This episode was inspired by an article on education in which the words child, student, and teacher were conspicuously absent, replaced by discussion of politics, data and money. What happens to schools when people become an inconvenience for the system?

What motivates that and how do we stop it?

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Welcome to the looooong awaited return of Education:A Clusterfuck in Need of Repair. Season 2, Episode 1: The Phoenix is about where we are as educators in this most perilous of times. About where I am. It’s about the most important survival trait of teachers- resilience- and about theimportance of the profession of teaching.

The big news about this episode, Off Script: Skin in the Game, is that I’m speaking extemporaneously- no script. We’ll see how it went. And I’m announcing a break until mid-September- a classic summer break from teaching. AND I discuss who has skin in the game of teaching. Wow, that’s a lot for such a short episode!

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This episode completes our exploration of the role of agency, for both teachers and students, as a component of constructivist teaching. With a focus on WHY to do it, HOW to do it, and WHAT stands in the way of doing it, we start and end by asking, why is this so fucking scary for the system?

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Episode 15: Agency, Achievement, more Agency, More Achievement, and so on…

Jesse Bastarache returns to the podcast to talk about her theatre class for students with substantial learning needs. By acknowledging and encouraging their agency, she helps them build on their performance skills and achieve beyond all expectation. Is it really that simple? Yes- with the energy and commitment of a gifted teacher, it is!

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Episode 14: No One’s the Boss of Me, continues the exploration of constructivism, but through the overlapping lenses of agency, fear and me. Using my experiences as a student, a teacher, and a teacher of teachers to explore the role of agency in learning, this episode looks at what happens when we throw off the boot of fear and control, and embrace agency for ourselves and our students.

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Making Meaning, One Brick at a Time looks at the importance of the meaning we make from every experience we have and every idea that we come across. Helping students use their own meaning making orientation in schools can help themsucceed, encourage brain development, and foster engagement. Or we can ignore all that and create some more standardized tests…

Years ago, I toured the Francis W. Parker Charter School when I was looking into creating a school based on constructivist learning, child centered education and multiple intelligences approaches to curriculum. I was touched and impressed by the school, and many of their approaches to teaching and learning reflect what we still know to be best practice in education. A long-time teacher at the school, Ryan Ruopp, talks about the school, its impact on the kids and teachers there, and reminds us that learning is exciting and interesting!

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