"A safe place to share fears, worries, and ideas—to ask questions, to wonder about and to search for coherence in our work and our vision of society. A deep sense of caring about children and their world." —Summer Institute Participant

Past themes for Empowering Teachers have been many and varied. For example, recent programs have focused on attention on the crucial topic of how values are taught and communicated in the school context.  The 2004 Summer Institute centered on the theme "Values Education and Educational Values: The Classroom as Community." The 2005 Summer Institute followed suit, bringing attention to the school with the follow-up theme of "Values Education and Educational Values: The School as Community."

The 2006 Summer Institute carried the theme, "Preserving Childhood at School: Supporting Children's Connections to the Physical and Social Worlds and Their Imaginations in the Era of Standardization."

focused on "Children in Context: Supporting Meaningful Connections with the Environments of Classroom, Neighborhood and the Larger World."

The 2008 Summer Institute, "Teaching the World: Children, the Environment, and Social Justice," continued the focus on the child and the physical environment, building on issues of social justice arising out of that theme in regard to environmental and related societal concerns.

The 2009 Summer Institute will explore the theme of “The Outside World, the Media, and the Classroom.” Read more about the 2009 Summer Institute»

Past Summer Institute participants have made the following comments on their experiences:

• "My years of involvement with the Institute have provided me with a 'family' of educators, who have been accepting, caring, challenging and enlightening."
• "The Institute was uplifting and restored my focus and commitment to teaching."
• "Our network became a group in which we found both education and support in understanding the realities of children as well as their families."
• "Feeling the respect of this group of educators gave me the strength to make a change professionally."