A child's experience led to a systemic question.
As a school principal, near two decades ago, I began to see how systems were seeing children. Students were being referred for special needs testing, and while we could take a snapshot in time that reflected current and perceived capacity, we were failing to see how children were also carrying experiences and unmet needs that were not being captured or considered. We were failing to see the potential for capacity building and true ability. This recognition changed the trajectory of my work. I began to ask what conditions must be present before someone can fully progress?
In response, after completing my doctoral research considering the same dissonance, I founded Rethink Learning, a small and lean non profit where I could examine system design and sandbox solutions. Since that time I have designed curriculum, developed training, designed models and frameworks, architected the Universal Equity Pedagogy (UEP), innovated the requirements for the delivery system, as well as authored and presented on the same, all in an effort to answer a form of the initial question: What is the way of educating that will lead to human flourishing?
As we began to near completion of the framework for the new in education, the new and confronting question became where is the new track that the new train can run on? UEP is development-based, it would require a development-based governance model.