After working in the world of human education for nearly 20 years, Jenn adopted a dog in 2022 and began working with her reactive behaviors, discovered B.A.A.R.C.™ and quickly set out to absorb and contribute to this new application of the learner-centered framework that had so informed her work with humans. 

Jenn entered the field of higher education after earning her masters degree in a program that was heavily focused on psycho-social development and constructivist approaches to learning. Applying learning theory with an eye to each individual’s needs and developmental stage was exciting, meaningful work. Jenn valued the growth for both teacher and learner that comes from valuing students as knowers and incorporating intersectional identities, learning history, motivation for learning, and learner feedback into the learning process. Jenn’s belief in the unequivocal importance of centering individual learners and listening to their self-identified needs before making any decisions only strengthened over time. Through two decades, Jenn was consistently surprised at what she learned from students and what they reported about their experiences; a learner centered experience always resulted in faster, longer-lasting, more meaningful impacts than alternative approaches - even well-meaning, kind ones. As Jenn’s career progressed, she approached working with colleagues, including teams of supervisees and mentees, with that same learner-centered philosophy, with the same positive outcomes. 

As Jenn began to work with her dog’s reactivity, she found a new passion in dog training and had some initial success with traditional methods. Like so many, Jenn eventually experienced a plateau and progress seemed to halt. Jenn consulted with new trainers, only to be told they had nothing else to teach her and it was just a matter of putting in the time. When Jenn stumbled upon B.A.A.R.C.™, she was immediately enthralled with the overlap between her new passion - dog training - and her long-standing passion for learner centered education. Jenn watched as her dog, newly empowered with gestural communication, generated her own management strategies and immediately grew leaps and bounds in her tolerance for triggers. Jenn began reading all of the sources Sara referenced in the course, and was delighted to find she was already familiar with much of the material and that there was new information to absorb. From there, Jenn and Sara connected directly and began exchanging additional articles and ideas, eventually creating educational content about the new foundational concepts, and finally realizing the need to compile all of those foundational, interdisciplinary concepts into a cohesive framework to share with others. Thus, Learner Centered Training began! 

Jenn began taking clients in early 2024 and has worked directly with dog guardians, coached professionals through application of the framework, and is deeply committed to sharing the joy and wonder of the learner centered approach with anyone who wants to learn!