The LVenture team talks about education in a regular radio show on Prolifick Radio called “The Future of Education.” We try to talk about big issues that have no simple explanation or solution and don’t get talked about too much, but are critical to the education system we need for the 21st Century global economy. Here are brief descriptions of archived shows. To listen, follow the link to our archives at www.prolifick.com/futureofeducation, highlight the specific show you wish to hear (by date), and click the play button above.
Future of Education 6-2-15 www.prolifick.com/futureofeducation
Show host Mark Lang continues the discussion about steps teachers and schools can take to begin to address the dramatic new needs dictated by today’s economy. The key is really understanding that the of education must shift from “teaching kids what they need to know to be successful” to preparing kids to be independent, lifelong learners and problems solvers who can adapt and tackle just about any situation.
Future of Education 5-26-15 www.prolifick.com/futureofeducation
Show host Mark Lang talks about how changes in the world have changed what we need from education, and steps that teachers and schools can take to begin to address those new needs. An examination of the issues leads one to see very easily that education must be reinvented, not just reformed. Mark talks about the model of learning now called “deeper learning” that reflects the best practices of the leading schools in the U.S. today. There are many things teachers can do today to begin to move toward deeper learning.
Future of Education 5-12-15 www.prolifick.com/futureofeducation
Show host Mark Lang interviews Jeremy Fajardo. Jeremy is another young entrepreneur who graduated recently (2012) from Dieruff High School but already owns his own business. Like many young people, Jeremy was unmotivated (except for sports) in high school and early college years. However, he discovered an entrepreneurial spark, dropped out of college, and worked his way into the tax franchise business he now owns. Jeremy shares interesting insights about how school seems disconnected from life, but how kids are capable of great success if they can find their passions and strengths. Our community could be dramatically more successful if we could help more students find their inner person like Jeremy.
Future of Education 4-21-15 www.prolifick.com/futureofeducation
Show host Mark Lang talks about testing and accountability within education. Standardized tests have become very controversial as they proliferate and take up more instruction time. Mark talks about the origin of testing and the disadvantages but also the need for some kind of accountability.
Future of Education 4-7-15 www.prolifick.com/futureofeducation
Show host Mark Lang sets context for education reform by talking about how dramatically the world has changed particularly in the last decade or so. Statistics on various social challenges and education performance data show very disturbing trends. For education to fulfill its role in society, it must change to address all the problems and barriers reflected in the world changes. It is important to understand all these dynamics in order to address them.
Future of Education 3-17-15 www.prolifick.com/futureofeducation
Show host Mark Lang talks about what we want from education. Many people comment that they are concerned about today’s schools, but they don’t really understand what they want. Mark first talks about changes in the world today that dramatically change what is needed from education. He then highlights three elements that are lacking but must be included when ones designs a new education system in response to all those changes and new needs.
Future of Education 2-17-15 and 3-10-15 www.prolifick.com/futureofeducation
Show host Mark Lang interviews Camilla Greene, an educator with an extensive history in education reform who specializes in helping teachers understand how to deal particularly with poor, minority kids. The conversation starts on 2-17-15 but that, unfortunately, was cut off by Internet problems about half way through. Camilla returned on 3-10-15 to redo the interview, and the conversation took a different direction. Both conversations are very enlightening to understand cultures, structures, and teacher attitudes in traditional schools that essentially guarantee a second class education for these kids. The biggest issue is educators from the dominant culture trying to mold every student to think and act like they do.
Future of Education 2-3-15 www.prolifick.com/futureofeducation
Show host Mark Lang interviews Darian Colbert about life in the hood, with comments from Prolifick representative Maurice White. Darian grew up in the Allentown hood, and still lives there–but religion changed his life. Kids growing up in this environment learn patterns of behavior that are easily misunderstood by teachers from other backgrounds, and the teachers often react in ways that make the situation worse. This conversation is very enlightening for educators who need to understand these kids and the best ways to work with them.
Future of Education 1-20-15 www.prolifick.com/futureofeducation
Show host Mark Lang talks with Maurice White about changes in when, how, and why we learn. People used to do most of their learning in school during an early time of their lives, and they largely applied that learning for a future career. However, in today’s dynamic world, knowledge and problems are changing so much that learning happens on the fly as needed. Most learning will take place outside of school. The role of schools is to “teach” students how to learn and how to apply new knowledge in ambiguous situations to find new solutions to problems.
Future of Education 1-6-15 www.prolifick.com/futureofeducation
Show host Mark Lang talks with Alfonso Todd about a radical new vision for education described by Richard Elmore, a highly recognized professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Elmore suggests that the work he has been doing for many years to help schools improve education with high performance learning practices is “palliative care for a dying institution.” He cites examples of very different learning approaches found in developing countries, and suggests this is an indication of where education inevitably must go. This demands attention because Elmore is the consummate education insider who now believes education must be totally reinvented. Mark shares more of Elmore’s perspective taken from a book The Futures of School Reform.
Future of Education 12-2-14 www.prolifick.com/futureofeducation
Show host Mark Lang, Alfonso Todd, and Maurice White talk about wealth disparity. They share data from a recent study documenting the wealth disparity in the Lehigh Valley. They talk about how this wealth disparity impacts schools and many ways in which biases, perhaps not even recognized, affect how poor, minority kids are treated within education.
