This episode features Tyler Samstag who jointly is the director of Remake Learning and also leads transformED, an initiative at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit that supports schools in starting, scaling, and sustaining transformational change. During our podcast Tyler discusses the mission of Remake Learning and also provides information about the Moonshot Grants and the Tugboat Grant and much more. Their work encourages educators to think radically, dream big, and inspire a better future.  

Tyler started his career as a special education teacher in New York City, implementing research-based literacy interventions in both traditional and alternative academic settings. Later, while living in Boston, Tyler completed an internship with the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), a nonprofit education R&D organization that works to expand learning opportunities for all individuals through Universal Design for Learning and was a member of the IDEO Bits + Blocks LAB at the Harvard Innovation Lab, a program to develop new ventures around the technologies inspired by Bitcoin and blockchain. Interested in applications of human-centered design in education and nonprofit sectors, Tyler has facilitated an array of interactive workshops on design thinking and rapid prototyping at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Harvard Graduate School of Education, and MIT. 

Tyler is a Pittsburgh Public School graduate, an AmeriCorps alum, holds a master’s degree from Teachers College, Columbia University in English Education, and graduated from the Mind, Brain, and Education program at Harvard University, where he was an Urban Scholars Fellow. 

For additional information about Remake Learning as well as the Tugboats and Lighthouses report visit https://www.remakelearning.org. 

This episode features the work of the PEAL Center, a statewide organization that provides support for parents of children with disabilities. Through a wide array of resources, training, a helpline, and advocacy, PEAL Center staff and volunteers work to educate parents of children with disabilities and special health care needs as well as professionals who work in these fields. 

During our conversation, Mary Hartley, the Executive Director, and Cindy Duch, the Director of Individual Assistance, discuss issues facing families, the educational rights of children with special needs, transition services, and the value of educational inclusion, not just for children with disabilities but for all children.  

For additional information about the services and resources available through the PEAL Center, visit https://www.pealcenter.org

This episode features Paige Joki, a staff attorney at the Pennsylvania Education Law Center. After graduating from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, Joki was selected as an NAACP LDF Earl Warren Fellow and a Temple University Beasley School of Law Rubin-Presser Social Justice Fellow. In recognition for her notable contributions to public service at Temple University and for pursuing a legal career in social justice, Joki received the Beth Cross Award. 

Since joining the Education Law Center in 2017, Joki has focused on eliminating individual and systemic barriers to quality education for students experiencing homelessness in the Philadelphia region as well as providing “Know Your Rights” training for students, parents, providers and organizations serving students experiencing homelessness. Most recently, she has led the Law Center’s Black Girls Education Justice Initiative. In collaboration with a number of groups advocating for more just social conditions for Black girls, the Law Centered conducted five focus groups with students attending school in the Philadelphia area. Emerging from these group discussions were eight principles for ameliorating the individual and systemic racism faced by Black girls. A copy of the report generated through this initiative can be accessed from the Education Law Center’s website:  https://www.elc-pa.org/black-girls-education-justice-initiative

This episode features Deborah Gordon Klehr, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Education Law Center (ELC). During the conversation we explore the founding and purpose of the ELC, who can access resources and assistance from the Center, and ways in which individuals can support the Center’s work. Klehr is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law school. In addition to her work at the ELC, Klehr currently serves as a member of The American Law Institute and co-chairs the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Legislative Liaison Committee and the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Education Law Committee. She is a member of the Forum of Executive Women and in 2022, was named to Pennsylvania’s Law Power 100 and Metro Philadelphia’s Education Power Players List. 

Additional information about the Education Law Center and its resources can be found at https://www.elc-pa.org. 

This episode features our conversation with Sister Roberta Campbell, Sister Evelyn Dettling, and Sister Susan Merrie English three Benedictine sisters of Pittsburgh who are the Founding Directors of Benedictine Coaching of Pittsburgh which includes the “Leadership and Life Coach-Training for Women in Faith-Based Ministries” program. This program is accredited by the International Coaching Federation. Their mission is to provide interfaith, international professional coaching programs that promote personal, spiritual, and professional growth. 

Sister Roberta is a seasoned educator and administrator with over 50 years of experience which includes teaching at the elementary, secondary and university levels. She has held several leadership positions including being Prioress of her Benedictine Community. Her zeal in coaching is to encourage women to use their values of refection and communication for promoting a more peaceful world-community. 

Sister Evelyn has focused on ministry to others in education, social justice work, and various forms of administration within her religious community and in senior centers. She earned an MA in Sacred Studies from St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN and is a life-long learner. Evelyn is excited about helping women flourish in their coaching formation. 

Sister Susan Merrie is a Master Certified Coach through International Coaching Federation (ICF) Global, co-founder of two coaching training programs and co-editor of the book Professional Coaching: Principles and Practice. She holds a doctorate in education and considers herself a “womb to tomb” educator who has worked in public, private and prison settings. Her special interests are community building, mentoring and supervision for coaches. 

To learn more about the Leadership and Life Coach Training for Women in Faith-Based Ministries visit their web site at https://benedictinecoaching.org 

This episode features our returning guest, curriculum scholar Dr. William Schubert, Emeritus Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In addition to his teaching responsibilities at UIC, Dr. Schubert has served as Chair of the Department of Curriculum & Instruction, Director of Graduate Studies, Coordinator of the Ph.D. Program in Curriculum Studies, and Coordinator of the M.Ed. in Educational Studies. His extensive body of scholarship is housed in the Special Collections Department of the Zach S. Henderson Library at Georgia Southern University.  

