Harvey Bischof is the President of the Ontario Secondary School Teacher's Federation. Erika Shaker is the Director of The Education Project at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. In this conversation we use the current Pandemic context as a backdrop to talk about the policy conversations that need to be having if we are going to adequately address the many equity issues that are staring us in the face these days. The inspiration for this conversation was a piece that Erika wrote for Beh...
May 02, 2020•37 min
In 2007, the World Health Organization released its report, A Safer Future—Global Health Security in the 21st Century. It would seem that not all of the recommendations, especially those around Pandemic planning were heeded. Drs. Marilyn Leask and Sarah Younie (DeMonfort University) join us today to talk about a chapter on pandemic planning in education that will be included in a new book that they are writing on System Design in education.
May 02, 2020•32 min
When Werklund School of Education Associate Dean, Dr. Amy Burns, learned that field placement for teacher candidates would be threatened due to the COVID-19 shutdown, she put her team to work to create an alternative experience. Dr. Burns is joined today by Dr. Astrid Kendrick, Director of Field Experience for the Community-based Pathway and teacher Candidate, Deanna Parker about how the creation of the Pandemic Field Placement. We learn how it was created, how it was implemented and how it migh...
Apr 30, 2020•25 min
According to the Institute for Learning Innovation, just 5% of what we learn in a lifetime takes place in school. In this conversation, ILI Executive Director, John Falk, talks about the other 95%. We talk about free-choice learning in the context of the current pandemic and we also explore how challenging the common assumptions about "learning loss" might help us leverage learning opportunities in a new way. Find out more about John's work at https://instituteforlearninginnovation.org...
Apr 29, 2020•37 min
In this LIVE radio conversation, educator, author and systems thinker, Michael Fullan is joined by former CEO of the Canadian Education Association, Ron Canuel to talk about the signals, signs, challenges and opportunities emerging in this time of COVID-19. We talk about the shifting policy landscape as well as new demands for a different type of education leadership moving forward.
Apr 28, 2020•37 min
Today on In Conversation, we head to Dorset UK to catch up with author Gail Aldwin. Gail has just returned from a 4 month Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO International) placement working in the Ugandan refugee settlement of Bidibidi. It was an experience focused on the area of early childhood access to education. In this conversation we find out about that work and how it has impacted her work as a writer.
Apr 24, 2020•32 min
Judith Koke is the Deputy Director and Director of Professional Development Institute for Learning Innovation, an organization committed to reshape the learning landscape by catalyzing innovation in lifelong, free-choice learning. In this conversation, we talk about the work of the organization and the opportunities for authentic learning in this time of pandemic and isolation. Learning more about Judith's work and the Institute for Learning Innovation by visiting https://www.instituteforlearnin...
Apr 20, 2020•24 min
Timm Holmes is an Ottawa-based writer and storyteller who has a real passion for teaching kids how to weave and tell stories. Hear about the connection between "telling" and "writing", a little about Timm's own history as a writer and a special excerpt from Peanut Butter & Dragon. (You're going to love this!) Find out more about Timm's work at http://timmholmes.com/
Apr 15, 2020•33 min
Dr. Ken Saltman, Professor of Education Leadership, UMass is joined by Erika Shaker, Director of the Education Project at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. We continue to dig deeper into issues around the privatization and corporatization of the Canadian public education space.
Apr 15, 2020•40 min
How is the current COVID-19 crisis impacting students who are already marginalized by the traditional structures of schooling? Are there ways of rethinking our current approach to remote learning to embrace the principles of culturally relevant pedagogy? Alison Gaymes is Centrally Assigned Principal for Principal Coaching, Equity & School Improvement with the Toronto District School Board. Ramon San Vicente is a principal with the Toronto District School Board, educational activist, and auth...
Apr 14, 2020•34 min
The Umbrella Project is a teacher-led curriculum and school based program created to help teachers, students and parents reframe our perception of challenges and strengthen the skills of well-being to positively cope with the everyday stresses of life. https://umbrellaproject.co/ In this conversation, Umbrella Project founder, Dr. Jen Forristal, joins me to talk about the initiative and the importance of coping skills in this time of worldwide challenge....
Apr 06, 2020•28 min
Ottawa-based educator, Rebecca Chambers, has been working to immerse her students in passion and inquiry-based learning for the past several years. Now she's taking her own passion and commitment to experiential learning one step further. Listen in as Rebecca introduces us to The Unlearn Academy! ( https://unlearnwithus.com )
Apr 01, 2020•22 min
Victoria Woelders, host of the Empathy Tales Podcast, in conversation with Stephen Hurley about a new project that brings a sense of hope and creativity to our current time. It's the COVID19ED Podcast. We talk about that project, the role of storytelling in times of challenge and the need for more creativity.
Mar 23, 2020•31 min
As we try to come to terms with the potential of long-term school closures in a COVID-19 world, many organizations are working to create learning environments that can help students, parents and educators keep the learning going. TED Ed (ed.ted.com) is a commitment to creating lessons worth sharing is an extension of TED’s mission of spreading great ideas. Today, I had the opportunity to speak with Ontario educator Will Gourley and Associate Director of TED-Ed Educator Talks, Stephanie Ng. Our c...
Mar 20, 2020•29 min
The Honourable Mrs. Margaret McCain is a Canadian philanthropist, the 27th, and first woman serving as, Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick. She is, perhaps, best known for her work in the promotion of early childhood education. The first report of the Early Years study was released in 1999 and this month, more than 2 decades later, the Wallace and Margaret McCain Family Foundation has published the 4th iteration of the study, providing Canadians with a compelling and robust vision for the way ...
