Education Evolution

Traditional high schools aren’t set up to prioritize teen mental health. And how could they? Seemingly bigger concerns—bigger class size, bigger operations, bigger emphasis on textbooks and homework—means that student well-being takes a backseat. Educators aren’t allowed the bandwidth to engage with each student on a deeply relational level.

Today on the podcast, we’re learning why it’s so important that they do—directly from students themselves. My guests are Bella Christian and Journey Morrison, two recent graduates of my micro-school, LEADPrep. We’ll hear their firsthand perspective on how caring, collaborative relationships with teachers and peers positively impacted their mental health, personal growth, and academic success.

Bella and Journey share how they’ve gone on to thrive in college as a direct result of the interpersonal skills and confidence they gained in the close-knit, project-based learning environment of a micro-school.

About Bella Christian and Journey Morrison:

• [1:45] Bella’s mental health struggles at public school until she got to LEADPrep
• [2:43] Journey felt lost in the crowd in a traditional high school setting
• [6:33] Bella: Positive relationships with teachers lead to positive academic outcomes
• [7:53] Stephen Covey’s concept of “emotional bank accounts” applies to teacher-student relationships
• [11:53] Addressing students’ and parents’ subconscious resistance to micro-schooling
• [14:45] Journey: Personal growth happens when you approach the unfamiliar
• [20:28] The best piece of advice for college students
• [23:55] What students want us to know about teen mental health
• [29:01] Journey’s Magic Wand: An environment free of judgment, where every student who’s struggling is able to articulate their need for help and receive it
• [29:35] Bella’s Magic Wand: For more understanding, caring, and communication amongst student peers and adults 
• [30:34] Maureen’s Take-Aways

• Episode 61: Examining Polarity Thinking with Lindsay Y. Burr
• Episode 56: Getting to the Brainy Business of School Change with Melina Palmer
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
• Email Maureen
• The Education Evolution
• Facebook: Follow Education Evolution
• Twitter: Follow Education Evolution
• LinkedIn: Follow Education Evolution
• EdActive Collective
• Maureen’s book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids
• Micro-school feature on Good Morning America
• The Micro-School Coalition
• Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition
• LEADPrep

When you look back on schools closing in March 2020, how have your perspectives, needs, and aspirations changed in such a challenging year? 

The pandemic has taught us all so much. As I reflect on the last year (plus), three major themes occur. On today’s podcast, I’m exploring the effect of the pandemic on equity, mental health, and the ever-changing educational system. 

With so much transition happening in schools, the time is right to evaluate what is working, what we can adapt, and what we can leave behind. Join our EdActive Collective to listen to and become one of the voices making an impact on systemic change in our schools.

• [1:58] Examining equity in education 
• [5:48] Bringing mental health to the forefront
• [7:43] EdActive Collective and June 21-24 Summit
• [10:13] Adjusting educational content and context
• [14:02] Utilizing the tool of polarity thinking
• [15:51] Maureen’s Magic Wand: Taking painful lessons and choosing to learn and grow from them. 

• Dr. Bettina Love’s video clip on ally vs. co-conspirator
• We Want to Do More Than Survive by Dr. Bettina Love
• EdActive Collective
• EdActive June 21-24 free summit: registration
• Gibson Ek High School
• Methow Valley ILC and episode 49 interview
• Iowa BIG and episode 51 interview
• One Stone
• nXu
• Lindsay Burr (episode 61) on Polarity Thinking as a tool
• Email Maureen
• The Education Evolution 
• Facebook: Follow Education Evolution
• Twitter: Follow Education Evolution
• LinkedIn: Follow Education Evolution
• Maureen’s book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids
• Micro-school feature on Good Morning America
• The Micro-School Coalition
• Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition
• LEADPrep

As passionate leaders in the education evolution, is our either-or perspective on education reform holding us back? Or even worse, is our commitment to our own vision creating a divisive reality instead of the inclusive and equitable future we hope for?

Today on the podcast, we are exploring how to shift from either-or thinking to a both-and perspective to find a greater purpose and educational future for everyone involved.

