Required
- Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree preferred.
- At least three years of teaching experience in a residential or day school setting is preferred.
Position Summary
The IS teacher inspires, instructs, and develops middle and high school students’ passions and curiosities and will teach students integrated design, using human-centered design as a fundamental process to develop students’ empathy, passion, and curiosity. This role will help students think deeply about the world through various lenses of human needs, positive societal impact, and environmental sustainability. The IS teacher will enable students to take action through real-world, hands-on projects.
The position requires maintaining a full teaching load, serving as an advisor to a small cohort of students, and actively supporting various student and residential life activities. While the IS teacher focuses on inspiring and guiding innovators in the exploration of human-centered design, engineering concepts, and technical skill acquisition they are also responsible for working collaboratively and creatively with colleagues in various curricular areas to achieve integrated curriculum goals.
NEIA encourages collaborative teamwork in the classroom, teaching students to communicate effectively and thoughtfully, justify their reasoning, and consider multiple perspectives when solving problems. Teachers invest in the life of the school by participating in the advising program, social and emotional learning, weekly team meetings, anti-bias training, student and residential life, and any aspects that support the student experience. Under the general supervision and guidance of the Head of Teaching & Learning, teachers are responsible for preparing lesson plans, educating students, and collaborating with colleagues.
Their duties include assessing student work and performance through NEIA’s competency-based model, providing feedback, documenting student progress, and assigning learning extensions. Teachers must be able to command their classroom and reach students with an engaging project-based curriculum. Teachers are responsible for creating and maintaining a learning environment that guides and encourages students to develop and fulfill their academic potential and accomplish the learning goals of NEIA. Teachers are expected to understand and utilize Human-Centered Design as a process and develop it as an ethos across our program.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
● In partnership with the Team, design and implement a comprehensive and engaging innovation and design curriculum aligned with educational standards and best practices.
● Develop and adapt instructional materials, projects, and assessments to meet the needs of diverse learners.
● Integrate technology, engineering principles, and hands-on activities into the Innovation Studio curriculum to promote creativity and problem-solving.
● Provide innovative and dynamic instruction that stimulates students’ creativity, critical thinking, and design skills.
● Facilitate active and collaborative learning experiences, encouraging students to work in teams and develop effective communication and collaboration skills.
● Use a variety of teaching strategies, techniques, and resources to meet the diverse learning styles and needs of students.
● Design and implement project-based learning experiences that challenge students to solve real-world problems using the HCD processes.
● Guide students through the entire design cycle, from ideation and prototyping to testing and refining their solutions.
● Foster a growth mindset, encouraging students to embrace failures as learning opportunities and to persevere in the face of challenges.
● Maintain an organized and safe classroom space, ensuring that equipment, materials, and tools are well-maintained and accessible for student use.
● Foster a culture of responsible and ethical use of technology and materials within the innovation lab.
● Collaborate with the Hive (the fabrication space at NEIA) to incorporate critical making skills, mindsets, and approaches into Innovation Studio curriculum
● Participate in professional development opportunities to enhance teaching practices and expand knowledge of innovation and design education.
● Collaborate with colleagues to integrate innovation and design principles across the curriculum and promote cross-disciplinary learning experiences.
Expectations for all Teachers
- Embody NEIA’s principles of empathy, equity, personalization, authentic work, and collaboration in all work activities and actions.
- Develop engaging, educational, and exciting integrated and experiential curriculum and lesson plans tailored to students’ interests and needs.
- Implement classroom management strategies to maintain focus and productivity among students.
- Adapt teaching methods and instructional techniques to accommodate students’ diverse needs and learning styles, aligning with individual learning plans where applicable.
- Regularly assess student progress through NEIA’s competency system, providing timely and constructive feedback and informing students about their performance.
- Build positive relationships with students, fostering their academic growth and development.
- Collaborate with other teachers, administrators, and school counselors to enhance student learning experience.
- Identify students facing learning or emotional challenges or home situations, and work with the Student Support Team to provide necessary resources and support.
- Stay informed about and actively utilize individual learning plans in teaching and student interactions.
- Communicate effectively with parents and guardians regarding students’ performance and needs.
- Incorporate goals, competencies, and objectives into lesson plans that directly apply to students’ lives.
- Strive to achieve school and course-wide performance goals for every student in class.
- Engage in ongoing professional learning per the school’s professional growth framework.
- Support the initiatives and strategic goals set forth by the School Leadership.
- Perform other related duties and responsibilities as assigned and required by the position and the School.
The Hours of Work and Responsibilities for Teaching Staff at NEIA Include:
- Teaching staff teach four classes each semester, typically with two or three different course preparations.
- The standard workday for teaching staff members is from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Fridays.
- Teachers are available for extra help from 3:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays unless they are engaged in other NEIA-related commitments.
- Attendance at all scheduled teaching staff meetings is mandatory for teaching staff.
- Teaching staff must participate in training sessions or professional learning activities, typically scheduled when the school is not in session.
- Each teacher is required to support or lead clubs and explorations. Clubs are scheduled twice a week for 40-minute sessions within the class day, while explorations take place in the Fall, Winter, and Spring seasons, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., three to four days a week. Teachers either lead or assist two explorations OR one club and one exploration each year.
- Teachers chaperone weekend activities or serve as the Adult on Duty once or twice each term.
- Participation in various school functions is necessary, including but not limited to Opening Meetings, Opening Family Picnic, Overnight Student Orientation Trip, Family Weekend, Professional Days, PIN Points (one or two curricular presentations), Dive into NEIA (three academic days a year), Accepted Student Days, Admission Open House Events, Graduation, End-of-Year Learning Exposition & Gala, and End-of-School Meetings.
- The Head of School may assign additional duties as needed to meet the school’s requirements.
Qualifications
- Passionate about teaching middle and high school students.
- Ability to create a welcoming and supportive community for a diverse study body.
- Ability to work with professionalism, discretion, sound judgment, equity, honesty, and personal accountability at all times.
- Proficient knowledge of teaching strategies and methods.
- Ability to incorporate goals, competencies, and objectives into lesson plans in ways that directly apply to students’ lives.
- Ability to use technology effectively in teaching, learning, and administrative functions and willingness to stay current in technology skills and learn emerging technologies as needed.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Strong administrative and organizational skills.
- Strong creative and critical thinking skills.
- Ability to efficiently and effectively manage the time of self and others.
- Understanding and adhering to applicable laws, codes, policies, regulations, and safety practices and procedures.
Supervisory Responsibilities
The Innovation Studio Teacher does not supervise any other employees at NEIA.
Physical Requirements
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to perform the essential functions of this job successfully. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
● Regularly required to stand/sit for extended periods
● Regularly required to bend, lift, push, kneel, crouch, crawl, stoop.
● Regularly required to lift and/or move up to 10 pounds.
● Capable of adapting to frequent changes in position through the workday.
● Hearing and speaking to understand and exchange information in person or on the
telephone.
● Speaks clearly, so listeners can understand.
● Uses hands and fingers for manipulation, and uses a computer keyboard, educational tools, play equipment, and performs first aid and CPR.
● Specific vision abilities required include close vision, distance vision, color vision, and depth perception.
