February Masterclass
March Masterclass
From "Activities" to Conceptual Understanding: The Leadership moves that make the difference
Moving from a Concept-Based unit on paper to Concept-Based learning in practice.
when
07:30 UTC
24th March 2026
WHERE
Live online with
Rachel French
A 60-minute masterclass for school leaders, curriculum coordinators, and instructional coaches.
If your school has begun implementing Concept-Based or inquiry learning, but depth is inconsistent, this session will give you the leadership lens needed to move the work forward.
Have you considered that:
Many schools have developed Concept-Based or inquiry-driven units, where teachers include concepts, generalizations, guiding questions, and engaging learning activities to structure learning.
Student conceptual understanding and transfer remain inconsistent because a Concept-Based curriculum does not automatically result in Concept-Based learning.
Effective Concept-Based Inquiry requires intentionally designed learning experiences that guide students to synthesize patterns and relationships so knowledge moves beyond facts and skills toward deep conceptual understanding and transfer.
Join us to discover:
Why engaging activities are not enough.
Many teachers design rich tasks and discussions, but without intentional conceptual design, these experiences do not reliably lead students to construct transferable understanding.
You will learn how to recognize the difference between:
Activity-based lessons and Concept-Based learning experiences that build understanding.
The hidden implementation gap in many inquiry classrooms.
Many units now include concepts, generalizations, and guiding questions, but the learning experiences often remain traditional activities rather than deliberate pathways to conceptual understanding.
This masterclass will show how that gap emerges, and how leaders can recognize it.
The three leadership questions that reveal whether conceptual learning is happening.
You will learn a simple leadershop lens to evaluate units and lessons.
Meet your Presenter
Rachel French
Rachel French, MA Ed., is Director of Professional Learning International and a certified Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction trainer. She has worked with international schools across South America, Africa, Europe, and Oceania, and has co-presented with Dr. Lynn Erickson in Cyprus, England, Luxembourg, and Germany. As an experienced IB PYP workshop leader, Rachel supports schools in aligning Concept-Based approaches with IB frameworks and has presented at leading conferences including the AEM IB Global Conference and AGIS.
Through her work with PLI, Rachel leads professional learning experiences around the world, helping educators design meaningful curriculum, deepen student thinking, and implement inquiry-based teaching with confidence. She continues to consult with schools on planning, implementation, and unit design review, supporting teams to bring Concept-Based Inquiry to life in classrooms.
Leaders play a critical role in helping teachers move from engaging tasks to conceptual understanding.
Without deliberate design, even well-intentioned, inquiry-driven units can fall back into activity-driven learning. Join us to find out how to move from one to the other.
Transforming education starts with you.