Power of Place

The Teacher Collaborative

The Teacher Collaborative @ Power of Place is a learning community for Massachusetts teachers that provides them the opportunity to connect, learn, and lead alongside their peers. Originally founded in 2017 by Maria Fenwick, a former teacher (now PoP Board Member), The Teacher Collaborative became part of Power of Place in 2025. 

The signature model of The Teacher Collaborative is the Co-Lab, a sustained group where teachers with common interests can collaborate, innovate, and problem-solve together, often creating shareable products to offer to the broader community.

All Teacher Collaborative programs offer Professional Development Points (PDPs), and many offer honorariums and graduate credit to honor the time and contributions of participants.  Many of our programs are selective and require an application. Our programs are often held online, as most are open to all educators across Massachusetts, we offer some in-person events as well. Please click through the tabs below to explore current opportunities and register.

  • Our Teacher Leadership Co-Labs, Task Forces and Fellowships offer educators the opportunity to lead change while learning in a supportive community that prioritizes equity- and learner-driven approaches.
  • We offer Professional Learning through Teacher Institutes and Learning Co-Labs, which provide participants a safe and supportive space to engage in high-quality professional learning on hot topics in education while connecting with peers with common interests.
  • Innovation Co-Labs bring together educators, often in teams, to participate in a supported design process to develop innovative solutions to better meet their students’ needs.
  • Special Events are offered to recognize the hard work of our teachers and to help educators connect to one another.

Teacher Leadership

Accepting Applications: ECLC Teacher Action Research Fellowship

Apply now to join the ECLC Teacher Action Research Fellowship, which launches in December 2025. This opportunity is open to teachers in any Essex County Learning Community member district.

Participants will engage in an in-depth learning experience to research, learn about, and pilot strong equity- and learner-driven practices; share your learning more broadly within the ECLC community of practice; and ultimately develop an advocacy platform to bring you learning, priorities, and recommendations to your peers, your district leaders, and beyond. Participants will focus on piloting classroom-level shifts that can make a positive impact and be replicated across our communities.

This 18-month experience includes monthly online meetings and optional in-person meet-ups. Participants earn a stipend of up to $1500, optional graduate credit, and 35 PDPs while gaining invaluable experience and a strong community of peers.

Applications are currently being reviewed on a rolling basis until November 24th, so please apply here as soon as possible – http://tinyurl.com/ECLCTeachers – to be considered.

Equity work has always been brave work, and now more than ever a supportive community is essential. Fortunately, there is Equity Leaders, Teacher Collaborative’s flagship Leadership opportunity, a free program for teachers that meets monthly to design and plan change projects that can bring about greater equity in our schools. Equity Leaders is offered annually. We are currently reviewing applications for the 2025-2026 cohort. Please stay tuned for further announcements.

Innovation Co-Labs

Please check back later; we hope to have more information soon about Innovation Co-Lab opportunities.

Special Events

Check back soon for more special events!

Please bookmark this webpage and check back often!

Our learning agenda is a living document and highly adaptive to the shifting needs of educators in our community, so please check back often as new opportunities are added regularly.  

If you have any questions, if you’d like to discuss partnering to leverage the perspective and expertise of teachers in our community,  or if you’d like to discuss ways Power of Place® can support your teachers, please contact Diana Lebeaux, Senior Director, Teacher Collaborative, at dlebeaux@powerofplacelc.org

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