The Educator Experience Podcast with Salli Carter

🎉 ONE YEAR OF THE EDUCATOR EXPERIENCE PODCAST! 🎉This week, we're celebrating a milestone that wouldn't have been possible without our incredible guests, listeners, and educator community around the world. Over the past year, we've had the privilege of hosting more than 40 guests representing over 35 institutions, while reaching listeners in 35 countries and counting! Through every co...

What inspires people to learn, grow, and become the best version of themselves? In this thoughtful and wide-ranging conversation, Salli sits down with educator, former Associate Dean, ESL instructor, mechanic, and lifelong learner Wolfgang Schifer to explore the deeper human side of education. Drawing on a career that has spanned trades, international teaching, leadership, and higher education, Wo...

What happens when a child is encouraged to share their creativity in the classroom? For Amy Meislin Pollack, it became the beginning of a storytelling journey that would last more than sixty years. In this heartfelt episode, Salli sits down with Amy Pollack, educator, professor, and author of The Adventures of Jelly Bean series, to talk about the connection between teaching, storytelling, creativi...

What does it actually take to lead in higher education today? In this thoughtful and highly practical conversation, Salli sits down with Kevin Sanders to explore leadership, collaboration, conflict management, and the future of higher education. After a career that began as a classically trained musician performing with orchestras across five continents, Kevin transitioned into higher education, w...

What does it really look like to lead a college or university? In this thoughtful episode, Salli sits down with educator, former college president, fundraising expert, and CEO of BrightDot, Bill Crouch, to reflect on leadership, community, and the importance of helping people feel that they truly matter. Drawing from decades of experience in higher education and nonprofit leadership, Bill shares h...

What happens when the passion that once drove you to teach starts to burn you out? In this powerful and deeply honest episode, we sit down with Dr. Erin Sponaugle, a grade school teacher for 23 years, 2014 West Virginia Teacher of the Year, TEDx speaker, and author, to discuss one of the most pressing issues in education today: teacher burnout. Erin shares her personal journey of recognizing the u...

Are students truly prepared for an AI-driven workplace? In this powerful and timely episode, we sit down with Monica Marquez, M. Ed. a leading expert in workplace AI, learning, and leadership, to explore how artificial intelligence is transforming both higher education and the future of work. With over 20 years of experience at companies like Google, EY, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs, Monica...

In this beautifully reflective episode, we sit down with Kevin Spenst, an award-winning poet, writer and educator with over 30 years of experience teaching creative writing, poetry, and ESL. Together, Salli and Kevin explore how poetry can open up new ways for students to express themselves, build confidence, and connect across cultures. Kevin shares how integrating what students care about into w...

How can one mindset shift transform the way you show up in the classroom? In this engaging and dynamic conversation, we sit down with Mitch Weisburgh to explore the power of mindset, resilience, and emotional regulation in today’s education landscape. Mitch’s journey into education wasn’t traditional. He found his way into teaching almost by accident, beginning with early computer training and eve...

Hey Educators! In this episode, we sit down with artist, educator, and founder Ndzaba Mngomezulu, whose journey into teaching reveals how sharing your passion can become a powerful way to serve others. Originally from Eswatini and now based in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Ndzaba shares how stepping away from drawing for nearly a decade to then rebuilding his skills within a year led him to an unexpe...

What happens when a podcast host who’s spent years asking thoughtful questions becomes the one answering them? In this episode, we sit down with David Bryan, educator, founder of New Roads School, and host of the Curiosity Invited Podcast to explore a lifetime spent rethinking education. With over 50 years of experience, David challenges one of the most common assumptions in schools today: that st...

Professional clown??! You heard that right. 🤡 Chase Jeffels is an actor, comedian, and teacher who brings a completely fresh perspective to how we think about learning, failure, and connection. Through his work in clown, improv, and what he calls “Goofing,” Chase teaches people, from educators to lawyers to healthcare professionals to actors, how to embrace playful failure and find what’s genuine...

How do we prepare students not just for academic success, but for life beyond the classroom? This week, Salli Carter sits down with Rob Heller, founder of Boost and author of The Missing Course for Today’s Youth , to explore how educators can thoughtfully integrate life and career skills into the classroom. Together, they discuss how educators can create opportunities for students to engage with r...

