EDUCATORS for ATTENTION is a national coalition of K-12 and college teachers with a shared vision: the future of education is all about attention.
A multi-trillion-dollar coalition of tech corporations is fracking the minds and senses of our young learners. The harms of this historically unprecedented cash-grab operation are plain to see, both in the classroom and beyond. The collective attention that makes formative learning possible has been profoundly compromised, and students are paying the price.
Teaching and learning has always been about collective attention — a fact that the present crisis is bringing into view. We see this moment as an opportunity to put the formation of human attention (all the forms of thinking and sensing that make up a flourishing human life) front and center in the classroom.
In our monthly meetings, in-person gatherings, subject-specific research cohorts, and other initiatives, we are fashioning new (and renewing old) ways of cultivating the attentional faculties of a generation of young learners — because free attention makes free people.
EDUCATORS for ATTENTION
EDUCATORS for ATTENTION meet once a month on Zoom. During these meetings we invite guest speakers to present on topics related to pedagogies of attention (archive below). Each gathering encourages educators to connect and share resources.
We welcome educators from all levels, disciplines and places. In EfA, college professors are talking to kindergarten teachers and choreography teachers are talking to math teachers. We believe a broad coalition of educators stands to be a powerful force in ATTENTION ACTIVISM.
EfA Research Cohorts
The Research Cohorts constitute a new initiative within the EfA to research subject-specific PATHS of OPPORTUNITY that can model the powers and possibilities of EDUCATION for ATTENTION.
They will work from October - December 2026 with the goal of developing "OPPORTUNITY REPORTS" detailing relevant challenges, opportunities, and action plans to cultivate the grounds for flourishing collective attention in the classroom.
Visual Arts
Chair: Olivia Friedman
Civics/Social Studies
Chair: Marissa Carrere
Reading/Writing
Chair: Molly Vasich
STEM
Chair: Caitlin Samuel
EfA Archive
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Jeff Dolven, a poet, writer, and professor, led a conversation on rhythms and sanctuary, opening space to think about classroom eurthymias and arrhythmias.
EfA Transcript 5:30
EfA Transcript 7:30
Mini Practice -
Swetha Regunathan, a writer, filmmaker, educator, and professor, guided a conversation on slowness as a pedagogical technique, inviting new ways of teaching and noticing.
EfA Transcript 5:30
EfA Transcript 7:30
Mini Practice -
Len Nalencz, a writer, organizer, educator, professor, and founding member of the Friends of Attention, led a conversation on reading as a practice of attention.
EfA Transcript 5:30
EfA Transcript 7:30
Mini Practice -
Jac Mullen, a writer, organizer, and teacher, led our inaugural meeting, exploring the significance of the study of attention and its role in the classroom.
EfA Transcript 5:30PM
EfA Transcript 7:30PM