FAQs about The Teachers Guild x School Retool

The Teachers Guild and School Retool have merged to become one organization, which surfaces incredible opportunities and important questions. To help support The Teachers Guild x School Retool (TGxSR) community, we’ve responded to some of the key questions below. For others, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at TGxSR@ideo.com.

Who is The Teachers Guild x School Retool?

The Teachers Guild x School Retool believes that educators are the innovators our schools and communities have been waiting for. Our two organizations, The Teachers Guild and School Retool, have joined forces to create a professional learning community of educators who design meaningful learning and belonging so that every learner, students and adults alike, thrive. After five years of research and design at the K12 Lab at Stanford’s d.school, School Retool began to merge with The Teachers Guild in Summer 2019. Going forward, both programs will be incubated in a partnership between IDEO’s Design for Learning Studio and Plussed at Riverdale Country School. Thank you to our Design Council for helping bring our communities together!

Why did we merge?

The Teachers Guild and School Retool both recognized that school leaders, teachers, and families all need each other for equitable school change. We merged in order to help manifest that reality, to become a program that catalyzes school communities’ belief that they can create equitable change, by and for themselves. This means that, moving forward, we will not be running Teachers Guild Chapters or School Retool Cohorts as managed previously. Instead, with the incredible amount of uncertainty and change facing schools this academic year, we are offering free and accessible tools, community, and learnings so educators and leaders can design their way forward.

What is our approach?

The Teachers Guild x School Retool develops the local capacity of school communities to set and pursue equity aspirations so that every student is future-ready, no matter who they are, where they live, or how they learn. Through a community-led approach, teams of educators, leaders, students, and families catalyze equitable school change by leveraging the resources and expertise they already have in their schools and communities.

What do we offer?

We support school communities with the design and equity capabilities to manage and lead through the complexity of reimagining education together. Our community learns with and from each other through our offerings, which are free, accessible, and designed for in-person and virtual contexts. The Teachers Guild x School Retool offers:

• Tools: In August 2020, we will release a new toolkit with practices for how to build your design team and, together, set and achieve equity aspirations. Our hope is that this toolkit will increase accessibility to our programming and allow individuals to customize resources for their context, leading their own school teams through a design process.
• Community: We host a community of educators, leaders, and families who gather, learn, and support each other in how to lead equitable school change. We welcome you to join this community from July 27–31, 2020 for “It Starts with Schools, It Starts with Us,” a virtual summer experience inviting educators to gather, explore, build, and learn together to help prepare for the Fall. Register here and stay tuned for additional gatherings in the months ahead.
• Learnings: This summer and throughout the fall, we will be sharing the combined 10 years of research from The Teachers Guild and School Retool. The Case for Belief will share stories, evidence, and approaches towards building trust, belonging, resilience, collaboration, and evidence in schools. Going forward, we will continue to elevate stories and best practices from across the community.
• Experiences: If you would like a customized learning experience, please reach out to us at TGxSR@ideo.com. We will consider opportunities and determine if they are a fit for the School Retool coaching network, partner organizations in our network, or our own consulting team.

Can you continue running School Retool or The Teachers Guild programs?

Yes, and we hope you do! However, if you have the interest and capacity to continue running School Retool Cohorts or Teachers Guild Chapters in your community, we encourage you to do so, and would like to learn from you and offer the opportunity to learn from others. Keep an eye out for an invitation to join our community to share hacks, explore equitable learning practices, and problem solve together. If you have questions, please reach out to us at TGxSR@ideo.com.

Are there coaches to help run School Retool or The Teachers Guild?

Yes, and we would like to connect you! There is a network of trained School Retool coaches and, at The Teachers Guild, our team is always here to help you. If you have questions, please reach out to us at TGxSR@ideo.com.

What can TGxSR resources help you achieve in your school communities?

Our work helps boost school communities’ collective belief in their ability to create equitable change. For us, belief is our north star. Belief is an action. Because it’s through belief that we can change and truly achieve the aspirations of our students and schools. Based on five years of collaboration and experimentation, and a robust research base, The Teachers Guild x School Retool program has identified five essential building blocks for developing belief in schools: trust, belonging, resilience, evidence, and collaboration. We know that no single person, policy, or practice leads to equitable school change, but, in combination with each other, these building blocks can create a powerful sense of belief and set a strong foundation for school change.

Why is our work important today?

From the COVID-19 pandemic to the re-awakening of racial injustice (read more here for our personal message to our community) in the United States has surfaced the deep inequities and pitfalls of our world. The last few months have unearthed uncertainty of what the future holds for our schools, educators, and most importantly our students. This is a moment to dig deep and ask: Why would we revert to a broken normal? We have an unprecedented opportunity in front of us to dismantle some of those inequities by keeping dignity and justice for students and families at the forefront. Now and going forward, school communities need teams of leaders, educators, students and families with the skills, mindsets, and belief to be able to design more equitable futures and reimagine education

How can you stay involved?

Please join us for our virtual learning experience, It Starts With Schools, It Starts With Us, from July 27–31, 2020. Also, keep a lookout for our new toolkit and invitations to our community of practice calls this Fall.

Most importantly, thank you for being a valued part of our community. Thank you for building with us. We look forward to continuing to design together.

In Community,

The Teachers Guild x School Retool Team