Human Restoration Project

Some strategies that are commonly marketed to educators do not fix the underlying problems in the school system. Progressive practices are differentiated because they’re not about acronyms or buzzwords, but are based on research-backed educational ideas that have existed for centuries.Progressive education has roots in the works of Jean Piaget, John Dewey, and Maria Montessori, and involve engaging each student in complex, rich experiences that go beyond simple tasks. It treats students and teachers as deep individuals with something to offer.Education is inherently political. Progressive educators want school systems to change from standardized, rote-based systems to those that care about the innate worth of every individual and their connection and contribution to the community.

We provide a series of resources for individual educators to transform their classroom, eventually spreading this practice to others, and enacting a grassroots cause toward systemic shifts in education.

HRP publishes free resources for educators to utilize in their classroom. All HRP resources use a Creative Commons, Share Alike license, and can be modified to a school’s context while citing HRP.

We have set up our organization to provide overview resources for all information pertaining to progressive education, leaving “deep dives” to organizations who specialize in those ideas.

Handbooks
Guides are an overview of a particular progressive practice, such as experiential learning or ungrading, that provide educators with the tools and reflective space needed to consider incorporating these ideas to their classroom.

“Why Sheets”/1-Page PD
“Why Sheets”, inspired by Alfie Kohn, are one-page summaries of progressive practice aimed at students and families to explain the need and implementation of each policy. Coinciding are 1-page PDs, which are aimed at teachers to explain the need accordingly.

Infographics/Research Overviews
HRP periodically publishes infographics and overviews of progressive ideas to share on social media and in print publications.

“Misc”
Classroom Activities and more consist of interactive documents that could be used with students, such as our Deprogramming Manual, which helps incorporate progressive thought within the classroom. We are working to align these resources to one of the above labels.

Events
Human Restoration Project wants to make an accessible, equitable learning platform that not only preaches progressive education for students, but employs the same techniques with educators. Our PD Summits are monthly, free virtual interactive conferences with an educator, author, and/or expert over a specific concept. Individuals are encouraged to ask questions, join the conversation, and learn alongside us as we explore a particular element of progressive education. Audio and video recordings of our PD are available on our website.


Microcredentialing
Microcredentials are issued credentials based on completion of a task. All of HRP’s resources are tied to a specific microcredential, based on one of our four values statements. As an educator works their way through our self-directed programs, they will compile a learning portfolio, which is then assessed and approved for credentialing. Based on teacher action research, these portfolios will serve others as they are published and archived.

These microcredentials can be used by school districts for onboarding or ongoing training, as well as for individual educators to hone in and improve upon their practice.

Human Restoration Project consists of four part-time employees who are deeply passionate about progressive education. We are sustained through individualized donations which keep our operational costs to a minimum. All technical design, writing, management, fundraising, and artistry is done by our part time employees.

We are successful in reaching many educators through word of mouth and social media, and maintain our website and resources by utilizing experts. We are admittedly restricted from our full potential by a lack of time and resources.

Human Restoration Project has reached over 20,000 educators in 121 countries, engaging over 1,000 educators a month on our podcast, and 2000+ educators in our coursework. Our handbooks have been downloaded over 50,000 times.

We have developed a writing platform with a diverse contributor base, podcast platform with 80+ episodes, livestreams and monthly PD "summits" since late 2018, over 20 different original resources, a microcredentialing platform, and an extensive research database.