Awakened Learning

Awakened Learning is teaching people of every age and stage the how of learning through work that reaches students, families, educators, and institutions.

Founded by Dr. Deena Kara Shaffer, a learning strategist, 2X bestselling author (external link) , TEDx speaker (external link) , podcast host, and award-winning adjunct faculty member at TMU, we help learners build the skills and habits that shape how they take in, remember, and use what they're learning, while tending to the motivation, focus, and wellbeing that make learning possible in the first place. The result is learners who feel more capable, more confident, and more at ease, in school and well beyond it. Our team of holistic learning strategists offers personalized coaching for students, virtual workshops, support for parents and families, and mentorship for educators. Deena also delivers keynotes and trainings (external link)  for schools, universities, and organizations around the world, and we run The Learning Strategy Studio (external link) , a membership community for learners, and Lived Wisdom (external link) , a speaking agency for educators. Deena also recently launched paced (external link) , an anti-procrastination app that eases work avoidance and academic overwhelm.

Our newest venture, incubated through TMU's Social Venture Zone, is Groundwork, Canada's first Holistic Learning Strategist Certification. Over 15 years of working with over 5000 learners, we kept arriving at the same intersection: students are rarely taught how to learn; teacher education programs centre content and curriculum and tend to leave out the science of learning; wellbeing is left as an afterthought. At the same time, student distress is rising, inequities in who succeeds remain persistent, educators are stretched thin, and institutions face growing pressure around retention. Canada currently has no formal certification in learning strategies.

Anti-oppressive and neuroaffirming, Groundwork (external link)  gives teachers, faculty, and student support staff practical, research-aligned, tactic-rich tools that build academic skills, academic resilience, and mental health upstream. Participants learn to bring these strategies into their teaching, course design, and campus services, so students meet good learning support early and in places they already go.

Equitable access is the business model. Through a one-for-one structure, every registration from an independent school or post-secondary institution funds a free seat for a community-based or public school educator, which means students in under-resourced schools and organizations have access to the same quality of support. Delivered online so it can reach educators worldwide, Groundwork offers a meaningful professional credential, helps institutions strengthen retention and inclusion, eases demand on counselling and accessibility centres, and gives students a far better chance of experiencing learning as doable. Groundwork is built for reach that is both wide and lasting, since each educator who completes it carries these strategies into classrooms and campuses year after year, and the students who learn them carry them on into their working lives.

We welcome conversations with schools, post-secondary institutions, funders, and partners interested in bringing Groundwork to their educators.

Dr. Deena Kara Shaffer, Founder