The What School Could Be Podcast

Today's guest is Sarah DeLuca, a K-1 early childhood educator at Hanahauʻoli School in Honolulu, where she has been teaching and learning with and from her students, colleagues, and families since 2009. Sarah was born and raised in Honolulu and graduated from ‘Iolani School. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Oregon in International Studies and her masters in teaching at the...

My guest today is Hannah Grady Williams . Hannah grew up in North Carolina as the oldest of seven homeschooled children and started college online through College+ when she was 14, meaning she graduated from high school and college, with a degree in international business, at the same time. Hannah notes that by roughly grades seven and eight, she was mostly teaching herself, although she did have...

Joann McPike is the Founder and Board Chair at THINK Global School (TGS), a traveling high school, and much more. In September of 2010, TGS began its first semester in Sweden with 15 students hailing from 11 countries. The traveling high school has since visited every continent except Antarctica, hosted dozens of influential guest speakers, campaigned for human and environmental rights, mounted ar...

This 2021 remastered Game Changer conversation is with X in a Box CEO and former Pixar executive Elyse Klaidman, educator Jorge Flores, and student Matteo Aldon. They focus on the remarkable Story Xperiential program, a nine-week course that takes participants behind the scenes at Pixar, and helps students become remarkable story-tellers. Their 2021 pilot cohort had 350 participants across the US...

EL Education was born out of a collaboration between The Harvard Graduate School of Education and Outward Bound USA. What started as a concept has grown into a movement. Its mission is to create classrooms where teachers can fulfill their highest aspirations and students achieve more than they think possible, becoming active contributors to building a better world. In its core DNA, EL Education is...

Pittsburgh has spawned two major contributions to educating our youth: Mr. Rogers and Remake Learning, which will be the focus of today's rebroadcast of a What School Could Be Game Changer conversation back in 2021. You will meet Remake Learning’s founder, Gregg Behr, and co-author Ryan Rydzewski of their book about Mr. Rogers, When You Wonder, You’re Learning, released in 2021. You’ll be flooded...

The subject of today’s episode is not a school in the traditional definition of the word. It is a learning hub, a learning studio, a series of experiences and creative moments in time, if you will, that lives on the outer edges of education, but should, in my humble opinion, be in the DNA of every public, private and charter school in the US and the world. Today we travel to 450 Massachusetts Ave...

I encourage all listeners to watch this short video before listening to the episode. Richard Boerner, the Superintendent at the American School in São Paulo , otherwise known as Graded, is leading his faculty, students and extended community on an Homeric and epic voyage of discovery into learner-centered, deeper learning. In this episode, find out how. For the past 30 plus years, Richard has held...

Frankfurt International School (FIS) student, Sophia Dietrich has an international background that includes being born in Denver, Colorado, growing up in France, then growing up again in Germany. A senior at FIS, she has already developed an international mindset and, interestingly, a passion, dare I say, for Japanese culture and its values of harmony, tranquility, purity, and respect. It is safe...

Today my guest is Dorothy Maxwell, an educator in face-to-face and online teaching and learning for more than 50 years. She holds a bachelor's degree in Business Education from the University of Maine, a Master’s Degree in Education and a Certificate of Advanced Study in Educational Leadership from the University of Southern Maine. She has served as President of the National Business Education Ass...

Today I am going to share with you a special something, a very short special something. One of my former podcast guests, Jonathan Medeiros (NBCT, Kauai High School) reached out to me to see if I might join his high school students who were using podcasts as a way to demonstrate their learning in a language arts class. I was only too happy to say yes. That virtual session, last spring, 2023, was ma...

Today my guests are Jonathon Medeiros and Natalie Lalagos. In the spirit of my episode with the folks at Embark Education in Colorado, I talk to Natalie first, then Jonathon, then I bring them together for some reflections and final thoughts.  By way of context, the Social Justice Education in Hawai‘i Project is a joint initiative of the Hanahauʻoli School Professional Development Center and the U...

