New View EDU

Episode 54: Creating Climates of Care

Wellbeing. Engagement. Belonging. These three values are the “trifecta” of attributes for healthy and productive learning, according to Denise Pope. But how do we design learning environments that put the focus on that trifecta, without diminishing the educational achievement, challenge, and rigor we believe our students deserve? Denise, the co-founder of Challenge Success, returns to New View EDU to help host Tim Fish unravel the tricky issues around creating climates of care in our classrooms while also upholding academic standards.

Guest: Dr. Denise Pope

Resources, Transcript, and Expanded Show Notes

In This Episode:

• “When you throw kids into groups for group learning, I think there's an assumption that they know how to do that well, and they don't. And, you know, even my kids will say, Oh my gosh, don't tell people to do more group work! I get stuck with the slackers, or I hate that because, you know, this person's not pulling their weight and I have to do all the work, or whatever. Right. We have to actively teach how to work in community.” (8:54)
• “And here's the thing, we undervalue students, we underestimate students, and we infantilize them. And then we're surprised when they get out that they can't do things, right? That's on us. That is on us.” (21:14)
• “Grades are heavily related to cheating, right? You don't cheat when you're doing a project that you're really excited about. When you're putting on a play, when you're putting out a yearbook edition, when you are studying a new move in a dance class or on a football team, you're not thinking about a grade. That’s not why people do things.” (24:57)

Related Episodes: 52, 48, 43, 40, 35, 31, 19, 16, 8

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Episode 53: Transforming the Future of School

“Knowing what we now know, we can no longer do what we now do. To do so is educational malpractice.” That provocative statement is one of the principles that guides Sam Chaltain through his work redesigning education for the modern era. In this episode of New View EDU, Sam asks listeners to consider how the world has changed since our school system was designed, and what educational “sacred cows” we need to dispense with to help school keep pace with the rapid evolution of society.

Guest: Sam Chaltain

Resources, Transcript, and Expanded Show Notes

In This Episode:

• “The focus needs to be rendered down to the essence of who. Who is this unique individual? What are their unique interests, passions, and potential contributions to the world and to the people they come in contact with? And how can we set conditions that help that person answer the only question that matters, right? Which is: Of all the things I can do with my one precious life, what must I do?” (10:27)
• “The goal and the primary measure of health of a living system is disequilibrium, not equilibrium, right? The moment a pond establishes equilibrium, it gets covered in kind of green mushy muck. It's that constant delicate balance, the dance of all of these different, you know, contributing factors that allows for its ultimate and optimal health. And so too is it with us. Therefore, we have a different way and a different frame for how we can think about this thing that for the last 100 years we've called school.” (18:06)
• “All of our design work is in service of the answers to those questions. How do we, how do we unleash even more powerfully the things that are already powerful here? And how do we make possible the things that are not yet possible? And usually what that leads to is a space that is, that is flexible, that is adaptable, that is permeable, that has the ability…that doesn't look like the way that schools have looked.” (34:36)

Related Episodes: 47, 45, 44, 32, 21, 15, 2

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Episode 52: Designing Education for Transfer

We know we need to work at redesigning our schools to reflect the future our students will inhabit. Issues of mental health, well-being, mattering, and social-emotional growth are emerging as vitally important challenges to solve – to say nothing of the continued need to provide a high-quality, rigorous, and academically sound educational environment. But while we may understand why an overhaul of our practices is essential to success, the big question remains: How? Globally renowned educational thought leader Jay McTighe returns to New View EDU to help provide some of the answers.

