Learning Unboxed

Tony Wagner is a globally-recognized expert who is currently a senior research fellow at the Learning Policy Institute founded by Linda Darling-Hammond in 2015. Prior to that, he held a variety of positions at Harvard University for more than twenty years, including a few years as the expert in residence at the Harvard Innovation Lab and the founder and co-director for more than a decade at the Change Leadership Group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

In his latest book Learning By Heart, Tony gives an autobiographical telling of his unconventional educational journey. His background was of hating school. He dropped out of high school, and after going back to get his degree dropped out of college twice. His experience with school, along with getting deeply involved in the 60s political movement, led to two realizations: That he wanted to make a difference in the world, and that education needed to be completely reinvented. We talk about what that reinvention looks like, and how a shift to mastery-based education can prepare students for the world after school.

To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org

We unbox:

• Shifting the focus of education from time served to mastery
• What’s at stake if we don’t make radical changes to our education system
• How legislation can free up educators to innovate by removing testing requirements
• Breaking down the content barriers
• How to find room and space for innovation in your classroom today

Resources:

• Learn more: tonywagner.com
• Twitter: @DrTonyWagner
• Read: Learning By Heart

You can’t talk about rethinking education for long without hearing Montessori come up. In fact, several past guests on the show have mentioned it, either as an inspiration or having been brought up in that educational philosophy themselves. While we’ve scratched the surface before, we’ve never had the opportunity to dig into it until now.

Joining us to help us get a clear picture of this popular education method is Hannah Baynham, Director of Learning and Professional Development at Montessori and Melanie Thiesse, Senior Director of Membership and School Accreditation. They share the philosophy behind Montessori, why it’s so popular among those rethinking education, and how it is helping to shape the future of education.

To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org

We unbox:

• What Montessori is and where it comes from
• How Montessori practitioners balance student agency and facilitation
• How schools can get accredited as a Montessori school
• Integrating Montessori education in an existing school environment
• How Montessori is pushing the future of education

Resources:

• Learn more: amshq.org
• Connect with Hannah on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/hannah-joy-baynham-16aa211a9
• Connect with Melanie on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mthiesse

Buddy Berry is the superintendent of Eminence Independent Schools, a rural district with approximately 850 students located 400 miles east of Louisville, Kentucky. Buddy is a fourth-generation alumnus of Eminence which offers him a unique perspective, coming from the place that he now leads.

Five years ago, Eminence was facing a decline in enrollment and a dropoff in funding. Thanks to Buddy and many of the programs he’s facilitated in his tenure, that decline has turned around.

We talk about some of those programs including the idea of “School on Fire,” a framework for reinventing and innovating education.

To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org

We unbox:

• Creating a framework for innovation in education
• Making education an experience
• Onboarding educators into a new, innovative system
• Incorporating surprise and delight into the school system

Resources:

• Follow Buddy on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/buddy-berry-8963baa4
• Twiter: @buddyberry, @eminenceschools

Our traditional school system has always grouped students by age, but we’re coming to see the benefits of mixed-age learning. When you take kids of different ages and have them learn together, they both grow exponentially faster.

Jason Blair is in his 20th year as an elementary school art teacher, currently teaching at Dublin City Schools. He was a previous guest on Learning Unboxed when we spoke with the Columbus Museum of Art about its work on Project Zero, and Jason is the teacher, leader, and resident with the museum.

We explore how he’s taking the innovative things he’s learned over his 20 years of educating and the variety of projects and partnerships he’s been a part of during that time and how he’s translating that experience into his own classrooms.

To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org

We unbox:

• How multi-age learning benefits students, and how to encourage different age groups to interact
• The ripple effects of non-traditional education throughout the school system
• Creating an environment full of joyfulness
• Incorporating personal learnings into the education experience

Resources:

• 74 | Cultivating Creative & Civic Capacities | with Jennifer Lehe, Jason Blair, & Britanie Risner

We know that the modern school wasn’t designed for education and that it’s woefully inadequate at meeting the needs of today’s students and the work environment of the future. So much so that small tweaks aren’t enough to fix it — it has to be redesigned completely.

Nathan Gorsch, Founding Principal of Village High School in Academy School District 20 in Colorado Springs. Like us at the PAST Foundation, Nathan recognized that our current model of education — the factory model — did not suit kids well, and so he sought out to reinvent high school with the idea of rebuilding it from the ground up. Joining him is Katie Flanagan, a teacher at VIllage High School, as well as Kate Bennett and Kenny Dufalt, two students attending the school.

We dive into what Village High School is, why it’s a unique hybrid model, and why those out there thinking of transformative education should consider some of the components of that hybrid model.

To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org

We unbox:

• The student experience as an impetus for innovation 
• Why students are drawn to Village High School
• The concerns and pain points of a non-traditional education
• Scaling this model of education for the future

Resources:

• Learn more: village.asd20.org
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nathan-gorsch-759b287a

One of the best ways to empower students with the life skills they’ll need as adults is to entrust them with solving challenging, real-world problems. Now imagine being able to pay them for those problems. That’s the reality of the Smart Skills Program here at PAST—all about creative, innovative ways to think about workforce development.

