The Agents of Change Festival
A free annual evening where central Ohio students present year-long, self-directed work — to their families, and to each other.
What it is
One evening each May, students from across central Ohio set up in a host high school and explain work they chose, shaped and cared about. Not a competition, not a science fair. Grades one through twelve exhibit in the same building on the same night.
It was founded by Jason Blair, an art teacher in Dublin City Schools and Educator-in-Residence at the Columbus Museum of Art, after noticing that teachers almost never get to see how colleagues in other districts put new practice into place.
What it asks of a school
- A teacher who wants to bring their students, and permission to do so
- Nothing during instructional time — the festival is an evening event
- No fee, no travel budget, no application process
- No polished final product; unfinished work is welcome and often better
What schools get back
- Teachers see practice from six or seven other districts in one evening
- Students present to an audience beyond their own building
- Families see the case for this kind of learning made by their own children
- Concrete artifacts — visitor feedback per class, and a public archive
Where it connects
- Portrait of a Graduate competencies
- IB Creativity, Activity, Service
- Service learning and capstone requirements
- Project-based and inquiry learning
- Arts integration
- Student voice and agency initiatives
The evidence behind it
Self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan) on autonomy and motivation. The OECD Learning Compass 2030, which places student agency at the centre of its framework. Mehta and Fine's In Search of Deeper Learning. Ron Berger on public audiences and revision. Harvard Project Zero's Cultivating Creative and Civic Capacities, a five-year collaboration with the Columbus Museum of Art in which the festival's founder took part.
Who has taken part
Bexley, Dublin, Hilliard, Olentangy, Upper Arlington, Westerville and Worthington, alongside independent schools including Columbus Fashion Academy and Acton Academy Columbus.
Next festival
Thursday, April 29
Free and open to everyone.
Registration for teachers opens each September.
Founder & Director