Through a newly launched grant competition, LRNG Innovators is challenging teachers to reach beyond the schoolhouse door to develop partnerships and programs that connect in-school and out-of-school learning and create opportunities for young people to follow their interests and do ambitious work. With support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, John Legend\u2019s Show Me Campaign, and the National Writing Project, LRNG Innovators will invest in teams of teachers committed to exploring how learning experiences can move fluidly and coherently across the spheres of formal and informal learning.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach team will be challenged to build on their strengths as a school and community to develop models, curricula, and approaches that can be taken up by others,\u201d said Elyse Eidman-Aadahl, Executive Director of the National Writing Project. \u201cSuccessful applications will propose an innovative idea to create an environment that allows young people to engage in authentic work fueled by interest and passion across the spheres of their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
The challenge supports educators to work together to develop new practices or projects that have, at their core, principles of Connected Learning<\/a>\u2014interest-driven, production-centered, peer-supported work by young people. Eligible educators include teachers and also mentors, librarians, museum educators, teaching artists, and all those who work with youth in learning-centered endeavors and opportunities. \u201cBy investing in teachers and their ideas, LRNG Innovators aims to inspire teacher-to-teacher change to bolster student success in and out of school,\u201d said John Legend. \u201cAnd, we also highlight the creativity, imagination, and professionalism of educators across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n LRNG Innovators is one part of the LRNG<\/a> endeavor. Led by Collective Shift<\/a>, LRNG seeks to create a 21st-century ecosystem of learning that combines in-school, out-of-school, work-based, and online learning opportunities that are visible and accessible to all. By supporting new pathways to success for underserved young people to access learning opportunities, LRNG brings together educators, schools, cities, business leaders, and community resources to surround young people with experiences that connect their interests to real-world opportunities.<\/p>\nApply Today<\/h4>\n