About
Creative Learning Company
Empowering Educators with Extraordinary Learning Experiences
Learn more about our team and methodology
WHO WE ARE
An offspring of The MIT Media Lab and the Harvard School of Education, the Creative Learning Company team includes artists, educators, researchers, designers, and technologists with decades of experience working on creative learning projects with schools, community groups, and businesses from around the world.
WHAT WE DO
METHODOLOGY
We specialize in the design and implementation of workshops, educational materials, and spaces for hands-on, interest-based, and invention-oriented learning.
Our programs are shown to:
Empower teachers to design and integrate creative learning experiences and strategies in their classrooms.
Create relevant, joyful classroom learning for students from PreK through Grade 5.
Support the diverse needs of different learning styles and lived experiences.
Offer school systems and organizations an engaging program to support staff development and retention.
Interested in custom workshops for your team?
HOW WE DO IT
Creative Learning is built on four foundational values, also known as the four P’s:
Projects. Passion. Peers. Play.
At the Creative Learning Company, we’ve applied these pillars to a unique and dynamic format.
Our signature approach uses creative learning microworlds – complete curriculum units carefully designed to encourage student exploration and playful engagement around a specific theme. Each of these age-appropriate microworlds strengthens essential capabilities such as imagination, creativity, and problem solving.
Not only are our microworld programs time-tested and research-backed, but they’re carefully designed to align with grade-level standards.
We help schools and other learning institutions become more creative, hands-on, and exciting for learners of all ages, providing them with opportunities to create in imaginative and meaningful ways.
Our curriculum and products are unique in their focus on low-cost materials and activities that can be implemented in diverse settings.
OUR TEAM
Rachel Garber, Director
M.Ed
Founder, Creative Learning Company
Rachel is an educator with 25+ years of experience working with young people, volunteers, teachers, and parents in both public school and community-based educational programs. She has a passion for infusing creativity into learning and exposing children to new opportunities to help them discover their potential. She has worked closely with organizations such as MIT Media Lab's Lifelong Kindergarten Group, The Clubhouse Network, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and Boston Public Schools. She specializes in program development, curriculum design, and professional development for children and adults.
Leo Burd
PhD
Co-founder Creative Learning Company
Leo is interested in the design of innovative technologies and approaches for creative learning and social empowerment. With a PhD from the MIT Media Lab, Leo co-directs the Brazilian Creative Learning Network, an organization that brings together thousands of teachers, artists, researchers, decision-makers, families, and students from all over Brazil to support and promote more creative and relevant public education for all.
Outside of MIT, Leo has worked for groups such as the World Bank, Microsoft, and the Brazilian government. He has also coordinated a non-profit organization that builds "computer and citizenship" schools in Sao Paulo slums, and was a key contributor to several international initiatives that foster technology and education innovation for youth empowerment.
Mariana Tamashiro
M.Sc
Mariana is interested in designing creative and meaningful learning experiences, using technology as a medium for expression. She graduated from the University of Sao Paulo with a Bachelor of Science in Design. In 2017, she joined MIT Media Lab as a visiting student to work on her undergraduate final project, "Design Principles for Creative Learning." She holds a master degree in Creative Technologies & Design from the University of Colorado Boulder. Currently, she is a PhD fellow and research assistant at the Center for Computational Thinking and Design at Aarhus University in Denmark.
Natalie Catlett
M.A.Ed
Natalie Catlett is an illustrator, educator, and edupreneur. A firm believer in the transformative power of the arts in education, Natalie's passion is to find ways for students and teachers to experience their imaginative and creative capabilities every day. She graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Communications Design, obtained her master's degree in Art Education at Tufts University, a master's degree from The University of Pennsylvania in Education Entrepreneurship. Before shifting into education, Natalie worked in children's animation and publishing industries. Natalie has been teaching both art and design for nearly a decade. Originally from Brazil, she has extensive experience collaborating with schools, organizations, and companies designing and executing immersive art-led learning experiences.
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Here's What Teachers are saying...
“The benefit is JoYFuL learning! Children work hard and learn best when they can create something personally meaningful! Transforming our ordinary classrooms into extraordinary learning spaces nurtures curiosity, creativity, and a critical perspective! Providing opportunities to create in imaginative and meaningful ways that are interest-based produces higher quality work.”
- SECOND GRADE TEACHER