Guest: Jay McTighe

Resources, Transcript, and Expanded Show Notes

In This Episode:

• “We need to be preparing today's students to be able to navigate a world in which knowledge continues to expand, lifelong learning will be a requirement for success. We have to be able to deal with change, including unpredictable changes, and rote learning of factual information is an insufficient preparation. To summarize, a modern education should prepare students to be able to apply their learning effectively and appropriately, not only to the known, but to the unknown.” (3:50)
• “I've often wondered how many kids, let's say football players, would go out, work out in the weight room off season and punish themselves with a blocking play if they weren't trying to improve for the Saturday, Friday night, Saturday's game, or how many swimmers would endure grueling interval workouts if they weren't trying to improve their times. Too often, I think, teachers, as you noted, and often students don't know what the game is. And teachers, to be a little harsh, sometimes act as if their job is to cover the playbook play-by-play, as opposed to preparing players for the game.” (16:11)
• “Those skills of self-assessment, reflection, and goal-setting, are to me underpinning skills of self-directed learners. But if the student is the passive recipient waiting for the teacher to tell them how they did or what they need to do, you're never developing self-directedness. It has to be done by design, and it can be.” (36:21)

Related Episodes:  49, 45, 38, 31, 23, Bonus Episode

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Episode 51: What Schools Can Do About Achievement Culture

We all want our students to excel. In many ways, schools are set up to foster achievement – to help students reach their potential, strive for great things, and move on to successful next steps after graduation. But as Jennifer Wallace shares in her book Never Enough, focusing on achievement can create a culture that quickly becomes toxic to kids. Where do we cross the line, and what can we do about it?

Guests: Jennifer Wallace and Debra Wilson

Resources, Transcript, and Expanded Show Notes

In This Episode:

• “Unfortunately, in our modern society, we get a lot of false alarms. You know, we get the threat when our kid doesn't make the team or doesn't get the invite to the Friday night party that there is something, you know, an alarm going off in our head, but it's really just a bagel burning. The whole house isn't going down.” (9:54)
• “When I asked the young students how much they agreed or disagreed with the statement, ‘I feel like I matter for who I am at my core, not by what I achieve’ a surprising 25% of students either agreed a little or not at all, meaning that one in four students thought that it was their performance, not who they were as a person, that mattered most to their parents.” (19:56)
• “I was listening to a speaker at a conference a bit ago…he was actually talking about successful teams, basically, what makes an extraordinary team. And he was talking about competitiveness, but not competitive with each other, but for each other for a common purpose….When you start building in project-based learning, and particularly if you can harness and teach kids how to harness that power of being collectively competitive for a common cause, for a common purpose, and to start mapping that with what we want them to learn, I just think that's an incredibly powerful piece of the equation.” (40:23)

Related Episodes: 48, 43, 40, 35, 29, 22, 13

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Episode 50: Learning from Sabbatical Journeys

If you had the opportunity to step away from your day-to-day life for six weeks, what would you do with that time? Where would you go? And what lessons would you bring back with you, when the time came to return to your daily routine? School leader Briel Schmitz reflects on her sabbatical journey along the Camino de Santiago, and how taking that time away from work has influenced her whole school community.

Guest: Briel Schmitz

Resources, Transcript, and Expanded Show Notes

In This Episode:

• “I think you have to say what you need and want. And if you don't say what you need and want, then you're not going to get that back. So that's the first thing. And the next thing is that when a person like myself, who has a big personality in an organization, has been here for a long time, leaves, it allows everyone else the opportunity to grow into a space that they couldn't before.” (14:36)
• “I was thinking about what it felt like to be a beginner. What it felt like to be doing something that was difficult, what it felt like to maybe not be the best person at this, because I'm at a point in my career where I've had some success and I know what it feels like to be good at things, and I know the things I'm good at. And to really put myself in a position where I wasn't the best at this. What do I do in that moment? How do I respond to that?” (24:32)
• “I think it takes a lot of energy to say no. It's fun to say yes, in the sense of you're building something, you're creating something, it's something new, and saying yes is important, but I think our schools may benefit from some clarity that allows it to be more possible to say no. Like that's not actually a part of what we do, and that it gives you more time and space to do the things that you're saying yes to.” (35:01)

Related Episodes: 42, 38, 25, 20, 13

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Episode 49: The View From the Classroom

In an age of educator burnout and high turnover rates, what keeps veteran teachers motivated to stay in the classroom? This episode of New View EDU explores how rapidly changing technologies have provided a constant source of inspiration and innovation for two educators. Howard Levin and Stacey Roshan have both transformed their practice through exploration of the opportunities technology provides to both teachers and learners, and used that spark as fuel for careers defined by both longevity and creativity.

