Dr. Gerardo Mancilla, associate professor in the School of Education at Edgewood College and host of Educators and Immigration podcast, reflects on his experiences as an undocumented student in the ‘90s. We discuss what has changed, and what hasn’t.

Overview

00:00-00:40 Intros

00:40-09:15 Experiences as an undocumented student

09:15-12:03 Changes for undocumented students since the 1990s

12:05-14:49 Status of Dreamers (DACA)

15:00-18:24 Key issues for undocumented high school seniors

18:24-20:35 ID issues for entry into school buildings

20:35-24:33 Support for trauma-affected immigrant students

24:33-27:53 School as a center for immigrant support within the community

27:53-33:23 Educators and Immigration podcast

33:23- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcript of this episode. 

References

Educators and Immigration Podcast

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We speak with Meira Levinson, Professor of Education at Harvard, about her website justiceinschools.org and books of “hard cases,” designed to help educators and youth workers think about the ethical implications of their decisions. Often, there are no perfect solutions, and  these decisions can have far-reaching consequences in children’s lives. A former teacher herself, Meira would like teachers to be able to consult with specially trained school ethicists.

We have a new video podcast series with Dr. Levinson where we explore timely discussions and ethical dilemmas in education! Click here to know more about it.

Overview

00:00-00:43 Intros

00:43-3:50 Justice in Schools (justiceinschools.org)—what it is and why Meira Levinson started it

03:50-08:49 Why cases in case studies must be hard

08:49-16:14 Scenarios

16:14-17:32 Writing and researching the cases

17:32-21:05 Variation in cases among regions and countries

21:05-22:44 Who and how people are using the cases

22:44-24:10 No cost to users except for multi-media version

24:10-28:52 Defining success

28:52-30:52 Out-of-school-time cases

30:52-38:43 Involvement of students and parents

38:43-39:15 Unknowns about outreach

39:15-41:00 Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcription of this episode.

References

Click here to know more about our new video podcast series “What Would You Do?”. An initiative of EdEthics and Ethical Schools Podcast, each episode includes a dramatization of an ethical dilemma that could be faced by educators along with a discussion of the case facilitated by Harvard Graduate School of Education professor Meira Levinson.

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We speak with Elizabeth Steiner, education policy researcher at the RAND Corporation, about diversifying the K-12 teacher workforce. Data consistently shows the benefits, especially to Black and Latiné students, of learning from teachers of color. Ms. Steiner discusses recruitment strategies advocated by teachers of color and other educators and researchers.

Overview

00:-00-00:42 Intros

00:42-01:47 Diversifying the teacher workforce—why it’s important

01:47-04:50 Top recommended  recruitment strategies

04:50-06:13 Benefits of diverse workforce

06:13-08:00 Connecticut Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority Alliance District Teacher Loan Subsidy Program

08:00-11:09 Principal training in recruiting, hiring, retaining a diverse workforce

11:09-13:53 Stress and morale

13:53-16:38 Responses to pandemic environments

16:38-17:25 Positive supports during pandemic

17:25-19:56 Effects of low morale

19:56-22:26 Strategies to improve teacher wellbeing

22:26-26:24 Reducing bias in hiring practices

26:24- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcription of this episode. 

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We speak with Dr. Anne Smith, longtime music teacher in Northern Virginia, about accommodating cultural differences. Dr. Smith created an alternate curriculum for students whose traditions don’t allow secular music-making. We discuss the extent to which parents should be able to influence what their students learn. We also talk about why music and art are treated as lesser (“special”) subjects.

Overview

00:00-00:35 Intros

00:35-07:57 A parent asks to opt her daughter out of music

07:57-09:48 Finding a balance in a class with culturally and linguistically diverse children and families

09:48-12:02 Importance of conversation between professionals and families

12:02-14:15 Are parental objections to music different from objections to literature and science?

14:15-16:39 Teachers need to articulate why they are teaching what they are teaching; importance of teaching music

16:39-19:03 Music should be part of everyone’s life—a loss if parents opt out

19:03-20:30 Importance of music foundation before children go on specific tracks

20:30-24:30 Teachers’ responses to Va. governor’s  push for parents to object to aspects of education he doesn’t like

24:30-27:01 “Old Black Joe”

27:01-29:15 Using the arts to educate and promote equity

29:15-32:22 Why schools treat art and music as dispensable

32:22-36:16 Treating the arts seriously as subjects

36:16- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcript of this episode. 

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We welcome back Zoe Weil, president and co-founder of the Institute for Humane Education, to speak about her recent Psychology Today column on the purpose of education. Although the official goal of many school systems is to prepare students for global competition, compassion, cooperation, and creativity are the qualities we should be emphasizing. A generation of solutionaries has a much better chance of creating a sustainable planet where humans and animals other than humans can thrive.

Overview

00:00-00:44 Intros

00:44-02:42 Purpose of education

02:42-07:41 What is a “solutionary?”

07:41-13:04 Teaching and learning in a solutionary classroom

13:04-19:10 Skills incorporated in a solutionary framework

19:10-24:33 How to deal with serious conflicts

24:33-26:59 Encouraging students to be solutionary when their schools aren’t

26:59-29:58 Solutionary education has not hit walls in polarized educational environment

29:58-31:58 Solutionary education and standardized tests, other assessments

31:58- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcription of this episode. 

