The future of education necessitates a profound humanization of our schools, where hope is cultivated and opportunities are created to serve humanity. In this episode of The Wheelhouse, we reflect on the enlightening conversations of Season 11, emphasizing the imperative of centering humanity in educational innovation. Our esteemed guests have challenged conventional notions of progress, revealing that humanity is not an ancillary aspect of education but rather its very foundation. We engage in a critical examination of emerging themes and tensions from our discussions, contemplating how these insights should inform our listening to students. As we synthesize our learnings, we recognize this moment as an opportunity to honestly assess our journey and the vital role of urgency in fostering environments where every student feels valued and empowered.

Additional Notes

The current discourse surrounding the future of education necessitates a profound transformation that prioritizes the human experience within schools. As elucidated by our esteemed panel, the essence of cultivating hope and ensuring that opportunities are accessible for every student is paramount. The discussions thus far in Season 11 have illuminated the notion that education must transcend mere transactional relationships and instead foster environments where each learner feels valued, capable, and empowered. Our guests, Dr. Janice Gobert, Chiara Latimer, S. Neal Currie, Jr., and Dr. Franklin Campbell Jones, have provocatively challenged our preconceived notions of innovation, asserting that humanity should serve as the bedrock of educational practices rather than a mere adjunct. The imperative to humanize education is not simply an ideal but a necessity that directly correlates with the aspirations and potential of our students.

The episode delves into the critical themes emerging from our dialogues, focusing on the tensions and complexities inherent in redefining what it means to be future-ready. It is evident that we must approach educational innovation with a lens that prioritizes humane practices, thereby ensuring that we do not fall into the trap of pursuing progress for its own sake. The urgency of fostering an inclusive environment where every student’s distinct identity is recognized and celebrated cannot be overstated. As we synthesize the insights gleaned from our conversations, we must remain vigilant in our commitment to creating schools that embody a human-centered ethos, where the experiences of students are at the forefront of our educational endeavors.

As we reflect on the multitude of voices that have contributed to this season, we are reminded of the importance of listening actively to the students who inhabit our educational spaces. Their perspectives are invaluable guides that can inform our practices and policies, ensuring that we remain responsive to their needs and aspirations. This moment of introspection serves not only as a pause but as a catalyst for renewed action, as we endeavor to cultivate educational environments that inspire joy and foster resilience. The conversations we have embarked upon serve as a clarion call for educators to embrace a sense of urgency in our collective mission to reimagine schooling as a fundamentally human endeavor, paving the way for futures that are not only innovative but also deeply compassionate and inclusive.

Takeaways:

• The future of education necessitates a profound humanization of our educational institutions, fostering environments where hope and opportunity flourish.
• In this podcast, we have engaged with brilliant educators who challenge conventional notions of innovation, emphasizing that humanity must be the core of educational practices.
• Our discussion has illuminated the importance of cultivating joy in learning, which can only be achieved through innovative practices that are deeply rooted in human values.
• We must acknowledge that the urgency to transform educational experiences for students is paramount; complacency impedes meaningful progress in our schools.
• The podcast has reiterated that every student must feel valued and supported in their individuality, underscoring the necessity for inclusive practices in education.
• Through our conversations, we have explored the vital role of empathy in education, advocating for a paradigm shift where student voices are prioritized and honored.

Join The Wheelhouse Company!

If you’re a like-minded educator who believes the future of learning must stay human-centered, we’d love for you to stay connected.

Follow Students Matter, LLC on Instagram or LinkedIn — or find any of us there: Kathy Mohney, Michael Pipa, Dr. Alicia Monroe, and me, Dr. Grant Chandler.

And we’re thrilled to invite you to step inside The Wheelhouse: Below Deck at Learn Harbor — our new online space where these conversations come to life.

It’s more than a platform — it’s a community.

A free, curated, safe harbor for educators, leaders, and thinkers who want to reflect, connect, and take action together.

