Transforming educator insight into actionable solutions.
The Co-Creation Circuit is a structured, teacher-led partnership that helps educators identify a local challenge, develop a practical response, and bring their work directly to district leadership.
TEAL facilitates the process, compensates educators for their expertise, and documents recommendations, leadership responses, and agreed next steps.
We facilitate. Teachers lead.
The most powerful insights are already in your classrooms.
Education initiatives need classroom context to become workable in practice.
Sustainable, effective change starts by recognizing educators as system-level experts, and including them in decisions that affect their work.
Teachers understand how policies, curricula, and organizational decisions operate in practice. Their expertise should help shape those decisions, not simply inform feedback after a decision has been made.
The Circuit creates a structured opportunity for educators to apply their professional knowledge beyond their individual classrooms. Teachers help define a shared priority, develop a context-specific response, and participate in discussions about what happens next.
The goal is a teacher-created resource or recommendation, a documented leadership response, and clear next steps.
THe Circuit
THe Circuit
A structured process, shaped by your local context.
Every district brings different priorities, experiences, and resources.
The Circuit provides a consistent framework while allowing educators to shape the substance of the work.
Educators identify a priority, develop a practical response, and discuss it with leadership. This is followed by reflection, reporting, and documented next steps.
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Building Our Partnership: TEAL and district leadership establish the conditions for participation, confirm responsibilities, recruit a teacher cohort, and prepare for the work ahead.
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Identifying the Priority: Educators share perspectives from their daily work, identify common themes, and select a priority challenge to address.
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Developing the Response: Across two facilitated Labs, educators examine relevant information and examples, consider approaches suited to their context, and develop a draft resource or recommendation.
Teachers are the primary designers of the proposed response, supported by TEAL’s facilitation, materials, research, and advisor input.
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From Design to Action: Educators present their work directly to district leadership through structured discussion, review, and planning.
Participants examine the proposal, clarify requirements, and document leadership responses, feasible commitments, and next steps.
Areas of agreement and unresolved questions remain visible.
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Reflection and Confirmation: Participants review the experience, check the accuracy of the record, and identify lessons and follow-up needs.
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Documentation and Next Steps: TEAL prepares the Circuit Findings Report, finalizes the resource, recognizes educator contributions, and identifies options for continued support.
Certification recognizes the documented educator co-creation and review process. It does not, by itself, establish the resource’s effectiveness or endorse every position within it.
What You Create Together
The Circuit connects educator expertise with practical work that district leaders can review, respond to, and carry forward.
A teacher-created resource or recommendation: A context-specific output addressing the selected priority, such as a policy brief, curriculum review, curricular resource outline, or guidance document.
An Implementation Commitment Plan: A record of agreed actions, responsibilities, milestones, and follow-up. Requirements for further decisions or approvals are identified (as needed).
A Circuit Findings Report: A summary of the process, educator insights, leadership responses, and next steps.
A Continuation Plan: Options for implementation support and continued educator engagement beyond the initial Circuit.
Identify.
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Build.
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Transform.
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Identify. ✦ Build. ✦ Transform. ✦
What could educators create?
The focus of the Circuit emerges from the educator-led process rather than a predetermined solution.
Depending on the selected priority, the work might include:
A curricular resource outline addressing an instructional need.
A policy brief recommending changes to a school or district practice.
A curriculum review identifying opportunities for greater accessibility or relevance.
A guidance document supporting communication, collaboration, or implementation.
These are potential possibilities, not completed TEAL projects or guaranteed outputs. Your cohort’s selected priority determines the direction.
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Potential Circuit: Developing a K-12 scope for accurate local Indigenous history and contemporary contributions.
Contributing TEAL Advisors:
Indigenous Ed Advisor: Ensures cultural accuracy, sovereignty, and respectful pedagogy.
Racial Equity Advisor: Reviews for systemic bias and representation.
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Potential Circuit: Creating a district-wide "Welcome & Inclusion Protocol" for refugee and migrant students/families.
Contributing TEAL Advisors:
Refugee & Migrant Ed. Advisor: Guides trauma-informed, linguistically accessible practices.
Multilingual Ed. Advisor: Advises on language acquisition supports.
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Potential Circuit: Redesigning school behavior policies to be restorative and practical to apply.
Contributing TEAL Advisors:
Social-Emotional Ed Advisor: Integrates SEL frameworks and skill-building.
Accessible Ed Advisor: Ensures policies are equitable for neurodiverse students.
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Potential Circuit: Auditing and redesigning systems for equitable access to technology, advanced courses, and extracurriculars.
Contributing TEAL Advisors:
Economic Equity Advisor: Analyzes barriers related to socioeconomic status.
Gender Equity Advisor: Ensures programs are inclusive and accessible to all genders.
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Potential Circuit: Addressing unique challenges like reliable home internet access for homework or connecting isolated families.
Contributing TEAL Advisors:
Rural Education Advisor: Helps tailor tech solutions and engagement strategies to rural logistics.
Community Connection Advisor: Aids in leveraging local community hubs.
