Helping schools and colleges evolve in excellence . . . from the inside.

• Increasing engagement and accountability for students and teachers . . . simultaneously improves academic success.
• Making continuous and relevant learning central to all school activity . . . simultaneously moves towards student achievement and strategic outcomes.
• Expanding the capacity for multiple ways of knowing  . . . simultaneously turns chaos and conflict into new knowledge and innovation.
• Increasing positivity in your classrooms, hallways and teacher’s lounges . . . simultaneously broadens and builds social and academic capacity.
• Expanding the capacity for teachers, administrators, parents, and students to think and act together . . . simultaneously evolves excellence.

Collaborative by Design facilitates the move from a traditional school or college to an Inquiry-Based Institution focusing on daily practices that result in positive relationships, positive environments, continuous learning and innovation, and the alignment of social and technical systems with strategic institutional outcomes.

What Makes Us Different?

• We trust in the inherent capacity of your teachers. Collectively, they know or can innovate best ways to support students in your community. Appreciative Inquiry practices helps them surface that knowledge.
• We know every community is unique and continuously changing; for you to provide sustainable academic success, you need the capacity to evolve from the inside as your community evolves.
• We know the only way to implement new thinking is to actually put it into practice.  Our programs put theory into practice from the outset and provide support over time.
• We know teachers are short on time and long on commitment to students. Individual lessons are brief and ideas that increase student and teacher success are readily put into practice.
• We know the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Our practices build collaborative capacity across the community: teachers, administrators, parents, students, and interested community members.

Course Lessons and Practice Opportunities

1. Introductory Seminar A 1-day workshop about Inquiry-Based Schools and Colleges, including an introduction to Appreciative Inquiry practices and collaborative learning.
2. On-Site Core Course: Lessons and Daily Collaborative Learning Practice This is a 6-month program. We begin with the Introductory Seminar followed by 1-hour monthly experiential lessons coupled with daily practice and online support for teachers and administrators.
3. Online Core Course: Lessons and Daily Collaborative Learning Practice This too is a 6-month program. We begin with the onsite Seminar followed with 12 bi-monthly 30-minute webinars coupled with daily practice and online support.
4. Inquiry-Based Leadership Course This course is for superintendents, school boards, and principals who are committed to a collaborative, inquiry-based school culture. This course parallels the Core Course; however, it is organized around administrative issues and concerns.