Among Dr. Schubert’s honors is his designation in 2005 as a University Scholar at UIC. In 2004, he received The Lifetime Achievement Award in Curriculum Studies from the American Educational Research Association, in 2007, he received The Mary Anne Raywid Award for Distinguished Scholarship to the Field of Education, and 2023 the Society of Professors of Education established the William H. Schubert Award for Curricular Speculation in his honor. 

During this conversation, we explore the ideas that Dr. Schubert has laid out in his 2023 monograph, Curriculum Matters: What Teachers Should Know and Do (#35 of the Education Practice Series published by the International Academy of Education.)  

Drawing from his personal experiences and his knowledge of the history of curriculum and teacher research, Dr. Schubert elaborates on his view that teachers’ experiences are crucial in understanding the complexities of curriculum.

This episode features Deborah Peterson, Emerita Professor at Portland State University.  Dr. Peterson received the 2022 David G. Imig Distinguished Service Award from CPED. CPED is a consortium of universities that has been working to establish the EdD as the highest quality professional practice doctorate in education. Improvement science is one of the key, founding principles of CPED and Dr. Peterson has written extensively about this concept.  During this conversation, we explore Dr. Peterson’s perspective on the ways practitioners can contribute to the knowledge base of the profession and improve the quality of education.  Among her publications are  

Improvement Science as a Tool for School Enhancement:  Solutions for Better Educational Outcomes, co-edited with Susan Carlile.  

Improvement Science as a Tool for School Enhancement: Better Educational Solutions and Improvement Science: Promoting Equity in Schools.

This episode features Jacqueline Hesse and Christine McCartney, co-founders of Global to Local, an international service-learning program for high school students. Jackie is the founding English language arts teacher at a Pathways in Technology school in Newburgh, New York. In addition, she serves as a teacher consultant with the Hudson Valley Writing Project. Christine began her teaching career as a volunteer writing tutor at an all-male, maximum-security prison in New York. She has been teaching high school English for over a decade, has served as codirector of the Hudson Valley Writing Project, and is a Fulbright alumna. Inspired by their love of travel, Jackie and Christine began to imagine taking students to the Galapagos Islands where they might engage in a service project related to environmental issues they were studying at home. This vision became a reality as they and students raised the money needed for the trip. Before COVID put the program on hiatus, they had taken students to Ecuador, Thailand and Cambodia where students gain not only a sense of satisfaction from their volunteer efforts, but also a deeper understanding of different cultures. During the conversation, Christine mentioned Fund for Teachers where she was able to obtain funds for professional travel. For additional information about this program visit 

https://www.fundforteachers.org/about-us.php

This episode features Dr. Tom Meyer and Maya Projansky and their work with the Institute for Leadership in the Teaching of Writing, a program offered under the auspices of the Hudson Valley Writing Project. Dr. Meyer is a full professor at the State University of New York at New Paltz and co-founder of the Hudson Valley Writing Project. Maya Projansky taught 5th grade for 20 years at the Earth School in New York City. After completing the Leadership program as a participant, she joined Dr. Meyer as a co-facilitator of the year-long program. Together they have worked with cohorts of teachers who engage in writing about their professional beliefs, values, and concerns. Structured in three segments, the Institute program invites teachers to reflect on themselves as writers, as learners, and as leaders.  

For additional information about the Hudson Valley Writing Project and the programs offered under its auspices, visit https://www.newpaltz.edu/hvwp. 

The Hudson Valley Writing Project is part of the National Writing Project which as centers throughout the Unites States. To learn more about NWP and locate a program near you, visit https://www.nwp.org/ https://www.nwp.org. 

This episode features Dr. Cara Furman, Associate Professor of Literacy at the University of Maine at Farmington and member of the Graduate Faculty at University of Maine. Dr. Furman’s scholarship focuses on integrating qualitative data and philosophy at the intersection of teacher development, descriptive inquiry, asset-based inclusive teaching, and progressive literacy practices. At the heart of her work is a form of in-depth, descriptive writing that fosters philosophically-informed teacher inquiry. Such descriptive inquiry allows teachers and educational leaders to care for their ethical selves and to develop practical wisdom.  

In the book, Descriptive Inquiry in Teacher Practice: Cultivating Practical Wisdom to Create Democratic Schools, Dr. Furman and her co-author Cecelia Traugh offer an in-depth portrait of Descriptive Inquiry as it was integrated into four urban, public schools.  Readers gain insight into the power of this process to foster a more collaborative school culture, address the needs of students more substantively, and engage teachers in practice-embedded learning. Particularly noteworthy is the confidence with which teachers and school leaders were able to resist mandates that would be detrimental to students and to work with outside agencies to adapt mandates to the schools’ mission.  

In addition to publishing in an impressive range of journals, Dr. Furman co-hosts Thinking in the Midst, a podcast that brings philosophical thinking to bear on contemporary issues. She is currently working with Tomas Rocha, on her second book, Teachers and Philosophy: Essays From a Contact Zone. This edited collection will explore what it means to think and write from the contact zone that is philosophy and practice.