The Open Canopy Handbook

Resource Summary

The book begins with an in-depth discussion of The Open Canopy’s five foundational principles.

• Slowing Down to Observe the World Closely emphasizes the importance of slowing down to observe the world in ways that take us beyond our first impressions, helping us to notice things we might otherwise overlook and to discern greater nuance and complexity.
• Sharing Stories and Perspectives focuses on the related practices of telling stories and offering and taking perspectives— practices that are important for exploring and building identity, for learning about other people and the world, and for developing one’s own voice.
• Making Connections encourages students to make connections to other people and their life experiences, and between the everyday artifacts of daily life and larger global forces, stories, and systems.
• Learner-Generated Content underscores the importance of giving students the opportunity to find and explore themes that are personally interesting or relevant to them, and to engage with content that has been chosen and produced by other students.
• Thoughtful Peer-to-Peer Exchange emphasizes the power of learning with and from one’s peers through live or asynchronous dialogue—dialogue that can enhance students’ sense of wellbeing and belonging, as well as their understanding of the world, other people, and themselves.

In addition to chapters on each of these principles, the book offers a chapter on facilitating thoughtful intercultural exchange, followed by an array of activities, curricula, and instructional tools that can be used directly as written, or adapted for unique contexts.  Our hope is that the book will be of interest to people who want to learn more about the educational philosophy behind The Open Canopy program, as well as educators who are looking for some daily inspiration about what to teach tomorrow.

A free, downloadable PDF of the handbook can be found here .

A print-on-demand book will be available soon.