Educator Program

Following the Immersion Experience on Day One, the Educator Program (for adults) is designed in tandem with the Student Program, and the two unfold as parallel journeys across the second and third days of the Learning Futures Summit.

Adults begin with self-reflection, then move toward a deeper understanding of adolescent motivation and what young people most need from the adults in their lives. From there, we explore how to show up as compassionate collaborators with a mentor mindset.

All of this work builds toward a shared culminating experience: coming together with students to learn from them directly and offer support in their compassionate action projects.

The program is grounded in the OECD Education for Human Flourishing Framework, structured around three guiding questions: Who am I? Where am I? And What am I for?

SUMMIT DAY TWO: Understanding the World

The day opens through the lens of Understanding the World, a core competency from the OECD Education for Human Flourishing that encompasses the knowledge, dispositions, and capacities that help people make sense of complex systems and act thoughtfully within them. Rather than focusing on content delivery, it asks how people interpret reality, evaluate information, and situate themselves in a larger context. We start by listening, really listening, to student voices: what matters to them, and what they need from adults to take meaningful action.

From there, adults engage in structured reflection and discussion to begin preparing how they will show up in the afternoon's intergenerational workshops. By the time those sessions begin, participants will already have a set of practical tools in hand, ready to use in their classrooms and to spark broader conversations at their schools.

In the afternoon, we turn to the research on adolescent motivation and what drives teens to become the compassionate changemakers our world needs. This opens into honest conversation about the personal habits and school-wide systems that either support or get in the way of genuine adult-student partnership. Using a reflection audit tool, educators will identify areas of strength, areas of growth, and areas they have the power to change, both individually and systemically.

The day closes with an introduction to David Yeager's Mentor Mindset, a powerful framework for understanding how to best show up for young people, whether in the classroom, in service learning, or in the everyday moments that matter most.
 

Learning Block 1: Expanding Awareness of Self

Understanding the World and Who I Am in It:

• Empathy interviews and storytelling
• Embracing a compassionate stance
• Discussion of cultural humility as a tool for a compassionate stance and intergenerational dialogue

Session Takeaway: Adopting a compassionate stance with tools for compassionate action. Participants will leave with a concrete empathy interview protocol they can use with their own students back at school.
 

Learning Block 2: Expanding Awareness of Young People and Systems

Understanding the World and Where I Am in It:

• Adolescent development
• Student voices: Findings from Youth Participatory Action Research
• Exploring our hidden curriculum
• Understanding the dual operating systems students navigate

Session Takeaway: Personal and school audit of systemic barriers to compassion; understanding of student development and how students perceive and desire support from their teachers. The school audit is designed to be shared with colleagues and administrators as a practical starting point for schoolwide conversation and systems change.
 

Learning Block 3: Expanding Awareness of Self

The Mentor Mindset:

• Overview of David Yeager's Mentor Mindset
• Application of Mentor Mindset to compassionate action in student-teacher interactions

Session Takeaway: Co-created compassionate educator checklist, organized into two levels: everyday classroom practices and broader school culture shifts, so educators can act immediately and think long-term.
 

SUMMIT DAY THREE: Acting in the World

Day Three shifts from understanding to action. Grounded in the OECD Education for Human Flourishing competency of Acting in the World, the day focuses on the capacities that enable individuals to translate understanding into intentional, ethical, and effective action within their communities and broader systems. This is not just participation; it is informed, responsible contribution. Participants take the tools and self-awareness they've developed and put them to work.

We return to the Mentor Mindset as a practical guide, and spend time actively practicing the listening skills that effective mentorship requires. Using real case studies from international school students, participants will practice tuning in to what students actually need, noticing the instincts and habits that can get in the way of true collaboration, and building strategies to navigate those moments in real time.

This preparation leads directly into the afternoon, when adults join students to hear about their projects and offer genuine, informed support.

The day, and the summit, closes with a culminating activity centered on reconnection between adults and youth.
 

Learning Block 4 – Part 1: Acting in the World

What Am I For?

• Revisiting a compassionate stance with compassionate listening tools
• Case study discussions as practice of Mentor Mindset and intergenerational dialogue
• Self-reflection and personal action plan

Session Takeaway: A personal action plan that distinguishes between changes educators can make in their own practice starting Monday and changes they want to advocate for at the school or systems level. This is the central deliverable of the summit, built incrementally across both days.
 

Learning Block 4 – Part 2: Acting in the World

Putting Our Mentor Mindset into Action:

• Understanding the important role adults play in student lives and recognizing our unique strengths in working with students
• Understanding how students receive information and aligning our communication to student needs

Session Takeaway: Personal pledge and commitment statement, grounded in both individual practice and a specific systems-level goal the educator commits to bringing back to their school community.
 

What Participants Take Home

Every adult will leave the summit with a concrete toolkit to bring back to their school, including:

• An empathy interview protocol
• A compassionate educator checklist
• A school audit one-pager
• A personal action plan.

These tools are designed to work at two levels: some are ready to use in the classroom on day one, while others are designed to spark larger conversations about school culture and systems change. Participants will leave with a clear picture of how to act as a compassionate collaborator with young people and a deeper understanding of what students need to become engaged, empowered civic actors.

LEARNING FUTURES SUMMIT HOME