We help you figure out where you are and where you want to go.
Our Values, Vision & Mission
Values
Curiosity, Harmony & Connection drive the work we do around the world.
Vision
We envision a future where young people develop social-emotional-ethical skills & well-being while learning in mixed-age, mixed-ability groups. They learn at their own pace & in teams, with teams of educators. They learn through interdisciplinary projects of personal, local, cultural, global relevance. Every learner creates evidence of their learning journey. Learning is complemented by paid internships, followed by 2 or more years of service before entering the world of work or micro-credentialing in higher education.
Mission
To have a positive impact on the world one learner, one educator and one community at a time
Why How What
You have less time to plan and engage your community. We blend online and face-to-face experiences to make it easy to move forward with your vision.
Develop Your Why
We recommend that you work with Kavita Tanna to conduct a deep dive into your values, vision and mission to shape your WHY. WHY do you and your learning community get up every day with plans to change the world? HOW will you make that change? WHAT does learning and teaching look like? With these foundational elements in place, you can work with Kavita as a master educator to build a highly-engaging set of experiences linked to well being, empathy, sustainable development goals, social justice, local curriculum standards and more.
How You Get There
Where are you and where do you want to go?
We help schools and communities around the world identify current educational practices and desired future practices. Those ideas are formed by teams of young people, educators and community partners committed to shaping your educational vision, developing teams of educators and when needed, creating future-flexible facilities in support of great teaching and learning experiences.
We share current research and best practices in order to reflect upon thoughtful conversations about the future of education; we inspire your community with images, stories and data from highly-effective schools found around the world and utilize a proven framework to help you to discover a vision that is unique to your community.
How might you utilize the staff, time, furnishings and facilities you already have more effectively?
We bring an independent perspective that does not assume that major facility impacts will be needed to implement your vision. The school of the future is likely to be a facility you already own, staffed by people you already employ, dramatically transformed for teaching and learning in a dynamic century.
What You Can Expect
We help you discover zero dollar solutions to million dollar problems
Our five furniture whispering principles help you to coax the best performance out of the most unruly furnishings you own.
5 Principles of Furniture Whispering : Published in Learning By Design Spring 2020
https://pubs.royle.com/publication/?m=31173&i=654595&p=18&ver=html5
And all the other things you would expect us to do to understand your needs:
Enrollment forecasting, Facility capacity & utilization studies, School siting & student location mapping, Facility condition inventories
Recent Schools & Communities
Aboriginal Education Project/Kempsey, AU . Adventist Schools New South Wales & Queensland, AU . Avondale Adventist School/Cooranbong, NSW, AU . Blue Hills College (PK-12)/ Goonellebah, NSW, AU . Brisbane Adventist College (PK-12)/Mansfield, QLD . Central Coast Adventist School/Erina, NSW, AU . Kempsey Adventist School/ Kempsey, NSW, AU . Gillieston Heights Community Learning Centre/Maitland, NSW, AU . Hills Adventist College (PK-12)/ Castle Hill, NSW . Macquarie College (PK-12), Wallsend, NSW, AU . Mountain View Adventist College (PK-12) Sydney, AU . Port Macquarie Adventist School/Port Macquarie, NSW . Toronto Adventist School/Toronto, NSW . Tweed Valley Adventist College (PK-12)/Murwillumbah, NSW, AU . Afribuk Society, Kajiado, Kenya . Alliance for Project