Welcome to our Spotlight Series! In the following episodes, we're featuring a short segment on each of our team members so you can get to know us a little better. Everyone was asked the same five questions:

1. [00:43] Why are you interested in school change?
2. [02:02] What brought you to this project?
3. [03:04] What do you bring to this project?
4. [03:33] What excites you most about NEXTschool?
5. [04:44] Beyond NEXTschool, what other hats do you wear?

In this episode you'll hear from Dr. Joseph Levitan. Joe is an Associate Professor in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education at McGill University. His research interests include leadership, teaching, and policy for social justice in education, collaborative education development with marginalized and Indigenous communities, curriculum and pedagogy, responsive educational policy development and leadership, culturally grounded education, and intersectional analysis of culture, identity, and learning. In the NEXTSchool project, Joe focuses on how relational dynamics and communication patterns influence change processes.​

For more info about our team and this podcast, jump to [06:22]. A transcript of each podcast, citations, and additional information accompany each podcast and are also available on our website at nextschoolquebec.com. Music is by Neal Read, he's at nealread.ca. 

Welcome to our Spotlight Series! In the following episodes, we're featuring a short segment on each of our team members so you can get to know us a little better. Everyone was asked the same five questions:

1. [00:38] Why are you interested in school change?
2. [01:58] What brought you to this project?
3. [03:27] What do you bring to this project?
4. [06:57] What excites you most about NEXTschool?
5. [10:56] Beyond NEXTschool, what other hats do you wear?

In this episode you'll hear from Noel Burke. With over 50 years in education, Noel has become a recognized champion of Lifelong Learning, a successful agent of change, and a sought-after consultant and speaker on educational and institutional innovation. He is recently retired and developing the NEXTschool project which aims to transform the high school learning experience. He is currently a sessional lecturer for the Graduate Certificate in Educational Leadership at McGill University. As the founder and principal partner of nEDworks Consulting, Noel continues to provide consultation services to educational stakeholders, Leadership Coaching to educational administrators as well as Career Coaching to transitioning youth and adults.

For more info about our team and this podcast, jump to [11:36]. A transcript of each podcast, citations, and additional information accompany each podcast and are also available on our website at nextschoolquebec.com. Music is by Neal Read, he's at nealread.ca. 

Welcome to our Spotlight Series! In the following episodes, we're featuring a short segment on each of our team members so you can get to know us a little better. Everyone was asked the same five questions:

1. [00:39] Why are you interested in school change?
2. [04:01] What brought you to this project?
3. [05:25] What do you bring to this project?
4. [07:43] What excites you most about NEXTschool?
5. [09:00] Beyond NEXTschool, what other hats do you wear?

In this episode you'll hear from Dr. Lisa Starr. Lisa is currently the dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Lethbridge and the Principal Investigator on McGill's NEXTschool Research Team. Lisa's passion for the study of education focuses on relational leadership/pedagogy and innovative approaches to K-Graduation education in Canada. She is dedicated to improving education by facilitating and/or generating deep understanding around the complex issues present in today’s schools. She studies the complex barriers that impede educational change and how those barriers impact student engagement and educational change.

For more info about our team and this podcast, jump to [13:16]. A transcript of each podcast, citations, and additional information accompany each podcast and are also available on our website at nextschoolquebec.com. Music is by Neal Read, he's at nealread.ca. 

The NEXTschool initiative is concerned with involving kids in the process of school change. In order to do so well, there are many things to take into account like relational power dynamics and social context. Vanessa, Aron, Lynn, and Joe talk about student voice, how we can think about involving students in change, and ethical considerations of student voice research. This episode adds nuance to our conversations about student success and engagement. The five questions guiding this topic are: 

1. [01:00] What is student voice?
2. [07:28] What are some of the ways researchers and practitioners conceptualize or think about student voice work?
3. [15:17] What does student voice look like? And also, what are some ways students can be involved in decision making processes, specifically in the context of school change?
4. [21:18] Within the particular context of school change, why should we be involving students in change? And why might this be important?
5. [24:02] What are some of the ethical considerations when engaging in student voice work?

For more info about our team and this podcast, jump to [33:13]. A transcript of each podcast, citations, and additional information accompany each podcast and are also available on our website at nextschoolquebec.com. Music is by Neal Read, he's at nealread.ca. 

Most of us have experienced getting report cards assessing our success in school. Vanessa, Ellen, Lisa, and Aron talk about how we can understand and evaluate student success in other ways. Building off of the previous conversation on student engagement, they consider how we can do best by the young people that we've been tasked with helping educate. The five questions guiding this topic are: 

1. [01:40] What is student success?
2. [10:54] Why is student success important?
3. [17:07] What are we measuring success for?
4. [24:26] What are some ways that students can demonstrate or achieve success?
5. [29:12] How might a school go about defining student success for their context? What kinds of things could be considered?

For more info about our team and this podcast, jump to [34:14]. A transcript of each podcast, citations, and additional information accompany each podcast and are also available on our website at nextschoolquebec.com. Music is by Neal Read, he's at nealread.ca. 

What is student engagement and why does it matter? In this episode, Vanessa, Ellen, Lisa, and Bronwen interrogate what it means to be engaged in learning. The five questions guiding this topic are: 

1. [01:40] What is student engagement? 
2. [06:22] How do you measure student engagement?
3. [15:18] Why does student engagement matter?
4. [27:17] How are we tying student engagement to school improvement?
5. [29:12] What does student engagement have to do with NEXTschool?

For more info about our team and this podcast, jump to [33:30]. A transcript of each podcast, citations, and additional information accompany each podcast and are also available on our website at nextschoolquebec.com. Music is by Neal Read, he's at nealread.ca. 

In this episode, Vanessa, Aron, Joe, and Ellen talk about using design thinking as a school change process. The five questions guiding this topic are: 

1. [01:06] What is design thinking? 
2. [03:26] How do you apply design thinking to work with people or a social system?
3. [09:03] In your opinion, what is the most important step of design thinking? 
4. [16:11] What are the strengths and weaknesses of design thinking?
5. [26:39] If you're going to use design thinking as a process for a school change, what are five ten twelve things you need to know?

For more info about our team and this podcast, jump to [31:06]. A transcript of each podcast, citations, and additional information are on our website at nextschoolquebec.com. Music is by Neal Read, he's at nealread.ca. 

In this pilot episode, we get the ball rolling with a conversation about innovative high school models. Vanessa and Aron ask Noel and Joe five questions on the topic: 

1. [00:01:23] What does the word 'innovative' mean to you? 
2. [00:03:55] What makes a school innovative or not? 
3. [00:06:24] What do you think is a single or a couple of important features of innovative schools that have stood out to you in your experiences? 
4. [00:08:48] Why do you think the term 'innovative' is used in educational contexts as opposed to other terms? Is it a buzzword? Does it still have meaning? 
5. [00:12:54] Can any school be innovative?

For more info about our team and this podcast, jump to [00:20:47]. A transcript of each podcast, citations, and additional information are on our website at nextschoolquebec.com. Music is by Neal Read, he's at nealread.ca.