Inside Below Deck, you’ll find our special segment: The Wheelhouse: All Hands on Deck, extended content from today’s episode —where purpose meets possibility and learning stays joyful, collaborative, and deeply human.

Join us at LearnHarbor.thinkific.com and become part of this growing movement to build Future Ready Schools — where innovation is always rooted in humanity.

Until Next Time Remember: Keep your doors open and your hearts even wider.

Welcome back to the Wheelhouse, a Students Matter podcast.

Today we're taking a pause, not to recap, but to make sense of where this season has carried us so far.

There's so much to talk about.

A new episode of the Wheelhouse begins right now.

The future of education depends on a radical humanization of schools.

Places where hope is cultivated, opportunities are opened, and innovation is harnessed to serve humanity.

Only then can we create futures worthy of each student's dreams.

We begin by cultivating hope.

We ensure possibilities are real and accessible.

We design futures rooted in humanity.

The future is already here, and it must be deeply human centered.

The Wheelhouse exists to create an inclusive community of empowered educators who believe that together, we can disrupt the transactional nature of schooling and reimagine what it means to learn, lead, and belong.

We envision districts, schools, and classrooms where every student feels confident, capable, optimistic, well supported, and emboldened to be and to become who they're meant to be.

Season 11 has pushed us to look at future ready schools through a deeply human lens.

And our guests, Dr. Janice Gobert, Kiara Latimer, Neal Curry Jr. And Dr. Franklin Campbell Jones, have not held back.

They've challenged our thinking, stretched our definitions of innovation, and reminded us that humanity isn't an add on in education.

It's the foundation.

In this episode, the Wheelhouse team steps back from the helm to look at the currents beneath these conversations.

What themes are emerging?

What tensions are impossible to ignore?

And how should all of this shape the way we listen to students?

This is our moment to slow down, synthesize, and get honest about what we've learned and what we haven't.

Before we turn the mic over to the people who experience our schools most directly, students, let's dive in.

Good morning, and welcome to the Wheelhouse.

This is episode 8 of season 11.

We're just here today.

We're just going to take a pause and think about all the great conversations that we've had so far in season 11.

So first, let me welcome the amazing Wheelhouse team of Kathy Mooney, Michael Piper, and Dr. Alicia Monroe.

Good morning, good morning, good morning, Dr. Grant Chandler, all of you.

You know, I. I always hear Grant introduce us, and so it takes great pleasure in introducing him.

Good morning, Dr. Grant Chandler to the space.

Well, good morning.

It's a pleasure to see Perfect Love.

That was well done.

Right?

Well done.

So, you know, this is.

You know, we are, of course, nearing the end of season 11 already.

Right.

So we have.

We have another episode next week that with a guest, and then we have our finale episodes.

And we've really started this conversation around future ready schools, innovation rooted in humanity.

And, you know, we've had some amazing guests, as we always do.

Dr. Janice Gobert has been with us.

Kiara Latimer has been with us.

Neal Curry has been with us, as has Dr. Franklin Campbell Jones.

And so I just want to start with, as you think about the conversations that we've had, what's been your biggest reaction, your biggest thoughts to anything that we've heard so far in season 11?

So with me, it's that mind blown emoji, right, that sits on the emoji dashboard.

It's like, you know, heart, eyes, mind blown emoji.

And why is your mind blown, Dr. Monroe?

Well, you know what?

Kathy was getting ready to speak and you know, oftentimes we track very similarly, but there's just, there's so many people wrapped around innovation rooted in humanity.

And it's really great that we have a space to uplift and elevate those voices, wisdom, insight, and thought.

As our guests came into the space, I started to calculate how many years they've had in education, years of toiling like we do right out there and just making it work for each and every student.

And it was definitely decades and decades of great work in the five different speakers that we've had.

So it's just, it's amazing that the takeaways from each one that show up in the podcast notes that you share with the public and the listenership in the audience, that's real.

Those are gems.

And I'm glad we're in a space that we're able to explore, discover and cultivate that for our listeners.

And you and I, just as you said, we tend to track the same way.

