There is a tendency to deride the American education system for its failure to adapt. But within these systems are innovators who are pushing boundaries and demanding that 'learners' – ie, students – be at the very center of educational design.

Over 10+ years writing about education, I've interviewed hundreds of these innovators and learned a lot about high-impact teaching practices that make a difference. I've observed four guiding principles for learning design:

1. Learning / Activation: Practices that spark interest, activate prior knowledge, surface misconceptions, and establish learning objectives.

2. Knowledge / Building: Content that is clearly organized, multimodal, and aligned with the story's learning objectives.

3. Community / Collaboration: A collaborative learning environment that is inclusive, welcoming, and civil. Structured, effectively facilitated social gatherings and activities that promote discussion.

4. Application / Reflection: Approaches that promote deeper reflection, drive civic action, and build competencies.

These observations led me to reflect on my own work as a journaist and content creator. I posed a big question.

What if we thought about our audiences in the same ways that great teachers think about their students?

I spent a year tracking down answers to this question. The culminating Journalism Through Learning Design framework identifies some best practices that can be applied for writers, and content creators – pretty much anyone who wants to communicate effectively.

I hope to model these best practices in my writing over the month and beyond. Starting now, with a question to you:

In one word, what does 'learning' mean to you?