The partnership will bring the award-winning classroom management methodology to more teachers.
By Lini S. Kadaba
While she was a Conrad Weiser High School science teacher several years ago, Adelle Schade, Ph.D., increasingly saw students disengage from the day’s lessons.
“I knew something needed to change in education,” said the recently appointed vice president of innovation and educational ventures at Alvernia University.
Schade founded Total Experience Learning® (TExpL), which provides educators the framework to uncover the genius in every child. She partnered with Alvernia to bring the award-winning classroom management methodology to more educators. The program of four graduate-level courses, based at the John R. Post Center at Reading CollegeTowne, gives teachers the skills to offer hands-on educational opportunities that engage students and develop critical thinking, creativity and real-world skills across abilities, age groups and subjects.
Instead of sitting silently in rows while a teacher lectures, students work in small groups to solve problems they select. The partnership with Alvernia allows for significant growth opportunities, according to Schade.
“The decision to bring TExpL to Alvernia reflects our shared values and commitment to innovation, experiential learning and the will to impact our communities with an unwavering focus on educational quality,” she said. “Alvernia’s strong market positioning in experiential learning, in particular its commitment to enhancing innovativeness and transformative education, is well in line with TExpL’s vision of empowering learners of all ages. Together, we are building a future where innovation drives meaningful change for individuals, schools and communities.”
‘Shaping the future of education’
This semester, the program expanded beyond Berks, launching its first open cohort for educators hailing from nearby counties. It also continues to offer school-based cohorts and special-topic study abroad courses for educators as well as after-school and summer programs on campus for fifth-to-12th-grade students interested in research opportunities, with Alvernia undergraduates as mentors.
“At Alvernia, we believe learning should be experiential,” said President Glynis A. Fitzgerald, Ph.D. “We have created a community of curious minds who strive for academic excellence. Total Experience Learning shares this passion.”
The program also provides another way to break down barriers to access, Fitzgerald said.
“We are focused on delivering high-quality programs, supporting educators at every stage of their journey and helping both students and teachers achieve real, measurable success,” she said. “This partnership is all about shaping the future of education.”
TExpL began in 2015 as the Science Research Institute, a science club rooted in business project management concepts that founder Schade was studying. The initiative quickly gained momentum, with students excelling in competitions and attracting $2 million in equipment donations. As its impact grew, so did its reach — over the last four years, the program expanded beyond after-school to offer a graduate-level certification for educators.
“Our certificate in educational innovation and entrepreneurship provides training to educators who are looking to amplify the curiosity and ingenuity of their students through this educational framework,” Schade said.
Recognizing its broader potential, the methodology rebranded as Total Experience Learning in 2022. Since then, classrooms using the TExpL approach have seen remarkable success. Students have secured 12 patents for their innovations, and schools implementing the program report higher test scores, decreased tardiness, and fewer behavior issues, according to Schade. That same year, the United Nations’ materials science division recognized TExpL as the Most Innovative Educational Model, cementing its reputation as a transformative approach to learning. To date, hundreds of educators in local districts have completed the certification.
Those innovations are having a ripple effect in those schools.
TExpL alum and librarian Rachel Sebastian transformed the library in Brecknock Elementary School, part of the Gov. Mifflin School District, into the fictionalized Sweet Read City.
Arranged in baskets by kid-friendly topic (favorite toys, dinosaurs, fun facts), books in the Denver, Pa., school are organized along “streets,” and shelves sport cardboard facades of actual Berks businesses researched by students. Collaborative space abounds.
Recently, Sebastian introduced students to nonfiction resources on trees and plants by investigating with a digital microscope the differences in evergreen and deciduous tree branches.
“That’s how I hook them,” she said. “Then they have a real reason to use those resources because they naturally want to find out more.”