In this episode, Salli Carter sits down with Dr. Maria (Mery) Guzman Antelo, Assistant Professor in TESOL/Bilingual Education at Rhode Island College, to explore the powerful impact of international teaching experiences, multilingual educators, and mentorship in teacher development. Originally from Argentina and a former Fulbright Fellow, Dr. Guzman Antelo brings over two decades of experience tea...

This week, Salli Carter sits down with Michelle Aarons, Executive Director of Programs & Partnerships at the School of Continuing Studies at York University, to explore how continuing education is shaping the future of higher education and why it deserves a central role in university strategy. Together, they unpack the unique power of adult learning, applied education, and transformational tea...

What if the way in which reading is designed is holding millions of people back? In this deeply moving and inspiring episode, Salli Carter sits down with Hillary Summerbell , founder of Summerbell , to explore her lifelong journey with dyslexia and how it led her to design a revolutionary reading tool that is transforming literacy for children and adults around the world. Growing up dyslexic, Hill...

What does it mean for non-Indigenous educators to work towards decolonizing their teaching?  In this thoughtful and deeply reflective episode, Salli Carter and Gillian Thomas-Martin explore the responsibility non-Indigenous educators hold in truth and reconciliation. Together, they unpack the lasting impacts of colonialism within education systems, workplace learning environments, and institutiona...

What if understanding how the brain works could completely change the way we teach, lead, and engage students? In this episode of The Educator Experience, Salli Carter sits down with Dr. Lisa Riegel, educational leader, neuroscientist, consultant, and author of NeuroWell and Aspirations to Operations, to explore how brain science can transform student engagement, motivation, leadership, and classr...

We are joined by Patty McGee, nationally recognized literacy consultant, travelling teacher, speaker, and author of 'Not Your Granny’s Grammar'. Patty brings decades of experience working alongside educators in K–12 classrooms, helping teachers make #writing instruction more meaningful, engaging, and human. Rather than treating grammar as a set of rigid rules, Patty reframes it as a personal and p...

Teaching today is rewarding, challenging, and constantly evolving. In this episode, Salli Carter is joined by Dr. Rebecca VanMeter, Associate Professor of Marketing at Ball State University. This honest and energizing conversation explores what it means to teach with high standards, care deeply about students, and stay authentic in a constantly changing higher education landscape. Rebecca reflects...

Some of the best educators didn’t take a straight path into teaching. And that might be exactly why they’re so good at it. This episode is especially for educators who didn’t take a straight line into teaching. Keith McWhirter (  @NoFlyZoneNomads   @CanadianCareerCoach  on YouTube) and Salli Carter reflect on what it’s like to come into education from industry, return to school later in life, and...

Happy 2026 educators! As you return to your classrooms, syllabi in hand and big questions in mind, this episode invites you to pause and reflect on what teaching is really about. In this conversation, Salli sits down with Dr. Peter Gallant (Queen’s University) to explore transformative learning! Together, they unpack what it actually takes for learning to be transformative: deep engagement, intell...

Congratulations, educators! You've made it to the end of another year! As you reflect on how far you’ve come and what this year has taught you, we’re doing the same. In this Season 4 Best Of episode of The Educator Experience , we look back on a truly special season which brought together a powerful and diverse group of voices: higher education faculty, grade school educators, adult ESL instructor...

Every episode featured in Season 3 brought heart, wisdom, and honesty to the realities of teaching in higher ed. This week, we’re sharing some of our favourite moments that left us thinking long after we wrapped recording. Featuring: Roberta Sawatzky on navigating constant change, helping students build adaptability, and the power of bringing academic and industry worlds together. Dr. Stefan Sunan...

Season 2 has already given us so many conversations that made us laugh, think, and rethink how we show up as educators. In this “best of” collection, we’re pulling some of the most insightful moments from our incredible guests! Domenic Scuglia reminds us that teaching is an evolving journey. He shares how we rewrite new versions of ourselves each year, create conditions for real critical thinking,...