This episode features a conversation with Ron Berger, long-time educator and program developer and now Senior Advisor, Teaching and Learning for EL Education. Beginning more than 30 years ago, EL Education was born out of the Outward Bound model of experiential learning that centers around young people, and adults, building strong bonds with each other and exploring and influencing the world together rather than alone, an approach to education that has particular resonance for young adolescents. 

In Part 1 of their conversation, Ron and Jason talk about the genesis of EL Education, the core features of its educational programs that appeal to young adolescent learning and development, like hands-on, real-world group learning expeditions and student-led assessment, plus examples from its partner schools on how these concepts of learning come to life.

Additional Readings and Resources

• EL Education
  • K-8 ELA curriculum
  • Crew: A Teamwork Approach to School Culture and Belonging
  • Kurt Hahn
• “To Improve Students’ Mental Health, Schools Take a Team Approach,” by Laura van Straaten, The New York Times, October 7, 2022.
• Harvard Graduate School of Education
• Outward Bound
  • Outward Bound Middle School Expeditions
• New American Schools Development Corporation
  • New American Schools’ Concept of Break the Mold Designs: How Designs Evolved and Why, by Susan J. Bodilly, RAND Corporation, 2001.
  • Facing the Challenges of Whole-School Reform: New American Schools After a Decade, by Mark Berends, Susan J. Bodilly, and Sheila Nataraj Kirby, RAND Corporation, 2002.
• A Nation At Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform, a report to the Nation and the Secretary of Education, United States Department of Education, January 1, 1983.