About eXi – eXi

Our collective future depends on an education system that eradicates inconsistent and inequitable learning opportunities. America’s history of oppression has created an educational environment that does not work for all students. This has led to a predictable and pervasive cycle of ineffective education, especially for historically marginalized students.

eXi believes that the system must be redesigned for all students and this can only be done at the intersection of equity and innovation.

eXi is:

A RESEARCH LAB finding evidence for the future of learning

eXi pursues scholarship in public. We disrupt the field of inquiry by asking new questions and partnering with the community. The research we do provides educators, youth-workers, policy makers, and education funders with the knowledge and tools they need to advance education transformation informed by deep inquiry into the uses of innovation as a solution set for structural inequity.

A DESIGN STUDIO where educators learn, practice, fail, and grow

eXi explores new ideas in education and experiments with putting them into practice. We use an emancipatory design process to prototype instructional frameworks, test education technology tools, and develop learning programs that are designed to help educators solve new kinds of problems and enable students to achieve new kinds of outcomes.

A LEARNING COMMUNITY of diverse perspectives, experiences, and expertise

eXi provides a collaborative space where deep, audacious questions about oppression in education are asked. We work and learn together in a safe, supportive environment where no question is too small or too big. We learn by doing, explore together, and strive together in order to improve education.

AN INCUBATOR for leading edge solutions

eXi creates the space and conditions for innovation and equity to lead to liberation. We provide the human, technological, and financial spark individuals need to turn their ideas into reality, test them for validity, and scale their impact.

A METHOD for harnessing the tools and techniques of innovation to achieve greater equity

eXi cultivates a mindset shaped by innovation and committed to emancipating those unjustly impacted by ineffective education. We help teams form authentic trusting relationships, get comfortable with uncertainty and experimentation, and shift their way of thinking so that new ideas and new approaches can take hold.

eXi BELIEVES IN COMMUNITY-ENGAGED COOPERATIVE LEARNING AT DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY

eXi is housed within the School of Education at Duquesne University. Through exploring new learning methods and re-designing traditional approaches, eXi uses innovation as the path to true equity.

Explore Our Current Projects

About Temple

Dr. Temple Lovelace is an educator and advocate for race, gender, and ability equity in schools.

Chief Disruptor, eXi
Associate Professor of Special Education, Duquesne University
Member, Remake Learning Council
Cohort II, Deeper Learning Equity Fellow
@drlovelace
lovelacet@duq.edu
Orchid iD

On a mission to upset the absolutes in an educational system built on the dynamic of privilege.

Temple S. Lovelace, Ph.D., BCBA-D is an Associate Professor in the School of Education. In recent years she served as the Director of Special Education and was a Deeper Learning Equity Fellow. She is a member of the Remake Learning Council. Her research centers on the examination of the intersectionality of disability, gender, and race, with particular interest in creating innovative, liberatory academic and behavioral interventions for students. Her local work is reflective in the following publications: Achieving Educational Equity for African American Students with and without Exceptionalities; Creating a Schoolwide Culture to Support Practitioner Research; and Community-University Partnerships as Vehicles of Radical Leadership, Service and Activism. Dr. Lovelace is a proud 40 under 40 awardee and recipient of Duquesne University’s 2017 Office of Research Hall of Fame award.