Category: Podcasts

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode we are speaking with Ginger Spickler, Opportunity Wrangler; Nikki Wallace, biology teacher; and Lucy Fox, learner from Crosstown High in Memphis, TN.

Crosstown High (XTH) is a public school which opened in August 2018 and is currently serving 145 9th graders. The school aims to leverage the unique ecosystem of Crosstown Concourse to provide an exciting new option for a uniquely diverse group of students and educators who want to learn together through project-based courses of study, hands-on work in their city, and rich relationships with one another and the greater Crosstown community.

We learned the importance of engaging the full community in the vision for a learner-centered learning environment and the time needed for all to do the heavy lifting of school transformation. As a result of our conversation, We are thinking about this question:

• As a leader in the learner-centered movement, how do you engage the community and provide time for the transformation to go through its stages?

Resources

• Crosstown High
• XQ Super School Project
• Crosstown High on Twitter @CrosstownHigh

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this bonus episode we are speaking with Megan Chen, author of Finding Tiger and Zack Jones, Director at Dual School.

Megan is a young learner who followed her passion and published a children’s book titled Finding Tiger. The book targets the problems of implicit bias and stereotyping. Megan is very interested in creating innovative solutions to problems and entrepreneurship!  Megan also started the entrepreneurship club at her school.

Zack is Director at Dual School, a supplement to the existing education system. The school delivers an elite learning opportunity to students from public, private and charter schools in New Castle County, DE. A graduate of Horn Entrepreneurship at University of Delaware, Zack 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.

This is what we talked about:

1. Tell us about the Dual School model and the kinds of opportunities it offers young people.
2. Megan…teell us how you got connected to Dual School and how your work there ended up in your first published book, Finding Tiger.
3. Tell us about the process of writing and designing the book. How did you go about choosing the subject and designing the process. What were the best high point moments and what were some of the challenges that you had to overcome?
4. Zack….What are some other projects happening at Dual School? How are they impacting the community?  
5. Megan and Zack….what advice would you give to school leaders working to shift the school experience toward learner-centered?
6. Before we invite you to share what is next for you, let’s hear your answers to our lightning response questions:
   • Who is one expert our listener’s should connect with to learn more about co-designing more real world, entrepreneurial opportunities for learners in school?
   • If you were recommending one book to our listeners, what would it be?
   • What online site/resource/person do you learn from regularly?
7. What’s next for each of you? What are you working on that you’d like to share?

Resources

• Finding Tiger
• A Conversation with Author Megan Chen: Finding Tiger
• The World Changer’s Handbook: A Young Person’s Guide to Creating an Impactful Life.
• Dual School
• The Kite Runner
• Linchpin
• Justin and Dylan – Next Gen
• Seth Godin
• Youtube
• Podcasts – Hardcore History
• How I built this

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this bonus episode, we are speaking with Dick Thomas and Lauren Della Bella – coauthors of 9 Billion Schools – Why the World Needs Lifelong Personalized Learning for All.

Dick Thomas is vice president of architecture for SHP, a nationally recognized architecture firm focused on learning spaces of all kinds. Celebrating over 20 years of practice with the firm, Dick’s education portfolio reflects a wide spectrum of facility planning and design solutions. Dick has participated on long-range planning committees, assisted with curriculum strategy panels and developed strategic standards. As a former member of a future-oriented innovation board for a major technology company, he has a keen interest in how technology can facilitate the rapidly changing approaches to learning in all its manifestations. His first co-written book, 9 Billion Schools: Why the World Needs Personalized, Lifelong Learning for All, examines the importance of reimagining the worldwide approach towards education and learning in light of an expanding population and an increasingly rapid development of technology.

Lauren Della Bella is president of SHP, a nationally recognized architecture firm focused on learning spaces of all kinds. She is the first woman to lead the firm in its 100-plus-year history. Lauren spearheaded the development of SHP’s highly regarded community-engagement process, and launched Insite Magazine, an award-winning publication dedicated to innovative design ideas and industry success stories. Under her leadership the firm has become an authority on sustainability and 21st-century educational design. Her passion for design, education and planning is evidenced in her leadership roles in several industry groups. She currently serves as president of the Architectural Foundation of Cincinnati and an executive board member of the Design Futures Council.