Based Learning +, Global Education Non-Profit . Ameresco/Anaconda Public Schools/Anaconda MT . ar.CHIASMO . Arlee Public Schools/ Arlee, MT . Association of Independent Schools (AIS) Tomorrow’s Environments For Learning 2022 (TEL) Australian Christian College Marsden Park . Australian International Academy . Hindu Cultural School Parramatta . Living School Lismore . Queensland Independent Schools Block Grant Authority . St. Sava College Varroville . The Scots School Albury . Beaver Lake School, Beaver Lake, AB . Bozeman Field School/Bozeman, MT . Building Mind & Body/Missoula, MT. Cayuse Prairie Elementary School/Kalispell, MT . Chicago Heights School District #170/Chicago Heights, IL . Colegio Einstein/Quito . CSRA/US Environmental Protection Agency/Smart School Siting Tool . Darby School District/Darby, MT . Deer Park Elementary School/Columbia Falls, MT . Dixon Elementary School/Dixon, MT . Educatio Rad School/Livingston, MT . Elm School/Alexandria Egypt . Equity Schools.org/Chicago, IL . Federal Government College Vandeikya . Florence-Carlton School District/Florence, MT . Folk Arts Cultural Arts Cultural Treasures Charter School/ Philadelphia . Frenchtown K-12 Schools/ Frenchtown, MT . Transitional Planning . Maker Culture Planning . Georgia Conservancy/ Atlanta, GA . Georgia Municipal Association/ Atlanta, GA . Newton Public Schools/Covington Housing Authority/Newtown, GA . NPU-G School & Community Planning/Brookview Heights/Monroe Heights/Scotts Crossing/Rockdale, GA . Paulding County Planning Department/Paulding School District/Dallas, GA . Gimnasio los Caobos/Chia, Colombia . Gimnasio La Montana/Bogota, Colombia . Heart Lake School/Heart Lake, AB . Helena Public Schools/Helena, MT . Hummel Architects/Boise, ID . Pocatello High School/Pocatello Chubbuck School District/Pocatello, ID . Idaho Fine Arts Academy/West Ada School District/Boise, ID . ILM Academy/ Nairobi, KEN . Jane Goodall Environmental Sciences Academy/Maple Lake . JFK Pre School/Querétaro, Mexico . LEAP/ Burlington, VT . Learning Environments For Tomorrow Institute/Project Zero/Harvard University 2013 . New Orleans Public Schools, New Orleans, LA . Arsenal Technical High School, Indianapolis, IN . Gimnasio Los Caobos, Chia, Colombia 2014 . The Blue School, New York, NY . Steger School District #194, Steger, IL . Washington International School, Washington, DC . Saratoga Springs City School District, Saratoga Springs, NY . 2015 . The Thatcher School, Ojai, CA . Athens City Schools, Athens, AL . Kempsey Adventist School, Kempsey, NSW . Charleston County School District, Charleston, SC . Redeemer Baptist School, Sydney, NSW . 2016 . Saint Aloysius’ College (K-12)/Sydney, AU . Chicago Heights School District #170, Chicago Heights, IL . Presbyterian Ladies College, Sydney, NSW . 2017 . Kankakee School District #111, Kankakee, IL . Elm School, Alexandria, Egypt . Internacional School Curitiba, Brazil . 2019 . Deerfield Community School, Deerfield, NH . Mayfield Junior School, Pasadena CA . Mesa Public Schools, Mesa, AZ . Mesa High School . Mountain View High School . West Point Grey Academy, Vancouver, BC . Shree Sarasswathi Vidhyaah Mandheer Institutions, Tamil Nadu, India . Lolo Elementary School/Lolo, MT . McKinstry/Seattle, WA . Eureka Public Schools/Eureka, MT . Montana State University Community Design Center/Bozeman, MT . Ohio Facilities Construction Commission . Visioning Workshops with Dr. Frank Locker/Columbus, Dayton & Rootstown, OH . Oregon City High School Bridge Program . Park City School District/Park City, UT . Project Pangea/Global . Ray of Hope Academy/ Abenga, Nigeria . Revolution in Education Congress/Bogota y Cartagena, Columbia (2017, 2019, 2020, 2022) . Saint Aloysius’ College (K-12)/Sydney, AU . Saint Columba Anglican School/Port Macquarie, NSW . Saint Ebbes Primary School/ Oxford . Salish Kootenai College Division of Education/Pablo, MT . Scottsdale Unified School District Hohokam Elementary School, Scottsdale, AZ . SpectrUM/Broader Impacts Group Maker Space Initiative/Corvallis, Darby & Hamilton, MT . Steger