The Heartland Learning Collaborative: A regional ecosystem to make inclusive, inspiring and empowering civic learning the norm.
ABOUT
Kansas City is the pioneer model of a Civic Learning Collaborative, bringing museums and schools together to deliver the kind of learning that will help young people thrive as citizens and participants in their community.
As a city, we already have vibrant communities of learning for STEAM. We believe that while this is good, we need to go deeper. Therefore, it is our goal to create a complementary ecosystem of institutions that focus on developing young people as civic participants and community members.
OUR HISTORIC CHALLENGE
We want to help our community heal and find a path to the future through intense engagement with history and culture. Our classrooms and community institutions are important incubators of this learning, healing and movement forward.
HISTORY
The Learning Collaborative launched in 2020 after years of successful work by the Kansas City Social Studies Consortium and the Museum Educator Roundtable in response to the historic challenges we face as a community.
In partnership with got history?, we launched this Collaborative to increase our impact on student learning experiences in our region and to strengthen the social fabric of our community.
Accomplishments to date
• Hosted Inquiry-based learning workshops from 2017-2019
• Created first ever“Virtual Museum Day” with over 20 participating museums in May 2020
These lesson plans and videos are a testament to the incredible passion and commitment of educators across KC’s institutions to support young people in their growth, and to do better at a time when it seems like we everyone is just trying to hang on.”
Emily Wegner, Lee Summit
“
It is exciting to be on the cutting edge of innovative museum programming during these unique challenges of connecting with our local community”
Tiara Surface, Lee Summit
“
In all of my 39 years of working in Museums, this Collaborative is the most effective and inspiring thing I have ever seen”
Mark Adams , Truman Library
“
Museums capture and celebrate the best accomplishments of humankind now, more than ever, it is important that we celebrate those amazing feats together.”
Amanda Burkhart, Freedoms Frontier
OUR WORK
In Kansas City, we aim to help all young people have access to the high quality learning experiences they need to thrive as citizens of the future by building an ecosystem of passionate educators who care about young peoples’ Civic Wellbeing.
We are weaving a collaborative ecosystem committed to advancing Civic Wellbeing through inquiry, civic education and place-based learning. As a Collaborative, we work in teams and communicate on shared interests our Mighty Network platform.
WhAT WE WILL DO GOING FORWARD
• Increase collaborations between museums/cultural institutions and school districts to make sure all young people experience inspired learning and civic growth
• Create new opportunities for young people to learn, lead and innovate in cultural institutions so that they can help shape the narratives displayed and the institutions themselves to reflect the stories and identities of all • Activate cultural hubs throughout the community as incubators of civic learning for all age groups and in doing so strengthen the social fabric of our democracy
• Increase the practice of inquiry-based teaching by weaving a community that facilitates the co-creation of more local inquiry-based lesson plans • Increase the participation of museums and educators in the platforms of Explorable Places and Composer so that experiential and civic learning become a norm in our schools
