Welcome to Unboxed Issue 26

In 2009 I began an internship at the Innovation Unit in London. It being an internship, I was doing a little of everything, but my main project was Learning Futures, whose goal was to make school more engaging for students.
The Route To School Improvement Is Hiding In Plain Sight

“You know how you can tell you’re in a happy school within 30 seconds of walking through the front door?” This is a statement/question that I’ve experienced on countless occasions during a lifetime spent in education. It has a ring of truth to it and we’ve all felt it as visitors or (worse) inspectors.
Schools as Equitable Communities of Inquiry

We wrote this chapter several years ago, in response to a request from the Sitra Foundation in Finland that we envision the school of the future. The chapter is dated in some respects, but apart from minimal updates and revisions for clarity, it appears here as written.
Nurturing Student Well-Being and Engagement through Belonging

Educators have known for years that social, emotional, and cognitive processing are all neurologically intertwined and that school connectedness has long-lasting protective effects for adolescents.
Into the World of Projects

This year I fell in love with project-based learning. I am new to this world and I jumped…
Where Do Projects Come From?

The topic of discussion, as it so often is, was how to make projects meaningful and still…
In Over Our Heads

“It began in a whirlwind,” she started. “After the first week, it became apparent to me…
On Schools of Education

No enterprise in American universities has been subject to more ridicule than those…
Crafting Beautiful Work

Ron Berger has had an enormous influence on how High Tech High and many other schools….
Why We Did It

When we opened the first High Tech High in September of 2000, we had no idea that we would…