What Do You Mean By That?

71: What If We Radically Shift How We Think About Education? A Conversation with Colin Seale


Listen Later

As we think about the kids of this country going back to school (or not) in the fall, we can't help think about how the educational inequality that was already in place is being further exacerbated by the effects of COVID-19.

However, if you take it back before internet connectivity problems and the lack of computer devices to learn from home on, there has always been a problem with equal and easy access to quality education.

We bring you a conversation with Colin Seale, whose biggest mission centers around providing equal access to critical thinking skills by working with teachers, administrators, and parents alike. Hear how every single one of us can make a difference, and how educational opportunities are so intricately linked to racial justice.

Have questions, comments, or concerns? Email us at [email protected]

What to listen for:

  • Colin's story of success is based on because of, rather than despite, his upbringing.
  • How creating schools within schools - regardless of private or public - create separate but unequal access to educational opportunities.
  • The skills that are necessary to go beyond fixing a broken system, but to re-imagine education as it should be.
  • How White parents and adults can make a difference today.

For this episode, we spoke with Colin Seale, the founder, and CEO of thinkLaw. Tackling inequity hands-on has always been personal to Colin because the amazing educational opportunities he received in gifted and talented courses and an exclusive specialized high school despite his underprivileged background growing up in Brooklyn, NY made him an exception to a painfully unjust rule. So whether Colin was teaching middle and high school math in Washington, D.C. and Las Vegas, NV, applying his computer science degree and Master's in Public Administration to fight for child safety at Nevada's largest child welfare agency, or practicing as a business attorney at one of Las Vegas' top law firms while representing children in foster care, Colin has always dreamed of a world where stories like his were no longer the exception, but instead, all students had an equal shot at being exceptional. Colin created thinkLaw to give all students access to the type of game-changing critical thinking education they need to not only fully understand the way the world is, but to question it and imagine the way the world ought to be. When he's not serving as the world's greatest critical thinking evangelist, Colin proudly serves as the world's greatest entertainer for his two little kiddos and loving husband to his wife Carrie. His new book Thinking Like a Lawyer: A Framework for Teaching Critical Thinking to All Students came out in April of 2020.

Relevant episodes:

  • Ep. 57: It all starts here - educational inequality.
  • Ep. 58: The school to prison pipeline - six year old's don't belong in handcuffs.
  • Ep. 70: From Compton to Oxford, talking with the exceptional Caylin Moore.

Like what you hear? Support us through Patreon!

Don't miss another episode and subscribe to the podcast!

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter – and don't miss our new anti-racism action calendar by joining our email list.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

What Do You Mean By That?By Sara and Misasha

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

140 ratings


More shows like What Do You Mean By That?

View all
This American Life by This American Life

This American Life

91,125 Listeners

TED Radio Hour by NPR

TED Radio Hour

22,041 Listeners

Radiolab by WNYC Studios

Radiolab

43,994 Listeners

Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

Hidden Brain

43,691 Listeners

Happier with Gretchen Rubin by Gretchen Rubin / The Onward Project

Happier with Gretchen Rubin

12,914 Listeners

Death, Sex & Money by Slate Podcasts

Death, Sex & Money

7,743 Listeners

StoryCorps by NPR

StoryCorps

4,005 Listeners

Code Switch by NPR

Code Switch

14,612 Listeners

Worklife with Adam Grant by TED

Worklife with Adam Grant

9,191 Listeners

Life Kit by NPR

Life Kit

4,379 Listeners

The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos by Pushkin Industries

The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos

14,395 Listeners

IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson by Higher Ground

IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson

12,691 Listeners

We Can Do Hard Things by Treat Media and Glennon Doyle

We Can Do Hard Things

41,492 Listeners

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus by Lemonada Media

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus

10,691 Listeners

Handsome by Headgum

Handsome

13,189 Listeners