References

More episodes with Zoe:

Soundtrack by Poddington Bear

Image: humaneeducation.org

We talk with Lesley Koplow of the Center for Emotionally Responsive Practice at Bank Street College and Allison Demas, an instructional coordinator in the NYC Dept. of Education about the recent struggle in NYC to save social worker and IC positions and why these roles are so important for children’s emotional and academic development.

Overview

00:00-00:42 Intros

00:42-03:12 NYC DOE excesses 360 early childhood social workers and instructional coordinators (ICs) as school year starts; backtracks after intense reaction

03:12-07:35 What early childhood social workers and ICs do

07:35-09:39 An example of social worker and IC collaboration

09:39-12:38 Why these collaborative roles are essential during and after traumatic events such as the pandemic and immigration journeys

12:38-15:08 Why early childhood specialties around the country are always vulnerable to cuts and reassignments

15:08-16:50 Pressures on early childhood teachers from systemic pressures on children

16:50-17:43 Are we being “good ancestors” to our children?

17:43- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcription of this episode. 

References

Sign On to Support IC and SW Reinstatement

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Guest interviewer Lev Moscow joins Jon in conversation with Santiago Taveras, principal of Charter High School for Computer Engineering and Innovation and former deputy chancellor of the NYC Department of Education. Santi talks about false assumptions that school systems make about teachers, students, and parents. He discusses why so much professional development wastes teachers’ time, why college for all is a misguided target, and why so much DOE money gets misspent.

Overview

00:00-01:03 Intros

01:03-02:08 DOE system changes over time

02:08-03:24 Who has benefited from changes?

03:24-05:31 System’s assumptions about teachers

05:31-07:37 Assumptions about students

07:37-10:27 Purpose of school systems—what schools can/could be like

10:27-14:51 College prep and CTE 

14:51-16:07 Post-secondary education doesn’t have to be college

16:07-18:47 Assumptions about parents

18:47-24:13 Why does the system fail despite dedicated adults?

24:13-27:49 Why change is so difficult—examples from professional development, scheduling

27:49-30:15 Impact of business interests

30:15-32:50 Budgeting rigidities (and patronage)

32:50-43:37 Overrated, underrated? Charters, tech in classroom, sports & arts, small schools?

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcription of this episode. 

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We speak with Dr. Justin Reich, director of the MIT Teaching Systems Lab, and host of the TeachLab podcast, about education technology. Hailed by some as the great equalizer, the beneficiaries of ed tech tend to be white and affluent. Focused on equity by design, Dr. Reich observes that when teachers learn, they have insufficient opportunities to practice. So he and his colleagues are creating digital clinical simulations, practice spaces for teachers. They’re also helping educators to figure out what they can stop doing, to allow more time for what’s useful.

Overview

00:00-00:43 Intros

00:43-02:55 Examining claims that tech is a vehicle to promote equality in education

02:55-06:33 Tickle down?

06:33-07:41 How tech introduction increases the digital divide

07:41-10:22 Better strategies for improving education

10:22-14:06 What can make a difference in creating more equitable educators

14:06-16:33 Measuring the impact

16:33-18:51 tsl.mit.edu/TeachLab podcast

18:51-19:21 Unfinished learning

19:21- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcript of this episode. 

References

Soundtrack by Poddington Bear

Image: twitter.com/mit_tsl

We speak with Dr. Kevin Kumashiro, a founder of Education Deans for Justice and Equity and organizer of the International Conferences on Education and Justice. Dr. Kumashiro describes how education scholars across the country are forming professional communities, both to build their capacity and to speak collectively on issues of public policy, leveraging their research to promote justice and equity. He argues that progressives must cease ceding the framework of education policy to corporate forces.

Overview 

00:00-00:47 Intros

00:47-02:15 Importance of scholars collectively addressing policy issues

02:15-05:08 Horizontal organizing

05:08-09:03 Examples of public statements on policy issues

09:03-15:35 Different nature of different stalwarts—intersection of mobilization, public education and advocacy

15:35-20:12 CareEd in California

20:12-24:22 Education Deans for Justice and Equity

24:22-26:18 “Think tank” aspects

26:18-32:02 EDJE Framework for Assessment and Transformation

32:02-40:59 “Surrender”: How progressives are losing some of the biggest battles to the corporate sector

40:59-44:12 12 International Conference on Education and Justice in October 2022

44:12- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcript of this episode.

References

Soundtrack by Poddington Bear 

We speak with Dr. Leigh Wedenoja of the Rockefeller Institute of Government about the benefits to students of having a teacher for more than one year. Test scores improve, behavior problems subside, absenteeism decreases. Very few schools have intentional looping policies, but many students have a teacher more than once, especially in middle and high school.

Overview

00:00-00:41 Intros

00:41-01:43 How students have teachers more than once

01:43-02:11 Data from Tennessee

02:11-03:18 Having repeat teachers, not including holdovers

03:18-04:30 Improved test scores and behavioral outcomes

04:30-05:27 Impact beyond one class; relationship aspects

05:27-06:29 Building sustained relationships

06:29-08:21 Outcomes by gender and race

08:21-09:43 Researching absenteeism

09:43-10:51 Creating positive attachment to school

10:51-12:24 Obstacles to planned looping

12:24-14:22 Areas for further research

14:22-15:30 Spillover academic effects within a classroom

15:30- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcript of this episode. 

Soundtrack by Poddington Bear