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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Welcome to Episode 11 of Education: A Clusterfuck in Need of Repair. This episode, Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose: The Hidden Gems of School Leadership, is the third in a 3 episode sequence on School based leadership. principals, assistant principals, department heads, etc.

I’m founding this episode on two primary areas of thought- types of school leadership as discussed in What are Leadership Theories in Education? (from the Educational Leadership Degree) and Know Your Leadership Type/Style (from the Principal’s Playbook), and a consideration of three Things That Motivate People More Than Money from an article by Anita Bowness from Cornerstone On Demand.

These are links to the resources for this episode.

https://www.educationalleadershipdegree.com/frequently-asked-questions/what-are-leadership-theories-in-education/

https://www.cornerstoneondemand.com/resources/article/3-things-motivate-employees-more-money/

https://www.theprincipalsplaybook.com/educational-leadership/knowing-your-leadership-type

Welcometo Episode 10 of Education: A Clusterfuck in Need of Repair. This episode, Voices from the Field, is the second in a 3 episode sequence on School based leadership- principals, assistant principals, department heads, etc.

Two teachers, Alec Kealing and Amy Czarnowski Rawlins, with nearly 50 years of experience between them, talk about the different types of administrators they’ve worked with and for.

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This episode, At the Heart of the Job: Community and Leadership, explores the establishment and maintenance of community as THE important element in school leadership. What is the actual value added of shared effort and shared outcomes? And why do we assume that the goal is to struggle on alone?

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