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PODCAST

Getting Smart Podcast

This podcast has over 500 episodes highlighting developing trends in K-12 education, postsecondary and lifelong learning. Each week, Getting Smart team members interview students, leading authors, experts and practitioners in research, tech, entrepreneurship and leadership to bring listeners innovative and actionable strategies in education leadership. Be sure to also check out GettingSmart.com to stay on the cutting edge of innovations in learning.

education management

All Episodes

27:31

Why Entrepreneurship Is for Everyone | Live at the...

Getting Smart Podcast ·

2026/10/02

Live from the Uncharted Learning Summit in Chicago, Victoria Andrews and Shawnee Caruthers reflect on a community built around one big idea: entrepreneurship is for everyone. Through conversations with alumni, teachers, district leaders, and volunteers, they explore how Uncharted Learning's programs help students discover who they are, not just what they can build. You'll hear from a member of the very first cohort, a teacher who resigned and then got her passion for teaching back, a director whose

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31:53

They're Rethinking High School | Transformation...

Getting Smart Podcast ·

2026/09/29

A K-8 district isn't supposed to have a high school. Bostonia Global built one anyway, and rethought what high school could look like in the process. In this episode, Rebecca Midles talks with Nerel Winter (CEO of Bostonia Global), Johanna Simko (Principal of Bostonia Global High School), and David Rios (a Bostonia Global alumnus) about designing an in-district dependent charter high school from scratch, one built around competency-based learning, a K-12 "world of work" curriculum, and an advisory

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39:32

What $600 Million Buys You in School Redesign | Mike...

Getting Smart Podcast ·

2026/09/25

A school in Singapore just spent over $600 million reimagining what a classroom should be, and it's not what you'd expect. Mike Posthumus, learning design principal at Fielding International, walks through how Singapore American School rebuilt its campus around a real learning model instead of the traditional "cells and bells" classroom design, and why that distinction changes everything about how kids actually learn. He also shares how a much smaller, budget-friendly version of the same idea

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46:06

Why Being a Principal Has Become Impossible | Lindsay...

Getting Smart Podcast ·

2026/09/23

The job of "principal" has quietly become impossible, one person expected to coach every teacher, be the expert in every subject, set the vision, and be present in the community, all at once. In this episode, host Nate McClennen talks with Dr. Lindsay Whorton, president of the Holdsworth Center and author of "A New School Leadership Architecture," about why the traditional principal role has become unsustainable, and what school systems can do instead. Lindsay has worked with 89 school districts

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51:46

Khan Academy's founder on AI: "Hope isn't a strategy"...

Getting Smart Podcast ·

2026/09/16

Will AI upend education as we know it, or just get absorbed into the systems we already have? In this episode, host Nate McClennen talks with Sal Khan, founder and CEO of Khan Academy, about where AI is actually headed in schools, in the workforce, and in daily life. Sal shares his real thesis on the so-called "AI jobs apocalypse" and what he thinks the next five years actually look like. They talk through durable skills, what they really are, why they're hard to measure, and how Sal's new Khan-TED

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45:46

Are schools collecting too much data? | Dr. Kelly Page

Getting Smart Podcast ·

2026/09/09

Digital badges and credentials promise to finally show what a learner actually knows. Dr. Kelly Page says that promise has a dark side nobody's talking about. In this episode, host Mason Pashia talks with Dr. Kelly Page, a social design ethnographer and author of "When Credentials Cause Harm: Unpacking the Risks of Verifiable Learning and Work Records." Kelly has spent years documenting how well-intentioned credentialing systems can end up excluding, surveilling, or flattening the very people

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57:32

Catching Up: Meta's Billion-Dollar Payout, AI Search...

Getting Smart Podcast ·

2026/09/04

In this episode of Catching Up, Nate McClennen and Mason Pashia get into what happens after a $2.5 billion settlement lands, and whether "fund real life" is actually a better answer than another wave of mental health apps. They also talk through a study showing AI models recommend completely different schools depending on which one you ask, and why that's a bigger deal than it sounds. From there, the conversation turns to a real tension in AI and education right now: efficiency versus efficacy. Nate

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32:35

Janice K. Jackson Ran Chicago Public Schools. Here's...

Getting Smart Podcast ·

2026/09/02

Public education is facing a moment it hasn't seen in decades: shrinking enrollment, an explosion of school choice options, and real questions about who should even be in charge of a district's decisions. In this episode, host Mason Pashia talks with Dr. Janice K. Jackson, former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, the nation's third-largest school district, and current executive director of the Aspen Institute's Education and Society program. Janice led CPS under mayoral control and has watched the

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50:45

The $1,700 School Tax Credit Public Schools Should Be...

Getting Smart Podcast ·

2026/08/26

A new federal tax credit is launching in January 2027 that could bring real money into public schools, and most districts don't even know it exists yet. In this episode, host Nate McClennen talks with Antonio Parés, founder and principal of Walnut Hill Workshop, about the Education Freedom Tax Credit, also known as the Federal Tax Credit for Scholarships, or FTCS. The program lets any taxpayer redirect up to $1,700 to a scholarship-granting organization, or SGO, at zero net cost to themselves

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32:28

Are We Designing Schools for Systems or for People? |...

