future of Work.
Our Source Code
Open Up, Education! is the book that began the Open Way Learning movement. Backed by research and filled with case studies and examples from around the world, it provides the basis for how educators can leverage the open source principles of transparency, inclusivity, adaptability, community, and collaboration to bring positive disruption to the education ecosystem. It provides a roadmap for how any education stakeholder can adapt, model, and sharie learner-centered innovations that help prepare students with the skills & knowledge needed to thrive in a rapidly changing world.

Published by Rowman & Littlefield. Also available from: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Google Books, Trove, & Bokus.
Learn More About the Book!
The OWL Team
A passionate team of education stakeholders willing to disrupt the status quo...
Join the Movement!
Please follow our social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, & LinkedIn and sign up for our routine newsletters & impact reports...and thank you for helping us disrupt the status quo in education!
Subscribe to the OWL Newsletter

Open Way Learning

Our Mission: Co-designing innovative school cultures.

Our Vision: Every learner can change the world. Innovative schools empower that change to happen now.

Who We Are

We are a 501(c)3 nonprofit with a singular focus on

helping schools develop, sustain, and scale systems

of learner-centered innovation that better prepare

students for the realities of the 4th Industrial

Revolution, especially students historically

furthest from opportunity.

Design Sprints

Customized workshops that use design thinking and agile tools to help schools and districts identify, adapt, and refine proven, learner-centered strategies (experiential learning, mastery learning, makerspaces, advisory, etc.) to ultimately address local challenges with local talent.

Sustained Support

Targeted coaching, study visits, and co-design sessions that leverage local assets as we grow in-house capacity to sustain and scale learner-centered strategies, thus baking them into the school's culture.

Open Source Resources

Rather than hoard "intellectual property" in a competitive and inequitable manner, all of our tools & resources are available to our partners via a Creative Commons license so that they can be remixed to better meet local needs and goals. Find examples here, including the OWL Maturity Model.

Collaborative Networks

Open Way Learning believes in the transformative power of crowdsourced change. As such, we sponsor a growing network of education stakeholders that share a passion for positive disruption through collective efficacy and action. Learn more here.

Our Theory of Change

Living Mission & Vision

The school not only understands its "why" and "how," but is living them through the actions & outcomes one sees in every classroom, every lesson, every day.

Collective Leadership

Everyone is empowered to grow their skill, talent, and leadership capacity by exercising autonomy, mastery, and purpose in the work they do for and with students.

Radical Collaboration

The default mode of every interaction and decision is collaborative - between students, between peers, and between stakeholders in the local community and beyond.

Open Source Sharing

The school is an authentic learning organization, committed to collective efficacy through the open sharing, critique, and revision of ideas and resources.

Systemic

Innovation

The school uses a continuous improvement mindset to design, implement, and refine strategies that better prepare students for the Future of Work.

Our Source Code

The OWL Team

A passionate team of education stakeholders willing to disrupt the status quo...

Join the Movement!

Please follow our social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, & LinkedIn and sign up for our routine newsletters & impact reports...and thank you for helping us disrupt the status quo in education!