Mar 02, 2020•30 min
Over the past few months, we’ve been exploring issues around our social commitments to public education, evidence that many governments have moved away from seeing education not as an investment, a cost centre, a market and, indeed, an industry. What’s at the heart of this apparent march towards privatization of public education? What can we, as a public do, to read the language that governments, corporations and even financiers are using when they talk about public education. Dr. Ken Saltman is...
Mar 01, 2020•33 min
Monica Kristin Blair is a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Virginia and a Jefferson Scholars Foundation Fellow. Blair’s dissertation is entitled, “From Segregation Academies to School Choice: The Post-Brown History of School Privatization." Monica sheds light on the history of the privatization of public schools in the US and suggests some of the signs that we may want to be watching for in the Canadian context. We also talk about how we might open up spaces for the conversation about privat...
Feb 20, 2020•32 min
Andréa Grebenc is Chair of the Halton District School Board. In this conversation, Ms. Grebenc shines a light on some of the aspects of public school funding that often go unnoticed and under-reported.
Feb 16, 2020•31 min
Amanda Brace is a grade 3 teacher based in Saskatchewan. She has also started a masters programme in education technology at the University of Regina. In this episode, we talk about the world of ed-tech, social media and what she is learning through her journey to begin her own podcast, EdTech Endeavours. You can find Amanda's work at https://edtechendeavours.wordpress.com
Feb 09, 2020•26 min
Ricardo Tranjan is a political economist and senior researcher at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Recently, Ricardo released a calculator that would allow Ontario citizens to measure the impact that government cuts to class sizes and the introduction of mandatory e-learning would have on staffing at their local schools. In this episode, we discuss the calculator against the backdrop of policy alternatives and the need for ongoing and robust debate about the future of public educatio...
Feb 09, 2020•28 min
Hetty Roessingh is a Professor at the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary. She is an advocate for restoring an approach to cursive writing grounded in current neuroscience research. In a recent article in The Conversation, Dr. Rooessingh points to the benefits of handwritten letters of love and legacy. Read Dr. Roessingh's piece in The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/handwritten-valentines-create-a-legacy-of-love-and-literacy-130365...
Feb 06, 2020•24 min
Harvey Bischof is the president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation, representing over 70 000 teachers and education workers across the province. In this conversation we talk about contract negotiations in a social media world, a narrative for mandatory e-learning and stories that inspire us to stand up for public education.
Jan 22, 2020•28 min
Terry Greene is a Digital Learning Advisor in Fleming’s Learning Design & Support Team, ON November 26th he was in Milan, Italy where he accepted the Open Education Award for Excellence in Open Pedagogy. In this conversation we talk about his adventure to Milan with his youngest daughter, his impressions of the conference he attended, and his IRL sightings and encounters. For more of Terry, be sure to listen to his Gettin' Air podcast right here on voicEd Radio.
Jan 22, 2020•26 min
Jael Ealey Richardson is an author, a broadcaster and the Artistic Director/Founder of the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD), held each year in Brampton, Ontario. In this conversation, we talk about Jael's book, The Stone Thrower, her own identity journey and the importance of diversity in the stories we tell, and the books that we read, as young people and as adults. For more on Jael, her website is a great starting point: http://www.jaelrichardson.com/...
Jan 17, 2020•34 min
Meet Scott Kelly, the "S" in BS Games. I caught up with Scott at the Mindshare Workspace in Erin Mills Town Centre where he was demonstrating his newest game: Mathemagicians Duel. We talked about his personal passion for games, some of the current trends in game design and some advice for new game designs
Jan 11, 2020•25 min
Randy LaBonté is the CEO The Canadian eLearning Network (CANeLearn), a Canadian registered not-for-profit society with a vision to be the leading voice in Canada for learner success in K-12 online and blended learning. Michael Barbour is Associate Professor of Instructional Design for the College of Education and Health Services at Touro University California in Vallejo, CA Together, Randy and Michael have co-authored a paper , “Sense of Irony or Perfect Timing: Examining the Research Supporting...
Dec 29, 2019•39 min
Steve Kaufmann is known to his 100.000 Youtube subscribers as an internet polyglot. His platform, Lingq.com provides a unique set of resources that enable people to learn different languages. In this conversation, we discuss Steve's approach and, in the process, challenge some of our standard assumptions that we've developed about our ability to learn and understand other languages.
Dec 27, 2019•35 min
Latifa Soliman is a student, a researcher and Graduate Assistant in the area of Education Leadership and Policy at OISE/UT in Toronto. In this conversation, we begin to explore the policies and practices that would better support the success of newcomers to Canada—both young people and adults. Some simple ideas, but also an acknowledgement of the importance of policy.
Dec 10, 2019•30 min
Donna Fry is currently the Superintendent of the Pine Creek School Division in Manitoba. Donna has worked extensively in the province of Ontario on the mobilization of e-Learning strategies and Initiatives. David Porter is the CEO of eCampusOntario, an organization that connects and supports the development of e-Learning thinking at the post-secondary level. This is the first time that Donna and David have spoken together, but something tells me that this may just be the start of some future wor...
Dec 10, 2019•32 min
Jennifer Binis is committed to complicated conversations about gender and/or education and/or assessment and/or history. Benjamin Doxtdater is a Canadian teacher and a member of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy /Oneida Nation, now teaching in Belgium On. their own, they are actively involved in critical approaches to the way we talk about education. Together, they deepen our understanding and appreciation for how those conversations can lead to change in theory, policy and practice.
Nov 28, 2019•42 min