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Potential Circuit: Creating an outdoor classroom curriculum that integrates science standards, local ecology, and food sovereignty studies.
Contributing TEAL Advisors:
Regenerative Education Advisor: Provides frameworks for ecological stewardship and project-based learning.
Community Connection Advisor: Helps partner with local farms and environmental groups.
Indigenous Ed. Advisor: Ensures curriculum respectfully incorporates acknowledgement of Indigenous knowledge regarding land stewardship.
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Potential Circuit: Auditing and redesigning a core unit (e.g., a book study) to be fully accessible, using multiple modes of engagement, representation, and expression.
Contributing TEAL Advisors:
Accessible Education Advisor: Guides UDL principles and ensures materials are equitable for all learners.
Teacher Engagement Advisor: Helps design the process for peer review and adoption of the UDL resources by other teachers.
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Potential Circuit: Filling ELL curriculum gaps by co-creating grade-level supplemental units and designing clear, translated protocols for family-teacher partnerships.
Contributing TEAL Advisors:
Multilingual Education Advisor: Guides culturally responsive curriculum development and language acquisition frameworks to address specific instructional gaps.
Community Connection Advisor: Helps tailor family engagement strategies and communication tools to build strong, accessible partnerships with multilingual families.
Teacher Engagement Advisor: Ensures protocols work cohesively with teachers’ pre-existing workload expectations.
What participation involves
The Circuit combines preparation, a five-week facilitated experience, and subsequent reporting and follow-through.
Teacher participation includes approximately 10-12 compensated hours with a cohort of approximately 15-20 educators.
Detailed schedules, participation expectations, compensation arrangements, and implementation responsibilities are discussed directly with prospective district partners.
A Shared Commitment
District partners provide
A district liaison
Recruitment support
Relevant local information
Meeting arrangements
Leadership participation
District leaders review and respond to the educator-created work and follow up on agreed commitments.
TEAL provides
Facilitation and project coordination
Participant materials
Compensation procedures
Research, examples, and advisor input
Documentation and evaluation
Final reporting and resource certification
Educators contribute
Facilitation and project coordination
Participant materials
Compensation procedures
Research, examples, and advisor input
Documentation and evaluation
Final reporting and resource certification
Facilitated by educators
TEAL’s co-executive directors, Jon Hudson and Lillian Purich, bring classroom teaching and education research experience to the Circuit.
Their role is to support the conditions, structure, and documentation for productive collaboration. We do not predetermine the challenge or prescribe the solution.
Explore what a Circuit could look like in your district.
Start with a free, 30-minute exploratory conversation about your district’s priorities, TEAL’s current partnership opportunities, and whether there is a fit.
We share the detailed district workflow, participation expectations, and implementation arrangements directly with prospective partners.
Questions? Contact Jon Hudson and Lillian Purich at tealforteachers@gmail.com.
Structured Democratic Voice is the unique and revolutionary theory of change which underpins our process.
Your Questions, Answered
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The active phase involves four core sessions over one month: one Town Hall, two Co-Creation Lab working sessions, and one Roundtable. The total time commitment is approximately 10-12 hours. Teachers are paid a stipend for their participation in each step.
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TEAL facilitators provide structure, resources (like sample policy briefs), and expert guidance.
Furthermore, our specialized Board of Advisors (e.g., in Multilingual Education, SEL, Accessible Design) is available to consult on specific projects, ensuring you have access to examples and further guidance.
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This is a professional certification awarded to each participating teacher.
It formally recognizes your contribution as an active co-creator of policy or curriculum, serving as a valuable portfolio piece that highlights your expertise beyond the classroom.
For Teachers
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We partner with your district's liaison to craft a recruitment message and application process.
We recommend opening applications to all teaching staff, helping us select a cohort that represents a diversity of grade levels, subjects, schools, and experience.
This ensures the solutions are grounded in a wide range of classroom realities.
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The Roundtable is specifically designed for collaborative refinement.
The primary goal is to establish a new, structured dialogue between teachers and leadership. The value lies in the co-creation process itself, which builds trust, buy-in, and a shared understanding of challenges.
The output is a vetted, realistic starting point for adaptation.
For District Leaders
Process & Outcomes
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TEAL offers certifications that validate the teacher-led development process.
A "Teacher Co-Created" seal means educators were the primary authors.
A "Teacher Revised" seal means an existing document was reviewed and approved by educators.
This certification adds credibility and signals that the resource is grounded in real classroom experience.
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The report synthesizes both qualitative and quantitative data, including:
Analysis of pre- and post-pilot surveys measuring shifts in teacher professional agency, career commitment, and perceived efficacy.
Themes from interviews on the experience of participating in a structured democratic process.
Documentation and analysis of the co-created solution itself.
Recommendations for next steps and implementation.
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The Circuit culminates in a final report and certified resources delivered to your district.
Your district can use this as a springboard for implementing the co-created solution, scaling the process to other schools, or applying the collaborative model to new challenges.
TEAL can discuss ongoing partnership options wherein your cohort will tackle another one of your priority issues.