2026 AVLI SUMMER TEACHING INSTITUTE

Who: Open to all interested teachers and administrators

When: June 16-19th, 2026

Where: Sacred Heart Jesuit Retreat House, Sedalia, CO

Cost: $865 (Includes 3 nights lodging and onsite meals)

Purpose and Description

Inspiring Curiosity & Embracing the Productive Struggle is a three-day professional learning experience designed for high school educators seeking to re-center authentic learning in an educational landscape increasingly shaped by transactionalism, grade optimization, performance anxiety, and avoidance of intellectual risk. This PD explores why reclaiming struggle as a vital condition for learning is essential for student formation, deep understanding, and long-term growth. Participants will examine the roles of mindset, unlearning, community-building, civil discourse, and moral frameworks (including Catholic Social Teaching) in shaping classrooms that value curiosity, perseverance, and meaning over mere transactional success - all from the inspiring foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

Across the three days, teachers will engage with concrete instructional and assessment strategies that support productive struggle, including process-oriented assessment, project-based learning, portfolio approaches, collaborative skill-building, and reflective practices that make learning visible. The PD is intentionally structured to create time between and beyond stimulus and response: brief presentations introduce ideas and tools, followed by sustained opportunities for workshopping, collaboration, discussion, and reflection. Participants will examine challenges such as school structures, parent expectations, grading systems, and the influence of AI, and will actively design responses tailored to their disciplines and school contexts. By the end of the experience, teachers will leave with practical artifacts, revised lessons or assessments, and actionable next steps they can immediately implement—grounded in a renewed vision of learning that embraces struggle as the pathway to curiosity, growth, and purpose.

Program Overview

Tuesday, June 16th (Day 1) - What’s at stake?

Why do we need to inspire curiosity and embrace productive struggle? How did we get off track (assuming we were ever on it) and what steps do we take to put us on a path in this direction? 

Check in will begin at 3:30pm, followed by dinner, a context setting presentation, and social.

Wednesday, June 17th (Day 2) - Building Environments that Inspire Curiosity and Embrace (create and support) Productive Struggle.

Through a combination of presentations, discussions and an abundance of worktime, the day focuses on designing classroom environments that actively invite curiosity and sustain productive struggle, with hands-on exploration of instruction, assessment, collaboration, and reflection.

The day will end with a dinner, reflection exercise, and social.

Thursday, June 18th (Day 3): Keeping it Real: Reflecting on and responding to the challenges we will face.

Following a similar daily routine, we will shift our attention to a pragmatic and sobering reflection on the inevitable challenges that await any attempt at changing paradigm. The day's topics will include the examination of school/school community structures and expectations, the use and misuse of artificial intelligence, and civil discourse.

Thursday will end with Mass, dinner, reflection, and social.

Friday, June 19th (Day 4): Recap and Departures.

Comments from Past Participants

"This was excellent and I would definitely come back next summer."

"It was a great experience made better through the active participation/sharing of the attendees."

"It was incredibly professional and helpful. I was so moved by how affective it was. I think this is a phenomenal resource for teachers."

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