What Happens When Teens Help Build a Curriculum Meant for Them?
Most curriculum teams want to create something meaningful for young people. But without hearing directly from teens, it’s easy to miss the details that determine whether something feels relevant or forgettable.
The Prohuman Foundation exists to help young people develop not just academic skills, but the character and perspective needed to navigate an increasingly complex world. Their curriculum is grounded in core values like gratitude, curiosity, courage, fairness, and humanity, and is designed to help students reflect, connect, and engage with ideas that shape who they are and how they relate to others.
Prohuman didn’t want to guess. As they began developing their new 9–12 ELA and character curriculum, they wanted to understand what teens actually think and feel as they move through early drafts of the work. That’s why they partnered with In Tandem.
How In Tandem fits in
In Tandem is an all-in-one youth experience and insight platform that helps organizations recruit, engage, and learn from teens through research, testing, and innovation.
Our platform makes it simple for teams to connect with young people, capture their honest feedback, and translate what they’re hearing into smarter, faster decisions.
Because teens know we’ve created a trusted environment for them, and because there’s always value exchange built in, they share openly. Not polite answers. Not guesses about what adults want to hear, but real experiences, real reactions, and the small details adults routinely miss.
What teens surfaced and why it mattered
Working together, we gathered feedback from high school teens on Prohuman’s early Gratitude and Humanity units. The input wasn’t abstract or theoretical; it was specific and immediately useful.
A few moments that shaped the next steps included:
- 93% of students said the Gratitude lesson meets its learning goals, giving the team strong early validation.
- Teens pointed out that the “formal English” in the sonnets could lose 8th graders, something adults don’t always catch but teens notice instantly.
- The Humanity lesson sparked connections to current events, reinforcing that this content matters and is often missing in middle school classrooms.
- And across both lessons, students asked for more concrete examples, clearer wrap-ups, and more chances to share personal stories.
These are the kinds of insights that help teams adjust early, before things get baked in, and ultimately build something stronger.
Where the partnership goes from here
Over the next few months, Prohuman will continue using In Tandem to stay close to what teens think and feel, as they shape the 9–12 curriculum. Together, we’ll explore:
- What makes reading and class activities engaging (and what doesn’t)
- How to design assignments that feel relevant to real teens
- How AP-aligned materials land with students who’ve been through those courses
- The small usability details that influence how lessons actually get experienced
No extra setup. No research department required. Just direct, reliable input from the teens who will use the curriculum.
Why this work matters
When you build alongside the people you’re designing for, you get clearer signals, fewer missteps, and more confidence in the decisions you’re making. That’s the point of In Tandem: helping teams reduce risk, build trust, and keep their work aligned with the voices that matter most.
Prohuman’s commitment to putting teens at the center of the process is exactly the kind of leadership that makes education more human and more effective. We’re excited to support the work ahead.
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