Free Range Humans

Gino Beniamino returns as guest host to navigate us through a reflective journey that covers a wide range of topics. Rod and Jal go back and listen to past sound bites and remember some of their favorite moments from season one. Highlights from this episode include: reflecting on the significance of finishing an entire season; recapping the major themes that were present across many of our interviews; listening to past quotes from our esteemed guests, and a final lighting round to wrap things up. 

Questions? Thoughts? Feedback? 

Email us at  [email protected] or Tweet us at @jal_mehta and @Rodroad219

Also, if you are interested in revisiting any of the episodes mentioned in our finale, links are included below:

Episode 02: Conversation with Lillian Hsu and Chris Lehmann

Episode 06: Changing the Grammar of Schooling - A Conversation with Jeff Hopkins

Episode 11: Free Range Classrooms - A Conversation with Tyler Thigpen

Episode 12: Behind the Curtain – Sarah Fine and Jal Mehta Take Us Inside the Making of “In Search of Deeper Learning”

Episode 13: Our Kids are Not Broken - A Conversation with Ron Berger

Episode 22: "Just tell the damn truth!" - A Conversation with Jeff Duncan-Andrade

Episode 25: Heart, Head, Hands - A Conversation with Marshall Ganz

Episode 30: Speaking Truth to Power - A Conversation with Prince George's District Student Advisory Council

Dr. Kaleb Rashad is the Interim Chief Executive Officer of High Tech High. Kaleb is also the Co-Founder & Creative Director at the Center for Love & Justice located within the High Tech High Graduate School of Education (HTH GSE). In this role, he works with community leaders in the US, Canada, Spain, and Hong Kong to create new schools and redesign existing schools focused on advancing equity through Liberatory Project-based learning. This week's conversation covers: the people who have influenced Kaleb's work, including a new record of references to past guests; the importance of mixing good education design with justice and equity, and why the transfer of power, history, identity, and partnerships are key components to the process; the need to move from an improvement space to a transformational space; teaching people how to think, not what to think; asking about, and then focusing on what is meaningful learning for the students; why we need to make sure students and teachers are comfortable bringing their whole self to the classroom; and why historical context is important for understanding today's challenges especially through the lens of race.

Questions? Thoughts? Feedback? 

Email us at  [email protected] or Tweet us at @jal_mehta and @Rodroad219

Fugitive Pedagogy - Jarvis Givens

Shanna Peeples is the Dr. John G. O’Brien distinguished chair in education at West Texas A&M university. In 2015 she was awarded USA National Teacher of the Year for her work at Palo Duro High School, and also found her way to Harvard where she attended classes taught by our co-host, Jal Mehta!

Highlights from this episode include: an opening dialogue on the recent school shooting in Evalde, Texas; Shanna's long journey to teaching and how money played a role in her transition from journalism to the classroom; a powerful reflection on her first teaching job and what kept her from walking away; what it means to get students to ask real questions; the role technology should play in education - more to serve than drive design; the importance of getting both students and teachers to bring their whole selves to school; factors and politics that sometimes prevent teachers from being their authentic selves; why we should encourage more teachers to experiment and bring students in as co-creators; how to expand authenticity beyond teachers and into the systems level; and a great analogy of "Marie Kondo-ing" our curriculums. 

Questions? Thoughts? Feedback? 

Email us at  [email protected] or Tweet us at @jal_mehta and @Rodroad219

Kim Ondrik is the Head Learner from Q'SHINTUL Mill Bay Nature School on Vancouver Island, and someone Rod and Jal have worked closely with in the past. They would describe her as courageous, fierce, values-driven, and always acting in accordance with her beliefs about what constitutes great learning for kids and adults. Highlights from this week's episode include: an opening discussion on the recent report released by Harvard that covers the University's historical ties to slavery and eugenics; a look back at Kim's time as a student and the influences that ultimately shaped her vision for education; what it means to build a school that is truly student-centered; how Kim was empowered to be a disruptive force in her district, and the role Rod played in that process; the importance of including everyone in the community when it comes to co-creating education, especially the indigenous elder population; wonderful examples of the unique curriculum that drives Mill Bay Nature School; and re-envisioning what it means to be a school principal. 

Questions? Thoughts? Feedback? 

Email us at  [email protected] or Tweet us at @jal_mehta and @Rodroad219

Kent McGuire is the Program Director of Education at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. He leads the investments in teaching and learning and open educational resources strategies, with a focus on helping all students succeed in college, work and civic life. Highlights from this episode include: an opening dialogue on re-entry into the world post-COVID; the childhood influences that developed Kent's desire to work in education; what it was like going to school during a period of desegregation; the role philanthropy, and specifically the Hewlett Foundation, can play in promoting deeper learning; ways to get the pockets of innovative teaching and learning out from behind closed doors - building a movement; alternatives to teacher and student evaluations; and the importance of developing trust in the education system. 

