We’re here for the lifelong learners and the change-makers: Leading educators who are ready to swap textbooks for innovative curriculum design and revolutionize the way they teach. We invite you to join our global community of educators and leave traditional instruction behind so you can engage students and empower them to think critically within and beyond the classroom.
Transforming education with cutting-edge curriculum design
About
Before we became a global name in Concept-Based Inquiry, our story started with a teacher. A lifelong learner passionate about education, curriculum design, and her students, she sought professional development through mentorship, learning an innovative approach to teaching—an approach that helped her students make connections, build on previous learnings, and experience aha moments. That approach was Concept-Based Inquiry, and it transformed her classroom.
She connected with a fellow educator and colleague, Carla Marschall, to create a model and practical strategies to support a Concept-Based Inquiry approach, specifically to scaffold students’ thinking based on understanding so they can ignite those light-bulb moments consistently—even predictably.
As you may have guessed, this teacher became our founder, Rachel French. With Rachel’s successes, a mission was born—to transform education through teacher and student agency, making her approach to Concept-Based Inquiry accessible to other passionate educators around the world, so they can replicate her successes in their own classrooms and inspire the next generation of educators.
A story inspired by a teacher like you
OUR STORY
Meet Rachel French
Founder of Professional Learning International and an accomplished international educator, workshop facilitator, consultant, and author, Rachel has been leading innovative curriculum design and transforming how educators teach, and students learn for over 12 years.
Mentored by the founders of Concept-Based Curriculum themselves, Dr. Lynn Erickson and Dr. Lois Lanning, Rachel was entrusted with the exclusive worldwide rights to offer the Erickson and Lanning Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction (CBCI) Trainer Certification Institute—the certification that kick-started her journey into Concept-Based Inquiry and inspired her own approach to the pedagogy.
Today, Rachel’s mission is to help other educators transform their classrooms and schools as she did hers through hands-on programs, immersive events, and free resources.
Our Founder
Meet our Administrative Team
Paul is our very own Tom Ford. When he’s not working away at changing the landscape of the slow fashion industry, Paul moonlights as our tech wiz and automation genius. Young by age, old by spirit, Paul is our in-house tech titan, master of pretty links, and the person we go to when we break stuff.
Although he often only eats yoghurt for lunch, he’s the kind of person we could all do with at least five more of.
He drives for over an hour to work daily, so he must also like us a bit.
DIGITAL MARKETING AUTOMATION SPECIALIST
Paul Starkey
In her past lives, Debbie has worked as a diamond dealer, a journalist, a kinesiologist, and a hairdresser. She ran an art gallery and also had a brief stint as a journalist for a small town newspaper. Her career vagabond history means she’s got a story for just about everything, which bodes well for her role as our resident wordsmith.
Known for opening three Chrome windows with 41 research tabs in each, just short of getting to that stressful zone where you can’t see the icon on the tabs anymore, she is the smiling pedant we all rely on to make us sound smarter than we really are.
COPYWRITER AND CONTENT MANAGER
Debbie Wilton
Vanessa, the switch witch, started out being the admin queen but in a puff of smoke, transitioned to the head of billing and accounts when we needed it most.
Our best barista and all-around calming presence in the office, Vanessa, is the quiet overachiever we all wish we could be.
A greener thumb than Kermit, her garden is her happy place.
OPERATIONS AND ACCOUNTS
Vanessa Murrell
With major big smoke fashion vibes, Deborah breezed into the office, determined to maintain her lofty couture standards. We smiled wryly, knowing it would not be long before our country bumpkin, slipper wearing ways rubbed off on her through the inevitable office osmosis.
With her absolute love of a to-do list, ultimate stickler status for deadlines and email responses, she’s the match lighter of the accountability fire we all straighten up for. As such, to save time, we assume she is never wrong.
Lock up your dogs, though. She’s madly on the hunt for a new pet to love.
Executive Assistant and Customer support
Deborah Higgs
David is our videographer and web expert. Having been a teacher for the past twenty years, he knows the business pretty well. That said, he knows the boss pretty well too. Coincidence?
He has some secret hoarding tendencies, which we encourage Rachel to work on, and a greater need for a man cave than most.
An extracurricular farmer with a dairy allergy, David is the oxymoron we love to love.
Production manager and Videographer
David French
When the typhoons don't take out her internet, Marian is our offshore secret weapon. She's our video editor, graphic design guru, and everything in between.
No matter how challenging the task may be, Marian can handle it without breaking a sweat—which says a lot, given the climate she’s in.
Marian’s hard work and enthusiasm make her an integral part of our team and serve as a great reminder - not to shop local for everything.
VIRTUAL ASSISTANT
Marian Natividad
Lover of green smoothies, a closet vegetarian, and a multitasking wizard. We’re pretty sure Rachel is an actual horse whisperer for educators.
Constantly shaking things up and leading her team on unbeatable paths of success, Rachel reminds us that leadership takes dedication, perseverance, and a healthy dose of risk-taking.
Seamlessly jumping from one meeting to the next, with the moves of a desert cat, she somehow finds the time to get us all to do work that we’re proud of. Is she actually a unicorn?
DIRECTOR OF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING INTERNATIONAL
Rachel French
Our team of passionate educators
You became an educator because you want to make a difference, right? So do we. Committed to helping your students reach their full potential with transformational Concept-Based Inquiry curriculum design, our team will help you forge the path to a world-class education.
Meet our Coaching Team
- DIRECTOR OF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING INTERNATIONAL
- ERICKSON & LANNING CBCI TRAINER & CONSULTANT
- PLI COURSE FACILITATOR, CURRICULUM DEVELOPER
Rachel French
- ERICKSON & LANNING CBCI TRAINER & CONSULTANT
- PLI COURSE FACILITATOR & CBCI INSTITUTE SPECIALIST
Tiffanee Brown
- ERICKSON & LANNING CBCI TRAINER & CONSULTANT
- PLI COURSE FACILITATOR, CURRICULUM DEVELOPER & CBCI INSTITUTE SPECIALIST
Jessica Humble-Crofts
- ERICKSON & LANNING CBCI TRAINER & CONSULTANT
- PLI CURRICULUM DEVELOPER & CBCI INSTITUTE SPECIALIST
Kelvin Sparks
- ERICKSON & LANNING CBCI TRAINER & CONSULTANT
- PLI COURSE FACILITATOR & CBCI INSTITUTE SPECIALIST
Nyssa Brown
- ERICKSON & LANNING CBCI TRAINER & CONSULTANT
- PLI COURSE FACILITATOR & CBCI INSTITUTE SPECIALIST
- COACHING CALLS OFFERED IN ENGLISH OR ARABIC
Rasha El-Haggan
- ERICKSON & LANNING CBCI TRAINER & CONSULTANT
Jo Fahey
Andrea Uhl
Jenny Jin
- ERICKSON & LANNING CBCI TRAINER & CONSULTANT
- ELEMENTARY & WORLD LANGUAGE SPECIALIST
- COACHING CALLS OFFERED IN ENGLISH OR MANDARIN
- ERICKSON & LANNING CBCI TRAINER & CONSULTANT
- PRIMARY/ELEMENTARY SPECIALIST
- PLI COURSE FACILITATOR
Yuanjia Fei
- ERICKSON & LANNING CBCI TRAINER & CONSULTANT
- WORLD LANGUAGE SPECIALIST
- COACHING CALLS OFFERED IN ENGLISH, MANDARIN & THAI
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Still don’t get what Concept-Based Inquiry is?
Join our founder Rachel French for a free 40-minute masterclass to learn the biggest misconceptions about conceptual understanding—for any subject you teach.