The Depthvale Detectives and the Great Education Crisis: A Guide to Contributive Learning in Schools

Education is in crisis, but there is a way out. Schools can commit to contributive learning, so that all students learn how to add to the world.

The Depthvale Detectives and the Great Education Crisis is a story for educators, parents, and students about using your “powers”—your learning—for good. Together with its tools and professional learning activities, it can help you make well-being, meaning, and fulfillment the ultimate outcomes of all that you do. To get there, you just have to be a Detective....

Like so many others in the city of Depthvale, the students at Clover K-8 School are struggling. A recent health crisis and a wealth of other challenges have lowered well-being, for many, to crisis levels. School isn’t giving them all that they need, and their teachers and parents are struggling, too. But as the shadow that looms over Depthvale darkens, one class of students starts battling back. Led by Kaia, Lucas, and their teacher Ms. Monica, and with the help of their families and the Clover community, the students set out on a journey of discovery that sees them become... the Depthvale Detectives! With sights on how learning can help them contribute, the Detectives face fear mongerers, naysayers, bullies, and even a villain of their own imagination, all to keep Crisis from ruling the world.

Authors Joanne McEachen and Matthew Kane’s years of experience leading educational change makes The Depthvale Detectives and the Great Education Crisis not only a joyful and spellbinding story, but a powerful resource for leading school change. With its embedded five phases of the Change Team Experience and accompanying tools, insights, and strategies, school communities can embark on a collaborative journey that drives deep discussion, develops well-being, and lights up the path to contributive learning.

This beautifully illustrated tale of hope amid challenging times will reveal to readers education’s true purpose, show you the steps to create real change, and help you and all those around you discover the wonderful ways you can add to the world.

Joanne McEachen, Founder and CEO of The Learner First, brings over 30 years of experience to offer insights and strategies that change the lives of students and educators. A leading voice in the global education community, Joanne's insights are illuminated by continued, hands-on experience with groups from different cultures, backgrounds, and schools around the world. She has published several books on teaching, learning, and system change, and also serves as a founding Executive of Karanga: The Global Alliance for Social Emotional Learning and Life Skills.

Matthew Kane works closely with school communities to improve students' outcomes and share learning stories. A Director at The Learner First, Matthew has partnered with diverse schools and school systems globally to develop contributive learning tools, language, and practices. He coauthored Measuring Human Return: Understand and Assess What Really Matters for Deeper Learning and graduated from the University of Notre Dame.

Marc Brackett, Ph.D., author of Permission to Feel, is the founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and a professor in the Child Study Center at Yale University. Marc has published 125 scholarly articles on the role of emotions and emotional intelligence in learning, decision making, creativity, relationships, health, and performance. He is the lead developer of RULER, an evidence-based, systemic approach to social and emotional learning that has been adopted by more than two thousand schools, pre-K through high school, across the United States and in other countries. Marc has received numerous awards and is on the board of directors for the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). He is co-founder of Oji Life Lab, a digital emotional intelligence learning system for businesses. Marc also consults regularly with corporations like Facebook, Microsoft, and Google on integrating emotional intelligence principles into employee training and product design.