Liberate Education with Liberating Structures

In my younger years, I wanted to become a teacher. That curiosity about how we teach never really left me. Now, it’s triggered increasingly strongly through the classroom experiences of my three kids (age 12, 16, and 18).

Different schools, different teachers, yet I keep hearing the same patterns:
 😴 Lessons that are passive and predictable
 😔 Students expected to listen, not participate
 🤔 Questions are asked, but real dialogue rarely follows
 🫨 The loudest voices get most of the attention
 🙋‍♀️ Many students don’t feel truly seen or heard

This isn’t about bad teachers. It’s about default patterns that are hard to change. But if we want better learning outcomes and real engagement, those patterns need to shift.

Over the past weeks, I’ve been working on a practical guide to help teachers do exactly that, without adding complexity or extra workload.

The first version is ready. It includes 10 simple exercises that teachers can apply immediately, each taking less than 30 minutes, and is designed to increase student interaction and participation. No big transformation. No new methodology. Just small, practical interventions teachers can apply tomorrow.

The 10 situations for which I create a simple exercise are:

• Students create shared work agreements
• Students discuss an exercise in small groups
• Students generate and share ideas with the whole class
• Students explore different perspectives on a topic
• Students share experiences or examples with each other
• Students reflect on what they have learned and identify next steps
• Students give and get help on their own challenges
• Students build on successful experiences
• Students define what is absolutely necessary to achieve a goal
• Students present and share ideas with different classmates

For each exercise, you’ll get:
✅ When to use it (real classroom situations)
✅ Step-by-step instructions
✅ What it looks like in practice
✅ Tips based on real experience

Starting this week, you can download the related presentation from our public GitHub page. No email address needed, just hit download 🙂

In general, we’ll move forward in the spirit of “Integrated Autonomy.”

This means I’ll likely host a quarterly meetup or call to bring together everyone interested in this topic. During these sessions, we’ll share ideas, reflect on progress, and identify new improvement actions. At the same time, everyone has the autonomy to contribute in whatever way feels right for them.

Making money isn’t my primary motivation. If it happens, great! But my main goal is to create a positive impact, together.

If you know a school, school leader, or someone who influences how teaching is done, sharing is appreciated. 🙏

If you want to stay involved, simply send me a message on LinkedIn, and I’ll keep you posted about upcoming calls or meetups.