This is what we talked about:

1. Let’s begin with a personal story about how you got connected to the need for personalized learning for all.
2. You share about your book, “Every single person on Earth should be considered a school unto him- or herself. That’s because, for maximum human flourishing, learning should be a highly personalized experience that lasts an entire lifetime.” Tell us what you mean by this?
3.  In section one, you share the foundations for the 9 billions schools movement. What is the why and the how?
4. In section two, you highlight the first 20% of life and talk about national parks, early innovation, collaboration, and play. Share with us a couple of you ideas from this section with our listeners.
5. In section 3, you focus on the remaining 80% of life. We made connections to our Profile of a Graduate in this section. We need to be able to think together, and practice curiosity and empathy.  Why is this important to the 9 billion schools movement?
6. Before we invite you to share what is next for you, let’s hear your ideas about our lightning response questions:
   • Who is one expert our listener’s should connect with to learn more about lifelong personalized learning?
   • If you were recommending one book to our listeners, what would it be?
   • What online site/resource/person do you learn from regularly?
7. What’s next for you? What are you working on that you’d like to share?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this bonus episode of Shift Your Paradigm, we are speaking with Jason Swanson, Director of Strategic Foresight at KnowledgeWorks. In his role, he gets to explore the future of learning, helping stakeholders translate future insights into forward thinking visions for transforming education. In his work, Jason has explored how trends and developments such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, augmented and virtual reality might impact learning today and into the future.

He has authored dozens of articles and forecasts including the future of work and readiness, the future of credentials, the expansion and diversification of educator roles and the creation of learning ecosystems.

In this episode, we talked about the following questions:

1. • 1. How did you got connected to strategic foresight,  KnowledgeWorks  and the development of the forecasts.
     2.  Let’s dive into the new Forecast 5.0: Navigating the Future of Learning. What’s the why behind the forecast…why should school leaders and communities organize conversations around this work?
     3. At the core of the document, you identify five drivers of change. Tell us about the drivers and how you arrived at these particular five.
     4. The forecast also includes provocations. What is the purpose of the provocations and how are they organized in the forecast?
     5. You also developed three audience-specific discussion guides for: District, school and classroom leaders, Higher education administrators, faculty and staff, and Education thought leaders and changemakers. How can these stakeholders use the guides to organize their next steps after reading the forecast?
     6. With the forecast in mind, what does the future look like for learner-centered education?
     7. Before we invite you to share what is next for you, let’s hear your ideas related to our lightning response questions:
        • Who is one expert our listener’s should connect with to learn more about strategic foresight, either in or outside of the K12 domain?
        • If you were recommending one book to our listeners, what would it be?
        • What online site/resource/person do you learn from regularly?

Resources

• • • Follow Jason on Twitter
    • Knowledgeworks.org
    • Webinar Recording – Forecast 5.0
    • Forecast 5.0 – Navigating the Future of Learning
    • 21 Lessons for the 21st Century – Yuval Noah Harari
    • Dr. Peter Bishop – Teach the Future
    • Scale – Geoffrey West
    • The Long Now Foundation
    • Nicky Case

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode, we had a conversation with Joe Erpelding, Principal at Design39Campus in San Diego, CA, and two learners, Sydney Huber and Riya Anand. You may recall that we featured Design39Campus, a learner-centered lab school, on an earlier episode of the podcast. During our conversation, we learned about the eight guiding principles at the heart of the Design39Campus experience. Sydney and Riya provided us a glimpse into these guiding principles, sharing various learning experiences. Joe shared the kinds of leadership qualities necessary to lead a learner-centered environment including vulnerability and creating a culture of sharing.

The learning environment of Design39Campus provides an ideal environment for student-centered, flexible learning experiences. On a mission to “change the way we do schools,” Design39Campus provides a unique approach to personalized learning that is human-centered and empathy-fueled.

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

• What learner-centered aspects of Design39 Campus  might you apply in your school or district?

Resources

• Design39Campus
• @Design39Campus
• @erpelding

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this Bonus Episode of Shift Your Paradigm, we are speaking with Anya Smith-Roman and Abigail Emerson, founders of Trailblazers Magazine, a magazine driven and written by students about the education transformation movement.

Anya is a 2017 graduate of the Innovation Diploma and currently a second-year student at Georgia Institute for Technology studying to become a social entrepreneur with a major in Business and certificate in Social Psychology. Since high school, she has been striving to forward the Education Transformation Movement by networking with thought leaders around the world, speaking and coaching at education conferences, and being a pioneer of innovative learner-centered education practices. She is driven by the goal to have student voice at the forefront of the Education Transformation Movement. Anya dreams of a future where “school” consists of students working side-by-side with business leaders to design for pressing issues in the world.

Abigail is a creator looking for new ways to solve problems. She is an Innovations Diploma and Mount Vernon Presbyterian School 2018 graduate and freshman at NC State studying Industrial Design. Always keeping a positive outlook on situations, her favorite pastime is giving out high-fives and telling puns and jokes. Abigail strives to inspire and empower other students to believe that they can make a change now and don’t have to wait until they’re “older” and “wiser” to start.

