Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity

Students must be able to drive their own learning to fully reap its benefits explains teacher Ben Pendarvis . If we want active citizens, reflective thinkers, and confident leaders to compete globally, we must give students more experiences to inhabit these roles. The results of these experiences empowers students to remember what they learn and take on the kind of skills we want to see in our loc...

Do you confidently sing your life song? Or is it still waiting inside of you to be played? Educator Barbara Bray helps us understand the importance of those questions as they apply to today's students. Barbara is an author, speaker, keynoter, and consultant. She is the host of the Rethinking Learning podcast, founder/owner of My eCoach and co-author of Make Learning Personal and How to Personalize...

Do you confidently sing your life song? Or is it still waiting inside of you to be played? Educator Barbara Bray helps us understand the importance of those questions as they apply to today's students. Barbara is an author, speaker, keynoter, and consultant. She is the host of the Rethinking Learning podcast, founder/owner of My eCoach and co-author of Make Learning Personal and How to Personalize...

Want to help improve race relations? You can start by understanding what's going on in that 3lb weight sitting on your shoulders. Jason Greer, the Founder and President of Greer Consulting, Inc., a labor management and employee relations consulting firm, explains. Jason is known for his work in the area of racial reconciliation based on his experience as a victim of cross burnings by the KKK. He i...

Want to help improve race relations? You can start by understanding what's going on in that 3lb weight sitting on your shoulders. Jason Greer, the Founder and President of Greer Consulting, Inc., a labor management and employee relations consulting firm, explains. Jason is known for his work in the area of racial reconciliation based on his experience as a victim of cross burnings by the KKK. He i...

Here on Getting Unstuck, we've focused on companies and their leadership only when we're aware that they're doing something extraordinary in the area of change. So we were pleased in this episode to talk with Rick Woldenberg about his experiences of successfully navigating the choppy COVID waters for his businesses, customer, and staff. Rick is the Chairman and CEO of three education focused compa...

Here on Getting Unstuck, we've focused on companies and their leadership only when we're aware that they're doing something extraordinary in the area of change. So we were pleased in this episode to talk with Rick Woldenberg about his experiences of successfully navigating the choppy COVID waters for his businesses, customer, and staff. Rick is the Chairman and CEO of three education focused compa...

Innovate within our current schools? Transform education completely? "The reality is, we have to do both," argues Professor Tom Hatch , a professor at Teachers College, Columbia University and Director of the National Center for Restructuring Education, Schools, and Teaching (NCREST). "We have to improve the schools we have, but at the same time, we have to transform the education system so that w...

Innovate within our current schools? Transform education completely? "The reality is, we have to do both," argues Professor Tom Hatch , a professor at Teachers College, Columbia University and Director of the National Center for Restructuring Education, Schools, and Teaching (NCREST). "We have to improve the schools we have, but at the same time, we have to transform the education system so that w...

In this episode, we hear from Grace McGuirk , a Registered Dietitian with a Master's Degree in Public Health. Grace is the Evaluation Manager and Nutrition Advisor with the Sage Garden Project , a program that provides staff, equipment, and training to high-need school garden programs to help students experience standards-based, grade-appropriate lessons as they grow, prepare, and share nourishing...

In this episode, we hear from Grace McGuirk , a Registered Dietitian with a Master's Degree in Public Health. Grace is the Evaluation Manager and Nutrition Advisor with the Sage Garden Project , a program that provides staff, equipment, and training to high-need school garden programs to help students experience standards-based, grade-appropriate lessons as they grow, prepare, and share nourishing...

Children of color are held in virtual bondage through the negative stereotypes that define them as threatening, violent, criminal, poor, and academically disengaged. Children of color internalize these stereotypes as guilt before they even enter the school. For many children, these stereotypes become a script that influences their behavior and inhibits their ability to be engaged learners. Guest A...

Children of color are held in virtual bondage through the negative stereotypes that define them as threatening, violent, criminal, poor, and academically disengaged. Children of color internalize these stereotypes as guilt before they even enter the school. For many children, these stereotypes become a script that influences their behavior and inhibits their ability to be engaged learners. Guest A...

According to author and education researcher, Heather Clayton Stake r, "schools can be a microcosm of the world that we want our children to grow up to create themselves. One starting point is to shift the power structure so that children are given agency and ownership to drive their own learning. Part of the shift from a teacher-led to a student-driven mindset will come from giving students multi...

Even without COVID-19, leading a class, school or district isn't easy. You have to be focused on what matters most. Key to that, as argued here by Superintendent of Port Washington, NY schools, Dr. Michael Hynes , is knowing your North Star – your values, why you're going what you're doing, what you're trying to achieve, and what your non-negotiables are.

The traditional high school transcript reinforces outdated modes of education, limits learning to single subjects, and impedes the pursuit of educational equity. It sorts students through narrow measures such as grades and GPA. Ben Rein of the Mastery Transcript Consortium explains why the Mastery Transcript is a dramatic alternative. It supports each student in exploring varied pathways to future...

Our current system of education is broken. The structures and practices starting with our federal system, down to the states, to the districts, to the schools – including most of higher education – do not support or incentivize innovative ways of engaging students that encourage them to pursue their interests and passions, and develop the skills necessary to contribute to a better world. Dr. Chris...

When the Gallup organization measured student engagement in school, they found that engagement drops from 5th grade on. Only about half of students in middle school reported high levels of engagement and about one-third of high school students reported the same. Why are our students increasingly disengaged? In this conversation, Dr. Eric Toshalis who for the past three decades has served public ed...

In this episode, we talk with Gregg Brown . Gregg spent 30 years in the telecommunications industry.  He became an instructor at the Blue Valley Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) where he taught marketing and economics using Profession Based Learning.  In 2017, Gregg became the CAPS Network Coordinator to support the growing number of programs using the CAPS Model. Here, Gregg explai...

In this episode, we talk with Patrick Cook-Deegan . Patrick is a leader in reimagining adolescent education through the lens of purpose learning. He is the Founder and CEO of Project Wayfinder . Project Wayfinder imagines a world where adolescent education is designed for all students to develop lives of meaning and purpose. It partner with educators to design innovative learning experiences that...

"It's all invented anyway, so we might as well invent a story that enhances our quality of life." Here we are fortunate to chat with two amazing guests: Benjamin Zander and Rosamund Stone Zander . Ben is the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and the Boston Youth Orchestra. Rosamund is a therapist and an accomplished painter. They are the authors of The Art of Possibility — a life-chan...

What's it like to sense on a spiritual level that the work you're doing isn't the work you're supposed to be doing? Lorraine Flower's transformation story from corporate executive to corporate change agent – someone who brings the power of spirituality and consciousness into the workplace – is not typical of the business executive burnout stories that we're used to hearing. Lorraine was quite happ...

One of the ongoing changes we're increasingly experiencing is artificial intelligence: the simulation of human intelligence in a machine. Simply put, machines are quickly becoming "intelligent" enough to do many tasks that humans used to do. The implications are enormous, especially relative to the work we will do going forward and how we will do it. And, as our guest Professor Ed Hess explains, t...

How in touch are you with your deepest values? How much are you leading your life in alignment with them? Author Shelley Paxton tells her story of awakening in Soulbattical: A Corporate Rebels Guide to Finding Your Best Life . Shelley went from a position of corporate power and prestige with one of the world's most iconic brands to the depths of near self-destruction. Only a recurring nightmare aw...

How can educators help to develop the leader in every child? Educators Todd Nesloney and Adam Dovico explain.