Summer Camp for Responsive Education

June 14-17, 2027

Camp Registration

Check back later this fall for 2027 camp registration information. To be placed on our waiting list, please email cedu@niu.edu.

2026 Camp Theme and Overview

Advocating for students and families.

Building on the foundation of the Social Justice Summer Camp, our Summer Camp for Responsive Education (SCRE) is designed to bring together new and returning educators to explore issues related to the new State of Illinois Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards, particularly pedagogies and practices beneficial for all students. 

Campers will have opportunities to interactively discuss a range of issues that foster an understanding of the unique and collective needs of individuals, groups and communities as well as how educators can constructively engage with each to develop spaces of growth and success – academically, personally and collectively.

Meanwhile, campers can further engage through a series of keynote addresses, workshops, breakout sessions and media analysis, all designed to challenge and support professional development.

Read testimonials from previous participants and view the sample camp schedule (DOCX).

Session topics include, but are not limited to:

• AI and technology
• Advocating for students, families and communities
• Considerations for policy and leadership
• Culture and children's literature
• Culture, identities and community 
• Differentiated instruction
• Effective pedagogies and practices for diverse classrooms
• Equity-based grading
• Multilingual learners and methods
• Pedagogy and politics of language
• Promoting growth mindsets
• Restorative justice and circling methods
• Trauma-informed teaching
• Understanding undocumented immigrants and refugee contexts

Raglan Keynote Address

Keynote Speakers