The Role of a Guide: How Learning is Transformed at Blackstone School
Introduction
One of the first things visitors notice at Blackstone School is that we don’t have traditional “teachers.” Instead, we have Guides. Blackstone, an Acton Academy and innovative private school in Ann Arbor, has reimagined the educator’s role as part of our learner-driven education philosophy. The Guide’s role is fundamentally different from that of a conventional teacher: Guides coach, mentor, and inspire learners to take charge of their own learning. Through Socratic discussions and open-ended questioning, Guides foster an environment of curiosity and independent thinking. The result is a classroom where students are truly empowered – they learn how to learn, rather than just what to learn. Let’s explore how this transformation in the teacher’s role works and why it’s so powerful for our learners.
Guide vs. Teacher: A Facilitator Instead of a Lecturer
In a traditional classroom, a teacher is usually the central figure at the front of the room, delivering instruction and answers. At Acton Academy, the Guide plays a very different part. Guides do not stand and lecture, nor do they provide direct instruction in the usual sense. You won’t see a Guide writing notes on the board for students to copy. Instead, Guides design learning experiences (we call them Quests, projects, or challenges) and then step back, allowing students to dive in. A Guide’s job is to create the structure and provide the resources for learning, but not to spoon-feed content. As our philosophy states: “At Acton, we do not teach or give direct instruction for learning. Instead, we have Socratic Guides who create real-world oriented challenges meant to be accomplished through self-direction.”
In other words, Guides set the stage so that students can discover and learn for themselves.
A key mantra at Acton is that Guides don’t answer questions – they ask them. If a student is puzzled or stuck, the Guide won’t simply give the solution. Instead, they might respond with another thought-provoking question or offer a hint towards a useful resource. This approach encourages the student to think critically and find the answer independently. It might feel frustrating at first to learners coming from a traditional system, but it leads to huge growth in problem-solving skills. “In Socratic teaching we focus on giving students questions, not answers.”By resisting the urge to immediately resolve a child’s uncertainty, the Guide teaches them how to persevere and figure things out. As one Acton Guide put it, the Guide’s role is truly to guide the student to their own realization, not to be the source of all knowledge. This contrasts sharply with a traditional teacher who is expected to know all the answers and deliver them to passive students.
Practically, this means our Guides spend more time observing and coaching rather than talking at students. They might circulate around the room, checking in one-on-one, or sit with a group and listen to their discussion without interjecting. Guides will ask questions like, “What resources could you use to solve this?” or “Why do you think that happened?” prompting students to consider next steps or underlying concepts. They create a safe space for trial and error by not jumping in to prevent mistakes. While a traditional teacher might see their primary task as covering the curriculum, a Guide’s primary task is empowering students to take ownership of the curriculum. This shift from “sage on the stage” to “guide on the side” transforms the classroom dynamic. Students become active drivers of their education rather than passive recipients.
Socratic Discussions Fuel Independent Thinking
One of the signature strategies our Guides use is the Socratic method of dialogue. Every day at Blackstone School, you’ll find lively Socratic discussions taking place instead of lectures. In a Socratic discussion, the Guide poses open-ended, thought-provoking questions on a topic and then lets the students do the talking, reasoning, and learning. “During a Socratic discussion, a Guide sets up scenarios and asks questions to stimulate critical thinking and independent learning.”
Whether the subject is a moral dilemma in a story, a science concept, or an issue in the studio community, the Guide facilitates by asking guiding questions and ensuring a respectful, productive dialogue. Students are encouraged to voice their opinions, back them up with reasoning, listen to others, and perhaps even have their minds changed by new ideas.
This approach replaces the traditional lecture where information flows only one way. Instead, everyone in the room is actively engaged in constructing understanding together. By asking open-ended questions (“Why do you think that happened?”, “What could be an alternative solution?”, “How does this relate to what we learned last week?”), Guides push students to think deeper and critically examine the material. The process requires learners to analyze concepts, make connections, and articulate their thoughts clearly. They aren’t just memorizing facts for a test; they’re discussing and debating ideas, which leads to a much richer grasp of the subject matter. Studies have long noted that the Socratic method – giving questions, not answers – is one of the most powerful ways to foster critical thinking.
