The concept of a Teach-In was developed by anthropologist Marshall Sahlins of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in the U.S. During the involvement of the U.S. government in Vietnam, faculty members had signed onto a one day teaching strike to oppose the Vietnam war. About a dozen of these faculty members reconsidered the strike and gathered to discuss alternative ways to protest the war. At the time, Sahlins said to the New York Times Magazine: “They say we're neglecting our responsibilities as teachers. Let's show them how responsible we feel. Instead of teaching out, we'll teach in—all night." As such, the term teach-in was a variation to another form of protest: the sit-in. 

The first teach-in was organized by faculty and Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor on March 24-25, 1965. It was attended by about 3,500 people and consisted of debates, lectures, movies and musical events that discussed politics, war, and societal issues from various points of view. 

More universities created anti-war teach-ins, but over time the themes started broadening and became a way for students and faculty to discuss timely topics that were not covered in static curricula and courses. The teach-in model was quickly replicated at other universities and had a few shared characteristics: 1) the teach-ins mostly took place overnight in university-owned buildings, 2) students, faculty, politicians, and community members with no university affiliation were all in attendance and 3) with regards to the war: at least one person was invited to speak in favor of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, but these invitations were mostly declined.

Teach-ins allowed students, faculty and community activists to share information and raise opposing viewpoints to those in the mainstream. They became an open forum with set-ground rules for discussing and debating timely and complicated issues when media and resources were limited. It is refused to limit the discussion to a specific frame of time or a strict academic scope and they are meant to be practical, participatory and oriented towards action. A few interesting changes occured that corresponded with the teach-in moment, including:

-       there was an increased interest in transparency and public debate

-      The beginning of decolonization and support for it by academics

-      The emergence of scholars from the ivory tower into the realm of public debate to discuss not just intellectual issues, but also moral concerns

-      The desire to have the university to be a community of scholars and students, following the active involvement of students starting and sustaining the movement.

After the 70s, teach-ins slowly disappeared with the arrival of an era of (relative) political stability, economic growth and social welfare. However, it is 2022 and we are facing major challenges that the traditional educational programs are trying to adapt to. Covid-19, BLM movement, housing and jobs crises, the war in Ukraine, global climate debates and a new looming economic crisis, they point toward one thing only: radical change is required. The reorientation of educational systems towards ‘sustainability thinking’ (this is a questionable and very polarizing term we need tread careful around) is a serious task. Integration of 21-century skills, societal concerns, wicked challenges and ‘moving targets’ comes down to not sustaining the system, but rather about the adaptability of the system.

We have taken the spirit of a Teach-In and re-oriented its focus towards experimental ways of learning, incorporating present-day components of transdisciplinarity, future literacy and transition thinking. In a Teach-In an innovative learning experience is facilitated that reflects the hosts’ vision and ideas for learning for the future. In the session, participants actively explore and experiment with new ways of working and learning together.

They are open-forum style sessions that involve learners from diverse backgrounds, and that invoke the ability to reflect on one's own biases and the choices we make in our academic and future professional and personal life. Teach-Ins don’t seek to necessarily answer complicated questions, but rather to challenge participants to think about the ways in which we address and tackle systemic issues. Teach-Ins enrich the learning portfolio, are dynamic, fast-paced and current, and ultimately contribute to the entire transition of higher education and adult learning. 

Each year, bachelor students from different programs are invited to work together to develop an original vision on learning and design an engaging experiment that involves and engages participants into this vision. The development process requires students to try out different ways of collaborating, allowing new perspectives and approaches to learning and push themselves to articulate and translate abstract ideas into concrete projects.