About Gerald Aungst, PhD
I'm an educator, consultant, and Curiosity Engineer. I've spent 35 years figuring out how to make school work for every kid in the room, not just the ones it was already designed for.
Equity in STEM education isn’t about adding diverse faces to the same old curriculum. It’s about fundamentally redesigning how we teach.
This Isn’t Theoretical
For the last decade, Tuesday mornings meant 25 third-graders learning to code robots that told stories from their own communities. My classroom was a makerspace serving 400+ students a year in a Title I school. That’s where I figured out what culturally relevant STEM actually looks like in practice.
Through Quisitivity Learning Solutions, I work with elementary schools and districts to build STEM that works for every kid in the room and helps those kids believe they belong there. I started this work because I kept seeing what was possible when teachers had the right tools and the right framework, and I kept seeing how rarely that happened for students who needed it most.
How I Think About This Work
Cultural relevance is foundational.
I didn't arrive at this work with a fully formed philosophy. I got here through years of watching students sorted and sidelined, trying things that didn't work, and slowly understanding why. The same questions came up again and again. Why does this work for some kids and not others? What is the key to engagement in a student-centered classroom? I kept landing on cultural relevance.
Teachers deserve the same thing we want for students.
Teachers aren't technicians. Handing them a lesson to copy is the same mistake as handing students a worksheet to fill in. It gets something done, but it doesn't build anything lasting. The teachers I work with learn the design principles behind culturally relevant STEM instruction so they can build learning experiences that fit their students, their community, and their own strengths as educators. The goal is a teacher who can keep building long after I leave the room.
Credentials & Recognition
Career Highlights
Built the Cheltenham Elementary iLab makerspace from scratch; still serving 400+ students annually and a model for district-wide STEM programming
Led district-wide initiative to de-track elementary mathematics, expanding access to advanced coursework for all students
Co-developed NAGC Administrator Toolbox
Co-founder of AllAboutExplorers.com, a K–12 information literacy resource; 4M+ impressions over 16 months
PhD, Curriculum & Instruction with a focus on Culturally Relevant Project-Based Learning
Certified Computer Science teacher
Principal Certificate and Supervisory Certificate, Curriculum & Instruction
MEd, Elementary Education
Published Work
Education
Author, 5 Principles of the Modern Mathematics Classroom (Corwin Press, 2015)
Articles in Edutopia and ASCD Educational Leadership
Leadership
Conference presenter: ISTE, Educon, NAGC, PETE&C, FETC
PAECT Professional Development Co-Chair, 2022–2024
Administrator Task Force, National Association for Gifted Children
Expert Panelist and Advisor, Alliance for Excellent Education, Digital Learning Day and Project 24
Keystone Technology Innovator: Lead Learner, PAECT, 2020–2021
My Story
After 35 years in elementary classrooms and district leadership, I did something I wasn't sure I would ever do: I retired. For the first time, I have full agency over how, when, and with whom I do this work.
As a classroom teacher, gifted education supervisor, math curriculum leader, makerspace educator, and adjunct faculty member in the Philadelphia suburbs, I've spent my career finding ways to reach every student, not just the ones the system is already well-designed to serve. Some of that work scaled in ways I didn't anticipate. Other work grew out of long collaboration: nearly two decades teaching in a playwriting program for elementary students, co-teaching weekly with a professional teaching artist and developing curriculum that eventually became the foundation of my doctoral research. I didn't set out to build things that spread. I set out to build things my colleagues and I needed and wanted.
My doctoral research gave that instinct a rigorous foundation. I wanted to tie together three threads that had been running through my career: playwriting as a learning vehicle, project-based learning as a pedagogical framework, and equity as the persistent question underneath all of it. My research revealed strong relationships between culturally relevant pedagogy and project-based learning. My research also pointed toward something I’d long observed in practice: cultural relevance works best when it's built into instruction from the start, not added on afterward. That research now shapes everything I do through Quisitivity.
I've also spent years on the other side of the table. As a district supervisor, I was the person managing budgets, scheduling professional development, and deciding which consultants were worth bringing back. I know how schools make decisions, and I know what actually changes practice and what gets forgotten by February.
When I'm not working, I'm usually doing something that involves building a world, crafting an experience, or hosting a table. I'm married with three adult sons and a dog named Eddie, who has no strong opinions about anything except snacks. I've spent years as a Dungeon Master, designing homebrew D&D campaigns with elaborate lore, factions, and characters who never quite do what I planned — which, it turns out, is excellent preparation for working with elementary students. I'm learning card magic and playing World of Warcraft at a level I'd describe as enthusiastic but not elite. I've also been a writer my whole life, something a few perceptive teachers convinced me of before I was willing to believe it myself. I believe knowing what someone geeks out about tells you something real about who they are, which is also why I ask kids about their interests before I ever ask them about the content.