Anywhere Learning Revisited

Welcome back, and Happy 2026! ABPTL hopes all of you had a restful and relaxing holiday season.

I was in Texas for Christmas and had the opportunity to visit Houston’s Center for Photography (HCP), a mix of photography museum and a leading source of photographic education offering a variety of engaging courses and workshops from photography foundations to portfolio development.

HCP describes itself as a place where “Affordable classes are scheduled conveniently for photographers of all levels to get inspired by diverse and accomplished instructors. Explore your creativity, adopt new practical skills and techniques, and apply advanced contemporary approaches enriching your photographic practice.”

When I was connected to the personalized learning lab school we ran in Houston 10 years ago, HCP was a partner museum with us. Our kids spent time at Houston’s Center for Photography learning about the history of photography, touring and providing commentary on current exhibits, and learning from professional photographers about the intricacies of the printed picture. Although all 50 of our kids were exposed to HCP in a general way, about a quarter of our young learners decided to spend more time at the center to build their knowledge and skills about photography specifics. These kids built HCP into their personalized learning plans, wanting to spend as much time as possible working with the photography professionals.

Others chose different museum pathways, but all of our young learners identified a museum connection that they felt passionate about and committed to.

“Explore your creativity, adopt new practice skills and techniques, and apply advanced contemporary approaches enriching your ___________ practice.”

Even though these three goals are part of the Houston Center for Photography’s mission statement, wouldn’t these actions be a part of any solid learning plan for kids and adults alike?

HCP, along with other Houston museums, became places for 50 middle school-aged learners to create, practice new skills and techniques, and apply advanced contemporary approaches to enrich their practice.

Sadly, although these three opportunities presented themselves to this set of 50 young learners, most traditional schools don’t offer this type of learning during their usual school day.

Instead of allowing kids to explore their creativity, traditional schools present a state- and district-approved curriculum for all kids to learn.

Instead of encouraging the practice of new skills and techniques, too much of traditional school is rooted in coursework that doesn’t even approach what most would consider graduation essentials.

Instead of applying advanced contemporary approaches to enrich each student’s practice, traditional schools teach the same lessons to the same kids, using the same assessment tools, at the same time of year.

What would happen if young learners could spend more time in places like Houston’s Center for Photography? What would happen if young learners could become connected to museums, businesses, performance groups, sports teams, that would not only fulfill those young learner’s passions, but also built strong readers, writers, and problem-solvers at the same time?

What would happen if, while building a new system of learning, young learners could learn anywhere, and not just at a place called school?

Til tomorrow. SVB