Education for a Better World Podcast

Josh Parker has spent his career working toward an education system with equitable outcomes for all children. In this episode we talk with him about what he's learned.

Noah Karvelis started the #RedforEd movement in Arizona having no idea that it would become an international grassroots movement empowering teachers to demand positive change for students, schools, and communities.

Many listeners have asked for more details about the 2020 Teacher Adventure to Kenya that Dyane and I will be leading. Mike shares more about the trip in this show.

In this solo episode, Mike takes on why every teacher must be allowed to use their voice to advocate for students and the role of public education in supporting a healthy democracy

Student Engagement with Matt Miller by with Mike Soskil and Dyane Smokorowski

Miriam Mason-Sesay shares how she overcomes the challenges of extreme poverty to empower girls, teach compassion, and build democratic values in her students.

Special live show where Mike and Dyane interview educators attending the 2019 National Teacher Leadership Conference in Orlando, FL.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals were adopted in 2015 to create a better, more sustainable world by 2030. Ada McKim shares how a group of teachers started a movement to use the SDGs in classrooms around the globe

Estella Owoimaha Church shares how she uses drama, improv, hip-hop, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals to empower her students as positive change agents in their community.

Sean Bellamy helped create a school in which all decisions are democratically made between students and teachers. In this episode that originally aired in December, 2018, Sean shares how this model benefits students and helps them become better decision makers.

Dr. Jennifer Williams is an award winning educator and co-founder of TeachSDGs. In this show she talks about her new book, "Teach Boldly."

Dr. Sam Fecich is the author of EduMagic and a college professor. In this show she shares how she is using social media and innovative techniques to prepare our next generation of teachers for their careers as educators.

Brad LeDuc helps his students communicate, discover unsung heroes, and bridge world cultures with artwork. In this show he tells us how and his tips for going on a D.A.T.E. to an art museum.

Peder Hill, and American teaching in Austria, shares how he is using art and science to give children voice in environmental issues, and how he is working to give students a space in United Nations policy discussions.

Tina Schuster talks about Project Based Learning (PBL) and the culture of student agency at High Tech High in San Diego

Cameron Patterson is a co-editor of Flip the System Australia, a book by educators for educators. In this episode we'll ask him to explain what he's learned through the process of editing the book about what matters, and what should matter in education.

Chris Holmes is traveling the country to talk with teenagers about student motivation. In this episode he shares some of what those teenagers have told him and what he's learned while studying the topic of motivation.

Educators Rising is a program that helps recruit high school students who would make excellent teachers. Kimberly Eckert shares how she is using this program to recruit the next generation of excellent teachers in Louisiana.

Developing creativity in students requires teaching with some creativity ourselves. In this episode we talk with Jed Dearybury about both of those things, and about why he hates squirrels.

Josh Parker, 2012 Maryland Teacher of the Year, shares how we can create a more equitable education system that serves all children.

What would school be like if students and teachers used the design process in everything they did to learn from mistakes and grow? Megan Power helped create the Design 39 Campus School where that is exactly what is taking place.

These teachers are preparing students for future careers while also empowering them to make the world a better place.

Elisa Guerra never expected to become a teacher. We'll talk about how she went from almost quitting her first teaching job to being named the best teacher in Latin America and a two-time Global Teacher Prize Finalist, and discuss how she ensures she helps make sure the needs of every child in her school are met.

Belinda C. Daniels is a nēhiyaw from Sturgeon Lake First Nations, SK. As an award winning teacher of Indigenous Studies, Cultural Arts and nehiyawewin Core Language classes for the Saskatoon Public School Division, she shares how she is using education to protect language and culture.

Miriam Mason has been overcoming the challenges of teaching in Sierra Leone, one of the world's poorest countries, since 2000. Despite the difficulties, she has found ways to instill her students with the democratic values they will need to improve their communities, their country, and the world.

Jillian Morris virtually takes children under the sea to learn about sharks. She is a marine biologist and Virtual Field Trip pioneer. She explains how she got started using videoconferencing with schools and why it's such a powerful learning tool.

Presidential Award winning kindergarten teacher Beth Heidemann and paleontologist Curtis Bentley share ideas for making all subjects come alive for young learners, and how Go2Science was designed to help teachers engage children through inquiry.

In this episode we talk with Los Angeles Drama Teacher Estella Owoimaha-Church about how she uses drama, hip hop, and the arts to help students build bridges between each other and their world.

Mandy Manning, 2018 US National Teacher of the Year, explains the Teachers Against Child Detention Campaign and the upcoming "Teach-In for Freedom" that will be taking place in El Paso, Texas.

Global School Play Day co-founder Scott Bedley shares how the project is giving hundreds of thousands of students the opportunity to participate in unstructured play. He also shared his work in connecting classrooms and helping students identify fake news.

Mike and Dyane discuss the importance and power of global learning, as well as some of the things they've learned as pioneers in using global collaboration to create amazing learning experiences for students.

2018 Global Teacher Prize Winner Andria Zafirakou discusses the importance of arts education and her experiences meeting teachers around the globe.

Matt Miller, author of Ditch that Textbook, shares strategies and tips on making learning more authentic and relevant for students.

Australian Teacher Alexandra Harper talks about the importance of Early Childhood Education, learning in nature, and supporting learning beginning at birth.

Helping students uncover inspiring stories from unsung heroes in history allows them to emotionally connect with learning and find role models. In today's episode Mike and Dyane talk with Norm Conard and Megan Felt from the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes about ways the power of this type of learning.

In this episode Mike and Dyane discuss the importance of helping children find a shared humanity with Executive Director of Empatico George Khalaf, who grew up in Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War.

In this episode Mike and Dyane will discuss democratic education and nurtured risk with Global Teacher Prize finalist and founder of the Sands School, Sean Bellamy.

In this episode we discuss ways to make school relevant and meaningful by having students use learning to make the world a better place with Ada McKim. She is the co-founder of the TeachSDGs movement.