The Foundations of Non-formal Education
Back-to-School Edition!
Aug 17, 24, 31 & Sept 7, 2026
Professional Development: Not just for classroom teachers anymore!
The best museum educators, zoo educators, and teaching artists know: There is a LOT more to effective non—formal education than content expertise.
Keeping kids engaged. Cultural responsiveness. Behavior management. Time management. Meeting special needs. Getting teachers and chaperones on your side.
But what do these strategies look like in non-formal settings? Is it even possible to address this stuff when you’re only spending a couple hours with a group?
Not only is it possible, it’s critical! These foundational skills make the difference between:
☎️ A young learner feeling welcome and wanting to come back with their family . . . or feeling like your space is not for them.
☎️ A teacher seeing the value of your institution to their students’ learning and development . . . or just scheduling a visit if they have extra time.
☎️ Having the agency to create the experience you want for yourself and your visitors . . . or just crossing your fingers for a “good group”.
☎️ A rewarding day at work . . . or more burn-out.
The Foundations of Non-formal Education (AKA, The FoNE) is designed specifically for museum, zoo, arts, and other community-based educators facilitating short-term K-12 programs.
In this participatory 4-session series, non-formal educators from diverse disciplines and backgrounds come together to build — or strengthen — a learner-centered foundation for effective, engaging facilitation that transforms.
COMMUNITY IMPACT IS CALLING
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LESS BURNOUT IS CALLING
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PROFESSIONAL GROWTH IS CALLING
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COMMUNITY IMPACT IS CALLING ☎︎ LESS BURNOUT IS CALLING ☎︎ PROFESSIONAL GROWTH IS CALLING ☎︎
The Foundations of Non-formal Education (The FoNE)
Back-to-School Edition
Mondays
August 17, 24, 31, & September 7, 2026
9:00 am - 11:00 am PDT
PRICING:
$50 per session ☎︎ $175 full series ☎︎ Team discounts available
SESSION TOPICS
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The foundation of the foundations: No practice is more important to facilitating a meaningful learning experience than establishing a genuine connection between you and the group. Yet with the brevity and pace of non-formal programs, when we feel in a perpetual time crunch, this practice can get overlooked.
In this first session, as we build our own FoNE community, we’ll explore:
WHAT it means to build community and connection in a non-formal learning environment
WHY community and connection are so important for learning, especially in non-formal spaces
HOW we can build community and connection with students and teachers, without cutting into program content, no matter how much time we have with them.
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Teaching a well-designed program without effective instructional strategies is like making a beautiful, detailed drawing of a cake for your friend’s birthday, cutting it out, and bringing it on a platter to their party. The ideas are all there, but you’re gonna need some baking skills if you want to show up with an actual cake (and if you want to get invited to their next party).
In Session 2, we’ll dig into a set of very accessible practices to help you:
Reduce barriers to understanding and participation for diverse learners
Get buy-in
Prevent behavior and management issues
Ensure key takeaways are landing and sticking
Ensure your learning objectives are being met
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Responsiveness is where your practice as an educator starts to become an art. Every group is different, and every learner is different. A responsive educator is a difference-ologist, observing the unique dynamics, strengths, interests, and needs of the group and individuals in front of them, and responding accordingly. Responsiveness ensures that this particular group of humans feels belonging and is able to have a successful experience.
This isn’t as tricky as it sounds! In Session 3, we’ll cover:
Anticipating and preparing for learner and group diversity
Recognizing, interpreting, and meeting learners’ social-emotional needs
Culturally responsive practices
Knowing when and how to adjust to keep the experience positive, on track, and valuable for learners
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Our final session focuses on working as a team with all the adults in the room.
Anyone who’s worked with school groups knows that the classroom teacher (or whomever the lead adult on the school side may be) plays a major role in shaping the experience for their learners. If and how they’ve prepared their class; their classroom culture; their level of buy-in (or burn-out); their participation style... all of these can significantly impact what learners get out of the experience.
You may also facilitate your programs with the support of co-educators, other staff, and/or volunteers. These adults also bring their own needs, goals, and expectations to the program, and that too informs how the experience unfolds.
On the rowboat of non-formal education programs, every adult has an oar. If everyone is rowing at their own pace, in their own direction, the boat goes in circles. In this session, you’ll learn how to be the coxswain: The leader who gets everyone rowing together, to carry your learners where you want them to go.
Don’t see your question below, or need more info? Email us or schedule a call!
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The FoNE is for museum educators, zoo educators, teaching artists, science interpreters, after-school program facilitators… if you are an educator from a community-based organization who works with K-12 school groups, The FoNE is for you!
The Foundations of Non-Formal Education are simple-yet-powerful strategies and mindsets that you can apply right away, to reach any and all learners, within the existing scope and flow of your programs. (In other words, micro-shifts with macro-impact!)
Whether you are brand new to the work or a seasoned educator, this series is designed to meet you where you’re at and take you to the next level in your practice. -
The FoNE is a 4-week webinar series, with a synchronous 2-hour session each Monday.
