What if classrooms were places where all learners have opportunities to work on projects and explore ideas that feel important to them? To have their voice and curiosity honored, and to have access to peers and teachers who support them on their learning journeys?

In Start with Questions, Karen Brennan and Sarah Blum-Smith explore how K–12 teachers are making this possible by supporting students’ self-directed learning—an approach to learning that enables students to find joy and meaning in what they are doing, enhancing their learning in the moment and creating excitement for future learning.

Available March 3, 2026

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The Book

Based on a year-long study with 25 teachers in elementary, middle, and high school computing classrooms across the United States, the book showcases teaching that centers students’ ideas for what and how they learn.

The book shares stories of practice drawn from teacher interviews, classroom observations, and reflective journals. Each story is accompanied by theory from educators, researchers, and philosophers—such as Maria Montessori, Seymour Papert, bell hooks, Paulo Freire, and Donald Schön—to illuminate the powerful principles underlying teachers’ support of self-directed learning in the classroom.

Collectively, the stories and theory offer a vision of how beautiful learning happens when teachers start with questions and create the conditions for learners to take themselves and their ideas seriously.

Listen to Karen and Sarah read the chapter “Do you think you know how to start?”—a story of Benjamin, a STEM teacher helping one of his fifth-graders, paired with Eleanor Duckworth’s The Having of Wonderful Ideas.

Part IFoundations

What are the most important questions?A prologue written by Karen, reflecting upon the development of the classroom as design studio metaphor
What is the relationship between self-direction and support?A description of self-directed learning within a broader historical and intellectual context, our approach to understanding how teachers support self-direction in K–12 classrooms, and how this book explores these concepts in the context of the classroom as design studio

Part IIQuestions

An illustration of the classroom as design studio through forty stories of teachers supporting self-direction, each consisting of an opening question, a vignette of classroom practice, and a theoretically grounded analysis of the classroom activities

What are you interested in?
What’s important to you?
What’s your vision?
What are some possible ideas?
Do you think you know how to start?
What’s a good thing that happened in your life this week?
What’s interesting about this?
How could you use this for your own ideas?
What do you want to do?
Do you want to make any changes?
Would you like to stay and code with us this morning?
Can you help us learn?
What can we make together?
What do you want to build today?
Why can’t a bowl of noodles be a character?
What did you try?
Did you make the music come out like you wanted?
That looks awesome! What will happen next?
What’s up?
What have others done?
Who doesn’t get it at all?
What do you think?
What are you going to do now?
What can you make with it?
How can we fix it?
Does anyone want to share?
Who discovered the coolest things?
What are other people doing?
Did you ask your neighbor?
Would you like to do that?
Can you teach that to me?
You’ve got this, right?
What are you trying to do?
What do you expect of yourself?
What does this mean to you?
What does quality mean to you?
What would you like to showcase?
What were your struggles?
What would you have done if you had more time?
What do you see?

Part IIIDirections

What did we see?An exploration of core themes across this collective description of the classroom as design studio
What can we do?An epilogue written by Sarah, making meaning of these ideas in the context of her own classroom practice

“As you read this book, I encourage you to follow the authors’ suggestions and invitations. In today’s complex world, as the pace of change continues to accelerate, it’s more important than ever for teachers and students to develop as self-directed creators and learners. Exploring the ideas and stories in this book is a great place to start.”

⸺ Mitchel Resnick, author of Lifelong Kindergarten, from the foreword

“With clarity and heart, this book offers a compelling vision of classrooms as design studios, where learners’ passions drive inquiry and creation. A transformative contribution to the future of learning.”

⸺ Kylie Peppler, Professor of Informatics and Education, University of California, Irvine; author of New Creativity Paradigms: Arts Learning in the Digital Age

“Start with Questions is a practical reframing of constructionism that puts teachers’ inquiry at the center of design. I look forward to a new generation of design-based classrooms that honor teachers’ expertise and students’ passion for ideas!”

⸺ Erica Rosenfeld Halverson, Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Wisconsin-Madison

“Start with Questions is a delightful invitation to reimagine classrooms as spaces for playful creation. Brennan and Blum-Smith offer an accessible vision of design that takes seriously the brilliance of students in every classroom.”

⸺ Antero Garcia, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education, Stanford University

The Authors

Karen Brennan is Timothy E. Wirth Professor of Practice in Learning Technologies at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she directs the Creative Computing Lab. Sarah Blum-Smith is an elementary classroom teacher in the Medford Public Schools.

In this video, hear Karen and Sarah discuss the inspiration behind the book, why they chose to center questions, what the classroom as design studio means, and who the book is for.

Upcoming Events

Free Book Giveaway

Applications open until Sunday, March 22, 2026

We’re giving away 100 free copies of Start with Questions to K–12 teachers in the U.S. Please apply by Sunday, March 22; recipients will be selected and notified by March 23.

Apply Now

Book Club

Starting Tuesday, April 7, 2026

Want to explore Start with Questions with other educators? Join us for eight weeks of reading and discussion on Substack.

Join Us

Media and Past Events

HGSE Book Party

Thursday, March 12, 2026

We celebrated Start with Questions at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, with MIT Media Lab Professor Mitchel Resnick as our discussant.

Watch The Recording

Lifelong Kindergarten Podcast

Wednesday, March 11, 2026

Karen joins Mitchel Resnick on the Lifelong Kindergarten podcast to discuss the classroom as a design studio and what it means to start with questions.

Medford Public Schools

Friday, March 6, 2026

Medford Public Schools congratulates Sarah on the release of Start with Questions, highlighting how the book articulates what teachers are doing to center learners.

Read Post

Harvard EdCast

Thursday, March 5, 2026

Karen joins the Harvard EdCast to discuss how questions can transform student-centered learning and what happens when educators take students’ ideas seriously.

Listen Now

Virtual Book Party

Monday, March 2, 2026

We celebrated the eve of our book launch with an hour of conversation on Zoom—sharing the motivation for the book, reading excerpts, and answering questions.

Watch The Reading

Connect with Us

We’d love to hear from you! Whether you have questions about the book, are interested in a workshop or speaking engagement, or want to share how you’re exploring these ideas in your classroom, please reach out to Karen via email at karen_brennan@gse.harvard.edu or connect via LinkedIn.