The Story of Clerestory Learning

I am endlessly fascinated by architecture. It’s the heart of a structure—it determines an outcome, directs attention, and silently invites visitors to enter and stay awhile. It’s all about design.

Take for example, the window above. It’s a slightly reinterpreted clerestory [CLEAR-story] window. It’s generally placed high on a wall to allow natural light to flood a room. Frank Lloyd Wright used them liberally at Taliesin West, his winter home and school of architecture in Scottsdale, Arizona. Having visited there recently, I can attest to the warmth radiated through those windows, and how the light they provided clarified objects in a room and revealed greater beauty and potential.

Clerestory Learning is like those windows. Research areas, like neuroscience, cognitive science, and psychology, when understood in light of education, can greatly enhance the potential of teaching and learning. We strive to offer well-designed professional development that clarifies purpose, validates quality instruction, establishes a safe learning environment, aligns practice with mission, and refreshes educators with effective tools; it says “I believe in your potential.” That’s Clerestory Learning.

Our Beliefs

Our Vision and Mission

The Rest of the Story

In they came, 20+ nine- and ten-year-olds as eager to begin fourth grade as I was to begin my teaching career.

That was more than twenty years ago, and I still remember that first day. I recall my bulletin boards, my classroom design, and the excitement and nervousness that had built for weeks. Over the next ten months, we became a community, learning together, laughing together, and sharing some of the best stories children’s literature had to offer.

As I expected, I loved teaching. In what other profession do you get to regularly observe individual growth? But that first year of teaching also revealed that I had much to learn.

Since then, my passion for teaching has become a passion for learning. Most recently, this has ignited my interest in neurocognitive research. The more I understand about the brain and about how we learn, the more intentional I’ve become in my teaching. I’m constantly pursuing new insights that will enable me to align my teaching with how the human brain has been designed to learn, and I love helping other teachers apply the research findings to their own teaching.

For those who want the rest of the story, here are some other experiences I’ve had in my 20+ years as a teacher:

• taught fourth grade
• earned an MA in elementary education
• taught remedial reading at a community college
• substitute taught everything from first grade to high school auto shop
• co-created and led Make Way for Books, a children’s literature review and recommendation service
• taught grades 4-8 and served as a school administrator
• served as Assistant Curriculum Director for an international educational publisher
• taught seventh-grade English, including a section designed for students with additional needs in reading development
• served as a school Director of Curriculum & Professional Development
• led school-based development of an elementary science curriculum now published by an international educational publisher
• led school-based development of an instructional reading program and its professional development components, now published and used in dozens of schools across the country and around the world
• earned an Ed.D. in educational leadership
• created the Architecture of Learning instructional design model and its professional development courses
• created the Writer’s Stylus instructional writing program and its professional development course
• taught graduate courses in education, critical thinking, and writing
• authored the book The Architecture of Learning: Designing Instruction for the Learning Brain
• presented at dozens of educator conferences, including Learning and the Brain in Cambridge, MA
• worked with dozens of schools across the country, leading professional development and coaching implementation of new instructional initiatives
• created and led Clerestory Learning
• presented Webinars on topics related to neurocognitive research and teaching
• written for several online publications, including The Edurati Review and The Ecology of Education
• authored and launched The Window, an online publication focused on teaching and learning, and The Spectrum, an e-newsletter for educators

In addition to teaching, my other interests include theater, reading, and running. I recently ran my first full marathon—another amazing learning experience! I also enjoy spending time with my talented and creative wife Julia and hanging out with Ernest, our miniature dachshund. I’ve been known to loiter in coffee houses (for the chai, not the coffee) and bookstores, always looking for that next insightful read.

Kevin D. Washburn, Ed.D.

Tying the Laces | Musings from running applied to education
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