Each session covers a different topic, and involves a combination of instructor presentation and attendee participation (e.g., whole- and small-group discussion and activities).
The format is designed to allow participants to apply and reflect on each week’s topic before coming back together for the next one.
Full-series participants have access to a resource and communication hub (AKA The FoNEbook) throughout the series where you can revisit session materials, extend your learning, ask questions, and share successes and challenges with the instructor and each other. -
The FoNE is led by Jennie Goldstone, experiential learning specialist and founder of Learning Unbound.
Jennie has been facilitating professional learning for non-formal educators (and formal educators, too) for over 10 years, and has worked in non-formal education as an educator, curriculum writer, and education program administrator for over 20 years, working with community-based organizations around the US and internationally to enhance and enrich K-12 education.
Having worked with educators and education teams in museums, zoos, arts orgs, conservation orgs, and education support orgs, Jennie understands the unique contexts, challenges, and opportunities of non-formal education, while also bringing extensive expertise with K-12 students, teachers, and schools.
Jennie’s work is focused on maximizing the impact of non-formal learning for K-12 learners: Supporting educators to provide transformative experiences that celebrate the singular magic of their institution while meeting the academic, social-emotional, and cultural needs of diverse learners.
Here are some things people have said about working with her. -
Single session registration is possible! You’re welcome to register for those sessions that work for your schedule and/or that feel most relevant.
While the sessions build on each other in terms of providing a comprehensive foundation for educators, they are designed as stand-alone sessions.
With that said, the opportunity to be part of a learning community amplifies the impact so that the 4 sessions become way more than the sum of their parts. Joining for the full series provides accountability, additional resources and support, and structured reflections to deepen your learning.
Even better, joining the full series cohort means getting to connect with educators from across disciplines, contexts, locations; to learn with and from a dynamic group you’d likely never be in a room with otherwise. That’s pretty special.
NOTE that only full-series participants will have access to The FoNEbook. Single-session participants will receive the resources for their session only. -
Yes, sessions will be recorded and available to watch later.
For full-series participants, each session will be added to The FoNEbook and will be available to rewatch any time during the 4-week period (plus an additional week after the final session).
For single-session participants, your recording will be available, along with the session resources, for one week following the session. -
The minimum time commitment for the full series is 2 hours each Monday for four weeks, which is when the live sessions take place.
Beyond that, it’s recommended that you spend at least 30 minutes during each week to reflect on your learning and how you are implementing it.So, for example, let’s say you attend Monday’s session, and then on Wednesday you teach a program where you’ll be able to try out something you learned. Prior to teaching your program, you might spend a few minutes reviewing what you learned on Monday and planning out how and when you’re going to use your new strategy. Then, after teaching, you’d ideally spend a few minutes jotting down notes about what you tried and how it went, and what you might adjust for next time.
The FoNEbook is a tool you’ll have access to throughout the series that will have prompts for reflection, as well as additional resources, and space to give and get support from other educators in the cohort and the instructor. Reflection is a major part of an educator’s practice, so this format is designed to help you build that habit!
Participant FAQs
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Educators from all backgrounds and experience levels are a great fit for The FoNE.
They may be learning a critical concept for the first time; developing a deeper understanding around something they’ve been doing intuitively; or looking at an established practice with fresh eyes and bringing renewed intention and energy to their work. All of these are important levels of professionals growth!
Instructor Jennie Goldstone applies a learner-centered approach to professional learning design, meaning that sessions and activities are structured to meet participants where they’re at, providing everyone with the right balance of support and challenge.
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Not at all. These sessions are developed for the non-formal education context, and we know that means different models of program design and facilitation at different institutions.
The strategies that educators learn in the FoNE can be applied without changing the content of the program; they simply provide educators with the tools and confidence to be more effective and impactful facilitators of learning.
That said, becoming more skilled and mindful in their practice may help educators recognize opportunities for improvement in the flow and/or content of your programs, to which we cheekily say, you’re welcome! ;)
You might consider creating a process for educators to follow around making suggestions or adjustments to programs, to make sure it is collaborative and within the bounds of your programming guidelines. (This is something LU would be happy to help you do, free of charge!) -
Yes, please! Participating with your team is a great way to build community, and it will allow you to support your educators as they implement what they’re learning.
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Yes! If you are registering 3 or more educators from the same institution for the full 4-session series, you’ll get a 10% discount on the total registration fee.
Just select the Full Series-TEAM REGISTRATION option and select the number of people you’d like to register.
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Yes! Any or all sessions can be scheduled on demand; online or in-person. Contact us to discuss dates and pricing.
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Yes! Whether it’s curriculum design, lesson planning, assessment and evaluation; project-based learning for non-formal settings; a deeper dive into a foundational topic, such as working with English Language Learners or increasing learner engagement; or a team-oriented topic like building a community of practice or creating a system for educator evaluation, Learning Unbound has got you covered. Email us or schedule a call to talk about your goals for your team and we’ll create a professional learning session or series that meets your needs.