The PBL-compass

It's a common story...

​

A school starts with Project-Based Learning (PBL) and spends the first few years practicing. They build a shared understanding of what PBL is, develop some planning tools, and run their first projects.

​

Around Year 3, something shifts.

​

Things are getting easier.

​

But is the work getting deeper?

​

Is PBL actually living up to what the school hoped it would be?

​

Most importantly: how do you know?

​

The PBL-Compass is designed for schools who have been working with PBL and want to understand where they really are and what they could do to go deeper.​

​

​

​

​

​

​​

​​​

​

​

​​

​

​​

​

​​​​​​​

​

I help you move forward by listening, observing and understanding where your school currently is with PBL, and together with you creating clarity about what it will take to go deeper.

​

This is not an inspection. You decide the direction, together we map the way.

 

It's a collaborative process where the school is part of it from start to finish. Together with what we see and hear along the way, I bring 12 years of PBL experience from more than 50 schools into the work of making sense of it all. The PBL Compass can also be done with schools who have worked with PBL for a long time and want a fresh pair of eyes on their practice. The PBL-Compass can also be put to work on the municipality and district level to give insights into several schools to inform top-level next steps. 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

​​

 

Here's how it works...

​

1. Background session:

We start with an online session with school leadership to map the history of PBL at your school. We also determine what you ambition for PBL is and the outcomes you hope to see. This is what The PBL-Compass will primarily focus on. 

​

2. Data collection:

Data is gathered from across the school community to give us a full picture of how PBL is experienced from different perspectives.

​

• Staff survey

• Focus group interviews with teachers

• Leadership interview

• Student focus group interviews

• Parent survey

• Classroom observations during PBL weeks​

​

It's strongly recommended that one person from the school participates alongside me during data collection — a PBL guide, counselor, leadership team member, or someone who champions PBL at your school. Hearing the data as it comes in, and being able to add context in the moment, makes the whole process richer. It also builds capacity inside the school.

​

3. Sense-making Workshop:

Before any conclusions are drawn, we look at the data together. In a workshop with school leadership and invited staff, we explore: What is the data showing us? What does it mean for PBL at this school? What patterns stand out and what surprises us? This step ensures the recommendations don't arrive as a verdict from the outside. Instead they emerge from a conversation the school is already part of.

​

4. Synthesis:

Based on what we have explored together, I gather key patterns, reflections and possible directions for strengthening and deepening practice. These are presented and discussed with the school at the final meeting, so that the next steps are understood, anchored and developed together. The school gets access to the material collected throughout the process.

 

5. Final Meeting:

We meet to go through the presentation together, discuss the recommendations, and talk about what comes next.

​

Are you curious about whether The PBL-Compass could make sense for you?

 

Send me an email at loni@lonibergqvist.com and we will set up a short meeting to discuss whether it's a right fit for your school.