Listeners, I could not be more stoked to share that today my guest is Michael Nachbar, the Executive Director of the Global Online Academy , otherwise known as GOA, a pioneering network of more than schools and educators reimagining learning to empower students and educators to thrive in a globally networked society. Michael was appointed the executive director of GOA in 2011, its inaugural year....

This is the 5th in a series of special episodes that come from the Game Changer and Big Think speaker series in the WhatSchoolCouldBe.org archives. Keep in mind the audio comes from Zoom calls and YouTube webinars, so expect a couple bumps and knocks along the way. On the other hand, the conversations you will hear are incredible for their depth and insight into what school could be, and what coul...

My guest for this 110th episode is Kentucky’s Dr. Carmen Coleman . Boy-oh-boy, did I look forward to this conversation, and enjoy prepping for it! Back in April of this year, 2023 I finally had the chance to meet Dr. Coleman in person at the Deeper Learning Conference, held at High Tech High. I felt like I had just met the Jane Goodall of student-driven learning. Dr. Coleman is Kentucky bluegrass...

Today my guest is Cerina Livaudais , a computer science coach, mentor and guide, and education leader at DreamHouse Academy Ewa Beach , on the West Side of the island of Oahu in Hawai'i. DreamHouse was founded by a team of individuals led by Alex Teece, a former guest on this show and a brilliantly innovative leader who worked relentlessly to get DreamHouse’s charter application passed. Alex recen...

Fasten your seatbelts, listeners. Jeff Hotle is an innovative, creative educator with 45 years of experience as a teacher, principal, technology director, school director and designer of pioneering learning models. Originally from the United States, Jeff has been living in Qatar, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cambodia and New Zealand working in the field of education since 2006. He has...

This is the fourth in a series of special episodes that come from the Game Changer and Big Think speaker series in the What School Could Be archives. Educators worldwide are striving to connect their students to classrooms and experts in ways that humanize the world while preparing them to thrive in the 21st century. In this re-mixed, re-mastered Game Changer conversation, Jennifer D. Klein , auth...

This episode covers a wide range of issues in education, most notably design thinking and generative AI. John B. Nash is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership Studies at the University of Kentucky. He teaches a range of courses on school technology leadership, design thinking and research methods. His current research agenda investigates how technology, innovation and...

Whole Child, Whole Life author, Stephanie Malia Krauss writes, “I am a mom [and now two-time author] with a background in education and social work. Through my experiences teaching and running a school, I know getting young people to succeed academically does not always mean they are healthy, happy, or ready for what comes next. This was true in my own life. As a high school dropout, I needed peop...

Humans have always been creative hustlers—problem solvers who seek to live beyond the limits suggested by society. Yet we live in a world where the place you were born, the amount of money you have, and the level of melanin in your skin indicate a precise path you are expected to follow. Too many of us silence our creativity and let our hustle calcify as we settle for the roles assigned to us. In...

Today my guest is Julia Fliss . Julia is an educator, activist, world changer, lifelong learner, creative, and yogi who lives and teaches middle level learners at a school in the mountains of Evergreen, Colorado. She has made it her life’s mission to advocate for student voice, agency, and the power of transformative pedagogy and global collaboration within our current education system. Julia and...

The following conversation happened on December 1st, 2022 via Zoom. Kapono Ciotti and I hosted a panel of four brilliant futurists who discussed the need to educate not one, but multiple generations of teachers and students who will intentionally shape the future of society, resulting in a world that is more just, more equitable, and fully sustainable, and do it in a way that avoids negative, unin...

The Milken Family Foundation writes, "Esther Kwon has worn many hats in her years at Daniel K. Inouye Elementary School. Currently an assistant principal, Kwon looks for innovative ways to enhance students’ educational experience in and out of the classroom. As assistant principal, she is an integral part of the school’s administrative leadership team, helping to drive the instructional program an...

Listeners, meet Miguel Gonzales, Brian Hyosaka and Megan Parry, three visionary and articulate education leaders at Embark Education and Embark, the School in Colorado. "At Embark Education, we are rooted firmly in radical trust, fostering relationships, and shifting mindsets, while expanding to explore the profound potential of learner-centered education for youth and adults. Embark, the school,...