Guests: Howard Levin and Stacey Roshan

Resources, Transcript, and Expanded Show Notes

In This Episode:

• “But to me, the preparation is really about ensuring that they have skills and confidence to navigate life with resilience and empathy, that they're critical thinkers, that they're effective communicators and active contributors to their communities. And as a math teacher, I always say that teaching math is the easy part. My most important role is helping students learn how to learn, embrace a growth mindset, take ownership of their learning, and just encouraging a love for the process of learning, I think is so critical.” (11:04)
• “I really believe that these are very new categories in today's world. In the world that I grew up in, the focus was, and in many places still today, the focus is on really good teaching, really good absorption, all kinds of techniques and tricks to get information to stick with students. And we're living in a completely different world right now. We're at our fingertips with a quick breath of our own speech, that information is just everywhere. And so I think it's a huge challenge for independent schools to really embrace and really look at how different the world is for our students and the future students.” (14:53)

Related Episodes: 45, 40, 35, 31, 28,18,13

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Episode 48: What We Can Learn From Anxiety

We’re accustomed to thinking of anxiety as something undesirable. But what if anxiety could actually be an effective tool, teaching us how to take appropriate risks, manage setbacks, and build resilience? That’s the premise of Dr. Tracy Dennis Tiwary’s book Future Tense: Why Anxiety is Good for You Even Though it Feels Bad.

Guest: Dr. Tracy Dennis-Tiwary

Resources, Transcript, and Expanded Show Notes

In This Episode:

• “Anxiety is apprehension about the uncertain future. So what that means is that when we're anxious, we're not actually in the moment. We're actually becoming mental time travelers into the future. And what anxiety both signals and helps us do really effectively, is picture that future. There is potential threat or peril. That is, you know, that's why it feels bad. We're kind of sitting up and paying attention. But at the same time, when we're anxious, there is also still positive possibility.” (6:22)
• “You don't go from zero to a hundred.You start with little 10 pound weights. And it's the same for this emotional endurance. We have to think of not psychological or mental health so much as mental fitness. I just think it sets us up, when it comes especially to anxiety and major anxiety disorders, major depressive disorder, substance use disorders or these kinds of struggles. Let's think about fitness, because we can build these skills for people, we can help them. But you don't do it by going from zero to 100.” (17:57)
• “Part of, I think, the gift and the problem of the parenting space right now, if I may say, is that we have this sort of parenting advice industrial complex, right? Where I feel that, as wonderful as the advice out there is, it's created this culture in which we feel like we have to check off 100 out of 100 boxes on the good parenting checklist. And if we don't, we're a bad parent, we're letting down our kid.” (29:06)
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Related Episodes: 47, 35,  19, 18, 16, 11, 5, 3

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Episode 47: Designing Schools for Future-Ready Minds

We all want to help prepare students for the future. In an unpredictable and fast-changing world, does designing school for future-ready minds mean embracing every technological innovation and new idea that comes our way? Or are there lessons from the past that may still be relevant in a technological revolution? Dr. Shimi Kang has the neuroscientific evidence to help us decide.

