Inquiry-based learning

Join our Global Saturday Salons!

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Collaborate with teachers and learners worldwide!

Along with our partner organizations – Agastya International Foundation, Center for Artistry and Scholarship, and Thinking With You – Ethical Schools is bringing together educators, youth workers, and students from around the world to discuss ethical, democratic, and regenerative education strategies. Hear exciting presentations from visionary practitioners and participate in group discussions.

Come with your co-workers! Attend with a cohort from your school or out-of-school program to maximize the benefits for your organization and students.

Series 1: Ethics and the Natural World
Saturdays, January 10 and 31; February 21
8:30-10:00 AM EST

Pay what you wish.
Suggested donation: $25 per session, $50 for all three sessions
Additional participants from your organization: $15 per session, $30 for all three sessions.

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER AT GLOBALCONVERSATIONS.NET

Pragmatism in the classroom: Lessons from Dewey, Maxine Greene, and Eleanor Duckworth

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:49:16 Comments Off

We speak with Dr. Susan Jean Mayer about her recent book, “Practicing Pragmatism Through Progressive Pedagogies: A Philosophical Lens for Grounding Classroom Teaching and Research.” Dr. Mayer defines pragmatism in today’s world and discusses the importance of critical exploration, democratic construction of knowledge, and openness to diversity of perspectives in the classroom. As teachers and learners, we can construct a shared set of values based on our experiential realities and come to understand these realities in coherent terms.

The pioneers: Democracy front and center (Part Two)

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We speak with Deborah Meier and Jane Andrias, pioneers in the democratic small-school movement. Debbie founded the Central Park East Schools. Jane Andrias was an art teacher and principal at Central Park East I. Debbie and Jane discuss these ground-breaking schools, their ethical foundations, the “habits of mind” they worked to instill, and the challenges they faced.

*This is Part Two of a two part episode. Go back one episode to listen to the first part.

The pioneers: Democracy front and center (Part One)

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:31:51 Comments Off

Mobile Creativity Labs: Scaling STEAM Across India

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Today, we speak with Dr. David Penberg and Adhirath Sethi about Agastya, a unique educational ecosystem serving students and teachers in 22 Indian states. Agastya has a hub-and-spokes design, with an elaborate 172-acre campus outside Bangalore and a fleet of mobile vans and bicycles delivering science and art programming to poor and rural children in far-flung towns and villages.

Marygrove School: Place- and project-based teaching and learning

Jon Moscow 00:58:06 Comments Off

We speak with Dr. Elizabeth Birr Moje, dean and professor at the Marsal Family School of Education, University of Michigan. Dr. Moje discusses Detroit’s School at Marygrove, a university-school partnership serving children and families from before birth through grade 12. We talk about design-based research, Marygrove’s innovative teacher-residency program, and what being a model means to Marygrove.

Going deep: Student-directed learning in Performance Standards Consortium schools

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:39:31 Comments Off

We speak with Adam Grumbach, social studies program coordinator of the New York Performance Standards Consortium, and Naseem Haamid, a law student who attended Fannie Lou Hamer High School. We discuss inquiry based learning, Performance Based Assessment Tests, Habits of Mind, and self-directed, interdisciplinary portfolios, as alternatives to standardized-test driven curricula.

Creating the conditions: Sustaining “caring for” education

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:35:55 Comments Off

We speak with Chris Lehmann, founding principal of Science Leadership Academy, inquiry-driven and project-based schools in Philadelphia. The academic model centers inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation, and reflection. Students take English, science, and history as a cohort, allowing for interdisciplinary understanding. Systems and structures ensure there is time for teachers to build relationships with students, and create the basis for the schools to survive beyond the founders.

The purpose of education: Educating for a solutionary future?

Jon Moscow 00:34:34 Comments Off

We welcome back Zoe Weil, president and co-founder of the Institute for Humane Education, to speak about her recent Psychology Today column on the purpose of education. Although the official goal of many school systems is to prepare students for global competition, compassion, cooperation, and creativity are the qualities we should be emphasizing. A generation of solutionaries has a much better chance of creating a sustainable planet where humans and animals other than humans can thrive.

Students doing original research: Project-based learning in Ohio (Encore)

Jon Moscow 00:56:23 Comments Off

We speak with middle school teachers, Debbie Holecko and Claudia Bestor, and their former student, Rafel Alshakergi, about a student-led research project that led to ethical civic engagement. Rafel explains how the experience emboldened her to ask questions and “speak [her] mind.” The project, which got national attention, cut against Ohio’s high-stakes test orientation; many teachers are afraid to do project-based learning because Ohio doesn’t have tenure and bases 40% of teacher evaluation on student test scores. The teachers discuss how to meet standards through project-based learning. This interview is just a joy to listen to! (Encore)

Anna Allanbrook on Brooklyn New School: Centering children, marginalizing tests (Encore)

Jon Moscow 00:30:41 Comments Off

We speak with Anna Allanbrook, longtime principal of Brooklyn New School (BNS). Learning at BNS is inquiry-based and cross-disciplinary. As well, BNS is known as the “opt-out school” because 95% of families opt out of standardized testing. The school offers no test preparation.

Food injustice: The corporatization of school meals

Jon Moscow 00:35:59 Comments Off

We speak with Monica Chen, veteran teacher and executive director of Factory Farming Awareness Coalition. Monica tells us how cow’s milk became a staple in school lunches even though most children of color do not have the ability to digest lactose, the main carbohydrate in dairy products. She explains how checkoff programs like Got milk? mislead the American public into thinking these are healthy foods for human children.

Text guided literacy: Literature as experience in English class

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:34:30 Comments Off

Dr. Anthony Johnston, associate professor of education at University of St. Joseph, explains text guided literacy as a framework for teaching literature. A former English teacher, Dr. Johnston resists the current emphasis on close reading. Text guided literacy encourages readers to extrapolate from the text, to take the perspective of a fictional or historical character, and to make connections between the text and their own lives. As well, empathy is a catalyst for ethical actions.

Anna Allanbrook on Brooklyn New School: Centering children, marginalizing tests

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:30:30 Comments Off

Zoe Weil on humane education: The world becomes what we teach

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:30:30 Comments Off

We talk with Zoe Weil, the co-founder and president of the Institute for Humane Education. She talks about providing young people with the knowledge, tools, and motivation to address our pressing challenges in order to transform unsustainable and unjust systems into ones that are humane, healthy, and peaceful.

Inquiry-based learning

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