My guest is Lindsay Burr, CEO of Yarbrough Group and expert on polarity thinking, multi-generational workplaces, and creating inclusive environments through conflict resolution. She is applying her expertise to education reform and showing us a new, inclusive, way to create the change we’re looking for.

Listen in!

Lindsay Burr is the CEO of Yarbrough Group and presents truth while creating a safe space to assist clients in discerning action steps that fit their needs, budgets, and mission. Her focus has been on helping organizations and people set and achieve goals that are tied to meaningful work. Her specialty is on the millennial perspectives on the multi-generational workplace, leadership, polarities, DEIB (diversity, education, inclusion, belonging), and high functioning teams. Lindsay has also developed and implemented pieces of training in corporate, non-profit, union, medical and military settings.

Based in Washington, DC, much of Lindsay’s background is politically focused. Lindsay worked with the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in governance where she created learning and best practice sharing opportunities for members of parliament from over 20 countries so their institutions could accomplish the goals of the government in innovative ways. Lindsay’s Masters of Science at George Mason University’s School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution focused on post-violent conflict reconstruction. 

Learn more about the Yarbrough Group on their website or by following them on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter.

• [6:26] Getting to the heart of polarity thinking 
• [10:25] Questions that get past the continuity vs. evolution conflict in schools
• [14:49] Questions that help parents discern their real goals for their children
• [18:22] Nobel Peace Prize polarity thinking with diverse perspectives (Tunisia)
• [22:03] Creating inclusive conversations around education reform
• [45:02] Lindsay’s Magic Wand: for her child (and our youth) to fully be herself and find acceptance and worthiness from that space
• [47:43] Maureen’s Take-Aways

• And: Making a Difference by Leveraging Polarity, Paradox or Dilemma Vol. 2 by Barry Johnson
• Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong--and What You Really Need to Know by Emily Oster
• I've lived as a man & a woman -- here's what I learned TEDx talk by Paula Stone Williams
• Episode 59: Pulling Together to Change Schools—But Keep What is Working
• EdActive Collective
• Email Maureen
• The Education Evolution
• Facebook: Follow Education Evolution
• Twitter: Follow Education Evolution
• LinkedIn: Follow Education Evolution
• Maureen’s book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids
• Micro-school feature on Good Morning America
• The Micro-School Coalition
• Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition
• LEADPrep

What if we taught our students not only what to learn but how to learn? By addressing the whole child and teaching them the necessary tools to access their own full potential, we create lifelong learners and leaders. 

But with nearly 50 percent of new teachers leaving the profession within their first five years, how are we taking care of the educators responsible for molding our children?

On today’s podcast, I’m speaking with Dr. Jenny Severson. Jenny is an educational consultant who embraces a love of education and teaching through Quantum Learning and research-based learning principles. Her evidence-based approach teaches students how to be empowered in their own learning while also supporting educational leaders to explore avenues of self-care and compassion.

Tune in!

Dr. Jenny Severson is a speaker, educator, coach, and author. She provides principals and teachers with a framework of strategies, a shared vocabulary, and practices that equip educators to achieve dramatic results. Her coaching, tools, and speaking on overwhelm, over-functioning, and battling chronic stress resonate with school leaders. She encourages, teaches, and advocates evidence-based habits that allow you to thrive. Throughout the world, Jenny’s resources are used by schools and at Target Corp., Lego, Loréal, and LifeTouch, Inc.

To learn more about Jenny’s work, visit her website or connect on LinkedIn.

