Educators and the Institute for Common Power

Educators represent our ability to disseminate truth and shape next generation leaders. The Institute for Common Power is committed to supporting educators through conversations, learning tours, grants, lectures, trainings, and more.

We are dedicated to creating a nation of educators who understand and teach honest history while serving as models for students to work collaboratively in building a just and inclusive American democracy.


Truth and Purpose Learning Experience for Educators

Apply for the September 26-October 1, 2024 Learning Tour is now closed. 

Check back by mid-May to apply for the February, 2025 learning tour!

Those accepted will receive a full scholarship and have access to grants, free lectures, and more!

The Institute for Common Power partners with teachers, tutors, curriculum specialists, organizational foundations, and school system leaders across the country to provide an experiential learning opportunity for educators in the long historical arcs of Civil Rights, Voting Rights, and the African American experience in America.  Truth in education is essential for democracy to work.  We are dedicated to creating a nation of educators who understand and teach accurately, while being models for students to grow and work collaboratively in building a just and inclusive American democracy. These learning tours are led by Institute for Common Power Director, Dr. Terry Anne Scott; Common Power professor, Dr. David Domke; Institute for Common Power staff; and civil rights foot soldiers. Those who have participated often characterize the experience as “life-changing.”

THE APPLICATION FOR THE SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 1, 2024 TRUTH AND PURPOSE LEARNING EXPERIENCE IS OPEN!. PLEASE EMAIL US AT INSTITUTE@COMMONPOWER.ORG TO BE ALERTED ABOUT FUTURE JOURNEYS.

Educators will travel with people from the Institute through Georgia, Alabama, and possibly Mississippi (depending on the trip). We will visit, among other places, the Equal Justice Initiative Legacy Museum, Kelly Ingram Park, and Selma. Educators will learn from and travel with professors, civil rights foot soldiers and others. Those selected for the program will be named Institute for Common Power Ambassadors.

Teachers change lives!  This journey it is not just about the history they learn: this journey helps educators better understand their students.  It helps them better understand the power of their role in nullifying racism.  It provides them with a community of other educators committed to changing lives. 

The Institute will cover airfare, hotel rooms, ground transportation, meals, museum entrance fees, and speaker fees. Those who are selected required to create one unit of study with three lesson plans within thirty days of the completion of their journey. The unit of study will be available for free on our website.

If selected for the Truth and Purpose Learning Experience, you will become an Institute for Common Power Educator Ambassador.

This status will give you access to the following:

Initiatives for Educators who have completed the Georgia / Alabama Truth and Purpose Learning Tour for Educators:

  1. Virtual bimonthly convening with educators from their journey. 

  2. Free access to all lectures and courses given by the Institute for Common Power. 

  3. Eligibility to apply for an annual learning tour to Tennessee and Mississippi that will focus heavily on the Modern Civil Rights Movement.  Those who are accepted will be given a scholarship that covers airfare, ground transportation, hotel, and meals. 

  4. Eligibility for a summer Educator Symposium in Selma, Alabama.

  5. Eligibility to apply for a $1,000 Education to Action grant to allow you implement a school or community-based program that will move education into action. 

Testimonials from Past Participants

  • “I cannot put into words the impact his learning experience has had on my life. This 5 day journey has created sustainable endurance for myself and this amazing group of educators in our lifelong activism work. We have become a united community and are now 'Institute Educator Ambassadors.'"

    - Educator Participant

  • "The learning tour provided an opportunity for us to build content knowledge experientially by visiting the sites that we have only read about and hearing from those who are witness to the history. The site tours were incredibly impactful; to stand on the ground of Bloody Sunday while being told the story of that space, to walk Commerce Street in Montgomery moving through centuries…to experience the Legacy Museum and Peace and Justice Memorial, to walk side by side across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, no words can express the feelings we had as we engaged individually and cooperatively in this learning….It was no longer about whether we should tell the story, but that we MUST tell the story. Having an opportunity to experience this transformation in community with my teachers could not have happened in any professional learning I could have provided; it was this trip that galvanized our collective purpose as educators devoted to sharing this history in our own classes, and helping our peers do the same.”

    - Educator Participant

  • “Walking on the same ground as activists and leaders of the Modern Civil Rights Movement was empowering yet humbling. It's one thing to learn about the people, history, and places in the movement but it is another thing to bear witness to it and speak with people who started legacies on whose shoulders I stand. Throughout our journey, I experienced all kinds of emotions as I was filled with tears, outrage, joy, laughter, and hope as I grappled with stories I never learned. Towards the end of this experience, one takeaway was being tasked by Joanne Bland, a Bloody Sunday marcher, to add my puzzle piece to history by continuing to fight for change and for my students, to teach them stories of struggle and resistance in the Civil Rights Movement which is part of U.S.A's history.”

    - Simone, New York, New York

  • “It proved to be one of the most profound and enriching experiences of my life. Dr. Terry Anne Scott and David Domke were world class instructors who riveted our group with their insights. I was deeply moved by the chance to meet and learn from Civil Rights heroes like Charles Maulden, Bob Zellner, JoAnne Bland and Bernard Lafayette. Despite being from thirteen different states and three countries our group of educators and professionals shared so much together in such a short period of time. It felt like finding an extended family that I had never met before, and I'm humbled to be part of such an amazing group of generous and talented people. This is professional learning at the highest possible level. I can't wait to apply for the next opportunity!”

    -Randy, Seattle, Washington

  • Meeting and touring with change agents while also visiting historical sites in the South made history alive and deeply relevant in my heart. No longer is it the hidden history of the South, but it is now my history and my responsibility to share it with the masses. This Educators' tour is a must-experience, once-in-a-lifetime journey that couples what you thought you knew, with the actual people who fought (and continue to fight) for our liberties. It is not a matter of whether you should apply for this experience or not; the question is once you've experienced all that this tour offers, how will you go forth and make a difference?"

    - Educator Participant

If you would like for educators in your local school district to be considered for the Truth and Purpose Learning Experience for Educators, please submit an application or contact the Institute for Common Power Director,

Dr. Terry Anne Scott - terry@commonpower.org.