Intersection Education

This episode features Lynn Leslie. Lynn works as a school principal in Calgary, Alberta and is currently pursuing an Education Doctorate at Western University, focusing on the effective implementation of school plans. She draws on her past experiences as a School Board Trustee and Business Systems Analyst to inform her leadership practice. Lynn is a recipient of The Learning Partnership’s forty 20...

This episode is part 2 of a series we are running called “What Great Schools Do”. In this series, we will discuss different aspects, the actions that are taken, and the ideas that ensure success in high performing schools. What is a great school? We are defining it as a school where student outcomes in both learning and life are positively impacted. Where because of the school and the actions that...

This episode features Brad Langdale, the 2019 recipient of the Canadian Association of Physicists Award for Excellence in Teaching High School Physics. Brad has spent the past fourteen years making the study of physics more accessible to students as well as teachers in the Province of Alberta. In his classroom, students are encouraged to get up out of their seats and “do physics” by building, test...

This episode is part one of a series we are running called “What Great Schools Do”. In this series, we will discuss different aspects, the actions that are taken, and the ideas that ensure success in high performing schools. What is a great school? We are defining it as a school where student outcomes in both learning and life are positively impacted. Where because of the school and the actions th...

This episode features Nicole Lakusta. Nicole is Curriculum Educational Technology Facilitator for Parkland School Division and is the winner of this year’s ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) Interactive Video Conferencing Network Educator Award. In our conversation we focus on how technology helps teachers have impact on student learning and she gives a lot of suggested links...

This is our 50th episode, and to celebrate we have a very special guest. Someone who inspired this podcast and many of the guests we have featured, it is none other than my friend Dr. Simon Breakspear. Simon is a researcher, advisor and speaker on educational leadership, policy and change. He is the Executive Director of the global consultancy Agile Schools, and Research Fellow at the University o...

This episode features Langston Evans who is the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program District Coordinator for the Madison Metropolitan School District. Through this program, he and his team have been able increase access to post-secondary for students who have traditionally been underrepresented in colleges. How they go about it is the interesting part. I think you are going to...

In this episode we have a special edition of the podcast where I am speaking with 2 of my good friends, who also happen to be 2 of the top educational leaders in North America. First, we have  Bryn Spence, Principal of High Park School in Stony Plain, Alberta. We also have Dr. Randy Hetherington, Assistant Professor at the University of Portland in Oregon. There is some history between the 3 of us...

In this episode I speak with Richard Gerver. Richard has been described as one of the most inspirational leaders of his generation. He is an award-winning speaker, bestselling author and world-renowned thinker. He began his career in education, most notably as headteacher of the failing Grange Primary School. In just two years, he famously transformed it into one of the most acclaimed learning env...

This episode features Aaron Dublenko. Aaron has been teaching with Edmonton Public Schools for 17 years. He coordinates an educational platform called Innovate which supports student learning in real-world contexts with a focus on sustainable development, technological trends and citizenship. Two new Innovate initiatives are CVO (Community Volunteer Opportunities) and SEC (Sustainable Energy Certi...

This episode features Dr. Jody Carrington. Jody is a Clinical Psychologist who has spent most of her career working with children and families who have experienced trauma. Having grown up in rural Alberta, she worked on the Mental Health Inpatient Units of the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary for 10 years and is now back in a rural setting; working in private practice, speaking around the co...

This episode features Jed Richardson who is an applied micro-economist focused on education policy. He is currently an Assistant Scientist with the Wisconsin Evaluation Collaborative. He is the Principal Investigator of multiple evaluations of state policies and district academic programs. He has studied the design of school accountability systems, basic needs insecurity among college students, an...

Today we are talking about Concept-based instruction with Diane Lander. If you are like me, it seems like I am hearing about concept-based learning and teaching all over. I have had a little bit of introduction to it, but there are some aspects that are still unclear to me. This is why I asked Diane to speak about this important topic. Diane works as a Curriculum Facilitator with Parkland School D...

This episode features Brian Torrance, the Director of Everactive schools. Brian works with government ministries, schools, and other agencies to initiate new and innovative projects that support health and wellness in Alberta children and youth.  Prior to joining Ever Active Schools he went to the University of Alberta completing a Bachelors in Physical Education and a Masters of Science. Brian ha...

This episode features Janelle Allen, an Instructional Designer who specializes in custom online courses. She started out working with a design agency, but left that line of work to serve entrepreneurs and mid-size businesses. This pivot created her company Zen Courses. Janelle works in the adult learning field and is focused on helping others create actionable, learner-focused online courses that...

This episode features Tal Thompson. Tal is a teacher from Columbia, South Carolina. Over his 17 years of teaching he has developed a style and reputation for both high achievement and character development. In 2015, he was a top 4 finalist for the “America’s Top Teacher” award on Live with Kelly and Michael. He followed that up by winning the South Carolina Citizen Education Elementary Teacher of...

In this episode, Dr. Randy Hetherington, Bryn Spence, and Corey Haley have an honest discussion about some of the issues that are facing leaders in schools today. They focus not on the barriers, but rather on the solutions to overcoming the problems or obstacles. This is a real conversation that highlights the complex and ever-changing environment of schools. Follow Dr. Hetherington on Twitter. Fo...

This episode features none other than Dr. Marian Small. Dr. Small has been a big influence on many teachers’ thinking around mathematics and numeracy. We speak about the changes that she has seen in numeracy over the years, how we might support concept-based practices in mathematics and ways to bring parents to an understanding of the “new” ways we teach math.  If you would like more information o...

This episode features a Superintendent, but not the kind you would normally think would be on a show about education. Instead, we speak with Superintendent Rob Hill, Assistant District Officer - Central Alberta District of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Superintendent Hill started in the Canadian Armed Forces before joining the RCMP. Since then he has worked in both rural and urban settings in...

This episode features Jennifer Gfroerer, Principal of Valley Catholic Middle School in Beaverton, Oregon. In addition to running a great school, she recently led her team to the first Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) certification from AdvancED. This makes them the first school of any type on the NW Peninsula to earn this certification. AdvancED is a non-profit organization...

This episode features Dr. Kate Storey, Assistant Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta. The main focus of her research is how to improve the overall health of families and communities. She tries to identify the interventions that have the best chance at positive outcomes for health. She often works with schools and has seen some work that is having a big impact on t...

This episode features Justin Jackson. Justin has been working in the adult education field by developing professional development courses, writing books and creating online communities for adults, especially computer programmers (check out his site Mega Maker ). He has some great insights into the type of learning that people choose and how we might improve learning for teachers. He also recently...

This episode features Dr. Jennifer Tupper who is the Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta. The University of Alberta is a bit of a return home for Dr. Tupper, as she did both her undergraduate and doctorate degrees there.  In between, she was a professor at the University of Regina and moved up to the role of Dean in the faculty of Education. Dr. Tupper has won many awards...

In this episode, we speak with George Couros who is an Innovative Teaching, Learning, and Leadership consultant. He is also the author of "The Innovator's Mindset". Before he was touring the globe on the speaking circuit and helping schools bring the Innovator’s Mindset to their students, we worked together in the same school division. I remember George’s eternal optimism and vision for a better e...

This is our second episode where we review previous conversations and interviews that we have featured on the podcast. This is an opportunity for those who have not heard past episodes to see if something peeks their interest. If so, you can go back and listen. It is also a way for people to get a quick hit of learning from the past 10 shows. We talk about episodes #21 - #30 this time. We received...