This episode is a continuation of Episode 12 with Holli Kenley.  Dan and Ed ask Holli to give us more detail about her work on bullying, and particularly on methods schools, organizations, families and all of us can use to create empathy. She enlightens us of the dangerous practices of institutional bullying often used to stop bullies from hurting others. Holli gives us specific information about of how to stop the thoughtless cruelty that makes life hell for so many and may even result in bullycide. 

In this episode, Dan and Ed have a great visit with Holli Kenley, a lady who is reaching thousands of people of all ages through her books, presentations, school assemblies, and radio talks.  Her messages are clear and very helpful. She has been a teacher, marriage counselor, and leader in helping us all understand human needs.  Dan and Ed focus on Holli’s book, Another Way, which is a proven aid to students, parents, and teachers.

This is the second time we have been fortunate to have Rosemary Agneessens, an experienced community organizer and facilitator, as a guest. Rosemary shares insights into empowering local community groups to identify and organize to save the best parts of our communities. If we lose the power to lead, as many communities have, then the last best hopes for positive change in our country will be gone. 

Rosemary Agnessens has a diverse and wonderful background. Born and raised in Detroit, MI she entered a religious community of Franciscan sisters after high school, taught school in the Green Bay Diocese before working in Nicaragua with youth groups and then returned from Central America to do Pastoral Ministry in Texas which led her to community organizing.

The beating hearts of America are its communities and at their core are our schools.  Our  special guest for this episode, which is focused on building community effectiveness, is Rosemary Agneessens, an experienced and accomplished educator, community development leader, and a powerhouse when it comes to vitalizing and strengthening communities.

Dan and Ed define what they see as a major weakness in America today as communities are too often disjointed and not effective in preserving the qualities necessary for America to continue its growth and to foster a strong core. 

Rosemary Agnessens has a diverse and wonderful background. Born and raised in Detroit, MI she entered a religious community of Franciscan sisters after high school, taught school in the Green Bay Diocese before working in Nicaragua with youth groups and then returned from Central America to do Pastoral Ministry in Texas which led her to community organizing.

In this episode Dan and Ed examine the dynamics behind teaching and learning. They rely on first-hand experiences to explain how the structure of our schools often places the teacher in a Sage-On-The-Stage role rather than as an education facilitator and mentor.

They share examples of programs that work and issues faced by teachers working in the system.  Both share observations of how learning accelerates when children start taking responsibility for their own learning. An important part of this episode is the vital role parents must play in their child’s education. 

In this episode Ed and Dan feature Judy Querry, a recently retired elementary school teacher from Colorado. Judy shares how experiential, hands-on education experiences gave her insights into learning that helped her reach children and become super-effective. 40 years ago, Judy worked with Ed and Jo Berger in a program that accelerated learning through motivation and involvement. At Crow Canyon, in the Mesa Verde region of Southwest Colorado, Judy participated in community service programs and archaeological research that helped her understand the need for the immediate and practical application of taught data. Judy’s experiences are especially valuable for parents and teachers who wish to be more effective, not less effective, in these times of false education “Reforms.”  Judy relates how she was able to student teach with a Colorado Teacher Of The Year in a one-room school house located in remote McElmo Canyon in SW Colorado.

Dan and Ed share their personal experiences as educators searching for ways to improve our public schools. They share examples, such as creating a variety of experiential programs both within the public school system and outside of it, like the immersive programs Ed developed which later became Crow Canyon. They touch on many of the key insights common among teachers and educators about what needs to be done to improve our schools and how we can remove antiquated structures that limit teaching and learning.  Ed shares experiences as a teacher that still have the potential to open the coercive model that limits student growth. Both explain why they went on quests to find other ways and insights into education that support natural learning and that challenge students to make a contribution.

In this episode, Dan and Ed discuss the re-segregation of America’s schools through the use of the school choice movement. Charter schools and vouchers-type programs are being used to separate white middle class students who achieve from students of color and, what is perceived to be lower achievement. Dan and Ed discuss the “cherry picking” (siphoning off students who achieve and make the school look good) and leaving public schools to deal with students who need special help. By starving the public schools and cutting support for their programs, children are damaged

In this episode Dan and Ed explore the origins of public education and the original intent of those who worked to create "One Nation" out of myriads of different cultures. They explore the concept of “Americanization” which, through the 1940s, was a large part of what schools focused on.  By the mid-1990s forces began to rise out of other philosophies that worked to divide American by ripping apart communities and their most important heart, the public schools. The so-called “reformer’s” written goal is to starve and kill public schools.  Dan and Ed discuss the rise of charter or partial schools, their original intent, and the way many are now being used to destroy communities, re-segregate by race and color, create wealth for individuals and corporations, and weaken the education our children deserve.  This episode provides powerful insights into many of the issues that currently face the United States and Europe as topics such as national identity and isolationism shape and drive political discourse.

Our education programs are damaged by external forces that have by-passed professional teachers, and the needs of children, to force standardization and forms of inculcation on education. 

Luckily, most teachers are doing what is right for kids.  Most teachers are protecting children from the guaranteed failure and humiliation which is part of the education reform movement.

This episode gives parents and teachers another look at the reasons for the Opt Out movement.