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Celebrating students’ “superpowers”: What tests can’t measure

We speak with Dr. Peter Hughes, superintendent of New Jersey’s Cresskill School District, an affluent New York City suburb with large Korean and Israeli communities, about respecting disparate cultures while centering individual students’ interests, talents, and needs. We discuss effective means of communicating with bicultural parents and inclusive strategic planning. How can schools prepare students for joyful futures where they also serve others and are impactful on the world around them?

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Climate anxiety: a generational plague

We speak with Lian Zeitz, co-founder of the Climate Mental Health Network, which promotes wellness in light of the climate crisis. According to a recent survey, 70% of young people are fearful for their future due to climate change. Teachers can foster wellness by interweaving insights into their curricula, and by instilling habits of hope and resilience. The Climate Mental Health Network prioritizes input from students, working with a Gen Z advisory board.

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Indigenous erasure: The battle for inclusive state standards in South Dakota

Sherry Johnson, tribal education director for the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, an Oceti Sakowin treaty tribe, talks about the efforts to have South Dakota’s students learn about Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota history and culture. South Dakota’s right wing governor and her appointees have rejected state standards that include critical thinking and accurate state history, sparking strong resistance.

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From Skinner to computer-based education: Can machines teach?

We speak with independent journalist Audrey Watters, author of “Teaching machines: The history of personalized learning,” about the origins of teaching machines and the pedagogies that incorporate mechanical devices for teaching and learning. Ms. Watters explains how BF Skinner’s emphasis on behaviorism, in combination with commercial opportunism, has led in some cases to the supplanting of teachers by computer software.

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Systemic racism in special education: Parent participation legitimizes inequities (Encore)

We continue our conversation with LaToya Baldwin Clark of UCLA School of Law. Dr. Baldwin Clark explains how the special education system advantages White middle class families. Poor families and families of color tend to lack cultural capital to navigate the system and advocate effectively for their children. While resources flow to White children with special needs, Black children tend to be stigmatized and placed in more restrictive settings. Dr. Baldwin Clark offers recommendations.

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Transcript of the episode “Early childhood education: It is play, but it is not ‘babysitting'”

Jon M: [00:00:15] Hi. I’m Jon Moscow. Amy H-L: [00:00:16] And  I ‘m Amy Halpern-Laff. Welcome to Ethical Schools. Our guest today is Michele Washington, a lecturer in the department of early childhood childhood education at Lehman College, City  University of New York. Ms. Washington has deep experience in the field of early childhood, including…

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Transcription of the episode “Empowering school counselors to support struggling students”

Amy H-L: [00:00:15] I’m Amy Halpern-Laff Jon M: [00:00:17] I’m Jon Moscow. Welcome to Ethical Schools. Our guest today is Dr. Mandy Savitz- Romer. Dr. Savitz-Romer is Nancy Pforzheimer Aronson Senior Lecturer of Human Development and Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education and director of the School of Education’s Prevention, Science and Practice master’s…

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