And that's exactly the, the part that I was going to lift up is that, you know, when we think about joy filled learning and really allowing, and not just allowing, but being a part of a space that lifts that up to know that these phenomenal educators are out there doing such deep work that when we think about what, what brings you joy, you know, and having those conversations with them, with people within our sphere of influence, it's really around that ability to understand how all of that is innovation rooted in humanity, because that's what it is.

In order to cultivate and uplift that joy in what it is that we're doing, it's highlighting the innovations that are happening that are continuing to be rooted in humanity.

Yeah.

I'm reminded of a theme that I felt got echoed in different Ways, whether we were talking with Dr. Chiara Latimer or Dr. Janice Gobert, Neil Curry, I felt like, before we think about innovation, what are our thoughts about humane practices and the degree to which that is the center of the work that we do?

Before we start to think about our innovations and feel proud and excited about these new kinds of progress, we stumble upon the rocks, it seems, quite frequently if we aren't leading with humanity.

And as an example, the other day I was just looking at a newspaper headline that was talking about how social services at the federal level are going to start using AI to make their eligibility decisions.

And there's already research about how poorly that works.

But it's innovation for innovation's sake.

And it, it smacks of innovation before centering humane practice.

And so I'm, I'm thinking about the human in the loop and where is that person in all of this and how easy it is to be carried in the inertia of what capitalism calls progress.

Innovation rooted in humanity doesn't come without first examining whether we are cultivating hope or killing dreams for each student.

We've got to build the space where each student matters, where each student matters, where they're important, where they are distinctive and irreplaceable, where we come to celebrate who they are.

And then we look at, okay, what are we doing to make sure that when they leave us, they have open doors, that they are full of possibility?

Because those lay the groundwork.

And certainly those are what we talked about in season nine and 10.

But it also lays the groundwork for, we're not talking about innovation for innovation's sake, as Michael just illustrated.

We're talking about innovative practices, ways to do this work work, ways to redesign education.

And Dr. Franklin Campbell Jones says it's going to cause a panic.

People are going to freak out a little bit.

Right?

To really think about, are we doing this within this realm of what it means to be human centered?

And I love centered and love so much how Dr. Campbell Jones is like, yeah, people are going to panic, but that's a good thing.

This process, this crisis, it's needed, it's necessary.

He steady.

You know, this is what, what has always happened.

This is what human communities do.

We need the crisis, apparently, and that's okay.

Let's keep our heads about us.

I, I, I just, I love that message.

What I liked was the, the underlying.

And, and Mike, you kind of, you were going there, that underlying understanding of human ethics and moral imperatives that regardless of, and I'm looking forward to hearing Your thought too, Grant, regardless of.

Because think about who we had in this space.

I read research all the time, and we talk about the generational divide, and what was represented in this space was the generational synthesis of understanding morality, ethics, and humanity.

Grant maps back to innovative practices.

We don't have to necessarily change the whole system with adding technology.

All we have to do is rethink, rediscover, and reimagine putting the human first.

Right.

So I think about, Michael, where you were getting to, and each conversation, regardless of who was represented in the space, the identifications, the classifications, the generation, all touched on a value system, principles, ethics and morality, and the fact that we respect every single human in the space.

And that's how we cultivate hope and open doors of possibilities.

I was just gonna add, and I think that's a beautiful.

That's a beautiful synthesis of what we've said so far.

I was just gonna add that there's also.

There has to be an element of urgency to do that work.

Because, you know, when Franklin said, you know, hey, it's gonna cause a panic, right?

And it is.

Right.

And it is what, you know, what I see is the barrier to being willing to go there is not feeling a sense of urgency, not recognizing how important this is, how important it is to change what children experience in school every day.

And that urgency, I think, is a huge part of the puzzle, because that urgency motivates, right?

If I know.

If I know that Kathy's not experiencing what it is I want her to experience, and I care deeply about that, I care deeply about that, then I'm more inclined to embrace innovation rooted in humanity.

But if I'm okay with, hey, the status quo, and we'll, you know, a little incremental increase here and there will be good.

