I work for a private (family established) foundation. We support a Students in Philanthropy program at 6 public high schools and 3 college/university campuses.

Topic/Focus of Instruction

Equip and motivate the next generation of philanthropic leaders (civics, leadership, and social capital development).

Strategies

Last year, I revamped the format of the curriculum. I posted developed PowerPoints and group exercises. Students learn about community need from a needs lense using case studies. They then select nonprofits and invite them to apply for grants. The grants are reviewed and the students then select projects in which to fundraise. I don't have any resources to share directly, as all the information was developed by me on our SharePoint site. However, I am more than happy to send anything forward if there is a particular interest.

I am struggling to integrate the knowledge needed to make informed decisions and make it interactive. I was relying on the coordinators at the schools. I don't think that is working.

To that end, we are constantly working on classroom management and instructional design that elevates the voices of students within the learning. Focusing on universal design and differentiated instruction as foundational to instructional processes allows for multidisciplinary opportunities to learn, practice, and reflect on the content and the process. If teachers can consider that some children need more options to see, hear, and touch they will design lessons from which all children can benefit.

One of the things we've worked hard to do is to assist teachers in creating their lesson plans planning for all objectives they have whether it be academic, social, and/or emotional. Thinking this way allows them to consider if the students have the skills they need to actually do what is planned. My major example is cooperative learning. If the skills and protocols for working in a group are taught, then the students will get organized each time they go into small group work.

Linking the learning to the interests of the students is another strategy we encourage teachers to use. For example, a writing assignment to teach a language arts standard can be about something they enjoy doing, someplace they would like to visit, or describing how they feel about a TikTok video. Using the things students are interested in encourages engagement.

On Professional Development, we realize that out of state conferences can be expensive and seek to bring national experts here at our conferences, summits, and webinars. We also bring in talent from all across the state in an intensive Leadership Institute of 20 leaders.

Additionally, we spend a lot of time informing legislators. Sometimes, decision-makers and the greater community don't know much about OST so we're always writing organizational letters, making social media graphics and organizing site visits to educate folks about the importance of OST. We don't do a whole lot of formal education but we inform the community in many ways!

1. Calendar talks

2. SEL mood baords

3. think-pair-share

4. question of the day

5. team building activities

6. teacher/student meetings

7. group/project work

8. project based learning

9. inquiry based learning

As a school, we also offer professional development for teacher to learn about new concepts and/or initiatives such as through after school meeting, seminars, or round table discussions.

In all IB programmes, teaching is:

• Based on inquiry.

• Focused on conceptual understanding.

• Developed in local and global contexts

  Focused on effective teamwork and collaboration.

• Designed to remove barriers to learning.

• Informed by assessment.

The five categories for learning are:

• thinking skills,

• research skills,

• communication skills,

• social skills,

• self-management skills

Our curriculum centers on Community-Based Civics, which blends academic learning with real-world action. Students identify local issues, research root causes, and develop policy-based solutions—building skills in critical thinking, public speaking, collaboration, and project-based learning along the way.

To ensure students are accessing this instruction meaningfully, we use a variety of strategies:

• 🗳️ Consensus Building – Students learn to navigate differing perspectives and co-create shared goals

• 🔍 Participatory Action Research – Youth investigate community issues using data, interviews, and lived experience

• 🎤 Public Speaking & Advocacy Practice – Through presentations, Civics Days, and testimony opportunities

• 🧠 Socratic Seminars & Structured Dialogue – To deepen understanding of civic systems and personal impact

• 🛠️ Project-Based Learning – Students design and implement action plans tied to real policy goals

• 🤝 Teacher Coaching & Professional Development – To support implementation and student engagement

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These strategies help students not only access instruction, but also own it—making civic engagement a habit, not a one-time event.

📚 Learn more about our approach:

• Generation Citizen’s Community-Based Civics Model

• Advocacy Hourglass Framework

We have a significant variety of instructional strategies across the school, which is a strong feature of our school in enabling a diverse approach to pedagogy and instruction. We utilise the Australian “Quality Teacher Rounds” https://qtacademy.edu.au/about-qt/  as the way to guide our instructional approach. Beyond this the specific strategies which we utilise are vast and all encompassing, for which tis list will not do them justice, but here are a few in no particular order:

Inquiry/project based learning

QTR training to guide pedagogy

Cultures of Thinking-Project Zero

Teacher coaching & mentoring

Student voice as much as possible

-Instruction is aligned to state standards

-Student achievement and growth

-Equity and access to learning

-Using data to improve instruction

-Professional Development

-Mental Health is also a focus