The Third Horizon of Learning: Shifting Beyond the Industrial Model


April 29, 2025

The Third Horizon of Learning: Shifting Beyond the Industrial Model

Over the past seven months, Incubate Learning and Getting Smart, with the sponsorship of LearnerStudio, have been curating, editing, and writing a blog series that showcases the voices of 30+ organizations building the future of learning today. The series includes the voices of:

  • Students envisioning the education system they want and need
  • Schools redesigning the core of what they do for the five-seven hours students are present
  • School districts and charter networks reformulating how they operate so that their students can thrive in today's world, not the 19th century
  • Organizations that support all this work of redesign in different communities and contexts
  • Thought leaders exploring how policy and philanthropy can support these new designs
  • and more

From these many voices, Incubate Learning and Getting Smart have distilled 7 design principles for schools/learning environments and 5 systemic moves we need to make to nurture such learning environments.

You can find the 7 Design Principles and 5 Systemic Moves, as well as the entire series of 24 blogs, below.

What are Teacher Roles + Responsibilities in Third Horizon Learning Models?

We also heard from some readers that the link for the 3 Learning Models framework from our previous post didn't work, so we've included it again here. This framework highlights 3 different models of pedagogy:

  • traditional
  • standards-based personalized mastery
  • competency-based personalized mastery

It shows how teachers and students operate differently in these three models -- across 7 dimensions:

  • pedagogical approach
  • classroom management
  • curriculum design
  • student support
  • pacing
  • assessment practices
  • flexibility

Let’s build a future where every teacher and adult in the school is equipped to meet students where they are and help them grow in meaningful ways.

Incubate Learning's blog provides unique insights into the design of learning in K12, higher ed, and entrepreneurship.

Want to read more? Find previous posts here.