• [1:40] The origin story of Quantum Learning Education
• [7:16] Going deeper with Quantum Learning and Super Camps
• [13:23] Exploring research-based support of school leaders 
• [21:21] Jenny’s Magic Wand: Allowing students to understand their power through mindset and literacy 
• [22:01] Maureen’s Take-Aways

• Dr. Jenny Severson consulting services 
• Thrive by Dr. Jenny Severson 
• The Educator’s 180-Day Gratitude Turnaround by Dr. Jenny Severson 
• Video of students engaged in quantum learning
• Quantum Teaching books
• 17 Things Resilient Teachers Do by Bryan Harris
• Mel Robbins’ TEDx on How to Stop Screwing Yourself Over on turning off the brain’s auto-pilot
• EdActive Collective
• Email Maureen
• Facebook: Follow Education Evolution
• Twitter: Follow Education Evolution
• LinkedIn: Follow Education Evolution
• Maureen’s book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids
• Micro-school feature on Good Morning America
• The Micro-School Coalition
• Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition
• LEADPrep

Did you know that for every forty conscious bits of information we process per second, we process 11,000 subconsciously? Think of the ripple effect that has on the human brain’s ability to process change.

Or have you ever stopped to consider how your own biases directly interfere with your ability to affect change?

I’m grateful to be a life-long learner because this spring, I have been getting schooled. Today on the podcast, I share the lessons some great minds have recently shared with me. 

I'm also very excited to announce the EdActive Collective! Our collective is filled with educational innovators focused on transforming education to a more human-centered, student-driven, real-world learning environment designed with learners at the center of every decision. 

The collective will be meeting quarterly, taking regular activism steps, and hosting an annual summit as part of an ongoing effort. Our first summit will take place June 21 through 24. Please go to EdActive Collective to sign up. Registration is live now!

Jump in the Conversation:

• [1:10] Looking back to move education forward
• [2:29] The psychology of change and behavioral economics
• [3:40] Polarity theory and the dangers of us vs. them thinking
• [9:07] EdActive: Becoming a voice for change in learning
• [12:37] Maureen’s Magic Wand: That we consistently come together to change schools into places of equity and relevant, empowering learning

• Episode 56 with Melina Palmer
• Lindsay Y. Barr and the Yarbrough Group
• Yarbrough Group on polarities
• Barry Johnson (polarity expert) webinar
• Barr Foundation Student Survey
• EdActive Collective
• Email Maureen
• Facebook: Follow Education Evolution
• Twitter: Follow Education Evolution
• LinkedIn: Follow Education Evolution
• Maureen’s book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids
• Micro-school feature on Good Morning America
• The Micro-School Coalition
• Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition
• LEADPrep

We all understand the importance of equity in today’s society. As social revolutionaries, we often focus on creating economic equity, racial equity, and gender equity, but what about the disproportionate power dynamic between students and those “in charge” of their education? 

In the adult-dominated world of academia, how do we engage youth as partners, contributors, and primary stakeholders in the important conversations and decisions within their schools? And how do we hold space and create the change they are so hungry for?

Today on the podcast, I'm speaking with UP for Learning’s Executive Director Lindsey Halman and Youth Advisory Council member Evelyn Monje. UP empowers students by creating a youth-adult partnership for change, fostering a student-centered learning environment, and fostering the power of autonomy to our students, creating a socially just climate and culture for all. 

Listen in!

Lindsey Halman joined the UP team in 2018 after 15 years as a middle-level educator, leader, and advocate. Prior to joining UP, she co-founded The Edge Academy at Essex Middle School. Edge Academy created a strong focus on youth voice and partnership, student-centered learning, project-based learning, and restorative practices. Lindsey holds her National Board Certification as a middle-level generalist and is a strong advocate for reimagining and transforming education.

Evelyn Monje is a new employee of UP for Learning as of 2021. She is a current senior at Winooski High School and is enrolled in the Early College program through the Community College of Vermont. Evelyn is an active advocate for antiracism and equity in her community. She is passionate about collaborating with youth and adults to understand and address both antiracism and equity through restorative practices. 

Follow UP for Learning by visiting their Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube, or website.

