Insights Into Education

How do we evolve our education systems? We need public schools and vital educational programs that provide the foundational basic skills all of us need. What we don't have is a way to save and enhance effective programs, get rid of approaches that block quality education, and prepare our children for their future. Dan and Ed explore Vijay Govindaraja's three box system as it applies to education. Box 1 focuses on the present, Box 2 calls for the selective forgetting of past approaches that don't work, and Box 3 calls for the ongoing creation and application of future systems. Successful industries adopted this system years ago. Now it must be part of every program in every school.

What if your son or daughter entered school this fall and the teachers, counselors and parents had access to information about the ways the child learns best? Are they an audio learner, a visual learner? What are their strengths and what developmental areas does the teacher need to help them with? What if the educational program was delivered based upon each child's individuality and needs? You CAN teach a child well if you know the child well. This is possible in our immediate future. Our special guest, Jack Hillman shares his experiences developing these types of individualized programs.

This podcast focuses on skills, ways of thinking, and communication approaches necessary for the workplace of today and tomorrow. Ed and Dan are joined by Alex Berger to discuss how interdisciplinary education models utilizing the resources of AI can prepare learners to be successful collaborative members of problem-solving teams. 

Chat GPT and other Large Language Models are quickly becoming the go to source for information. This can be a time-saving boon to teachers that frees them up to focus on individualizing education and can providing expanded learning opportunities for students. The challenge, as always, is how to use the tools responsibly.

Educators everywhere are having difficulty incorporating the power and presence of AI in the learning environment.  What skills will students need 2, 5, and 10 years from now to be successful in life and work?  In this episode, Ed and Dan visit with Alex Berger about the kind of skills currently being sought in the workplace, how the old model of training for a specialized skill no longer applies, and speculation about how students can best position themselves for success in the future. 

Our schools are lacking a sense of urgency about changes that need to be made to incorporate and work with AI. The majority of school systems are clinging to old models that will leave students unprepared. Teachers, like many members of the public, have heavy demands on their time and it is difficult to change gears and catch up but it has to be done to prepare humanity to deal with what is happening.

We are still recoiling from the COVID pandemic which killed over a million Americans and damaged millions more. Years before, many scientists warned that we were not prepared for a major epidemic. But instead of listening to the scientists, our leader ignored the facts. Stupidity, not ignorance, overshadowed reality. In the last decade, scientists and others have warned us about an alien intelligence which will completely reorder our world. They advised that this new AI must be tightly regulated and controlled because of its power and its potential to be misused. During COVID, teachers were on the front lines of working remotely with our kids in impossible circumstances. Dan graphically describes just how difficult that was. He and Ed draw an analogy between our failure to prepare for COVID and our failure to retool our public schools to deal with AI.

We are at the stage in the development of our species where we must break from the assumptions and practices of the past. This is the first time in human history that an almost total redirection of our course is required. Our children must be prepared for this new reality which is already deeply rooted in our operating systems. Educational leaders are reimagining and redesigning the way we prepare our youth for their future. These insights podcasts introduce individuals and school systems that are leading the way to prepare humanity for the deep cultural shift that is occuring as we integrate A.I. into almost all facets of our daily lives.

What is the real message when we say "Schools for their future not our past"? Some dynamic schools are currently working on redefining their educational programs and focusing on the skills and approaches necessary to prepare students for a future where they can collaborate with Alien Intelligence. If today's students will have the skills they need to be effective, educators, parents, boards of education, and the public need to understand the changes that  must happen as we redefine our lives, our ways of thinking, and our educational programs to adapt to this technological age.

Rosemary Agneessens is a proven community organizer and leader. She joins Dan and Ed for a refreshing and much-needed discussion of where we are now and where we are going. The pandemic will pass. Many of the players at the state and national level will try the old way of holding power. They will face energized leaders who see a clear path to the future. Rosemary has stayed focused on the battlelines, cherishing small victories that open the paths for our students and help build our states and nation. She sees a time in the near future when those who want their children and communities to have great education programs will lead the politicians. A time when going hat-in-hand to beg legislatures for funds to a time when all understand that to have a great nation we must have great schools. What we are learning in states like Arizona, and what Rosemary shares, is vital information for leaders everywhere.

Dan and Ed introduce a highly respected educator, Richard Parkhouse. Richard is uniquely qualified to help evolve education so that schools are student-centered and address changes necessary if America is to flourish. Richard is an author, speaker, and is committed to creating "school cultures of significance, where everyone matters."  He has had the opportunity to inspire greatness in thousands of students.  His work includes collaborating with schools to surface and clearly communicate their beliefs, values, and purpose. He believes all students are gifted and talented, and every day they should be working to become the World's Greatest versions of themselves, always pursuing their personal best! Prepare to be impressed. We will introduce a teacher from one of his model schools in our next podcast.

