Arizonans For Charter School Accountability with Jim Hall

Rosemary Agneessens is a proven community organizer and leader. She joins Dan and Ed for a refreshing and much-needed discussion of where we are now and where we are going. The pandemic will pass. Many of the players at the state and national level will try the old way of holding power. They will face energized leaders who see a clear path to the future. Rosemary has stayed focused on the battlelines, cherishing small victories that open the paths for our students and help build our states and nation. She sees a time in the near future when those who want their children and communities to have great education programs will lead the politicians. A time when going hat-in-hand to beg legislatures for funds to a time when all understand that to have a great nation we must have great schools. What we are learning in states like Arizona, and what Rosemary shares, is vital information for leaders everywhere.

Dan and Ed introduce a highly respected educator, Richard Parkhouse. Richard is uniquely qualified to help evolve education so that schools are student-centered and address changes necessary if America is to flourish. Richard is an author, speaker, and is committed to creating “school cultures of significance, where everyone matters.”  He has had the opportunity to inspire greatness in thousands of students.  His work includes collaborating with schools to surface and clearly communicate their beliefs, values, and purpose. He believes all students are gifted and talented, and every day they should be working to become the World’s Greatest versions of themselves, always pursuing their personal best!
Prepare to be impressed. We will introduce a teacher from one of his model schools in our next podcast.

Dan’s and Ed’s guest is Galen Englund, a remarkable and very accomplished young man. This podcast highlights the educational paths that led to his successful career and the ability to make a contribution to himself and to society. Galen is open, factual, and freely discusses his family background, and his educational travails as a challenging and misunderstood student. His early education ranged back and forth between Alaska, New Mexico, Arizona, and Costa Rica. Galen pays special tribute to a cadre of excellent teachers he had in the small southern Arizona town of Patagonia.  He was recognized as a Flinn Scholar (2009-2014) and attended Arizona State University, Barrett Honors College, Global Studies program with an emphasis on violence, conflict, and human rights. By age 22, he was deeply involved in the human tragedies of war refugees in Slovenia (what had been Yugoslavia). Please see, Central European University: ceu.academia/GalenLamphereEnglund/curriculumVitae. Unleashed, he has accomplished more in his 20s than most in a lifetime.  He has traveled widely in 60+ countries. He presently heads Englund Consulting: Conflict * Data * Research. Galen is working to identify conditions that lead to war and suffering.

Dan and Ed are deeply impressed with Diane Ravitch’s critically acclaimed new book. Inspired by her insights and leadership – and the past and present corruption of public education by people who call themselves reformers, but are really deformers –  they begin an unscripted and very frank dialogue which includes thoughts from Ed’s new book about the future of education and how we need to evolve our educational system.  

Part two. Interview with David Nathaniel Berger.  Dan and Ed continue to document the preparation necessary for our graduates to make a contribution to themselves and to society. David’s deep commitment to The International Work Group For Indigenous Affairs, located in Denmark, is the result of his education and his self-directed quest for knowledge. This podcast gives an insight into how the Danish Government, the European Union, and the United Nations support the work of native populations around the globe. David proves to us that in every educational endeavor the immediate and practical application of learning is essential.

What preparation is necessary to make a contribution to yourself and society? In Part 1 of this two-part episode, Dan and Ed interview David Nathaniel Berger who is currently in Denmark working with the International Work Group For Indigenous Affairs. We ask David to identify the pivotal experiences he had growing up, his middle and high school preparation, his time at Arizona State University and the Barrett Honors College, his internship at the American Consulate in Milan, Italy, his experiences with the American Red Cross, his 3-year service with the Peace Corps, his recognition and work as an Erasmus Mundas Scholar in Poland and Denmark, and his work in his current position. How did a focus on Global Affairs set him on such an exciting and productive path?

Dan Kenley interviews Ed Berger about his recent book, Human Competence. What was the thinking behind this unique approach to education reform? Why write an education book that avoids edubabble and academic gamesmanship? How is this book an indicator of education for the future? Why stress 'no education without immediate and practical application'? Dan probes and exposes the students’ role in dealing with issues that will define their future and perhaps the future of our species. He draws Berger out about the evolution of our schools so that we are not focused on our past, or preparing kids for standardized tests. Evolution must be based on the powerful teaching practices of great educators and what we know about collective intelligence and collaborative behavior. This may become one of the pivotal works that gets people thinking about preparing students for their future.

The Book is available here:
https://www.amazon.com/HUMAN-COMPETENCE-EDUCATING-THEIR-FUTURE-ebook/dp/B07TK48K9T/

Some of the best and brightest young USA students, faced with debt, damaged school districts, and poor pay, especially as educators, venture into other lands and find meaningful work and decent remuneration for their efforts. Our guest, Dan Miles, a vibrant and exciting music and mathematics educator went into the unknown and took charge of his future. He shares the pathways he followed to teach in Abu Dhabi - the United Arab Emirates. After several years he moved to Kuala Lumpur (KL) Malaysia’s largest city. In KU, with support he could never find in the USA, he has created an outstanding program of music/humanities education. Dan’s story is full of information as to how and why he took risks and built a quality life abroad.

Dan and Ed bring Holli Kenley back to update us on positive things that are happening for parents and kids. Holli gives updates on the latest breakthroughs on screen dependence, game addiction, depression disorders, and many other challenges facing today’s families. She introduces us to good research about the importance of play, and how play gives children skills to deal with stress release and even develop empathy. Perhaps the most valuable qualities of this podcast, are the sources of information for parents and teachers that she introduces us to. 

Dan and Ed focus on current education practices and highlight both problems and strengths they have observed in schools. Dan shares his recent experiences working as an administrator in a California middle school; Ed shares information about his research and writing about how we must evolve our education systems to deal with AI and the effects of climate change. He introduces his new book, Human Competence, out in June 2019.