• [1:59] Becoming a passionate changemaker for youth-adult partnership
• [5:15] Creating student-centered partnerships between youth and adults through facilitated learning
• [9:47] Empowering the voices of our youth through initiatives
• [11:52] Exploring the “facade of action” in today’s school systems
• [19:45] UP for Learning youth-adult partnership programs
• [24:17] Roadblocks and obstacles to support youth-centered learning
• [38:28] Lindsey’s Magic Wand: Every educator as an anti-racist educator
• [40:47] Evelyn’s Magic Wand: Bringing equity to everyone in all of our systems, but especially into the systems of education
• [43:10] Maureen’s Take-Aways

• Youth and Adults Transforming Schools Together
• Getting to Y initiative
• Restorative Practices initiative
• Cultivating Pathways program to work with UN Global Sustainability Goals
• Emergent Strategy by Adrienne Maree Brown
• The Mask You Live In documentary on toxic masculinity
• Bryan Stevenson in True Justice documentary
• Fania Davis’s The Little Book of Race and Restorative Justice
• Michael Jr. YouTube Know Your Why
• Education Evolution episode 56: Familiarity Bias/Herd Instinct
• EdActive Collective
• Email Maureen
• LinkedIn: Maureen O’Shaughnessy
• Facebook: Follow Education Evolution
• Twitter: Follow Education Evolution
• LinkedIn: Follow Education Evolution
• Maureen’s book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids
• Micro-school feature on Good Morning America
• The Micro-School Coalition
• Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition
• LEADPrep

When was the last time you turned on the television and heard more stories about Black male success than you heard about the low expectations, racial bias, and economic stigma that affect Black boys and men in our country? 

With the prevalence of misinformation, racial inequity, and economic bias permeating our society, how will we ensure our boys are not lost to cultural stigma before they have a chance at success?

Today on the podcast, I’m speaking with Neil Phillips, co-founder and former CEO of Visible Men Academy. VMA provides boys from low-income families with outstanding academic, character, and social education in a nurturing school environment. Neil’s work confronts systemic bias and inequity with a deep belief in goodness, love, and the promise of youth as agents of change for our educational systems and our world. 

Listen in!

Neil Phillips believes that love is the answer to just about everything. If that makes you uncomfortable, that's okay. Discomfort signals an opportunity for growth. Neil has spent his entire career managing his own discomfort and diving deeply into the realm of breaking the bonds of systemic racism and having the uncomfortable yet productive conversations that can radically change organizations and individual lives. Neil also knows what it takes to truly transform and elevate the lives of young people and has discovered that it is love. 

On a practical level, it looks a lot like leadership, encouragement, boundaries, expectations, and accountability. But ask any one of the children he has had the privilege of knowing over his decades of work as an educator, coach, and youth advocate, and they will tell you that Neil Phillips loves them and was never afraid to say it or show it. Love has made all the difference.

Neil is a Harvard University graduate, and his life is dedicated to the elevation of Black male achievement, fulfillment, and societal contribution. Through an emphasis on what is working for Black boys and men in America, Neil shines a spotlight on what success looks like and shifts the narrative away from the misleading and harmful stereotypes that have plagued and repressed Black male achievement for far too long. He educates audiences around what is working for Black boys and men in America rather than what is failing. 

Neil is the co-founder, founding principal, and former CEO of Visible Men Academy, an "A" rated public charter school for K-5th grade located in Bradenton, Florida. It provides boys from low-income families with outstanding academic, character, and social education in a nurturing school environment. Neil is the founder and director of Visible Men Network, a dynamic digital platform that collects and shares stories from accomplished Black men, shapes these stories into success curriculum, and delivers this curriculum to boys across America through schools and community agencies.

Neil is an Aspen Institute Education Entrepreneurship Fellow, a member of the inaugural Echoing Green/Open Society Foundation Black Male Achievement Fellowship. He is a multiple-time winner of The Nantucket Project Audience Award for his provocative talk on race in America called “Race to Truth,” for his compelling on-stage conversation with famed television producer Norman Lear and, most recently, for his on-stage conversation with former President George W. Bush. Currently, Neil is the subject of a documentary film project titled Visible Man, highlighting his efforts to elevate Black boys and men in America. 

Learn more at Visible Men Network, or follow Neil on Facebook or Instagram.