Dan's and Ed's guest is Galen Englund, a remarkable and very accomplished young man. This podcast highlights the educational paths that led to his successful career and the ability to make a contribution to himself and to society. Galen is open, factual, and freely discusses his family background, and his educational travails as a challenging and misunderstood student. His early education ranged back and forth between Alaska, New Mexico, Arizona, and Costa Rica. Galen pays special tribute to a cadre of excellent teachers he had in the small southern Arizona town of Patagonia.  He was recognized as a Flinn Scholar (2009-2014) and attended Arizona State University, Barrett Honors College, Global Studies program with an emphasis on violence, conflict, and human rights. By age 22, he was deeply involved in the human tragedies of war refugees in Slovenia (what had been Yugoslavia). Please see, Central European University: ceu.academia/GalenLamphereEnglund/curriculumVitae. Unleashed, he has accomplished more in his 20s than most in a lifetime.  He has traveled widely in 60+ countries. He presently heads Englund Consulting: Conflict * Data * Research. Galen is working to identify conditions that lead to war and suffering.

Dan and Ed are deeply impressed with Diane Ravitch's critically acclaimed new book. Inspired by her insights and leadership – and the past and present corruption of public education by people who call themselves reformers, but are really deformers –  they begin an unscripted and very frank dialogue which includes thoughts from Ed's new book about the future of education and how we need to evolve our educational system.  

Part two. Interview with David Nathaniel Berger.  Dan and Ed continue to document the preparation necessary for our graduates to make a contribution to themselves and to society. David's deep commitment to The International Work Group For Indigenous Affairs, located in Denmark, is the result of his education and his self-directed quest for knowledge. This podcast gives an insight into how the Danish Government, the European Union, and the United Nations support the work of native populations around the globe. David proves to us that in every educational endeavor the immediate and practical application of learning is essential.

What preparation is necessary to make a contribution to yourself and society? In Part 1 of this two-part episode, Dan and Ed interview David Nathaniel Berger who is currently in Denmark working with the International Work Group For Indigenous Affairs. We ask David to identify the pivotal experiences he had growing up, his middle and high school preparation, his time at Arizona State University and the Barrett Honors College, his internship at the American Consulate in Milan, Italy, his experiences with the American Red Cross, his 3-year service with the Peace Corps, his recognition and work as an Erasmus Mundas Scholar in Poland and Denmark, and his work in his current position. How did a focus on Global Affairs set him on such an exciting and productive path?

Dan Kenley interviews Ed Berger about his recent book, Human Competence. What was the thinking behind this unique approach to education reform? Why write an education book that avoids edubabble and academic gamesmanship? How is this book an indicator of education for the future? Why stress 'no education without immediate and practical application'? Dan probes and exposes the students' role in dealing with issues that will define their future and perhaps the future of our species. He draws Berger out about the evolution of our schools so that we are not focused on our past, or preparing kids for standardized tests. Evolution must be based on the powerful teaching practices of great educators and what we know about collective intelligence and collaborative behavior. This may become one of the pivotal works that gets people thinking about preparing students for their future. The Book is available here: https://www.amazon.com/HUMAN-COMPETENCE-EDUCATING-THEIR-FUTURE-ebook/dp/B07TK48K9T/

Some of the best and brightest young USA students, faced with debt, damaged school districts, and poor pay, especially as educators, venture into other lands and find meaningful work and decent remuneration for their efforts. Our guest, Dan Miles, a vibrant and exciting music and mathematics educator went into the unknown and took charge of his future. He shares the pathways he followed to teach in Abu Dhabi - the United Arab Emirates. After several years he moved to Kuala Lumpur (KL) Malaysia's largest city. In KU, with support he could never find in the USA, he has created an outstanding program of music/humanities education. Dan's story is full of information as to how and why he took risks and built a quality life abroad.

Dan and Ed bring Holli Kenley back to update us on positive things that are happening for parents and kids. Holli gives updates on the latest breakthroughs on screen dependence, game addiction, depression disorders, and many other challenges facing today's families. She introduces us to good research about the importance of play, and how play gives children skills to deal with stress release and even develop empathy. Perhaps the most valuable qualities of this podcast, are the sources of information for parents and teachers that she introduces us to. 

Dan and Ed focus on current education practices and highlight both problems and strengths they have observed in schools. Dan shares his recent experiences working as an administrator in a California middle school; Ed shares information about his research and writing about how we must evolve our education systems to deal with AI and the effects of climate change. He introduces his new book, Human Competence, out in June 2019.

With special guest, Alex Berger calling in from Denmark, Dan and Ed engage in a lively discussion of critical issues that must be addressed to enhance public education and free it from standardization and data-focused testing. This unscripted exchange ranges from preparing students to delve into the root causes of current events, to changes in the way we teach. Throughout the conversations, the major focus is on what we must do to prepare students for their future, not our past.