Education Evolution

The conversation around educational reform is not new, but why does progress to the system seem so fleeting? How do we begin to bring concrete and lasting change?

Today on the podcast, I’m talking with Jessica Spencer-Keyse, Valentina Raman, and Zineb Mouhyi the co-founders of YouthxYouth. These three inspiring young women are leading a movement to radically reimagine the future of education to ignite a passion in young people to transform their education and revolutionize the status quo.

It’s time to revolutionize education and imagine a new student-driven future. These three are leading the charge! 

Listen in!

To learn more about the YouthxYouth movement, follow them on Instagram or visit their website. 

• [2:00] Jessica’s “why” of discerning what’s important in education
• [5:47] Valentina’s unique “bridge-building” upbringing
• [11:40] Zineb shaped by her Moroccan experience of colonized education
• [15:20] The magic of their meeting and power of “weaving”
• [26:20] The educational system--exploitive and reductive
• [32:32] The Imagination Age is here
• [35:20] Valentina’s Magic Wand: Thriving seen as every school's most essential mission
• [36:14] Zineb’s Magic Wand: Changing the goal of education to reaching our human potential with joy, discovery, and lifelong intergenerational co-learning
• [37:40] Jessica’s Magic Wand: Making learning a practice of liberation connecting back to selves, community, and nature
• [39:08] Maureen’s Take-Aways

• YouthxYouth Summit
• Jessica’s research report in Forbes: Every Child to Flourish
• Ashoka Changemakers
• Brookings global innovations spotters
• The Weaving Lab
• 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

Through my conversations with educational innovators, I’ve noticed similarities in our experiences. Listen in as I unpack educational reform barriers and offer some big ideas and future solutions for our schools. 

I’m also thrilled to announce our EdActive Collective Summit. 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. Join us!

• [2:34] Observations of the beginning of a movement
• [4:37] Barriers to learning
• [9:10] Big ideas and future solutions for our schools
• [11:12] Increased focus on student-driven learning
• [14:32] Maureen’s Magic Wand: Breaking the paradigm of massive memorization and production of work that goes no further than the teachers’ desk as the gold standard
• [14:55] EdActive: A collective shifting the learning paradigm

• Episode 52: Going Big–Iowa BIG–with Trace Pickering
• Big Picture Learning
• High Tech High
• 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

The traditional educational paradigm is filled with obsolete concepts. How can we expect our young learners to thrive by gathering information, but not knowledge? How can we shift teachers to a learner-centered paradigm that offers context to the content?

On today’s podcast, I’m talking with Trace Pickering, co-founder and Executive Director of Iowa BIG. His program offers students an opportunity to explore their passions and interests through project-based learning.

Listen in as Trace reminds us that sometimes the greatest opportunities for growth come from the greatest challenges, creating knowledge is not the same as gathering information, and student engagement increases when content has context.

Dr. Trace Pickering is the co-founder and executive director of Iowa BIG, a learner-centered educational program in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Trace is a life-long advocate for transforming education, as opposed to simply reforming what we have now. Trace lives with his wife, Kim, and dog, Stella, and has two grown daughters.

To learn more about Trace follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn or visit his website.

• [1:43] Mentors and extracurriculars are what kids connect to in school
• [4:33] Projects as a vehicle for learning
• [14:55] Contextualizing learning to make it sticky
• [19:06] Shifting teachers to a learner-centered paradigm and the failure of fake work 
• [35:40] Trace’s Magic Wand: To move from standardized, standards-based teaching to student-centered exploration and learning
• [37:33] Maureen’s Take-Aways

• The Second Mountain by David Brooks
• Russell Ackoff, The Systems Thinker
• Sir Ken Robinson, Changing Education Paradigms
• 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

As academic trailblazers, we take the current educational system on our shoulders and attempt to create lasting change for today’s young learners. Do you want to know a genuinely radical and revolutionary act that will deepen your impact and allow you to succeed beyond your current potential? 

Self-care. 

Today we are joined by educator, author, and Zen teacher Dan Tricarico, who reminds us that self-care is a necessity, not a luxury. Dan reminds us of the importance of creating an attitude of gratitude, trusting the moment, and combating burnout. 

Listen in as we talk about using Zen teaching to break through educational bureaucracy. If we can’t change the system, we have to change how we operate within the system and ourselves.

