What If the Teacher Doesn’t Always Have the Answer?
Saturday, October 10, 2026 • 10:30–11:30 a.m. • Grand J
Presented by Teri Laliberte, Executive Director of Professional Learning, the Great Books Foundation
In today’s classrooms, the ability to think critically, engage collaboratively, and wrestle with complexity is more essential than ever. Yet many discussion formats still center the teacher as the authority, the one who holds the meaning and guides students toward a predetermined destination. Or in which the teacher completely abdicates control and sacrifices rigor and depth. This session offers a powerful alternative.
What if the Teacher doesn’t Always Have the Answer? invites educators to step into a fundamentally different role—one in which the teacher’s greatest tool is not the answer but the question.
Professional Learning Consultant
Teri Laliberte has over 20 years of experience working with learners from a variety of backgrounds. Prior to working abroad, she earned her master’s degree in language and linguistics from the University of Georgia. With 15 years of experience working with English language learners, she has supported language growth and acquisition in her students, along with the needed academic skills of critical thinking, listening, and speaking. Prior to rejoining the Great Books Foundation, she spent 15 years working with adult learners in higher and continuing education, honing her skills by meeting the needs of various learners in literacy, communication, and critical thinking.
