EcoEducate

08/10/2026

After a decade of working alongside schools and communities in Galápagos, we’ve learned that lasting change rarely begins with a new program.

It begins with trust.

Trust built by listening carefully, showing up consistently, admitting mistakes, changing course, and responding to what educators and communities actually need — not what outsiders assume they need.

These five lessons grew from that experience — and from the educators, students, conservationists, scientists, park guards, fishers, community leaders, and many others across Galápagos who have taught us along the way.

We’re still learning. And we look forward to sharing more!

07/09/2026

In remote school districts, the people with the greatest potential to help teachers improve may already be there.

Teachers rarely change their practice after attending a few professional development workshops.

The research is consistent: professional development is most effective when it is ongoing, connected to classroom practice, and built around observation, feedback, reflection, and collaboration.

Local instructional coaches make this possible.

As Miriam Chacón, EcoEducate's Director of Coaching, puts it: "Coaching isn't evaluation, and it isn't supervision. Coaches aren't there to tell teachers what to do. We're there as partners, working alongside them throughout the year, year after year, to figure out what helps their students learn."

In practice, that looks like:

✅ Classroom observations focused on learning, not evaluation
✅ Feedback conversations that build on a teacher's own thinking
✅ Goal setting and action planning based on student evidence
✅ Modeling practices teachers can try the next day
✅ Professional learning communities where teachers solve problems together

That's why developing local instructional coaches sits at the center of our work. We identify local teacher-leaders and prepare them to support their peers, so schools and districts can build 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻.

Through a two-year program, we help coaches learn to recognize effective instruction, facilitate reflective conversations with teachers, and identify and address shared needs through targeted workshops and professional learning communities.

This matters most in remote and underserved districts, where outside experts seldom come and rarely stay. A team of well-trained, local instructional coaches changes what is possible.

When this work began in Galápagos, fewer than 30% of teachers consistently demonstrated strong instructional practice, and students performed below the national average for public schools.

Nearly a decade later, graduating seniors 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 across subjects. Over the same period, the proportion of teachers consistently demonstrating strong instructional practices more than doubled, from under 30% to over 60%.

That change took years and many institutions working together through intensive workshops, classroom observations, and professional learning communities. Local instructional coaches are the thread running through it all, keeping the work alive after outside partners move on and helping good practices take hold and spread.

As Mirla Cabezas, one of our Galápagos coaches, puts it:

"The coaches and teachers in Galápagos have become a team. We reflect together, celebrate small victories, and help each other overcome challenges.
That's what keeps the momentum going."

That is why coaching is not an add-on to what we do. 𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸.

Pictured: Instructional Coach, Mirla Cabezas, with two of her students in Galapagos

07/08/2026

💙 We are proud to partner with Fundación Scalesia and to work with many of the wonderful teachers in Galapagos who make these kids love coming to school! 💚

03/06/2026

When you’re an English teacher on a remote island in the Pacific Ocean, professional learning can feel very far away.

But EcoEducate is changing that.

Susan Huss-Lederman, EcoEducate Advisor and expert on project based learning, gives us a glimpse of what it's like working with English teachers on Isabela Island in the Galapagos Archipelago and how small changes can make a big difference in long-term learning.

Professional learning can feel very far away when you're an English teacher on a remote island in the Pacific. On Isabela Island in Galapagos, that has changed.

01/12/2026

EcoEducate begins 2026 with optimism — for a year of growth, connection, and inspiration — not only for our growing organization, but for teachers like Galapagos educator Mirla Cabezas, who are working every day to make a difference for their students and communities.

Read more about Mirla’s growth as a teacher at the link in the comments.