Class Disrupted

With large numbers of teachers resigning from schools, Diane and Michael dive into what exactly is happening right now in schools, explore how it’s different from past teacher shortages, and ask bigger questions about who is a teacher and the system of preparing and developing our teachers—and suggest a hopeful path that might emerge from the current moment of struggles and shortages for schools.

In this episode, Diane interviews Michael about exactly where students are learning formally this year, what’s driving the change in enrollment in public schools, and what will be the longer term impact.

In this episode Michael interviews Diane about the difference between standards and curriculum, and why she’s in favor of a common core set of standards but not a common curriculum.

Diane and Michael break down who decides what gets taught and analyze the specific roles of everyone from the different arms of government to teachers, parents, textbook companies—and even committees and colleges.

With conversations around Critical Race Theory and learning loss rampant, what schools teach is hot right now. Rather than tackle those specific debates, in this episode Diane and Michael wave their magic wand to offer a framework around what schools should teach — and how it’s different from what they do today.

As we enter a third year of schools being hugely impacted by COVID 19, Diane Tavenner and Michael Horn launch a third season of the Class Disrupted podcast, and for the first time record in person! In their unique twist on the tradition of back-to-school shopping they explore the top five wants, and realize they might not be able to find everything they need.

Diane and Michael welcome listeners back for a third season of Class Disrupted and reflect on how urgent it is to rethink the fundamental structures undergirding schools—and how this year might afford more opportunities for communities to implement some significant changes.

In the final episode of Season 2 of Class Disrupted, Diane and Michael talk through four recurrent themes on the podcast—and how each conversation would benefit from more nuance. The topics? Politics, testing, location of learning, and doing something with versus doing something to your community.

Students, parents and educators are all exhausted from the past year—and here comes summer! How should the time be used and how will it be used? Diane and Michael offer some takes—and dig into some new research around accelerating students versus offering them remediation.

Joel Rose, cofounder of Teach to One, joins Michael and Diane to talk about why now is the moment to lean into innovation—not back away from it—and how we need new learning models to advance the possibilities for all students, not just the third who get by in the current education system.