Eric Franco

Artist, Change Agent, Educator/Teacher, Idea generator, Musician, Parent, Public servant

Eric began his career in teaching in 1998 and has taught a variety of courses at the corporate, public K-12, and post-secondary levels. As a high school teacher in an urban setting, Eric is no stranger to the challenges in today's schools and believes effective teaching begins with the recruitment of high-quality individuals committed to service, social justice, and the personal commitment to become a reflective practitioner within the context of a life-long learner. Eric's courses challenge students to continuously reflect on how to apply theoretical frameworks of academic disciplines and various best instructional practices under various conditions and real-world contexts in an effort to build realistic learning active learning environments facilitating student engagement and achievement for aspiring teachers. Much of Eric's professional work is focused on developing sound and practical classroom practices resting on the theoretical foundations established by Wiggins & McTighhe, Buehl, Marzano, Shanahan & Shanahan, Moje, Stiggins, Tomlinson, and other prominent clinical practitioners and literacy specialists. To that end, Eric's students experience an immersion in various perspectives of educational reform, assessment, constructivism, and aligning K-12 classroom experiences to the various disciplinary, professional, and institutional standards. Eric's 2012 collaboration with the Kosovo Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology history education curriculum development team culminated in an accredited history teacher training program for Kosovo teachers.

Creating learning environments that facilitate student engagement. Developing curriculum to meet diverse learners' needs. Inspiring new educators to serve students in tomorrow's schools.

Our current institutional model of the comprehensive high school not only creates microcosms of social and economic elitism, they, in fact, ruin kids' true potential by conditioning them to follow lock-step into routines no different from the corporate drudgery of the "organization man." The current "factory model" of education is not only obsolete, it stymies students intellectual development and growth necessary for students to effectively function in today's dynamic and multicultural world. Teachers who create stimulating learning environments through inquiry-based projects provide students authentic learning experiences that apply critical thinking, positive social relationships, creativity, and intellectual growth.

Curriculum and Content Development, Curriculum and Instruction, Historian, Teaching and Leadership