We see this daily: our learners learn how to think, not what to think.
In these discussions, the Guide is not an authority delivering judgments; they act more like a moderator and fellow inquirer. Often the Guide will withhold their own viewpoint entirely, even if students directly ask for it. This is intentional – it signals to the young learners that their ideas and analyses matter more in this setting than any “right answer” the adult might have. Sometimes, a Guide will answer a question with another question, or invite another student to respond. This keeps the ownership of learning with the students. The result? Even very young learners at Acton become comfortable speaking up, asking questions, and probing for deeper understanding. They learn to support their arguments with evidence and to respect different perspectives, essential skills for higher education and life. Additionally, because students in Socratic discussions are actively processing and verbalizing concepts, they often retain the knowledge much better than if they had just listened to a lecture. The classroom becomes a buzzing hive of ideas rather than a one-way information street.
Empowering Learners Instead of Instructing
Perhaps the most important difference a Guide brings is a mindset of student empowerment. In a conventional classroom, the teacher is in charge of delivering content and managing the class; the students are expected to follow along. At Blackstone School, we flip this dynamic. Guides trust students with real responsibility for their learning and for the community. This trust is incredibly empowering. Students set their own learning goals, track their progress, and even help hold each other accountable. The Guide is there to support and inspire, but not to command. By not dictating every move, Guides send a clear message: this is your education. When children realize this, they step up in remarkable ways.
Our Guides often say their goal is to “work themselves out of a job” – meaning that the students become so self-directed that the Guide’s intervention is rarely needed. While that’s a bit of hyperbole, it captures the ethos of cultivating independence. Students at Acton learn to troubleshoot issues, whether academic or social, with minimal adult rescue. For example, if two learners have a disagreement, a Guide might gently coach them through a peer mediation process rather than solving it for them. If a project proves challenging, the Guide might encourage the group to brainstorm solutions together. The Guide intervenes not with answers, but with strategies or frameworks the students can use to find their own answers.
The empowerment also comes from the respect Guides show towards learners. In traditional settings, kids are often taught that the adult has all the answers and final say. In our studios, students know their ideas have weight. “Socratic discussions at Acton demonstrate to students that their thoughts matter and are valued... We believe that children are intelligent and very capable beings. Our goal is to empower them.”
This philosophy permeates everything. A student who has an ambitious idea for an independent project will be encouraged to pursue it. If they want to organize the classroom in a new way to improve focus, the Guide will likely say, “Go for it, how will you implement that?” By contrast, a traditional teacher might be constrained by a set curriculum or strict schedule that leaves little room for student initiative.
Over time, this empowered environment produces young people who are confident in charting their own path. They don’t wait for an authority to tell them what to do next; they identify what needs to be learned or solved and take action. This doesn’t mean the Guide is absent – on the contrary, it takes a lot of skill and awareness to guide from behind. Our Guides are constantly observing, reflecting, and asking themselves, “How can I step back so a learner can step forward?” They provide support and encouragement tailored to each student, but always with the aim of helping the learner become more self-directed. And because Acton Academy is very intentional about this process, even the quiet or formerly dependent children eventually find their voice and agency.
Conclusion
The transformation from teacher to Guide at Blackstone School has created a learning culture where students are at the center. In this learner-driven education model, Guides ignite curiosity, pose challenges, and then trust the learners to rise to the occasion. Through Socratic dialogue and relentless encouragement to find their own answers, our Guides cultivate independent thinkers who take joy and pride in learning. The role of a Guide is critical – they are the catalyst for student empowerment. By doing less traditional “teaching,” they actually enable students to learn more. Parents exploring options in Ann Arbor will find that at Blackstone School, a pioneering Acton Academy and private school in Ann Arbor, the Guides are redefining education. They prove that when you believe in children’s abilities and give them ownership, the result is something truly extraordinary: young people who are not only well-educated, but also confident, curious, and equipped to lead their own learning journeys for life.