Future of Education 11-18-14 www.prolifick.com/futureofeducation
Show host Mark Lang and Alfonso Todd talk more about changing education. This time Mark uses examples from Joel Klein’s recent book on his experience running and trying to reform the New York City schools when Michael Bloomberg was major.
Future of Education 11-4-14 www.prolifick.com/futureofeducation
Show host Mark Lang talks more about the need for reinventing education and challenges and possible reasons why education has not been willing to make such fundamental changes.
Future of Education 10-21-14 www.prolifick.com/futureofeducation
Show host Mark Lang talks about the new approach to education that he and the LVenture team have been developing. Changes in society and the global economy have created new demands for education that are fundamentally different than anything has faced before. Many of these changes have been discussed on earlier shows. Because of this, the LVenture team feels we must rethink education and move to a new paradigm of learning where students take full ownership of their learning and learn not only academics but leadership and life skills.
Future of Education 10-7-14 www.prolifick.com/futureofeducation
Show host Mark Lang talks with Demarquis Holly about why it is hard to reach and engage kids today. Demarquis is a recent graduate of Dieruff High School in Allentown who has thought quite a bit about why education did not connect with him and the role it plays in his life. His description of the many distractions and misleading messages faced by kids today is very enlightening.
Future of Education 9-23-14 www.prolifick.com/futureofeducation
Guest Galen Godbey talks with host Mark Lang about how the world has changed, particularly in the last 5 years or so, and what this means for business and education. Companies and individuals are now able to source components and products from all over the world with relative ease, which dramatically increases competition. In this environment the only way to sustain differentiation is to constantly improve and innovate. This creates a demand for a very different type of graduate: one that can initiate change and collaborate with others to creatively solve problems and develop new solutions. Education has major challenges to prepare this type of graduate.
Future of Education 9-9-14 www.prolifick.com/futureofeducation
Show host Mark Lang and Prolifick Radio leader Alfonso Todd discuss whether we can educate all kids. With so many students failing in school today, it seems that many educators believe there are many kids who are just not cut out for education and for future employment that requires more than basic education. However, Mark has learned to never underestimate the kids. He believes that all or virtually all have unique talents and passions that can be applied to add value to society. The problem is that each student has different passions and strengths. The challenge is to help students find their own strengths and then develop them in a way that leads to a successful and fulfilling life.
Future of Education 8-19-14 www.prolifick.com/futureofeducation
Show host Mark Lang and Prolifick Radio leader Alfonso Todd talk about the confusion with education reform. For those outside education, at least, there appear to be many things happening that all sound good, but we cannot really make any judgement about which might be better or if more is needed. Mark starts by quoting from the first call for education reform in the U.S., the report A Nation at Risk, from 1983. The consensus is that a lot has changed since 1983. However, the world has also changed, and it is not clear that education is really doing what needs to be done to prepare graduates for today’s global economy. Mark suggests the missing element is agreement on what we really need from education. Any business investigating a new technology would first determine its requirements before inviting vendors to provide a context to judge different alternatives. Education needs to do the same.
Future of Education 8-5-14 www.prolifick.com/futureofeducation
Young entrepreneur JR Rivas joins us again to talk about why is it more difficult to motivate today’s kids to get engaged with education. Many kids are bored by school, and when they are bored they don’t learn much, fall behind, and often drop out and/or become disciplinary problems. This is a major problem in urban schools including Allentown, so understanding and addressing the motivation is a large part of any education change.
Future of Education 7-15-14 www.prolifick.com/futureofeducation
Show host Mark Lang and Prolifick Radio leader Alfonso Todd talk about what we need from education today. Another way of saying that is what are the skills, learning, and preparation all graduates should have if they are to be successful and fulfilled in today’s global economy. The world has changed, and these requirements have also changed very dramatically. We cannot adapt and transform our schools to address these needs unless we have a good understanding and consensus on what they are. This show also has some noise in the background, but it should not interfere with listening.
Future of Education 7-01-14 www.prolifick.com/futureofeducation
Leeann Febbo and Ralph Fiore talk about hands on learning. Both are retired educators from Warren Hills Regional High School in Washington, NJ. Ralph for many years led a very interesting program called Wings where students completely developed and ran six businesses. Both had interesting insights from their experience about how students react to being in charge of their learning, as well as thoughts from the teacher perspective. Note that there were technical problems with the sound. The first about 30 seconds is very distorted, and the remainder has strange sounds in the background, but is listenable.
Future of Education 6-03-14 www.prolifick.com/futureofeducation
Ron Bauer, former General Manager of Bosch Rexroth, talks about changes in manufacturing and how those changes affect the types of people and skills that are in demand today. Manufacturing and related trade areas have many good jobs available today that local companies are having a hard time filling. However, the level of skill and responsibility required for those jobs is much higher than in past years. Today very sophisticated technology does most of the routine work, and people are needed to manage, maintain, and improve the value of that technology.
Future of Education 5-20-14 www.prolifick.com/futureofeducation
JR Rivas, a recent Dieruff High School graduate, talks about how education influenced his life. JR is a great role model because, now barely 20 years old, he already owns three different Liberty Tax businesses in Allentown. JR describes what he believes needs to be incorporated in a modern effective public education.