And, you know, let's not upset the apple cart too much, you know, oh, yeah, got some kids mischeduled, eh, you know, move on.

We'll fix it when we.

When we fix it, eh?

That lack of urgency, I think, is a huge barrier to creating human centered environments for children.

And it's a systems level urgency.

So we feel that individually that the students that are in our space for that short amount of time are able to experience that.

But how, you know, how do we ensure that that sense of urgency, that sense of humanity, which, again, in my mind, I just keep going over and over with.

It's the easiest thing we could possibly do.

It doesn't require anything but us, Us.

There's no expense.

There's no.

No program.

There's there's nothing but costs nothing.

It costs nothing other than looking in the mirror to determine, like, why are we here?

Why are we in a space that we're entrusted with other people's children, if not for understanding our moral imperative?

That is.

That's what constantly rolls around in my head.

And so each one of our guests lifting these pieces and these messages are all rooted in that, Every one of them.

All three of you in your comments are making me think about a recent interview that Stephen Colbert did with the amazing author Jason Alexander.

He had him on his show, and he was asking, among other things, and I'm going to do a poor job of replicating it, but he was asking Jason Alexander.

You know, a lot of his work as a writer is, you know, appealing to, you know, I would say an adolescent audience in high school.

A lot of his texts are used in schools.

I've used his books in schools because the narratives are so powerful, because the scope and mastery of his storytelling is so powerful and so literary.

And Stephen Colbert is, you know, kind of asking him a question along the lines of, what is your take on this newest generation?

Are.

Are they.

Are they literate, literary people?

Are they.

I mean, there's a lot of criticism out there, and he was thoughtful for about a beat, and then he went on this beautiful ride, and essentially what he said was, if we care to listen to our youngest ones, we will learn exactly who they are.

Yeah, let's.

Let's talk about the criticisms.

The criticisms are that they're coddled and they're soft, they're snowflakes.

And the very things that we criticize them for are essentially boiling down to one attribute with an infinite number of expressions, and that's empathy.

This generation leads with a powerful sense of the importance of.

Of empathy and empathetic being.

And if we listen to them, not only will we learn, but a really important and humane portion of ourselves will be restored to us.

I suggest we do.

Was so great.

You know, Stephen Colbert just sits back in the chair, smiles.

Yeah, how did you follow up to that?

But it was just a very powerful moment about centering humanity.

But if you think about.

I mean, Franklin kind of said this in the.

One of the.

Whether it was in the main show or the after show.

I mean, he was talking about the fact that we have people our age and some younger, some younger, some younger who are delivering the experiences, extending the experiences to students, and yet they're of a different generation.

Alicia talks about this all the time.

Right.

And so it becomes really important as we think about innovation rooted in humanity.

You cannot do that without co creating that experience, without asking them.

Right.

Because it's really interesting to see what their take on the world, even just from, you know, just the things.

Was having a conversation with my kid and we were talking about some entertainer and I made a comment and he had absolutely no right.

Yeah, like who's that?

Right.

Are they dead?

Right.

So I mean like all of my experiences and all of his are vastly different.

And what he, you know, as a young father of a five month old, the world that he envisions is, you know, there are a lot of similarities, but there are a lot of differences in terms of how he sees the world versus how I do.

Right.

And he's out of school.

Think about what our 12 year olds and our 5 year olds and our 13 year olds and our 17 year olds think about the world that they are living in and the world that they're going to lead.

There is a recent moment in an observation that I was doing of a sixth grade classroom, a standalone class for our ENL students.

And one of the students, she's a sixth grader but from Turkey, and really early in the English language continuum.

She's just really at the entering stage and incredibly bright.

But the language, English that is being used for all of the learning that she's experiencing right now stands as a barrier.

And like all people, she is wanting to be seen, wanting her cognition, her intelligence to be welcomed, to be part of the conversation that's happening in class.

And it's the kind of classroom where she just raised her hand and without any hesitation, the teacher took out her personal device and handed it to her.

