Cynthia Herbert Papers

Cynthia Ridgeway Herbert (b.1943) is a Texas educator specializing in creative curriculum and instruction development. Herbert grew up in Waco, Texas. At the age of nine, Herbert’s mother enrolled her in the Children’s Theater at Baylor University. The program was based on the “Integration of Abilities” university course and philosophy originated by Paul Baker. His wife Kitty Baker had created a complementary children’s program, which was expanded by Jearnine Wagner, a student of Baker’s and later on his staff. Herbert remained in the program throughout the 1950s and early 1960s.

When Baker and his company moved to Trinity University in 1963, former students of the theater followed. Baker and Wagner formed the theater program Ideas in Motion at Trinity. Herbert was offered to teach full time in the program by Baker and Wagner, and they were able to secure a full tuition scholarship so she could afford to attend Trinity.

After graduation Herbert continued to work with Wagner. In 1971 they, along with several other former students of Wagner’s, established the Learning About Learning Educational Foundation. While at Learning About Learning, Herbert created a multitude of interactive books for children and guidebooks and teaching tools for adults. In the 1970s, she co-directed an award-winning lab school. During the early 1980s Herbert pursued and received her Master’s and Doctorate in developmental psychology at the University of Houston.

When Learning About Learning closed in 1986, Herbert and Wagner moved to Houston, where they had been doing educational consulting for several years. While there Herbert developed teaching modules, guides, lesson plans and activities for several school districts, in particular Houston Independent School District, which were supported by area foundations and governmental agencies.

After years of developing curricula that were required to speak to standardized testing and metrics, Herbert rejoined several Learning About Learning colleagues on various projects. From 2000 to 2015, she partnered with Julia Jarrell for Scholarships for Education and Economic Development (SEED), an USAID supported program as the academic leader of international cohorts. Since 2012 she has also worked with Susan Russell Marcus and Susie Monday to develop an early childhood program titled New World Kids. As of 2022, she is working with Jarrell to complete The Creative Way, a comprehensive guidebook for educators.