Guest: Dr. Shimi Kang

Resources, Transcript, and Expanded Show Notes

In This Episode:

• “You know, people talk all about how do we motivate kids? Well, first of all, there's no such thing as an unmotivated kid. But if you're sleep deprived, stressed, over burnt out from over scheduling, you're not going to be motivated. If you're disconnected on social media, or not, or hyper competitive and don't have a sense of meaningful connection, you're not going to be motivated because the biggest motivation comes from a sense of contribution and being needed.” (12:00)
• “Neuroplasticity is a complex word, six syllables, but I believe it's the word for hope because what it means is we can always change, we can always learn, we can always grow, we can always do better. Humans are gifted with this idea, this concept of neuroplasticity, till the moment we die. And that's really important.” (33:32)
• “Where focus goes, neurons grow. Let's say you want to change your classroom to a more future ready classroom…There might be resistance, you know, from kids or parents or admin. And that's normal, because if I back up a bit, the psychology of change, in any given moment, there's only about 20, 30% of people in what's called action state of change. They are ready. The rest of the population is in pre-contemplation or contemplation. Because change, by definition, is a change, it's different!” (34:33)
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Related Episodes: 40, 35,  31,  28, 18, 16, 11, 3

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Episode 46: Educating for a Globally Networked Society

We have more opportunities to learn and grow as part of a global network than ever before. But in a sea of technological solutions, what stands out most as the core of building those networks? Humanity. That’s what Michael Nachbar leans into every day with his work at Global Online Academy.

Guest: Michael Nachbar

Resources, Transcript, and Expanded Show Notes

In This Episode:

• “Imagine that you are competing, but to support that person so that they can shine and do the best that they can and what that says about the other people in the room.” (8:08)
• “We've seen an explosion over the past few years in competency-based learning, right? Thinking about mindsets and skills for students. I think we're hearing and seeing schools doing that for faculty now…Thinking about what are the mindsets and skill sets that teachers need to be practicing, demonstrating and learning while they're employees at a particular school…Imagine the conversation that you're interviewing for a job at a school, and the school is saying, you know, teachers here practice these skills all the time, and we will help you develop those while you're employed here.” (12:09)
• “That drives so much for me of what I hope for kids, that like, getting kids to be passionate about something. And there's so many things that they feel like they have to do that it's part of a puzzle that they need to solve rather than, you know, taking classes and having access to courses and topics that, like, light them up and excite them and get them interested in learning and curious.” (22:57)

Related Episodes: 42, 38, 36, 31, 25, 24, 20, 14

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Episode 45: Designing Schools for Blended Learning

When you think of the term “blended learning,” do you think of a hybrid or remote learning plan, perhaps in a format that became familiar during the COVID pandemic? That’s the impression many educators and school leaders have of blended learning, but as Catlin Tucker’s work demonstrates, blended learning is so much more than just splitting education into “onscreen” and “in person.” It may, in fact, be the solution we need to prepare our classrooms for the future.

Guest: Dr. Catlin Tucker

Resources, Transcript, and Expanded Show Notes

In This Episode:

• “Reserve that teacher-led instructional time for small differentiated group experiences, where we can be much more targeted and thoughtful about the vocabulary we use, the text we choose, the problems and prompts we present, the scaffolds we supply…If teachers are still trapped at the front of the room, feeling like my job is to transfer information, there's no time and space to really position students at the center, give them more responsibility and let them engage in the messy work that is learning.” (13:32)
• “ I try to put myself now as an adult in the seat of some of these students, where they spend seven hours a day at school, and they don't get to make a single decision about how they learn, what they learn, what they create to demonstrate their learning. Like that is not a space that most kids wanna be in. And it shouldn't surprise anybody that a huge, I wanna say it's over 70% of students were, report like negative feelings with school. And it's things like anxiety, being tired and bored, like that's where we're keeping them all day. It's heartbreaking.” (30:50)
• “I want teachers to rediscover, if they're not feeling it right now, their joy in this work, and there's so many, it's a, it's a challenging profession. It is complex and multifaceted. And for me, I want teachers to realize that now that we have literally limitless access to information and resources in our classroom, that we are allowed to reimagine our role.” (41:55)

Related Episodes: 40,  31,  28, 26, 23, 20, 3, Bonus

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