Systems Thinking Guide for Teachers

If there’s one concept educators can no longer afford to ignore, it’s systems thinking. It’s not new. But it’s newly urgent. With the rapid rise of AI, the growing complexity of classrooms, and the layered nature of challenges like student engagement, curriculum design, and educational equity, the need for systems-level thinking is becoming more persistent.…

Critical Thinking in The Age of AI

With AI-generated content everywhere, convincing, polished, and often dead wrong, students need more than digital literacy. They need intellectual grit. They need the tools to question, to evaluate, to not fall for the first thing that sounds authoritative. They need the skills of AI. What Is Critical Thinking? We’ll start with two foundational definitions: John…

Holistic Education Simply Explained

New to the concept of holistic education? Let me tell you this: while the term gained traction in the 1980s, especially after the release of “The Holistic Curriculum” by John P. Miller, the actual practice of holistic education? It’s been around for centuries. As Miller himself put it, holistic education didn’t just appear, it’s been…

Culturally Responsive Teaching Simply Explained

Culturally responsive teaching (CRT) has gained attention in recent years, largely thanks to Geneva Gay’s landmark book Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, and Practice. Gay made the concept accessible, practical, and deeply rooted in classroom realities. But here’s where confusion sets in: CRT is often conflated with culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP), a framework Gloria Ladson-Billings…

Design Thinking Simply Explained

Ask any teacher what makes learning meaningful, and you’ll hear words like relevance, curiosity, empathy, and hands-on problem solving. Now what if I told you there’s an approach that brings all of this together? It’s called design thinking. It goes back to the 1960s. Herbert Simon was one of the early voices who said design…

Mixed Methods Research Simply Explained

In previous posts I shared here and elsewhere, I discussed both qualitative research and quantitative research and in this post, I talk about mixed methods research. I also created an illustrative visual that you can download for free at the bottom of this page. What is Mixed Methods Research? Creswell (2019) defines mixed methods research…

Digital Literacy Simply Explained

When was the last time you heard someone talk seriously about digital literacy? I’d guess it’s been a while. And honestly, I think I know why. As Lankshear and Knobel (2011) pointed out over a decade ago, literacy as a concept has become so institutionalized and regulated (tied to national tests, international benchmarks, and endless…

Qualitative Research Simply Explained

A couple of weeks ago, I shared a visual on quantitative research and I was really glad to see how many of you found it useful, especially for teaching and workshops. Today I’m shifting the focus to qualitative research, a paradigm I’ve been immersed in since my master’s degree. Here is the thing: condensing the…

Game-based Learning Simply Explained

As part of my Simply Explained series, I’ve been covering a range of student-centered instructional approaches, from project-based learning to experiential and inquiry-based learning. Today, I cover Game-Based Learning (GBL), a topic that has been particularly influential in my work as an educator and researcher. James Paul Gee is one of the key theorists in…

Formative Assessment: Types and Tools

Formative assessment plays a central role in effective teaching. It is not something done at the end of instruction, but rather a continuous process woven into the learning itself. As Bell and Cowie (2000) put it, formative assessment “provides feedback to students (and teachers) about the learning which is occurring, during the teaching and learning,…

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