School District #194/Steger, IL . Superior School District . Target Range Elementary School/Missoula, MT . Temple X Schools/Baltimore, MD . Terra Nova School/ Maple Lake, MN . The Mon’t Kiara International School/Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia . University of Ghana/Accra, Ghana . College of Basic & Applied Science, College of Education, College of Health Sciences, College of Humanities . University of Montana Education Leadership Program/Missoula, MT . Upper West Shore Elementary School/Dayton, MT . VCBO Architects . Tooele County School District/Tooele, UT . West High School/Salt Lake City . West Valley Elementary School/Kalispell, MT . Whitefish Christian Academy/Whitefish, MT . XQ Superschool Semi-Finalist/Heartland Hills, KS . Yukon Koyukuk School District/Hughes, AK . Zero Waste Ambassadors Program/Missoula, MT
Nick's prior client collaborations with CTA, Presidio, WGM, Equity Schools, Ameresco, Fielding Nair International, PBA Architects, Ennead, NAC, Frank Locker Educational Planning, McKinstry, Dejong, HFMA & more
Amsterdam Elementary School District . Anaconda Public Schools . Belgrade High School . Bigfork Public Schools . Billings Catholic Schools . Boulder Valley School District . Butte High School . Clinton Elementary School . Colstrip Public Schools . Corvallis School District . Daly Elementary School . Dillon Elementary School District . Florence-Carlton School District . Forrest Bird Charter School . Frenchtown School District . Hamilton K-12 Schools . Helena Public Schools . Kalispell School District . Kimberly School District . Learning Environments For Tomorrow . Libby School District . Lolo School District . Manhattan Public Schools . MET School- Newport . Missoula County Public Schools . Missoula International School . Monroe Intermediate School . Montana Office of Public Instruction . Ohio School Facilities Commission . Park High School . Plains School District . Polson Public Schools . Poplar School District . Powell Middle School . Sidney Public Schools . Sidwell Friends School . St Regis K-12 School . Townsend K-12 Schools . West Valley School District . White Sulphur Springs Public Schools . Willard Alternative School .
Our Team
Nick Salmon, Founder nicksalmon@collaborativelearningnetwork.com
“The school of the future is likely to be a facility you already own, staffed with people you already employ, dramatically transformed with limited resources for teaching and learning in a dynamic century.” “The three most revolutionary and impactful things we can do in education don’t cost a penny- teaching in teams, thinking differently about how we use time, and decluttering our learning environments”- Nick Salmon, 9th Generation Educator . Facility Planner . Professional Development Coach . Furniture Whisperer
Kavita Tanna, Globally Reconnect kavita@globallyreconnect.org
After years of mentoring, community development and teaching in England and China, Kavita has created the social enterprise, Globally Reconnect. As a full-time facilitator for mission-driven work across communities, she is guided by the famous philosophy accredited to Mahatma Gandhi, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." Kavita's mission is to connect with like-minded individuals who wish to empower all people through inspiring, interconnected, and globally-minded conversations. In regular one-to-one meetings, facilitation of team gatherings and large group workshops, she coaches educators to recognise the roles they play in shaping the identities, attitudes and behaviours of all learners. By co-designing learning experiences, she offers practical ideas for supporting discovery and building the foundations for global and intercultural-mindedness for our youngest learners to adult educators and seasoned leaders.Through her work as a passionate advocate and mentor for social-emotional-ethical intelligence and wellbeing integration in learning at all age levels, including admin, teachers, parents and students, the vision is to create a harmonious world in which we can all flourish.