• [2:12] Transcending the systemic racism and brokenness in schools
• [5:07] Serving marginalized youth through the Visible Men Academy
• [12:30] Examining the role of love in serving our youth and transforming our schools
• [16:20] Getting past negative mental models to address systemic racism
• [19:23] Struggles and roadblocks to elevating the system beyond bias
• [26:52] Visible Men documentary elevating Black boys and men in America
• [42:08] Neil’s Magic Wand: Create an unwavering belief in our students’ strength, capacity, and ability to give so that they would know the value of their contribution—to themselves, our families, and our world
• [45:18] Maureen’s Take-Aways

• Visible Men Film Project
• The Shibumi Strategy
• The Invisible Man
• The Feminine Mystique
• Shannon Rohrer-Phillips’ TEDx Talk
• EdActive Summit for parents, youth, and educators (June 21-24)
• The Moth podcast
• Email Maureen
• Facebook: Follow Education Evolution
• Twitter: Follow Education Evolution
• LinkedIn: Follow Education Evolution
• Maureen’s book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids
• Micro-school feature on Good Morning America
• The Micro-School Coalition
• Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition
• LEADPrep

Behavioral economics is the psychology of why people buy. It examines how people make decisions, understand what those decisions mean about your thought process, and ultimately tells us why someone makes a purchase. It is the true crossroads between economics, neuroscience, and psychology. 

But what happens when we are “selling” a new idea—a new paradigm for our educational system and the future of our youth? How do we get people to buy in?

On today’s podcast, I’m speaking with Melina Palmer, the founder and CEO of The Brainy Business, which provides behavioral economics consulting to businesses of all sizes from around the world. We are examining why going against the grain goes against our biology, why it’s hard to incite change in others, and what we can do about it.

I’m also thrilled to announce that this is the one-year anniversary of the Education Evolution podcast! Thank you for taking this journey with me to shake up the status quo in today's educational system.

Melina Palmer is the founder and CEO of The Brainy Business, which provides behavioral economics consulting to businesses of all sizes worldwide. Her podcast, The Brainy Business: Understanding the Psychology of Why People Buy, has downloads in over 160 countries and is used as a resource for teaching applied behavioral economics for many universities and businesses. 

Melina obtained her bachelor’s degree in business administration / marketing and worked in corporate marketing and brand strategy for over a decade before earning her master’s in behavioral economics. 

A proud member of the Global Association of Applied Behavioral Scientists, Melina has contributed research to the Association for Consumer Research, Filene Research Institute, and runs the Behavioral Economics & Business column for Inc. Magazine. She teaches applied behavioral economics through the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab and her first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, comes out next week.

Follow Melina on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

• [4:05] Our brain’s familiarity bias and herding instincts slow school change
• [11:15] The HUGE role of the subconscious brain
• [17:48] Identifying hang-ups and hold-ups to sell an idea
• [21:05] Using metaphor to unpack subconscious fears
• [23:09] Understanding and addressing motivations
• [43:10] Melina’s Magic Wand: Schools nurturing curiosity (vs teaching kids out of it)
• [45:37] Maureen’s Take-Aways

• The Brainy Business book and free workboo
• Jon Levy’s book: You’re Invited
• TEDx: How to start a movement by Derek Siver
• Melina’s Episode 75: The Litterary
• Warren Burger’s book: A More Beautiful Question
• RQI: Question-storming with the Right Question Institute
• EdActive Summit for parents, youth, and educators (June 21-24
• Email Maureen
• Facebook: Follow Education Evolution
• Twitter: Follow Education Evolution
• LinkedIn: Follow Education Evolution
• Maureen’s book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids
• Micro-school feature on Good Morning America
• The Micro-School Coalition
• Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition
• LEADPrep

The world needs change. With an antiquated educational system, temperatures rising globally, and polluted oceans, the burden of change lies with all of us. Without our collective drive towards reformation, our youth are left to inherit the environmental mess from decades past.

On today’s podcast, I’m chatting with two high school students who are leaders of the non-profit organization, Heirs to Our Oceans. They educate their peers, take political action to save our oceans, and offer up their own solutions for educational reform.

