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Continue reading →: The World Is the Classroom:Why Student Travel Is One of the Most Powerful Paths to IkigaiI just returned from the EF Global Education Advisory Council meeting — a gathering of educators, researchers, and thought leaders who share an unshakeable conviction: that the experience of traveling, truly traveling, changes young people in ways that are difficult to measure and impossible to overstate. I walked away rejuvenated.…
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Continue reading →: Built for the Honey Badgers: Why Today’s Students Demand a Bigger ClassroomCommunity as Curriculum Bringing the World Into School It is not every school where you might walk down the hallway and hear the soft bleating of a lamb. But at Escalante Middle School, that is not unusual — it is the point. In our agriculture and veterinary science class, students…
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Continue reading →: The Portrait of a Graduate: Redefining What Success Looks LikeImagine two students, both graduating in June. The first has a 4.0 GPA, a clean transcript, and near-perfect test scores. He has mastered the game of school. He knows how to study for the test, absorb the rubric, and deliver what each teacher wants. Ask him what he loves, what…
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Continue reading →: Designing for Discovery: How to Create Classrooms Where Curiosity LivesA few years ago, I walked into one of our elementary classrooms and stopped in the doorway. The room was loud — not chaotic, but alive. A small group of students were hunched over a table, arguing (politely) about whether a dam they’d built with craft sticks would hold back…
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Continue reading →: Finding the Why Behind the Work: Why Ikigai Belongs at the Heart of Every School“Only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road.”— Dag Hammarskjöld A Question Worth AskingWhat if the most important question we could ask a student isn’t “What do you want tobe when you grow up?” but rather “What makes you come alive?”After nearly…
Hello,
I’m Karen
Hi, I’m Dr. Karen Cheser, an educator with almost 40 years’ experience as a superintendent, district and school leader, coach and teacher. I’ve always been focused on building student agency and innovation and am committed to ensuring every student can find and live out their Ikigai.
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Inspiring Ikigai 