In the kickoff to our Modern Learners Community July 2018 theme of “Refresh, Renew, Relax,” we hand the podcast reigns over to Missy Emler and Lyn Hilt of our Modern Learners team who talk with Dr. Joyce Young and Liza Engstrom from the High Health Network, an organization dedicated to helping leaders harness the power […]
#46: Mental and Physical Wellness for Educators Read More »
In this episode, Bruce and I discuss a powerful essay written by Carol Black titled Children, Learning, and the Evaluative Gaze of School, one that discusses the very real effects on kids of a culture of surveillance and assessment. Some of the questions we kick around: Why have we gotten to this point where we
#45: Watching our Kids Too Closely Read More »
Have you noticed the “new” trend in thinking about schools? I put “new” in quotes because, of course, it really isn’t new at all. In fact, you might call it a renaissance of the thinking that we’ve always known to be true about bringing kids together to learn with adults in shared spaces. Maria Montessori
Why Start With Why Not? Read More »
Before COVID-19, Surveillance Software was the focus of EdTech. The question is will it remain that way or have we learned a few things? This post from sometime in 2017 is still relevant. There’s a growing sense that we’ve reached a breaking point with technologies in the classroom. France is banning all mobile devices from
Surveillance Software: the focus of EdTech Read More »
Today I am excited to welcome Dr. Susan Blum to the show. Susan is a professor of anthropology at Notre Dame University and the author of one of my favorite reads of the last couple of years, a book titled “I Love to Learn; I Hate School: An Anthropology of College.” And, she’s also the
#44: “I Love Learning, I Hate School” Read More »
How important is it to ask what students think of their education? It’s vitally important for us to ask this of our students even though we may not be satisfied with what they say about their classroom experiences. Bruce and I are discussing this concept today, along with my recent eye-opening visit to a school
#43: Be Careful What You Ask For Read More »
Over the last dozen years, one of the things I’ve become most interested in is the ways in which schools define their value in the world. In fact, it’s one of the first things I try to suss out whenever I visit a school or a district or a board. What matters here more than
If You Really Want to Change School, You Need to Change the Lens Read More »
Is instruction really necessary in schools? That’s just one of the many intriguing questions we dive into in our latest podcast with our friend, mentor, and educational leader, Gary Stager, in a conversation that will have you thinking hard (once again) about teaching and learning in the modern world. Gary’s focus is on the nature
#42: The Lost Art of Teaching with Gary Stager Read More »
Would you ever think that Justin Bieber would be the starting point for one of our conversations? Though it may sound crazy, that’s where we begin today, discussing what is possible through social media and technology, since there is no better poster-child for the subject. As always, we’re talking about what learning is and how
#41: Conflict with Competency Based Assessments Read More »
What if one primary goal we had in schools was to develop kids as “professional learners”? As in people who make money because they are learning. That’s the intriguing phrasing that one of my favorite workplace bloggers Jane Hart uses to describe what people formerly known as employees need to be to thrive today. In
Wanted: Professional Learners Read More »
If you haven’t heard (or seen) the movie “Most Likely to Succeed,” you may be in the educational minority today. The documentary highlights the problems of traditional schooling through the eyes of students, parents, and teachers who are seeking, and in some cases participating in a very different education, and it’s become one of the
#40: Interview With Ted Dintersmith Read More »
Do you know the difference between technical change and adaptive change? Most change in schools involves technical change, like “dressing up” the current situation, but not really addressing the underlying issues. Adaptive change, as defined by Harvard’s Ron Heifetz, is changing culture, worldview, and self-worth. These are the changes that are the hardest to make
#39: Using Adaptive Change Methods to Revolutionize Education Read More »
One of the most interesting online debates I’ve come across lately is this one from the NAIS blog about the Mastery Transcript Consortium (MTC) which is trying to “reimagine the high school transcript.” (If this is your first introduction to the Mastery.org folks, you may want to spend some time digging into their site and
Is it About Teaching? Or is it About Learning? Read More »
Why do we as parents and educators push our kids to do “whatever it takes” to get into the best college they can? We think we are helping our kids, but are we really setting them up for all kinds of challenges in which they cannot be successful? Do we tie our own self-worth into
#38: The Costs of High Expectations Read More »
There’s change, and then there’s change. We all know what I mean by that, right? I mean, in some schools, the changes are easy to see. Everyone has a device. Teachers meet in their PLCs. “Competency-based” is the approach du jour. Or “personalized learning.” Or “flipped.” It occurs to me that most change that really
Our Moral Imperative Read More »