After 30 years as a high school English teacher, Dan Tricarico found himself heading toward burnout and knew something had to change. Wanting to continue as a teacher, he cultivated strategies that helped him reclaim his control and stay in the classroom.

Today, Dan is a national speaker who shares his expertise and insight to show teachers how to reduce their stress and improve their self-care so that they can thrive both inside and outside the classroom. Learn more about Dan and his teaching on his website or by subscribing to his podcast. You can also follow him on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

• [2:01] Dan’s final straw
• [5:11] Exploring the irony of self-care 
• [7:42] Reducing stress with the Five S’s
• [10:04] Creating an attitude of gratitude and detachment
• [18:04] Universal Design for Learning (UDL) vs. state testing
• [30:06] Dan’s Magic Wand to change the system of education so that all teachers can flourish and break loose from top-down mandates
• [32:45] Maureen’s take-aways

• The Zen Teacher: Focus Simplicity and Tranquility in the Classroom
• Sanctuaries: Self-Care Secrets for Stressed-Out Teachers
• The Zen Teacher 5 Step Blueprint
• Covey’s Circle of Influence
• Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
• Episode 10 with Andy Smallman
• 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

Today, many schools still focus on deficit learning, measuring students by a perceived lack instead acknowledging their inherent strengths. 

The problem is not the students. The problem is an outdated educational system. With a renewed focus on finding personal purpose, supportive relationships, and a broader perspective of the world, we change the world we live in by changing the way we approach teaching our students. 

Today’s guest, Sara Mounsey of Big Picture Learning, talks about her school’s transition from content-driven to student-driven, how a human-centered approach to education creates lifelong learners, and how Leaving-to-Learn programs empower students in the “real world.” 

As one of two Big Picture Learning high school leaders in the Methow Valley School District, Sara Mounsey helped transform a content-driven learning model into a student-driven one, where students are actively engaged in internships and passion projects. 

• [1:48] Defining Big Picture Learning 
• [6:05] Practicing accountability
• [9:12] “Leaving to Learn” activities
• [14:14] Two internship transformation stories
• [21:41] Evolution towards engaged, high school learning
• [29:16] Sara’s Magic Wand: Districts creating high schools where every student has a caring mentor, equitable opportunities, potential realized, and leadership experiences.
• [30:33] Maureen’s hope that we can redefine academic success and transform high schools.

• Email Sara Mounsey
• Independent Learning Center
• The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• Brene Brown on Empathy
• Episode 44: Learning About Trauma-Informed Education with Heather Batchelor
• 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

How do we create a sense of self-agency and personal direction in tomorrow’s youth? By teaching students how to master themselves first, we cultivate a powerful generation of leaders ready to change the world.

Today on the podcast, I am joined by a former professional baseball player, Andy Schindling, who now focuses on empowering low-income middle school students to become leaders and change-makers.

Andy shares the growth and evolution of TCE Academy, student leadership development through community projects, and why we shouldn’t be afraid of the word “love.”

Let’s listen in and learn more about Andy and his incredible mission!

Andy Schindling is a former professional athlete committed to serving the younger generation by using his life experiences to educate, mentor and lead young people.

In 2015, Andy started The Complete Player Charity, a 501(c)3 nonprofit to provide baseball opportunities for youth in his community. After successfully awarding over $22,000 in scholarships to 33 youth baseball players in two short years, Andy shifted his focus to serving athletes and non-athletes through after-school programming by creating TCP Youth Empowerment.

Through a strong focus on business and leadership, Andy’s program, aimed to mentor low-income middle school students, quickly evolved into TCP Academy. This thriving micro-school utilizes a project-based learning model around business and entrepreneurship with s strict emphasis on the social, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual development students. 

Stay up to date with TCP Academy by following them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

• [3:45] Dead fish metaphor for life
• [5:50] Being The Complete Player (TCP) in the game of life
• [7:01] Business and leadership skills in middle school through student-designed projects
• [14:15] Measuring impact by lives changed
• [18:25] Love -- more than a “four-letter word”
• [28:24] Andy’s Magic Wand for middle school learners: put them in the real world with travel, exploration, building, and creating to go beyond societal limitations
• [31:30] Unpacking SEL, love, and servant leadership

• TCP Academy
• Rules of Engagement: Preparing for Your Role in the Spiritual Battle by Derrick Prince
• Servant Leadership: A Journey Into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness by Robert Greenleaf
• TEDx: The Power of Vulnerability by Brene Brown
• Episode 8: Creating Teams of Learning Support with Julie Burgess-Dennis
• Episode 42: The With Heart Project with Kristen Miller
• Episode 30: Creating Student-Centered Learning Spaces with Loren Demeroutis of Big Picture Learning
• 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 need for human-centered learning does not stop after high school. For many students, post-secondary learning revolves around a traditional four-year college program. But what about the students who don’t want or fit in the traditional paradigm? Where do they find the program and support needed to develop their own potential?

