Learning Machine: The Uncertain Future of Education

Dr. Kathryn Paige Harden recently published her first book, The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality where she makes an urgent case for acknowledging individual genetic differences as a necessary precursor to achieving social equality. Dr. Harden compares genetic differences to socioeconomic inequality and argues that her research is an anti-eugenic reclaiming of genetics. In this episode, we discuss the implications of Harden's work for teachers, researchers, and policymakers in the field of education where inequality is still very much an unsolved challenge.

You can follow Dr. Harden on Twitter @kph3k

You can purchase her new book from the Princeton University Press

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In this episode, we speak with David R. Rosas, an assistant principal at the Castle Bridge School in Washington Heights in New York City. David recently wrote an article for Chalkbeat titled, I’m an elementary school teacher, and I embrace critical race theory. In our conversation, David touches on the realities of CRT as an academic discipline vs. what it means to be a teacher who uses CRT to create an inclusive classroom. David has been an educator for 21 years and has worked as a teacher in grades K-7, an instructional coach, assistant principal, and principal in elementary schools. 

Debate topic for week 5: Who should decide what teachers get to talk about in the classroom?

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Reddit to join the conversation!

Visit us at learningmachinepodcast.com for more episodes and to support the show!

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Dr. Jania Hoover is an educator and teacher coach with over 16 years of classroom experience. As an expert on social studies education, Dr. Hoover discussed with us how teachers can navigate controversial topics in the classroom with their students. In her words, "students will ask you the tough questions" so you should probably prepare to answer them. Dr. Hoover wrote an article in July 2021 on the importance of teaching kids about racism regardless of the current debate around critical race theory. In this episode, we discuss representing diverse authors in the classroom, teaching authentic social studies, and how teachers can facilitate the critical reading of controversial texts in the classroom.

You can follow Dr. Jania Hoover on Twitter @drjhoov

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There’s a lot of talk about Critical Race Theory and Education in the media these days, but what’s really going on with CRT in schools? In this episode we spoke with educational policy experts from New America Jazmyne Owens and Elena Silva. As we discuss the current political and cultural landscape that teachers find themselves in, Jazmyne and Elena talk about the realities of multicultural teaching and discussing race in the classroom.  Along with this episode, check out Jazmyne's article: Critical Race Theory in Schools: What's Really Going On. 

Jazmyne Owens is a policy advisor on the PreK–12 team at New America. Elena Silva is director of the PreK–12 team for the Education Policy program at New America. 

For more episodes, or to support the Learning Machine Podcast, visit www.learningmachinepodcast.com

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Should teachers be required to study Critical Race Theory as part of their training? At this point, the teaching workforce is still predominantly white and female and does not reflect the diversity of students in classrooms. Preparing teachers to understand the historical and cultural experiences students bring to the classroom is one solution to mismatched identities. Dr. Amy Samuels is an expert in teacher education and culturally responsive pedagogy and in this episode, she offers her perspective, wisdom, and a few tips for preparing the next generation of educators.

You can follow Dr. Samuels on Twitter @ajsamuels27

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Professor Janel George, Director of the Racial Equity in Education Law and Policy Clinic at Georgetown University speaks on the history of Critical Race Theory. In this episode we delve into the recent political outrage over Critical Race Theory in Education and ask the question: If you teach the history of racial inequality are you teaching Critical Race Theory? In the same vein, would Critical Race Theory by any other name be just as offensive? 

You can follow Janel George on Twitter @JG4Justice and check out some of her writing on CRT here. 

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In Season 2 we are talking about Critical Race Theory, also known as CRT - what it is and why it has become such a politicized hot-button issue.

We’re also exploring Culturally Responsive Teaching and equity in education. 

Just like in Season 1 we reached out to education experts from all walks of life and asked them to share their insights with all of you.

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Series One of Learning Machine is in the books! It's been such an insightful and edifying experience to work on our eight interview episodes from our first series. We've learned a lot through the process - both about the education system and about how to produce a podcast - and we're excited to bring that new knowledge forward with us as we begin work on Series Two! As part of that work, we're excited to introduce our new co-host, Raven DeRamus-Byers.  Raven works in education policy at New America, and she'll be bringing her depth of experience and outlook to bear on the topics we cover in upcoming episodes.

In this episode, our Finale for the first series, we've invited Raven to come and chat with us about some of our favorite quotes from our guests. If you'd like to check out any of the interviews referenced in this episode, check out the full series on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or visit our website at www.learningmachinepodcast.com

Thanks for listening this Series! We'll be back in October with Series Two. In the meantime, you can connect with us on Twitter, Instagram, and Reddit and we'll be continuing to drop some extra content in the intervening weeks. Drop us a line or send us a tweet to let us know what you think of our work, or who you think we should interview for an upcoming episode. 

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Does our education system make a promise that it doesn't keep? In this episode, we speak with Deirdra Reed and Bailey Cato Czupryk from TNTP about a 2018 report titled, "The Opportunity Myth." This report posits that there is a promise of opportunity that is made to every student, but that the system does not work equally for all students. What kind of students is our system built for? And what happens to students who don’t fit into the system we have? 

You can check out the Opportunity Myth here and follow TNTP on Twitter at @TNTP 

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Do you consider yourself a Math person? Most people don’t, and unfortunately the statistics back this up. Just 24% of high school 12th graders scored at or above proficient on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Karin Wu and her team at the MIND Research Institute believe that expertly designed educational games can help shift Math from frustrating to fun. STMath, the game developed by her team, is based on cutting-edge neuroscience and education research. In this episode, we discussed the potential impact of games like STMath and the power of preparing students for the unknown future they will face.

You can follow Karin Wu on Twitter @KarinCWu and read more about the MIND Research Institute at www.mindresearch.org.

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