Teaching, reinvented: How unconventional educator roles pave the way for a more fulfilling and sustainable profession

For example, an empowered teacher has approximately the same amount of personal autonomy, professional autonomy, and connection to students and families as that of a traditional teacher, but experiences above-average peer collaboration and has a high level of voice in school policy. [...] Being the sole operator of their own microschools meant that educators could set the start and end times of their day, the number of days each week they met, and the structure of the daily schedule. [...] Educators also appreciated the ability to create or customize curricula in ways that speak to the needs and interests of their students as well as their own passions and skills. [...] As part of a community-embedded microschool, she gained the freedom to craft learning experiences that are relevant both to her students and to the local businesses that the school is partnered with. [...] I don’t necessarily have the capacity to go through the best research and to talk to the right people about curriculum.