143. Creating the Right Ecosystem for Student Growth with Chris Menagé

We’re not supporting our youth in developing into well-rounded individuals, and one of the culprits is our educational system, which isn’t set up to inspire greatness. This is a challenge we can remedy. So why aren’t we?

Especially when there are educational leaders, like Chris Menagé, who create systems and opportunities to do things differently.

This week on the podcast, Chris is sharing the importance of developing human and social capital in a way that works for our youth. That means making sure our students are inspired and seeking out learning for the sake of learning instead of sitting through old school lessons. And it means finding ways to prioritize thriving instead of simply surviving.

Chris stresses that encouraging children to find balance and use their intuition in the classroom is incredibly important so they can take ownership of their learning. Education is an investment in our children, but only when it empowers them.

Chris is an educator who believes a world of change needs learning to change so he designs award winning learning experiences that are all about meaning, not things. Through e²: educational ecosystems’ framework, Chris advocates for education’s upstream role: to learn from, share with and contribute to, building capacity in social capital. 

• [1:36] - School transformation interest through life experiences
• [2:06] - Focus on relationships and holistic approach to education is a lifelong process
• [3:00] - What is human and social capital and how to use it educational systems
• [3:31] - Social capital is combination of our collective wherewithal - collective abilities, skills, dispositions, lived experiences 
• [5:25] - How to use this capital in educational systems
• [6:26] - Move from restrictive mindset to more collaborative approach
• [7:53] - Effective learning strategies build capacity to be eco-centered
• [8:51] - Balance and intuition as two senses
• [10:21] - Where can we start to create the whole experience
• [11:26] - Be okay with the imperfect process
• [12:57] - COVID provided an  opportunity to pause and reassess our drivers
• [15:30] - Education is a resource that’s intensive and costly; we don’t look at this work as an investment
• [18:01] - When you invest in resources, kids start learning with passion and purpose
• [18:50] - Turbo Time
• [20:03] - What people need to know about activating human and social capital
• [20:32] - Diagnosis vs. intervention is an approach to well-being
• [21:26] - Despite all the advances we’ve made, if we were to look at trends we see at the moment, I don’t think we have much to lose to look at things differently
• [25:56] - Chris’s Magic Wand
• [27:17] - Maureen’s Takeaways 

• Educational Ecosystems
• Follow Educational Ecosystems on LinkedIn
• Follow Educational Ecosystems on YouTube
• The Future of Smart: How Our Education System Needs to Change to Help All Young People Thrive by Ulcca Joshi Hansen PhD
• Email Maureen

• Maureen’s TEDx: Changing My Mind to Change Our Schools

• The Education Evolution
• Facebook: Follow Education Evolution
• Twitter: Follow Education Evolution
• LinkedIn: Follow Education Evolution
• EdActive Collective
• Maureen’s book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids

• Micro-school feature on Good Morning America
• The Micro-School Coalition
• Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition
• LEADPrep