Educator Institutes

The National Constitution Center hosts Educator Institutes at the Center in Philadelphia and at locations nationwide, providing teachers opportunities to learn from leading constitutional scholars and pedagogical experts while also connecting with fellow educators. 

During each institute, educators work with content experts to deepen their knowledge of the history and contemporary relevance of the Constitution, the structural Constitution, and the amendment process. The Center’s Education team, with the support of teacher facilitators, provides participants with the tools to discover and develop innovative, nonpartisan ways to make the content engaging and relevant to students. 

Our approach has three main components: building a historical foundation through storytelling; practicing constitutional thinking skills to promote inquiry; and developing the skills of civil dialogue and reflection. 

During the institutes, we: 

• Build a strong foundation by exploring the Constitution’s text and history with a focus on telling stories from the founding to present day 
• Explore how to help students separate their political views from their constitutional views—asking not what the government should do, but what it constitutionally may do 
• Review civil dialogue protocols and resources focused on embedding nonpartisan civil dialogue practices in the classroom 
• Connect with fellow educators from across the country to share resources, ideas, and perspectives 

Institutes are open to educators working with grades 5–12 at public, charter, independent, parochial, and other schools. Successful applicants are those who thoughtfully consider the parameters for all components of the application, including the short answer questions. Answers should be thorough, provide insight into the applicant as an educator and learner, and comprised of original ideas in the applicant’s own words.

Applications for institutes in the summer of 2026 will open in November.