This week’s guest is revolutionizing higher education with her creation of a two-year, nonprofit community college that seeks to support students in living a life of purpose, through a focus on practical life skills, mentorship programs, and paid internships. Listen in as we explore what’s not working in the higher education system and how to evolve education beyond a traditional four-year college.

Dr. Michelle D. Jones, founder and Chief Academic Officer of Wayfinding Academy,  is on a mission to revolutionize higher education. After years of volunteering with groups and nonprofits to organize for social impact (SuperThank, TEDxMtHood, World Domination Summit) Michelle took a huge leap and founded Wayfinding Academy in June 2014 with a group of like-minded friends and colleagues. With continual progress being made, Michelle and her team are starting to see some ripple effects of change throughout higher education and their community. 

When not ruffling the feathers of traditional higher education, Michelle can be found walking the Camino de Santiago with fellow Wayfinders (this summer will be her seventh time!) or relaxing at her tiny home in Portland, Oregon. To learn more about Michelle or the higher education revolution, visit her website or follow her on LinkedIn.

• [5:16] Defining the Wayfinding Academy experience
• [6:16] The Self and Society Degree: Resilience and identity-based coursework
• [8:12] Self-knowledge and accountability through mentorship
• [10:42] Personalizing the post-graduate journey
• [16:12] Education through life skills and community focus 
• [17:15] Wayfinding’s commitment to anti-racist action
• [21:39] Free college tuition initiative
• [27:54] Get to know Michelle: rapid-fire questions
• [31:36] Michelle’s Magic Wand: creating the space for students to make informed, intentional choices about life’s next step
• [33:01] My reflections on anti-racism, mentoring, and the value of a “pause”

• Wayfinding Academy
• Wayfinding Academy's Free Tuition Initiative Program
• How to Be An Antiracist by Ibrham X. Kendi
• Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?
• Gregory McKelvey: Why We Protest
• Follow Michelle on Medium
• 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

Academic support can often feel out of reach for many students and families. With the educational landscape shifting online, many students are left without the resources they need to maximize their potential.

Today’s guest, Paarvv Goel is changing that narrative by creating Benchmark Learning, a high-quality, financially accessible online tutoring for students of all ages. Paarvv is growing his vision to include online coding training, scholarships, and group pricing for students who need additional financial support, all while considering the perspective of parents and students in his offerings.

Paarvv is a great reminder that Education Evolution can be joined by change agents of all ages! He is creating educational equality, while also reminding us of the importance of fostering an environment of creative problem solving and an entrepreneurial spirit.

About Paarvv Goel: 

Paarvv Goel is the founder & CEO of Benchmark Learning, an online tutoring company seeking to provide high-quality tutoring services for K through 12 and college students at an affordable price. Paarvv is a very recent college graduate who started making a difference while still in college. Seeing a need for high-quality online school support, he pioneered financially accessible online tutoring services opening the market up to countless potential students during the rapidly changing world of education. 

To learn more, follow Benchmark Learning on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Jump in the Conversation:

• [2:29] Create accessible tutoring services without compromising quality
• [3:45] Multiperspective building--structuring a business from all vantage points
• [6:03] Pillars of Benchmark Learning
• [8:05] Addressing the need for foundational learning in entrepreneurial coursework
• [11:56] Quality, affordable education for in-demand coding careers
• [14:51] Paarvv’s Magic Wand: Helping students to learn the art of problem-solving
• [17:44] Scholarships supporting learners having success
• [18:08] Student-driven learning and growing creative problem-solving skills
• [19:03] Entrepreneurial step-by-step development in the classroom

Links and Resources:

• Benchmark Learning
• 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

Micro-schools can be scary, both from the perspective of the one building it and of the parents who are looking for an alternative to traditional education. There are so many questions that want to get in the way!