Resources shared during our conversation

• • Trailblazers Website
    • Follow on Twitter @TrailblazersEd
    • Follow on Instagram @trailblazers.magazine
  • Trailblazers – Student Driven EdMagazine (post from Anya’s blog)
  • Issues
    • #1 – June 2017
    • #2 – January 2018
    • #3 – June 2018
    • #4 – January 2019
  • TLTalkRadio – Season 4: Episode 24 – Innovations Diploma
  • Anya’s blog – The Life of Pinya
  • Abigail’s blog – Ideas From a Creator
  • The Falconer – Grant Lichtman
  • Steal Like an Artist – Austin Kleon
  • Education Reimagined
  • Twitter – #DTK12chat – Every Wednesday

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode we are speaking with Dr. Cory Steiner, superintendent in the Northern Cass School District in North Dakota. We learned about the audacious goals and vision, driven by their Profile of a Graduate, that are focused on creating a learner-centered school district. Northern Cass School District is a public school district located in Hunter, ND. It has 635 learners in grades PK-12 with a student-teacher ratio of 15 to 1. As a result of recent legislation in the state of North Dakota, and thoughtful strategic planning, the entire Northern Cass School District will move to a competency-based education model by 2020. 

As a result of our conversation, here are two questions we are thinking about.

1. What inspires you about the Northern Cass vision for 2020?
2. What might be if your organization placed greater focus on agency and empathy, up and down the system?

Resources

• Northern Cass School District
• North Dakota School District Makes Bold Changes
• What’s School Without Grade Levels?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this  Bonus Episode, we are speaking with Joe Cirasuolo, former Executive Director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS) about learner-centered education and the role of states.

In this episode, we talked about the following:

1. Let’s start the conversation with a personal story about how you got connected to CAPSS and the work of developing these visionary resources for Connecticut.
2. Let’s talk first about the white paper – A Look to the Future: Personalized Learning in Connecticut, in which you have four defined parts – creating the urgency for change, defining personalized learning, examining personalized learning elements, and identifying policies that hinder personalization.  We were fascinated by the policy barriers and suggestions. Can you share some of the ideas in that section with our listeners?
3. In NextEd: Next Steps: A Vision and a Plan for Transforming Connecticut’s Education System, problems with Connecticut’s education are highlighted and  core recommendations for change are made. Share a few high-impact students-centered approaches which can be leveraged to transform education.
4. For leaders who want to dig a little deeper into the core recommendations, they can review the Summary of Proposals white paper. Talk to us about the meaning behind this white paper.

Resources

• • A Look to the Future: Personalized Learning in Connecticut
  • NextEd: Next Steps: A Vision and a Plan for Transforming Connecticut’s Education System,
  • Summary of Proposals
  • David Ruff – Great School Partnership
  • Education Reimagined

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode, we are learning about an innovative learning environment, North Star Teens located in Hadley, MA, with Kenneth Danford and a 15 year old learner, Nolan Saito.

Ken Danford is Executive Director at North Star.He grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio and attended public schools. His positive experiences as a student led him to become an idealistic public school teacher, first in Prince George’s  County, MD, and then in Amherst, MA. Having earned his teaching degree at Brown University under the auspices of the Coalition of Essential Schools, he planned a career in education reform from inside public schools. He became disillusioned with what he felt was too tight of a system, and decided to leave teaching school in a way that would support any interested students to leave with him. Since 1996, North Star has welcomed all inquiring families. Now there are about a dozen centers modeled after North Star in the Liberated Learners Network.

Nolan Saito, 15 years old, is a member of North Star. Nolan was five years old when his oldest brother joined North Star, and he has been around the community since that time. After spending two years at North Star, Nolan decided to attend a local charter school for middle school. This year he has chosen to re-join North Star to focus on his primary interests of ballet and violin. In his spare time, Nolan follows the European soccer leagues and is an avid fan of Juventus.

The learners at North Star are individuals moving forward in unique directions at a pace right for them. North Star is not a school. It does not offer diplomas, credits, or grades. Rather, North Star offers an alternative to school where teens learn in the way that suits them best. Most North Star members are between the ages of 13 and 19. North Star considers younger members on a case-by-case basis, and has been supporting teens to find and pursue their passions since 1996. Most North Star teens choose to go on to college and do so successfully.

As a result of the conversation, here are a couple of questions we are asking:

1. 1. What learner-centered aspects of North Star might you apply in your school or district?
   2. What might be in your learning environment if you shifted the paradigm to give learners the greatest level of agency?

Resources:

• Read the semi-annual newsletter, Liberated Learners
• Watch videos of Ken’s talks at TEDX and Thrive2020
• Read Ken’s article for Tipping Points magazine on what happens to North Star alumni.
• Read an interview with Ken on Education Reimagined
• Off Trail Learning Podcast featuring North Star