EduDesign Learning Communities
About EduDesign
Educator Community • Justice Pedagogies • Teacher Retention
Contact us to initiate the EduDesign model in your district or region. Join our mailing list to learn about UW EduDesign cohorts in 2025-26. |
Unique Approach
EduDesign is a uniquely teacher-led and collective approach to professional learning that:
- Builds educator community
- Develops justice pedagogies
- Supports teacher retention
Teaching is complex and dynamic work in an ever-changing field with evolving student needs. Professional isolation is detrimental to serving students well and contributes to teacher attrition, with high costs for students and the state. Teachers need and deserve supported opportunities to grapple with the big challenges they face, in collaboration with trusted peers.
We know that in order for teachers of color and justice-focused teachers to stay in the game they need to:
- Feel effective for their students
- Continue learning and shaping their practice
- Feel connected to a community
- Feel heard and empowered
- See a future for themselves, including leadership opportunities
- Be supported to navigate systems while working to transform them so minoritized students and adults can thrive
With this in mind, EduDesign Teacher Learning Communities are:
- Opportunities to grapple with big ideas and to connect theory and practice
- Spaces with varied focus areas and opportunities for affinity groups
- Experiences that support educators to grow their justice work
- Designed & facilitated by teachers, for teachers
- Cohorts that center the curiosity, knowledge, and expertise of teachers
- Supported by staff and other UW College of Education resources
Impacts
According to our spring 2023 survey of participants, respondents had a lot to say about the impact of their EduDesign experiences.
Learn More
Read more about EduDesign in this spotlight article from the College's 2023-24 "Advancing Educational Justice" magazine. Hear from our lead organizer and one of our participants.
Gain a sense of the experiences of recent EduDesign participants in this recorded webinar from spring 2024.
Contact
For more information about how to join a UW EduDesign Community or to request support to use the EduDesign model in your school or district email the ConnectEd Office for Professional & Community Learning at ConnectEd@uw.edu.
Partnership & Support
We continue to build on the design of the project to better support teachers each year. We invite your help to grow and further develop this effort to support Washington’s teachers and students as a community partner, local educator, or donor. Contact us at ConnectEd@uw.edu to learn more about our work and how you can be a part of it.