Smart Skills is a six-week program over the summer, a career exploration and work-based learning experience with youth ages 15-18 that explores several different STEM career paths, develops design thinking skills through solving real-world problems, and gets support from local industry professionals. It gives interns the opportunity to hone in on a focus area, develop career skills, and even earn industry credentials—all while developing leadership, communication, and other soft skills.

We’re speaking with the Project Director of the Smart Skills Program, Nikki Stancampiano of the PAST Foundation, along with four student participants, about their experience within the program, why they joined, what they got out of it, and what anyone can do to apply these lessons to their own school program.

To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org

We unbox:

• What Smart Skills is and how to design a program that helps students develop career skills
• The different smart skills kids can develop and learn
• The challenges kids face during the program
• What teachers interested in implementing this program need to know

Resources:

• PAST Workforce Development

We believe kids learn best through experience. But what happens when we start holding our young ones back in a misguided attempt at keeping them safe?

Gever Tulley is the co-founder of Tinkering School which came about in 2005. It gives kids the opportunity to prove how capable they are by supplying them with the tools to solve real-world problems and watching them make mistakes, learn, and build great things.

We’ve come to believe that protecting kids from experiences is a good thing, but what ends up happening is we cripple their ability to make decisions, function as adults, and be intrinsically motivated in anything. We talk about how trusting kids lead to big things, how teachers and students can collaborate effectively, and why age-restricted learning is a tool of the past.

To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org

We unbox:

• How Gever put kids in charge of his summer camps
• Why Tinkering School exists and how it helps kids understand their own potential
• Taking a collaborative approach to education with teachers and students
• The benefits of mixed-age education
• Creating educational “arcs” of learning

Resources:

• gevertulley.com
• tinkeringschool.com
• Instagram: @gevertulley

Anyone will tell you: Teaching is hard. But when we have teachers who are good at their jobs but are feeling that struggle, how can they overcome that hurdle and go on to have long, joyous teaching careers?

Bill Manchester is an old friend of Learning Unboxed. We met with him and his students back in episode 34, Engineering Creativity Through Music. If you happened to miss that one, we’ll catch you up: Bill is an 18-year (and counting) veteran teacher who runs his classroom in a way that most teachers dream about. Most recently, he’s published a book titled "When You Feel Like Quitting Teaching, Read This Book".

We talk about the nudge needed to keep teachers on track and feeling good, the small consistent steps for a solid teaching foundation, and how to find your footing in a tumultuous landscape.

To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org

We unbox:

• Why Bill felt the need to write his book
• What stands in the way of our teachers loving their jobs long term
• The learning triangle that becomes the foundation of your passion pivots: Engagement, content, and structure
• Creating full engagement in the classroom
• Balancing the need for testing without relying on it as a mechanism to learn

Resources:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/manchester_edu
• TEDx Talk: https://youtu.be/umA0K6aE15U
• Engineering Creativity Through Music with Bill Manchester

When we can use entertaining games as amazing educational tools, everyone wins. It’s clear that the game of chess can lead to some stellar learning opportunities, but what's not always obvious is how to get kids interested in it at all.

Elliott Neff is the founder and CEO of Chess4Life, a platform that teaches kids critical thinking skills, problem-solving, EQ, and other important life skills through the game of chess. He’s also the author of A Pawn’s Journey: Transforming Lives One Move at a Time.

We talk about how Chess4Life uses the game of chess to teach kids how to fail fast, learn, and improve, focus on individual strengths, and celebrate differences.

To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org

We unbox:

• Why chess makes such a valuable learning tool
• Scaling the impact of coaching
• Taking failure as an opportunity for growth and iteration
• The Chess4Life curriculum and how to get involved

Resources:

• chess4life.com
• elliottneff.com
• Read: A Pawn's Journey
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/elliott-neff-9b53473

When we spoke to members of The Willowell Foundation, Jen Olson & Tasha Ball, about the Wren’s Nest, we realized there’s so much more to this story that needs to be explored. How we contextualize our relationship with nature is so important, and getting kids interested in it at the ground level may have far-reaching implications.

Matt Schlein is the founder and director of The Walden Project and The WIllowell Foundation. As you may know, Willowell offers nature-based education programs and activities to help connect communities to the natural world. While Wren’s Nest is their preschool program, The Walden Project offers alternative public education for grades 10-12. We talk about the origins of the foundation, why connecting with nature is so important, and how we can get this level of education across the world.

To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org

We unbox:

• The origins of The Walden Pond Project and The Willowell Foundation
• Creating a K-12 experience where students are immersed in nature
• How Willowell is allowing kids to recontextualize nature
• Finding the universal in the particular

Resources:

• waldenprojectny.com
• willowell.org
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/matthew-schlein-33a47b19
• 156. Connecting Kids to Their Community & Environment with Jen Olson & Tasha Ball