Cambria Bartlett and Abirami Subramanian educate youth about the world they are inheriting and are empowering them to create a healthier, safer world for themselves and future generations.

As founding members of Heirs to Our Oceans (H2OO), Cambria Bartlett and Abirami Subramanian believe learning about real-world problems at an early age enables youth to start processing solutions and making positive environmental change while still in school. 

Cambria has given over 100 presentations about education, plastic pollution, and H2OO’s mission. She is a member of the United Nations Ocean Decade U.S. Youth Advisory Council and a leader in creating both H2OO’s Operation Global Sweep and Policy Advocacy Skill-Building Retreat. 

Abi’s advocacy has included presenting to schools (US, India, and Curacao) and lobbying to representatives in Congress, but her passion is spreading awareness through the medium of film. Currently, Abi is a member of the Bainbridge Island chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL), where she co-leads the social media team with her brother. She also volunteers at the Kitsap Immigrant Assistance Center (KIAC), using her filmmaking and social media skills for outbound marketing.

To learn more about Heirs to Our Oceans, visit their website and follow them on Instagram or Twitter.

• [1:45] Creating a movement to save our oceans and empower youth
• [5:40] Addressing the lack of environmental education in schools
• [8:50] Exploring the disconnect between students voices and the current educational model
• [10:33] Inspiring reform through connection and purpose
• [27:07] Cambria’s Magic Wand: Allowing youth to be empowered by the education system and develop skills to change the world. 
• [28:01] Abi’s Magic Wand: Striking the balance between traditional subject matter and project-based, real-world learning.
• [30:06] Maureen’s Take-Aways

• H2OO Policy Advocacy Skill-Building Retreat
• Award-winning Youth Misinformed documentary
• H2OO SEAL: Summit for Empowerment Action and Leadership
• Youth Advisory Council for the United Nations Oceans Decade
• Kitsap Immigrant Assistance Center
• EdActive Summit 2021
• Email Maureen
• Facebook: Follow Education Evolution
• Twitter: Follow Education Evolution
• LinkedIn: Follow Education Evolution
• Maureen’s book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids
• Micro-school feature on Good Morning America
• The Micro-School Coalition
• Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition
• LEADPrep

Human-centered design is a philosophy that empowers teams and individuals designing products, systems, and services to address the needs of those who experience a problem. What happens when we teach our youth how to understand and anticipate the needs of others?

Utilizing the design thinking model, we can use empathy as a foundational launching pad for developing equity and creating creative, independent thinkers.

Today on the podcast, I’m talking with Amanda Kopischke, the Co-Founder and CEO of Incubate to Innovate, LLC, about using human-centered design and design thinking as a platform for teaching students teachers the importance of empathy and the lifelong effects of creating a culture of compassion. 

Listen in!

Amanda Kopischke is the Co-Founder and CEO of Incubate to Innovate, LLC. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Bethel University and a Master of Arts degree in Education from Saint Mary’s University. Amanda is also an author, speaker, developer, and bridge builder, empowering others to reimagine education.

To learn more about Amanda, follow her on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. 

• [3:00] The foundation of human-centered design
• [4:04] Experiential and exploratory learning through connection
• [5:50] K-12 design thinking with empathy as the foundation
• [8:31] We are all designers!
• [10:03] Potential roadblocks to human-centered design
• [15:06] Meeting others where they are
• [28:08] Amanda’s Magic Wand: creating tools like empathy, the ability to synthesize, imagine, plan and create to prepare students for life
• [31:57] Maureen’s Take-Aways

• Change Makers for Impact
• Dream Big: Know What You Want, Why You Want It, and What You’re Going to Do About It by Bob Goff
• The Power of Vulnerability: A TedTalk by Brene Brown
• EdActive Summit
• Email Maureen
• Facebook: Follow Education Evolution
• Twitter: Follow Education Evolution
• LinkedIn: Follow Education Evolution
• Maureen’s book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids
• Micro-school feature on Good Morning America
• The Micro-School Coalition
• Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition
• LEADPrep