Sara Shifrin, Gould Academy shifrins@gouldacademy.org
Sara Shifrin is an English teacher gone rogue. After 20 years of empathizing with protagonists and their conflicts and dilemmas, she discovered design thinking and began to re-frame what being educated means. A designer of flexible classroom spaces and making studios, she now stands at the intersection of education, design thinking, and doing as director of the Marlon Family IDEAS Center at Gould Academy. She inspires teachers to discover innovative ways for young people to awaken their empathic selves through the power of doing. And for her own doing, she leads design thinking activities with the Gould Academy community, Mahoosuc Land Trust in western Maine and the Tanzania Education Corporation’s schools, in Karatu, Tanzania.
Katherine Moore, AICP kmoore@gaconservancy.org
Katherine has served in the sustainability, community development, and environmental fields for over 20 years. For 12 years Katherine worked in the private sector as a consulting planner addressing a variety of community issues and spent the last 10 years as the Director of Georgia Conservancy’s statewide Sustainable Growth program. This program brings educational training, technical development expertise, and community engagement services to a variety of client communities. Learn more about Katherine’s work on school siting https://www.georgiaconservancy.org/schoolsiting/
Mar Cano, International Educator mdmarcanom@gmail.com
In addition to speaking Catalan, Spanish, French, German and English, Mar is an international educator, teacher trainer, facilitator working with Maristes Champagnat. Badalona, Barcelona, and Gimnasio Los Caobos, Bogota. Mar leads DIFO (Do It For Others) workshops in Spain and Colombia. She is co-author (with Nick Salmon and Erin O’Reilly) of TeamED, transforming educational practice through teamwork.
Dr. Dan Coleman, Big Sky Blue dan@bigskyblue.net
Dan helps schools at all levels design environments, curricula and professional development that ready them for a future built on what matters most to the people they serve. A principal at Big Sky Blue, Dan’s career combines deep experience in education and design. Dan has taught a wide range of subjects to a wild range of students at high schools (like Andover and Stuyvesant) and colleges (such as Skidmore and Bennington and Cornell); led the design of several teacher education programs (most recently in a collaboration with MIT); helped run non-profits, secondary schools and graduate schools; led teams building digital curricula at Amplify; and helped start up the design-thinking practice at Continuum, a global design and innovation firm.
Erin O’Reilly, University of Montana erin.oreilly@mso.umt.edu
Erin O’Reilly is a doctoral candidate and Adjust Professor in Teaching & Learning at the University of Montana with a focus on professional development for technology integration. Erin is innovative, flexible, and organized educational professional with both K-12 and Higher Education teaching experience. She is co-author (with Mar Cano and Nick Salmon) of TeamED, transforming educational practice through teamwork.
Cyndi Elliot, I See Ability wholeheartedkids@gmail.com
Cyndi is an engaging speaker and presenter, sharing valuable life-changing stories of her brother and others with different abilities she has encountered in her work. Cyndi’s enthusiasm, honesty, and real-life experience inspire others to explore fresh, creative ideas for adopting a more wholehearted approach to teaching and providing facilitation of skills for people with different abilities. Learn more about Cyndi on her website: http://iseeability.com/ and about her book: http://iseeability.com/wholehearted-book
Regis Ann Shields, RAS Consulting rgsshields@gmail.com
Regis Anne Shields of RAS Consulting is an educational entrepreneur, thought leader and advocate for educational reform who brings depth in understanding of fiscal resources and strategies for aligning district priorities and educational best practices. Her work includes a history of successfully securing grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Carnegie Foundation and US Department of Education in support of school transformation efforts. Learn more about Regis on her website: http://www.regisashields.com/
Jerry McKibben, McKibben Demographics j.mckibben@mckibbendemographics.com
McKibben Demographic Research provides thorough enrollment forecasts for schools and communities across the nation. His field research on local economic conditions is coordinated with the most recent census data, national economic activity and past enrollment trends.
Dr. Boyd Dressler boyd.dressler@gmail.com
Dr. Boyd Dressler has been active at many levels of public and higher education including as a classroom teacher and principal providing instructional leadership facilitating positive partnerships with local communities. His work includes federal program consulting and implementing state and national curriculum standards. Boyd served as educational adviser to the governor of Colorado and in teaching positions with the University of Northern Colorado, University of Phoenix, Montana State University, and Walden University. He remains active in the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), the National Rural Education Association (NREA), and serves as one of the student teacher supervisors for Montana State University.
