THE THINKING PROJECT INSTITUTE

What they do

PIVOTED to DIRECT EDUCATOR SUPPORT THROUGH IBSR SESSIONS: BUILDING ON OUR PRIOR-YEAR EDUCATOR INTERVIEWS and FRAMEWORK PILOTS, WE VERIFIED THAT TEACHERS REGULARLY FACE DIFFICULT SITUATIONS WHERE THEY DONT KNOW HOW to RESPOND. THIS is CONSISTENT WITH NATIONAL RESEARCH ON WIDESPREAD EDUCATOR STRESS and BURNOUT. IN RESPONSE, WE FOCUSED ON SUPPORTING EDUCATORS DIRECTLY THROUGH INQUIRY-BASED STRESS REDUCTION (IBSR) SESSIONS. WE DEVELOPED A VIRTUAL IBSR TOOL to HELP GUIDE A SESSION, and TESTED BOTH THE EFFECTIVENESS of AN IBSR EXPERIENCE IN REDUCING EDUCATOR STRESS and ITS POTENTIAL for SUSTAINED, REPEATED USE BY EDUCATORS. WE DELIVERED 32 INDIVIDUAL IBSR SESSIONS to EDUCATORS (31 REPORTED A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE), 5 SMALL-GROUP SESSIONS WITH PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES (PLCS) and INSTRUCTIONAL COACHES (5-12 PARTICIPANTS EACH), and ONE EDUCATOR SUMMIT of APPROXIMATELY 10 PARTICIPANTS. ALL REPORTED POSITIVE EXPERIENCES.