Where do I get the money to do this? Is it sustainable long term Is this really learning? Are my kids going to truly be prepared for their future?”

It can be scary, stepping into the unknown, but we have to have the courage to do it. Mara Linaberger from Microschool Builders joins the podcast today to discuss some of the unknowns that come with building your own micro-school. She also offers advice for parents who are curious and cautious about how well micro-schools can serve their children.

Tune in to learn more about the benefits of building a micro-school, advice for getting started, and building a legacy along with it.

Mara Linaberger is a passionate life-long learner, artist, technologist, and adventurer. Having taught in K-5 settings for 17 years, trained teachers, served as a district administrator, and most recently having taught in a one-room schoolhouse on an island 23 miles out to sea, she’s seen a lot in the field of education. 

Now consulting full-time, writing coursework for online universities, and collaborating with communities to consider new options for technology-infused learning, Mara has found an authentic learning path as an educational entrepreneur. With the release of her first book, she’s recently expanded her work to coach families looking to find the best educational setting for their unique child!

To learn more, you can find Mara on Facebook andLinkedIn.

• [2:04] Mediated art experiences to build trust in appreciating different views
• [9:09] Use your sphere of influence to get micro-school seed money
• [10:44] Legacy mentality--planning for your school’s long-term sustainability
• [14:40] Parents need courage to try a different school and shift expectations
• [18:10] Mara’s Magic Wand: To create an entrepreneurial micro-school in the Harmony (PA) business incubator
• [22:23] Mediated art to mediated tech to engage the “other”
• [22:54] Grants are NOT the micro-school start-up solution
• [23:31] Legacy--my Mastermind for support in being sustainable
• [24:16] Parents guiding as stewards and accepting what is best for their child’s success (Ep 7 Parenting expert/podcast host Kira Dorrian--is an exception. She got that small empowered school experience and it set her up well for her future.)
• [25:20] Entrepreneurial (Ep 30 Loren Demeroutis) shifting from “doing learning to”...to “for”...to “with our learners” and schools building “wonder and awe”

• Microschool Builders
• The Micro-School Builder’s Handbook by Mara Linaberger
• MSC’s mastermind
• Episode 7: Future-Focus Your Kids and Let Them Use Their Voice
• Episode 30: Creating Student-Centered Learning Spaces
• Email Maureen
• Facebook: Follow Education Evolution
• Twitter: Follow Education Evolution
• LinkedIn: Follow Education Evolution
• Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids
• Micro-school feature on Good Morning America
• Micro-School Coalition
• Facebook: Micro-School Coalition
• LEADPrep

By rethinking school programming as a means to challenge socially constructed barriers and a springboard toward greater understanding, we can reform our societies--one classroom at a time.

Podcast guest Dr. Heather Batchelor has used her passion for reframing teaching to create a Masters in Teaching program that prepares teachers to address these social constructs. These teachers-in-training focus their studies on trauma-informed education, resilience, and restorative justice. She’s also creating an undergraduate minor to build empathy through students learning about unjust systems and serving as literacy tutors in the prison system.

Wouldn't it be great if all of our schools modeled healthy relationships and provided the opportunity for kids to practice healthy relationship skills and empathy to lower the amount of trauma in our society?

Dr. Heather Batchelor is an experienced educator who has taught in both middle and high school settings. She now trains graduate students at Westminster College. She specializes in creating trauma-responsive classroom environments, resilience-building, and restorative justice in schools, and culturally sensitive classrooms. She also designed and was the lead teacher of a dropout prevention program at a rural high school founded in trauma-responsive practices, building leadership capacity, and promoting strong communities.

[3:30] Understanding what it means to be ‘trauma-informed’
[5:25] Exploring the true nature of resilience
[6:25] Restorative Justice Tier 1: an investment in community in our schools
[10:00] Creating a college minor degree tied to justice and literacy via prison tutoring
[14:18] Creating alternatives to peer court via partnerships/relationships that instill hope
[18:16] Obstacles to providing a meaningful educational environment
[22:18] Turbo Time Questions with Heather
[28:14] Heather’s Magic Wand: That every community is dedicated to ending cycles of trauma by investigating root causes, providing social support, and taking ownership for ways each community has created the context that allows trauma

• Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair by Danielle Sered
• 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
• More Episodes: EducationEvolution.org