Learner-centered instruction is the second key element of the Ideal Schools education. At Ideal Schools, learner-centered describes the curriculum, faculty, school policies and social climate, and the space itself. Schools exist for their students, and this should be manifest in everything a school does.

Learner-centered means a number of things, including the following:

• Academic tasks must be interesting and relevant to students
• School must be a safe place where students feel valuable and capable
• Teachers must make clear to students why they are expected to cover certain material and to complete certain tasks; teachers must also explain how current content relates to what has been and what will be covered
• Instruction must be anchored to and built upon what the students presently know and can do
• Education must connect students to their world, and prepare students for college and professional life
• Students must be treated well and given influence over school decision-making and programs; School must provide courses, after-school programs, and other instructional and professional opportunities that students want and can offer sound arguments to support
• Provide individualized instruction to aid and enable students, rather than relying on a single approach for all students that works for only a few
• Provide students with faculty academic advisors who work with students over a number of years to develop student learning goals and plans that are revised each year as the student makes progress through the academic program