Episode 58: Transforming Teaching and Learning

What would it look like if a school went “all in” on training teachers to become experts in the neuroscience behind learning? Saint Andrews Episcopal School did just that, and in the process, created the Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning, dedicated to helping educators everywhere unlock the power of Mind Brain Education.

Guest: Glenn Whitman

Resources, Transcript, and Expanded Show Notes

In This Episode:

• “Look, we have vocabulary quizzes for kids in every discipline. Why can't we sort of have that for the adult learners in our school? And the fact is, we went after this research around collective teacher efficacy. The idea is that if we have some common language, common frameworks, common North stars, or mountaintops, or drivers that we're all moving towards, then that might make us collectively more effective for all our student population.” (16:45)
• “I'll get on my horse for one second about homework. You know, we have our kids, we are privileged to have our kids for eight or more hours a day in all our schools, especially when they get to high school, right? I once had an AP history student ask if we were violating child labor laws because then they still had to go home and do two more hours of homework. I thought that was interesting.” (26:43)
• “I can ask the AI for an early draft. I can edit it around. And look, every kid can get immediate feedback too, using these tools, right? Now, you're right though. Learning happens when you think hard. And generationally, I think our kids don't want to think as hard as we, maybe we were willing, and maybe we were foolish, but we know learning doesn't stick unless you think hard about things you're either intaking or doing or building or pondering. And again, I think that's going to be a little, a healthy tension point to figure out.” (34:21)
• “The teacher of the future has to do a better job working the room and working among the students. I still see too many times, when I'm in schools, students working independently, and teachers retreating to their laptop and missing– This is the best time to ask deeper questions, to see what kid, is it sticking or working. So I think more and more, you know, working the room and moving amongst kids, as opposed to being in the front of the room. So I think teachers, I'm just going to say heads of school, a new line item budget should be better shoes for teachers.” (39:01)

Related Episodes: 53, 49, 47, 45, 35, 31, 18

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