Why Pennsylvania Needs Legislation to Support the “HOW” of Teaching

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the challenge of educating 21st century minds in 19th century classrooms. Since then, I’ve heard from many of you—educators, administrators, and parents—who recognize this plight in your own schools and classrooms and want to know what comes next.

Here’s what comes next. Representative Zimmerman has introduced legislation in Harrisburg that could improve how instructional delivery is funded and supported across Pennsylvania.  The HOW of teaching is exactly what Total Experience Learning® provides.  I believe every educator, administrator, and parent in this Commonwealth should understand why this bill matters.

We’ve Funded the WHAT. It’s Time to Fund the HOW.

As I’ve said before, our education system (and related funding) has primarily focused on WHAT to teach: the standards, the content benchmarks, the curricula. Pennsylvania has made real, meaningful investments here.

But the world has changed in remarkable ways in the last 50 years –content and information that used to be locked in books, libraries, and the heads of experts is now freely available and easily accessible to our students. Despite this revolutionary change, HOW we teach information to our students hasn’t changed meaningfully. Teachers are expected to stand in front of a classroom and deliver canned content to students who already have the facts at their fingertips. The HOW of teaching has not kept pace with fundamental changes in the world outside of education.

This is not a new observation for anyone standing in front of a classroom. There’s a gap between WHAT we ask teachers to teach and HOW we equip them to teach it.  It’s precisely this gap that the proposed legislation is designed to close. And the gap isn’t just anecdotal: a broad body of education research demonstrates that teachers who create active, experiential learning environments are more engaged and effective, and students in these classrooms achieve significantly higher outcomes across all disciplines.

What the Bill Actually Does

Representative Zimmerman’s legislation supports schools and teachers and, ultimately the students of our great Commonwealth, by providing funding to train educators on the HOW – tools, methods and classroom management skills that bring existing curricula to life through experiential, student-centered, real-world learning. And rather than creating a brand-new source of funding, it uses existing funding and funding mechanisms and expands what those dollars can be used for.  Equally as important, it doesn’t ask districts to throw out their standards and curriculum or start over. Instead, the proposed funding superpowers the massive investments already made in curricula and content by enabling teachers to create engaging educational environments where students can actively explore that content, make connections, ask questions, and apply what they learn to real-world problems.

The bill targets the exact student competencies that employers and economic forecasters have been asking schools for: analytical thinking, complex problem-solving, creativity, technological fluency, and the kind of reasoning and ideation that can’t be taught from a worksheet or a lecture. These aren’t “nice to have” 21st century buzzwords. They are the skills our students will need to compete in a world that has already changed—whether our classrooms have caught up or not.

Why This Matters for Every Community

What I find most compelling about this legislation is its commitment to quality across the Commonwealth.  By providing this funding to train any Pennsylvania educator in experiential teaching practices, this bill ensures that a student’s zip code or a district’s budget doesn’t determine whether they get access to engaging, modern instruction. Every teacher deserves the tools to re-energize their practice. Every student deserves to be a beneficiary of an education that mirrors the interconnected world they already live in.

Schools and classrooms that have adopted experiential learning are seeing amazing results, both in higher teacher satisfaction and retention, and improved student engagement and outcomes, whether they are small rural districts or massive districts in our largest cities.

A Grass Roots Effort, now with a Legislative Partner

I recently shared the story of the 20-year veteran educator who told us that her training through the Total Experience Learning® Institute brought a renaissance to her classrooms and renewed her joy in teaching. That renaissance is happening right now, school by school, teacher by teacher. What this legislation offers is the chance to scale that renaissance—to move it from a grass-roots effort into a structural, statewide commitment to supporting modern, engaging instructional delivery.

Pennsylvania has an opportunity to lead. Not by adding another mandate about WHAT students should know, but by finally focusing on HOW that information is delivered, providing teachers with an instructional framework to better engage students in today’s information-rich world.

What You Can Do 

If you’re an educator, an administrator, a parent, or simply someone who believes our classrooms should serve the students sitting in them today—not the students of a century ago, I’d encourage you to reach out to your state representatives and voice your support for this legislation. Ask them to join Representative Zimmerman in co-sponsoring this bill.

We spend so much energy debating what belongs in the curriculum. It’s time we gave equal energy to how that curriculum is effectively delivered to every student in every Pennsylvania classroom.

Want to Learn More?

Stay tuned for more on how Total Experience Learning® – an instructional framework that embodies the heart of this legislation — is already transforming classrooms across the Commonwealth.  And read our TExpL White Paper for a deeper look at the mechanics of modern classroom engagement.