Getting Smart Podcast ·

2026/08/19

Dr. Jane Shore is an education researcher, school co-founder, and author of "People-Based Learning: The Future of Learning is Human" (Routledge, 2026). She joins host Rebecca Midles to talk about her three-part framework, connect, reflect, and affect, and why the future of education depends on human connection, not just technology. Jane is the founder of School of Thought PHL, a school built at the intersection of learning science, neuroscience, and visual thinking. Jane's Book:

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49:01

Why 'Why Am I Learning This?' Is the Most Important...

Getting Smart Podcast ·

2026/08/14

In this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, host Mason Pashia sits down with Edson Barton, CEO and co-founder of YouScience, to explore what it truly means to build a credentialing system that delivers value to learners, not just paperwork. Drawing on Utah's landmark House Bill 260, which mandates stackable credentials for all graduates and positions YouScience as the infrastructure powering that vision, Edson and Mason unpack what an end-to-end career readiness ecosystem looks like when it is

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49:29

Catching Up: Job Cliff, Enrollment Drop, and the...

Getting Smart Podcast ·

2026/08/12

In this episode of Catching Up, Nate McClennen and Mason Pashia tackle three of the most urgent tensions in modern education. They explore a landmark Penn study revealing that while AI can streamline lesson planning, it may inadvertently erode student intrinsic motivation and engagement. The hosts also dive into the "truancy triangle"—a framework for understanding chronic absenteeism that balances policy and wraparound support with the often-overlooked necessity of designing learning experiences

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31:33

How Can Districts Turn Jobs Into Degrees to Build...

Getting Smart Podcast ·

2026/08/05

Reach University is rethinking higher education with a simple but powerful idea: turn jobs into degrees. In this conversation, Joe Ross shares how apprenticeship degrees can help districts grow their own teachers by investing in the talent already in their buildings. From paraeducators to support staff, this model creates affordable pathways into the profession while strengthening local workforce pipelines. The episode explores teacher prep, higher education, lifelong learning, and new pathways

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38:13

Tell Story: Tyson Yunkaporta on Deep Time,...

Getting Smart Podcast ·

2026/07/29

In this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Mason Pashia and Jason Cummins sit down with Tyson Yunkaporta for a thought-provoking conversation on Indigenous knowledge, relational learning, and the role of schools as spaces for dialogue, contradiction, and meaning-making. Together, they explore how language shapes worldview, why Indigenous leadership brings vital governance protocols to education, and how schools can move beyond reinforcing boundaries to becoming places where relationships,

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52:14

How are theatre education and gamification related? |...

Getting Smart Podcast ·

2026/07/22

On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Mason Pashia sits down with Gersom de Koning to explore theater education as a transformative practice. Their conversation examines how drama builds confidence, collaboration, leadership, and transferable skills while also offering a powerful model for gamification, exploration, and learning through productive failure. From arts integration and technical theater to the future of live performance in an AI world, this episode highlights why theater

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27:10

Transformation Journey: Liberty Public Schools

Getting Smart Podcast ·

2026/07/15

In this episode of The Getting Smart Podcast with Liberty Public Schools, Rebecca Midles introduces how Liberty Public Schools, located just north of Kansas City and serving about 12,000 students, is reimagining learning through real-world experiences and personalized pathways. The conversation features Julie Moore, Assistant Superintendent for Innovation and Learning, and Sarah Wickham, Director of Real-World Learning, who share the story behind Edge, a microschool embedded within Liberty High

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48:58

How can Empathy Interviews Change Education for the...

Getting Smart Podcast ·

2026/07/01

In this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Mason Pashia talks with Chris McNutt of Human Restoration Project about how empathy interviews can help schools move beyond traditional surveys and toward more meaningful, student-centered change. The conversation explores Polaris, a platform designed to gather and analyze qualitative student voice data at scale, and highlights how districts are using these insights to strengthen belonging, improve inclusion, and redesign learning experiences. From

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52:52

How Do Schools Build Durable Skills? | Michael...

Getting Smart Podcast ·

2026/07/01

On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Mason Pashia is joined by Michael Crawford of America Succeeds and Chris Unger of Northeastern University to explore what it really takes to help young people build durable skills. Drawing on a 16-month study of 12 innovative high schools, they discuss how schools can make skills like collaboration, communication, and critical thinking explicit, visible, and measurable through authentic learning, reflection, advising, and real-world experiences. The

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28:47

What If Every Graduate Left With a Plan? | Dr....

Getting Smart Podcast ·

2026/06/24

In this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Shawnee Caruthers sits down with Dr. Whitney Oakley, superintendent of Guilford County Schools, to explore the Guilford Guarantee—a bold district commitment that every graduate leaves high school with college credit, an industry-recognized credential, or a meaningful work-based learning experience. The conversation highlights what it takes to build real-world learning at scale, from family and student listening to employer partnerships, advising

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47:35

How Can Classrooms Teach Democracy? | Dr. Douglas Yacek

Getting Smart Podcast ·

2026/06/17

Outline (0:00) Introduction & Ancient Grains (6:45) Teaching Across Contexts (11:39) The Stimulation Gap (17:36) The Hook, Pitch, Awakening & Strengthening Framework (28:14) Civics, Democracy & the Classroom (37:19) Civic Virtues & the Role of Schools Links Read the full blog here Watch the full video here Dr. Douglas Yacek LinkedIn

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