Learn more about the Hewlett Foundation: www.hewlett.org

Questions? Thoughts? Feedback? 

Email us at  [email protected] or Tweet us at @jal_mehta and @Rodroad219

Victor Cary has worked in education for over 40 years, starting as a high school teacher in Richmond, CA, and now serves as the Senior Director at the National Equity Project, where he leads development of the equity-centered coaching and leadership model. Susie Wise is a design leader with experience in the education, tech, and  social sectors. She coaches leaders in equity design and innovation practices and is an Adjunct Professor at the Stanford d.school. The two have worked together to develop and recommend different ways of thinking and acting when it comes to designing learning experiences. Highlights from the episode include: an update on Jal's "dilemma;" Rod's reflection on a new "Graduate Coaches" program in Prince George; what the pandemic has taught us about local systems' ability to change quickly; the importance of creating a sense of belonging in schools; the challenges of taking successful models and scaling them up, and why scaling "deep" may be a better alternative; the role context and environment play when trying to create adaptive and resilient models; and a brief lighting round to wrap things up. 

Check out Susie's book and additional design frameworks: Design for Belonging

Questions? Thoughts? Feedback? 

Email us at  [email protected] or Tweet us at @jal_mehta and @Rodroad219

Dr. Ulcca Joshi Hansen is an author, consultant,  founder of Educating Potential, and currently Chief Program Officer at Grantmakers for Education. Her work is aimed at changing the dialogue about education in America. Her conversation with Rod and Jal covers a lot of topics including: what different kinds of teaching and learning look like; why we need to move past endless debates and focus more on root issues that need to be addressed; defining both "Cartesian-Newtonian" and "Holistic-Indigenous" world views and how each plays a role in our education systems; how it is easy to admit all kids are not the same, but it isn't easy to develop schools that can cater to that; what it means to want our children to be the best for the world, not the best in the world; hope in the form of amazing teachers and schools that are moving the needle; and bonus responses during the lightning round! 

Check out Ulcca's book: The Future of Smart

Questions? Thoughts? Feedback? 

Email us at  [email protected] or Tweet us at @jal_mehta and @Rodroad219

Andy Calkins is the co-director of Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC) and helps to lead strategy development, organizational management, and program execution across all phases of the initiative. Dr. Carlos Beato is the newest crew member and also co-director at NGLC. Prior to joining he served as the founding principal at the International High School at Langley Park (IHSLP) in Bladensburg, Maryland. Highlights from their conversation with Rod and Jal include: optimism that the worst of the pandemic may be behind us; an updated vision for student success in the 21st century; the idea of symmetry across school systems - how adults need to model the same skills they hope to teach to their students; flipping the pyramid idea of hierarchical control on it's head; what our clothing habits say about power dynamics; how to shift away from command and control and move towards more collaborative and supportive environments; the importance of bringing people of color into positions of leadership; and some lessons we can learn from Hogwarts! 

Questions? Thoughts? Feedback? 

Email us at  [email protected] or Tweet us at @jal_mehta and @Rodroad219

Clara Medina is a senior at NEST+m High School in New York City. Madeline Mayes, is a junior at Fort Hamilton High School in Brooklyn, New York, and Kenisha Mahajan is a junior from Queens, New York who attends Stuyvesant High School. All three are involved in Next Generation Politics, a youth-led organization built to inspire and equip today's youth to drive a more productive, inclusive, and informed political culture in the U.S. Highlights from this episode include: an opening dialogue between Rod and Jal on the "decolonization" of education; what it was like "going to school" during COVID; the pros and cons of remote learning and what it may mean for the future of education; the importance of focusing on student mental health in schools; the various meanings of academic rigor; why Next Generation Politics decided to start a podcast; what each student has gotten out of the production experience; the value of building intergenerational relationships; and a discussion on what this current generation hopes to do differently than their predecessors. 

Check out the NGP Podcast Series

Questions? Thoughts? Feedback? 

Email us at  [email protected] or Tweet us at @jal_mehta and @Rodroad219

Zelia Gonzales is the co-founder of Rebel Ventures Network (RVN) which provides a structured environment for young people to develop, maintain, and reflect upon community and personal explorations. David Banda is a teacher at The MET, a network of six small, public high schools located in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island. They are joined by Andrew Frishman, a member of the Big Picture Learning leadership team. Their conversation with Rod and Jal covers a variety of topics including: what it was like to attend a BPL school; the importance of developing self-efficacy in our students; how internships play a vital role in the BPL curriculum; ways to ensure students get to explore their passions and really figure out what they want to do in life; highlighting how much learning takes place outside the classroom; what needs to be done to ensure that deep relationships are forged across all levels of the school system; and a lightning round full of spicy hot takes! 

Questions? Thoughts? Feedback? 

Email us at  [email protected] or Tweet us at @jal_mehta and @Rodroad219