Teaching with the Force: How Star Wars Launched an International Learning Movement

Discover how a galaxy far, far away brought educators closer together—and made learning unforgettable.

Wes Dodgens and Thomas Riddle, Founders of Star Wars in the Classroom

Each year, as May the 4th approaches, I’m reminded of the incredible journey that began in a high school classroom and has grown into something far beyond what I could have imagined. In honor of Star Wars Day, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on how my friend Wes Dodgens and I turned our shared love of Star Wars into an international educational initiative—and how this galaxy far, far away has brought real-world learning closer than ever for students and teachers around the world.

From the Classroom to the Outer Rim

I first discovered the educational potential of Star Wars in 1995 while teaching world history at Mauldin High School in South Carolina. Like many teachers, I was searching for a way to make abstract ideas like the concept of yin and yang accessible to students. One day, I introduced Yoda as a Taoist sage, and suddenly, the lesson clicked. From there, my casual references to Star Wars evolved into a structured curriculum I created called Star Wars and the Hero's Journey, lessons that helped students explore themes from ancient civilizations and world religions based on Joseph Campbell’s concept of the monomyth and inspired by Mary Henderson’s incredible book, Star Wars and the Magic of Myth.

This unit of study invited students to analyze Luke Skywalker’s path across the original trilogy and connect it to ancient mythologies and the eras from which they originated—from Gilgamesh and Odysseus to Roman and Norse heroes. One of the most powerful activities asked students to map their own lives onto the stages of the Hero’s Journey. What began as a strategy to improve engagement became a meaningful exercise in self-reflection.

Enter Wes Dodgens—and the Galaxy Expanded

Wes joined the faculty at Mauldin in 2004. Like me, he was a lifelong fan of Star Wars and had begun using the films to illustrate historical themes like tyranny, resistance, and empire. When he visited my office one day and spotted a rare “Blue Snaggletooth” action figure on my shelf, it led to a conversation about pop culture, passion projects and combining the two into powerful learning experiences. We both knew that if we could formalize these ideas, it could be the beginning of something big. And it was.

By 2007, we’d already collaborated on another pop culture-inspired education project: Adventures in Learning with Indiana Jones, a Lucasfilm-approved website using The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones to bring historical figures and events to life. We even created the a student-curated Indiana Jones exhibit, Walking through Time with Indiana Jones.  Then came the trip that changed everything.

Family Photo with JAK Films Producer Sharon Wood at Skywalker Ranch

In 2010, thanks to our collaboration with Lucasfilm on our Indiana Jones work, Wes and I were invited to travel with our families to Northern California to tour Skywalker Ranch. It was an incredible opportunity. By a stroke of luck—and the Force—we actually bumped into George Lucas himself, in the kitchen of all places! To our amazement, we later found out that he knew about our Indiana Jones project and had expressed how much he appreciated what we were doing. That moment confirmed what we had suspected: that our blend of pop culture and education had the potential to inspire learning far beyond our own classrooms.

Building Star Wars in the Classroom

In 2012, following Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm, we launched Star Wars in the Classroom, a website designed to help educators around the world use the mythology, themes, and characters of Star Wars to engage students in learning. We uploaded our own lesson plans, projects, and ideas, then created a professional learning network for other educators to do the same.

We called them “The Rogues.”

What started with just a handful of teachers grew into a global network of more than 700 educators in over 30 countries. We've seen Star Wars used to teach everything from physics and political science to physical education and social-emotional learning. Danielle Lopez, a fifth-grade teacher in Southern California, organized her class into Star Wars planets and used droids to teach engineering concepts. Kevin Tiller, a PE teacher in Massachusetts, created an entire gym inspired by the Star Wars universe, complete with lightsaber games and Jedi training.

Our goal from the beginning was simple: to model a classroom experience that engages students through imagination, critical thinking, and joy. We’ve never been fans of the sit-and-get approach to teaching and learning. Instead, we use pop culture as a gateway to deeper understanding—and it works.

On the Cantina Set

Lights, Camera, Cantina

One of the most surreal experiences of this journey came in 2015, when Wes and I attended Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim. Thanks to our work with Star Wars in the Classroom, we were invited to serve as extras on a re-created Mos Eisley Cantina set for the live broadcast segments. For a few brief, unforgettable moments, we stepped into the galaxy we’d spent so many years studying, teaching, and sharing, and even had the chance to chat with Peter Mayhew, say hello to Billy Dee Williams and clandestinely escort “Weird Al” Yankovick out of the Anaheim Convention Center disguised as a Jedi Knight; but those are stories for another time.

That same year, we were honored to be featured in the short-lived documentary series In a Galaxy, which spotlighted Star Wars fans who had transformed their passion into something meaningful. Our episode—aptly titled Star Wars in the Classroom—told the story of how two teachers used mythology, movies, and a little bit of Jedi wisdom to reach students in ways traditional methods often don’t.

Filming in Wes' Classroom for In a Galaxy Documentary

A Force for Good

Our mission isn’t only academic. In 2014, we launched the Serve Like a Jedi campaign to encourage students and teachers to engage in community service. The idea was simple: take the Jedi code and apply it to real life. That year, Danielle Lopez’s class raised more than $750 for Nepal earthquake relief. They did it through chores, candy sales, and compassion.

That’s the true power of storytelling—it doesn’t just teach; it transforms. Star Wars offers us a framework to explore good and evil, courage and fear, resilience and redemption. It reminds students that they, too, have a role to play in the greater saga of life.

Speaking in the Main Theater at Big Rock Ranch

Return to The Ranch

As our Star Wars project grew, we continued making connections with educational thought leaders around the world, which led to several speaking engagements and keynote opportunities to share our work with other teachers, principals and superintendents, as well as those who were just interested in how story-based initiatives like this could improve teaching and learning. While we are always happy to speak either in person or on podcasts, our favorite event, by far, was the CUE Rockstar Conference held at Big Rock Ranch, the companion site to Skywalker Ranch, where our keynote address was entitled, What if You Could Learn Like a Jedi. It was an incredible moment both professionally and personally...and incredibly fun!

The Legacy Continues

As we look to the future of Star Wars in the Classroom, I’m filled with gratitude for the adventures this work has brought—whether meeting George Lucas, stepping onto a cantina set, or watching students light up when they see themselves as heroes on their own journeys.

An Example of Imagineering Education in Action

At its core, Star Wars in the Classroom is an example of Imagineering Education—a philosophy that encourages educators to design learning experiences that are immersive, story-driven, and emotionally resonant. Inspired by the work of Walt Disney Imagineers, this approach combines creativity with intentional design to foster deeper engagement and meaning in the classroom.

When we reimagine our classrooms as themed environments, craft narratives that invite students to become part of the story, and use familiar cultural touchpoints to spark curiosity, we’re doing more than teaching facts—we’re creating experiences that last. Just as Imagineers design rides that tell stories and evoke emotion, we as teachers can design lessons that inspire wonder and personal growth.

Through Star Wars in the Classroom, Wes and I have seen how powerful that can be. Our work has been more than a tribute to a beloved film series—it’s a blueprint for making learning meaningful.

As we celebrate May the 4th, let’s remember the power stories hold in our classrooms, and the difference that we can make when we teach with purpose, passion, and maybe just a little help from the Force.

Every student is the hero of their own journey—and with a little imagination and determination, we can be the guides who help them find their way.