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.
With special guest, Alex Berger calling in from Denmark, Dan and Ed engage in a lively discussion of critical issues that must be addressed to enhance public education and free it from standardization and data-focused testing. This unscripted exchange ranges from preparing students to delve into the root causes of current events, to changes in the way we teach. Throughout the conversations, the major focus is on what we must do to prepare students for their future, not our past.