Ten years ago my identical twin Peter H. Reynolds wrote and illustrated The North Star book to help reach “off the path” learners who were not being served by the current educational system. The story supports educators and caregivers who know how debilitating a test-centric education can be … and how lost we all can be when we forget the real essence of learning – and lose its inherent joy.

This 132-page, beautifully illustrated hard cover book – and several free versions online (multiple gender/languages) have proven transformational in helping educators, parents and children to identify, nurture, protect and use their unique gifts to navigate a meaningful learning journey. The book has been adapted by a global community of progressive educators as a musical, a stage performance, an elementary school curriculum, posters, etc. The ripples are growing around the world. From coast to coast in the U.S., from Canada to Argentina, from Australia to China, the power of story is inspiring a new way to invigorate life-long learning communities.

Fast forward ten years. While we have provided many resources around the North Star themes, we still had no way to facilitate the connecting and sharing of educators’ successes and challenges as they implemented The North Star approach in their classrooms. As part of my action research for my graduate studies in educational technology at Pepperdine University, I pledged to research, design and build a virtual North Star Community of Practice. My goal was to unite this growing international community of “North Star educators” and amplify their efforts and spread our “learner-centric” mission in new and more accessible ways.

And so I enlisted the assistance of my own team at FableVision, research and inspiration from Etienne Wenger, Jean Lave, Marlene Scardamalia, Carl Bereiter and Chris Dede, as well as the input of nearly 50 co-researchers around the nation and the world. Under the guidance of my research advisor Dr. Margaret Riel, I validated assumptions about the proposed needs and feature set required for a vibrant, sustainable virtual community around The North Star and its themes/mission.

By the time I graduated from the Pepperdine OMET program in 2006, we created and tested a prototype website. 71% of those surveyed said they would use the Community of Practice site “weekly or more” – and the remaining respondents reported they would use the site “at least monthly.” It was a joy to see such an overwhelmingly positive response.

Unfortunately in the late fall, the site was attacked by hackers and was damaged beyond repair. It was a shock to all of us, but the community rallied and urged us to rebuild. So, we have put rigorous security in place and are rebuilding – with YOUR help. This modest beginning is our effort to begin again – and journey on to serve ALL learners.

Our shared hope will be that - TOGETHER - we will continue to build, exchange and create buzz around this community of practice. We will continue to invite membership around the world – gathering best practices around The North Star philosophy – and other creative, learner-centric ways to foster human potential.

Paul Reynolds
Co-Founder
The North Star Community