Nicholas Salmon, Author (1747-1827) info@collaborativelearningnetwork.com
Nicholas was the second of nine generations of educators and the first of his family to move from France to England. He wrote 16 books on education between 1773 and 1827 including Grammaire angloise comparee avec la grammaire francoise; dans laquelle les principes & les tours de phrase des deux langues sont raisonnes d’une maniere tres-nouvelle
Hope Capon hacapon@gmail.com
Hope is a hard-working design professional with exceptional architectural graphic design skills developed over the past decade. Her contributions to the planning process help schools, communities and non-profits understand future-focused and creative design concepts that can be implemented today. Hope has volunteered with numerous organizations including Habitat for Humanity, Big Brothers & Big Sisters. She brings her exceptional, organizational management and communication skills to encompass. Her contagious optimistic enthusiasm is one of her most valued qualities as a contributor to the Collaborative Learning Network.
Izgi Uygur izgi.uygur@gmail.com
Izgi brings her passion for creating vibrant learning environments into the natural and built landscape for schools and communities. Her work includes facilitating Harvard’s Learning Environments For Tomorrow Institute and working in MIT’s Office of Campus Planning while completing her degree from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design Master of Landscape Architecture program. Previously in Istanbul, she worked on the design and construction phases of Sisli Terakki High School and Kadikoy Kindergarten
Feedback
“As schools get ready for next year, they’ll need to decide if they’re going to restart the things they were doing pre-COVID, or reconsider more basic aspects of their educational design.
Big Sky Blue’s team of Dan, Nick & Sara helped our faculty build the resiliency they’ll need to guide our students through next year’s changing landscape--and lean us toward opportunities for Gould to make our values even more fully real in the years to come.”
- Tao Smith, Head of School, Gould Academy
“Lolo School District has benefited greatly from Nick Salmon’s school safety and facility efforts over the past several years and it shows! We were able to provide a safer and more responsive learning environment to meet our students’, teachers’, and overall community’s needs.”
— Mike Magone, Superintendent Lolo Elementary School District
“Thank you for your many years of commitment to our school and community. We would not have been able to achieve. the change to our schools without your vision and leadership”
— Hatton Littman, Director of Communications & Technology Missoula County Public Schools
“I saw Sir Ken Robinson in Bozeman last night. This workshop was much more engaging and thought provoking!”
— Thomas McGrath, Future Flexibility Workshop Participant
“There is probably no other person in the world other than Nick that has had a greater impact on the direction our school has taken in the past few years.”
— Rohan Deanshaw, Principal, Kempsey Adventist School, Kempsey, New South Wales
“Thank you for guiding the start of our PBL journey and for creating opportunities for us to feel comfortably uncomfortable as learners.”
— KAS Secondary School Teachers, Kempsey Adventist School, Kempsey, New South Wales
“Kavita is a master educator, artist and sculptor of the future of learning .”
— Emily Post, Founder Edcuatio Rad School, Livingston, Montana
“I keep going back to Nick’s comments on Zoom. He always says to start with PBL units that are an hour or a day long instead of weeks or months. I feel like connecting to these other projects that are so long with educators across the world, it is overwhelming and less meaningful to my kids, than if I choose a class down the street to collaborate with on a small community project. “
-Pre-Service Educator, LIC501 led by Dr. Elizabeth Crawford, University of North Carolina-Wilmington
“I liked the inquiry continuum that was shared by Kavita & Nick when they looked at our PBL flipgrids. I want to use this continuum in my PBL because I think this is a good way to use gradual release of responsibility in the PBL process”
-Pre-Service Educator, Educ 2400 led by Linda Amici, Otterbein University
“We were gobsmacked when when we saw how much of a cultural shift we had achieved in 18 months. We thought it would take us 20 years.”
