Author: Randy Ziegenfuss, Ed.D.

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In this bonus episode of Shift Your Paradigm, we talked with Jemma Schroder and Monica Shannon, interns from Design Tech High School. We designed an internship in which our learners had the opportunity to learn the inner workings of podcast production by working to support our TLTalkRadio and Shift Your Paradigm podcasts. Our two participants—Jemma and Monica—worked with us for two weeks. During this episode, we reflected on this unique learning opportunity.

Here’s what we talked about:

1. How has this experience been?
2. What did you learn over the course of these two weeks?
3. What were some key takeaways from this experience? How can you apply these takeaways to your future?
4. What were some challenges you faced during this internship and how did you overcome them? 
5. Did anything surprise you during this internship?
6. Do you think you’ll create your own podcast sometime in the future?

Resources

• Podcast Internship Welcome Letter
• Bonus Episode 13
• Bonus Episode 13 Script
• Bonus Episode 14
• Bonus Episode 14 Script
• TLTalkRadio Podcast Takeover
• Audacity Audio Editing Software
• ID3 editor

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In this episode we are learning with Elina Alayeva and Suzette Dyer. Both from Springpoint, a national nonprofit that partners with schools, districts, charters, networks, and foundations to create innovative school models designed for and responsive to the communities they serve. 

We learned about the mission of Springpoint and the problem they are working to solve with reimagining high schools. The principal is a key leader in school transformation to learner-centered models and we learned how Springpoint builds the capacity of principals. Elina and Suzette also provide some insight to leaders and learners making the shift to learner-centered education.

As a result of our conversation, here is a question we are thinking about:

• What opportunities exist in your school or district for stakeholders to contribute to continuous improvement efforts? Where could more of these opportunities be created?

Resources:

• Springpoint website
• Designing New School Models: A Practical Guide
• How Students Thrive: Positive Youth Development in Practice
• Designing Advisory Systems: Innovative Approaches from High Schools
• Designing with Diverse Communities: Recommended Readings and Resources
• Leveraging Data to Understand Students: Obstacles and Ideas for Data Practices
• Flipping the Script: What happens when students lead instructional rounds?

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In this episode, we are learning with Zack Jones, Director of Dual School, located in Wilmington Delaware.

Dual School is a supplement to the existing education system, delivering a learning opportunity to students from public, private and charter schools in New Castle County, DE. Dual School also welcomes teachers to learn from their innovative pedagogy and connect with other forward thinking educators. Born out of a partnership with Blue Dot Education, a group of teachers from High Tech High, Dual School provides their flagship Idea Incubator program twice each year to about 40 students and their consulting work reaches another 100 youth who work on social impact projects as a workforce development experience. 

Zack is a graduate of Horn Entrepreneurship at University of Delaware, and is the author of The World Changer’s Handbook: A Young Person’s Guide to Creating an Impactful Life. He’s passionate about helping young people activate their potential by taking action on their ideas.

In our conversation, we learned about Dual School’s innovative learning model through many examples. During the 3-hour learning sessions, learners at Dual School work alongside adults to pursue social impact projects. The model represents learning that is personalized, contextualized and relevant to the participating high school learners. The projects shared also represent a high level of learner agency. We spoke about the importance of shifting adults roles in a learner-centered learning environment.

As a result of our conversation, we are thinking about the following question:

• What did you learn today that can be applied to the transformation of your learning environment and the shifting role of the teacher?

Resources:

• Dual School website

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In this episode we are learning about the learner-centered environment at RiseUp Community School in Denver, CO. We are speaking with Karen Ikegami, Principal of the school. RiseUp Community School is a charter school within the Denver Public School System. The school opened in August of 2015. The adults at RiseUp work hard to provide each learner with the opportunity to learn, practice, and excel with skills they’ll need to be active participants in the community. Curriculum at RiseUp is designed to examine self and community while various wrap-around services help students navigate barriers to school. Community building is a key aspect of the school and helps learners understand each other as individuals.

During our conversations, we learned what makes RiseUp learner-centered, and also discussed the challenges of a regulated public school environment working to provide as many learner-centered experiences for learners as possible. We also learned about the importance of prioritizing relationships and learner voice in the design of learning experiences.

As a result of our conversation, we are thinking about this question:

• What did you learn today about supporting learners who are not successful in the traditional high school model of learning?

Resources:

• RiseUp website
• RiseUp Community School – Education Reimagined article
• A Conversation with Karen Ikegami

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In this episode, we are speaking with Jeremy Wickenheiser and Chhorda Vuth. Jeremy is the Founder and former Director of the Entrepreneurial Studies Program in DSST Public School and Chhorda is a graduate of the Program.

In our conversation, we learn how the Entrepreneurial Studies Program is learner-centered and how it connects learners with real-world relevant problems in the community. The outcomes of the program address the broader aims of learner-centered schools, placing importance on skills, dispositions and entrepreneurial thinking. We also hear how the role of adults changes in a learner-centered environment: start small and keep iterating ideas until they can scale up in your unique context. Adults also need to get out of the way of the learners and share agency with learners whenever possible.

As a result of our conversation, here’s what we are thinking about:

• How might your learning model cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset to best prepare learners to lead in the 21st century workforce?

Resources:

• How Shared Values at DSST Shape Youth Development
• Radically Different Approach Results in Radically Different Results in DSST: Green Valley Ranch
• Intentionally Diverse Charter Schools: In Denver, Students from Varied Backgrounds Prepare for One Bright Future, Together
• Science Teacher Uses Entrepreneurship to Spark Schoolwide Change

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In this episode, we are speaking with Dustin Hensley and Alex Campbell, educators at Elizabethton High School in Elizabethton, TN. Alex and Dustin worked with students to design the Bartleby Program, a unique education model designed by students and recognized by the XQ Super School Project as an exemplar of student voice. We were also joined in our conversation by a learner, Alexis.

During our conversation we learned about the origins of the Bartleby Project which has since scaled school-wide and is known as the Bartleby Philosophy. We also learned how learning at Elizabethton is learner centered, prioritizing the voice of the learner in identifying and solving real-world challenges in the Elizabethton community. Alex and Dustin also provided suggestions to help learner-centered leaders overcome some of the barriers to fully realizing learner-centered education.

As a result of our conversation, we are thinking about this question:

• As a leader in the learner-centered movement, how do you prioritize learner voice in the design and implementation of your learning model?

Resources:

• About Elizabethton and the Bartleby Program
• Video

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In this episode we are speaking with Christy Kingham, coordinator of both the mastery based grading initiative and project based learning facilitation at The Young Women’s Leadership School in Astoria, NY. TYWLS is a learner-centered public high school in the New York City Department of Education. 

During our conversation, we learned what learner-centered means at TYWLS and how leaders create the space and time for all stakeholders to realize the vision of the school through project-based learning and learning intensives.

As a result of our conversation, we are thinking about this question:

• What learner-centered aspects of  TYWLS might you apply in your school or district?

Resources: (Twitter, Blog, School Website, News Articles, Etc.)

• https://www.christykingham.com
• https://twitter.com/ckingham
• http://tywls-astoria.org/
• Intensives – Learning without Walls
• An Overview of Intensives
• Mastery at TYWLS
• Rubrics and Targets @TYWLS
• Mastery Based Grading Handbook – Working Document
• NYC DOE Mastery Collaborative