The Community
of Learners
The wider context: EMA’s approach
to Education
For many students, school is often detached from their lives outside of school. It’s theoretical. It’s pedantic. It’s boring. It has little connection to their lived experience. It’s a game they have to play to earn currency for college—their grades. So students are trained to do what’s necessary to earn that currency.
But focus on grades often interferes with learning. It encourages students to play it safe so they don’t lose points. It encourages cramming rather than deep learning. And it is often defined by a power dynamic of teachers above and separate from students. And all too often, the key stakeholders—students—are not consulted, except on Friday’s test.
For teachers, school is often frantic. There is so much to do, making lessons, supporting students, evaluating work. Once the school year starts, there is little space or time for meaningful professional development, learning and trying new methods, reflection on effectiveness, or collaboration. Teachers are burning out at unprecedented rates as they navigate the challenges posed by diminished budgets, the rise of AI, and the myriad distractions the current attention economy invites into the classroom.
The EMA Community of Learners reframes what “school” is and can be.
EMA’s Education partners are offering a powerful antidote to both apathy and the algorithm: purpose education and visual storytelling methods that re-center student agency.
Our goal is to make school meaningful again by centering the learning needs, experiences, and agency of young people and by empowering teachers to design and integrate purpose-driven storytelling into their existing curricula with the support of their peers in the EMA Community of Learners.
What is the EMA Community of Learners?
The EMA Community of Learners (CoL) is the coordination hub for our Education collaborative. It is a cohort of teachers sharing curriculum, building community, and developing new resources that center student agency and purpose—resources created for teachers, by teachers. The CoL hosts monthly meetings for teachers to connect about their work, share stories, and sow seeds for future collaborations.
The CoL was first established in 2023 as a way for EMA partner BYkids to introduce their films to educators and students in classrooms around the country, creating integration guides and suggested pairings with a variety of texts and innovative assessments. Since then, it has expanded to include the educational approaches of EMA partners Children for Change, Filmbuilding, and World Leadership School and has developed pathways to work their techniques and materials into what teachers are already doing across numerous disciplines.
The CoL has become a critical component of EMA’s overall Education strategy and programming as it:
- Leverages storytelling as a tool for purpose education
- Develops curriculum that restores agency to teachers and students
- Offers restorative professional development opportunities
- Creates meaningful community for teachers and a voice for students
- Invites teachers to expand their vision of education
Leverages storytelling as a tool for purpose education
Develops curriculum that restores agency to teachers and students
Offers restorative professional development opportunities
Creates meaningful community for teachers and a voice for students
Invites teachers to expand their vision of education
Leverages storytelling as a tool for purpose education
Develops curriculum that restores agency to teachers and students
Offers restorative professional development opportunities
Creates meaningful community for teachers and a voice for students
Invites teachers to expand their vision of education
We are excited to launch a series of pilot programs in 2026 to expand the CoL and invite more teachers to join our learning community. Bring your own knowledge and creativity, and leave with exponentially more. Join our purpose education initiative to make school meaningful again!
Professional Development Programs
Purpose Storytelling: A Regenerative PD Experience
Outcomes for Teachers:
• Classroom-ready resources including guides and templates
• A first student project already outlined
• Confidence using visual storytelling to deepen learning
• New SEL-rich practices for identity exploration
• A sense of renewed purpose as educators
• PDPs