— Joyanne Walsh, Head of School, Port Macquarie Adventist School
“I am so grateful for your expertise and willingness to share it. Our initial discussion has already spawned so many thoughts about how to make all sorts of different people comfortable in so many contexts- very inspirational to me”
— Katie Deuel, Executive Director Home REsource & Zero Waste Ambassadors Program
“It has been a pleasure to go through this process with you and Shane! I have had many folks comment on what a smooth process this was compared to the needs assessment of the past. I loved the first day. I needed that! We have some great plans! I hope we get to make them a reality sooner than later!”
— Amy Piazzola, Superintendent, Cayuse Prairie Elementary School
Surveys
We offer custom-built online tools to engage your community & make your life a little bit easier:
Collaborative Learning Observation Form- Time, Space, Furniture & Technology
How I Learn Best
Where I Learn Best
Visual Preference Surveys
Range of Options Surveys
Collaborative Learning Assessment LT2.1 Learning & Teaching
Collaborative Learning Assessment LE2.2 Learning Environments
Collaborative Learning Assessment PD2.3 Professional Development
PBL Coaching & Teamwork
We provide workshops focused on creating a culture of trust and supportive communication
Team formation & team decision making
21 Design Thinking Strategies
22 tools for Tuning Project Based Learning Exercises
Improvisation Trios focused on Failure, Recovery & Persistence
School schedules that support learning & collaboration
Pro Bono Services
We are fortunate to work with public and private schools around the world, including many with sister-school relationships in communities with limited resources. We provide facility planning, professional learning and design team feedback for those sister-schools pro bono with a focus on expanding the impact of service projects and long-term relationships created between our clients and their educational partnership communities.
Three big projects we are engaged in
Three 4 Community
Imagine that no 18 year old goes to university, but instead devotes the next three years of their life to serving others in AmeriCorps, Conservation Corps, Job Corps, Marine Corps, Peace core or faith-based service. Funds accumulate on their behalf during those years of service and represent their “Launch Money” for entry into the world of work, entrepreneurship, university, world travel or continued service.
Financially Sufficient Learning Communities
We are helping Fundacion Paraguaya and Teach A Man to Fish to expand an existing model of financially sufficient learning communities to serve 30,000,000 young people and their communities around the world.
Center for Sustainable Living & Learning
Inspired by the financially learning community model, we are developing a center for sustainable living and learning with a third-millennium decision- making horizon.
Our Partners in Success
We are fortunate to work with many great organizations focused on developing great learners, educators and communities
Equity Schools https://equityschools.org/
Thought Exchange https://www.thoughtexchange.com/
VS Furniture http://vsamerica.com/
Inspire Classroom https://www.inspiredclassroom.com/
Apis Communication Science https://apiscommunicationscience.com/
Rewind Reset Forward Card Deck https://danielepolitini.com/rewind-reset-forward
Brightways Learning https://www.brightwayslearning.org/
Georgia Conservancy https://www.georgiaconservancy.org/
Presidio IT Solutions https://www.presidio.com/
teamED Book & Podcast
Coming soon: Mar Cano, Erin O'Reilly & Nick Salmon are writing
teamED : Building more effective teams for education, projects and community
Join us on the teamED Podcast and share your stories of teamwork from learners, educators and community partners. teamed.libsyn.com
1. Tell us about your most powerful experience working as a team
2. Was this a team you chose, a team who chose you, or a team you were assigned to?
3. How did you communicate as a team?
4. Was trust an important part of your work as a team? If so, how did you build that trust over time?
5. What did you learn about yourself and your teammates?
6. How did you make decisions?
7. When things didn’t go well, how did the team respond?
8. Did the team experience include failing, recovering & persisting?
9. Why does that experience remain memorable today?
Collaborate
Let us know how we can support your journey
Email
nicksalmon@collaborativelearningnetwork.com
Phone
(406) 529-5192