By: Michelle Blanchet and Darcy Bakkegard
Innovation is a common goal in education. But too often, the very people at the center—teachers—are left out of the process. Professional learning often focuses on ensuring that teachers implement top-down initiatives or adapt rigid models and frameworks that rarely reflect the realities of their classrooms or communities. What if, instead, we invested in teachers’ ideas? What if we trusted educators as the designers of change?
At The Educators’ Lab, we’ve spent the past several years doing just that. By building professional learning models rooted in trust, agency, and action, we help teachers step into their full potential—not as disseminators of other people’s ideas, but as leaders, innovators, and implementers of their own.
We’ve learned something important along the way: When you create space for teachers to lead, amazing things happen for students, schools, and entire communities.
Professional Development? How About Professional Empowerment
Ecosystems of support, not compliance, empower educators to do their best work. This can be achieved through meeting educators where they are at with incubators, accelerators and joy labs.
Incubators: A Safe Playground for Exploration
Some educators come in knowing they want to do something impactful, but aren’t sure where to start. Incubators give these teachers a playground for exploration, connecting them to community partners, design-thinking tools, and coaching that helps them clarify a project and take meaningful action.
In North Dakota, we’ve collaborated with a local university to launch the Teacher Empowerment Incubator, an 8-month program to support rural North Dakota teachers in designing bold, local solutions for their schools and communities. With coaching, collaboration, and project funding, 12 educators—from kindergarten to high school—are turning classroom challenges into opportunities for meaningful, teacher-led change., Participants gather for in-person training, identify a local need, and co-design solutions with their students, all while receiving microgrants and ongoing support throughout the academic year.
Accelerators: Fast-Tracking Bold Ideas
Other teachers are ready to run. Our Accelerators are designed for these educators, offering microgrants, coaching, and a peer network to help them scale projects quickly and sustainably. Whether it’s creating a community-wide waste-management system or utilizing vermiculture to reduce food waste and enhance soil health, these teachers are demonstrating what’s possible when professional learning is grounded in trust.
“The Educators’ Lab made it possible for me to believe that my ideas aren’t just ideas, but can be executed to create an impact.”
— Sharihat Hassan, Nigeria
Joy Labs & Teacherhacks: Sparking What’s Possible
Too many teachers have never been given permission to imagine something different. Joy Labs and Teacherhacks invite educators to reframe the problems they face as opportunities and imagine possibilities. These short, energizing workshops help teachers develop the mindset and confidence to experiment with change, sometimes for the first time.
What Teachers Create
Whether improving agricultural practices, reimagining outdoor spaces, or creating innovative programming, teachers are crafting learning that’s rooted in real local needs. As experts, they connect students to their communities, turning challenges into opportunities for lasting change.
In Uganda, teacher Musisi Godfrey led the Young Farmers and Environmental Club, where students learn about permaculture in a hands-on way, plant and care for trees, and become ecological stewards in their community.
“The support and spark ignited through this initiative have made a meaningful impact in my teaching journey.”
— Musisi Godfrey, Uganda
In Ireland, science teacher Brian Kelleher created The Worm Academy to reduce school waste through a student-led vermicomposting initiative. Their project received EU level recognition for its ingenuity.
“It had a significant impact on my own professional development… I found myself engaging in opportunities I never anticipated, from media interviews to national competitions.”
— Brian Kelleher, Ireland
In Paraguay, Sara engages her students in creating sustainable solutions within their community in the Mbaracayú Forest Biosphere Reserve. Through this hands-on initiative, she empowers young women to become environmental leaders by actively designing a community-wide waste management system that works.
In Trinidad & Tobago, Wendy leads her students as they transform underused school grounds into a hydroponic garden, integrating sustainability with entrepreneurship.
These stories aren’t exceptions—they’re examples of what happens when teachers are trusted, resourced, and believed in.
Teachers as Catalysts
These models don’t just lead to amazing projects—they rebuild the profession. When teachers are empowered, we see ripple effects across entire ecosystems:
- Students experience hands-on, community-driven learning that builds confidence, relevance, and leadership skills.
- Communities benefit from student-led action, while seeing schools as partners in progress.
- Teachers feel reinvigorated, respected, and more likely to stay in the profession.
One of the reasons teachers leave is because they aren’t allowed to make the impact they set out to make. These models change that.
We’re not here to scale a single curriculum or replicate a rigid program. Our mission is to build an infrastructure of possibility—where educators can imagine, test, and implement the ideas that will make a real difference in students’ lives.
People say they want change in education. Teacher-led projects actually create it.
Darcy Bakkegard is a change consultant, co-founder of The Educators’ Lab, and co-author of The Startup Teacher Playbook. After more than a decade in the classroom teaching English and theatre, Darcy now creates the type of PD she always wanted, driving change in education and empowering teachers as changemakers. Through her work, teachers reconnect with their purpose, rekindle their spark for teaching, and reignite the JOY of teaching and learning.
The post What Happens When We Trust Teachers? appeared first on Getting Smart.