And what I had seen in that little exchange was this is something that they do naturally.

There's no conversation.

Google translator allowed her to ask her question in English and it totally enhanced the conversation.

And we have Arabic speakers, we have Spanish speakers, and everybody in that moment, Portuguese didn't matter.

Everybody was nodding their head in agreement as they were talking about learning in Japanese schools.

And it was a moment where technology and innovation allowed access and recognition of shared human experience.

With the human in the loop.

With the human in the loop.

Back to a Janus, you know.

Oh, Janus, right, yes, the human in the loop.

You cannot remove that.

And the classroom space that honors that student voice and understands that need for the student to be able to be heard.

And that student is totally comfortable in getting her need met, asserting herself, using the innovation in order to have access.

So Michael, let's think about the word that you just emphasized.

Honor, honor, dignity, irreplaceable.

Those are words that we use all the time.

Wholeness.

What is it to be whole?

And what are the barriers that interfere?

Well, when I thought about the Google Translate, we honor the language differences enough to provide something, some, some device that enables that voice to be in the space.

How do we do that with cultural differences?

How do we do that with social identifications?

Right.

If I, as the educator, do not want to activate my emotional intelligence and empathy enough to honor and uplift, then that identification or classification or identity is not seen or heard or valued.

So we start to have those conversations, not even within the students, because I think about Kiara Latimer's conversation with us around students who identify as neurodiverse.

But then I think about the Fundisha foundation, who is really focused on, focused on recruiting black male educators and them having safe spaces where they feel like they matter and they belong.

So as Grant opened up our conversation so eloquently, talking about mattering, it's about honoring that those, those individuals, those identities have value to a coexisted community.

And we can't honor until we're willing to explore the mental models that we are clearly carrying with us.

Absolutely.

So let's not be delusional within the context of co creation.

Co creation means that we are coexisting within community and we're honoring.

And if we're not doing that, we're delusional and we're really shortcutting ourselves because we are leading ourselves to believe something that exists that is no longer there.

Or never was, because we are on equal footing.

Just because we're the one facilitating learning doesn't mean that we aren't sharing the space equally.

That we're doing this together and that I, as the teacher, am no more important than every student in my classroom.

And in fact, I'm going to go take it a step further and say I'm actually far less important.

Right.

I am far less important.

Because what matters in my classroom, Sorry, teachers, I'm a teacher too.

But what really matters is what my students experience and what my students need in order to get to the finish line.

Not what I, as the teacher, I.

Think that goes back to the conversations or connects with conversations that we've had about that leadership.

And so what does that look like?

To be able to ensure, when we talk about those systems, to ensure that adults that all adults within the organization.

So whether it's a teacher in the classroom, it's the bus driver, it doesn't matter how Are we ensuring that we are constantly being coached and supported around those pieces so that we are fully showing up for our students, so that we are creating this coexistence within that.

So there isn't this walking in the door thinking, well, I'm not, I'm not being fed, I don't have what I need, so how am I supposed to provide this for students?

So what does that look like to ensure that?

Again, I keep saying this systematically, that all of those pieces that as an adult, I coexist within this learning community with the other adults so that I'm showing up for students to be the best that I can be and focused on each of them and not putting my needs before theirs?

If we're thinking about co created spaces, communities where we coexist, we have to understand that's inclusion.

So whatever way we choose to cut and splice it, it's inclusion.

Everyone in that space, starting with the person that's sitting right next to us.

Think about what Matthew said is diverse.

So I mean, I know we are not in the, what do we call it, below debt conversation, right?

But we need to really call it what it is because we are going to be future ready in our practices and our innovation is rooted in humanity.

And it's to understand.

And this is what I hear us all saying.

That's what we've been saying with each and every guest speaker that we've had, that that innovation rooted in humanity is based on the individual and every individual is diverse and we need to be inclusive in our practices.

And you'll notice we didn't say innovation rooted in some people's humanity.

That's right.

We said innovation rooted in humanity.

And so we are headed below deck in just a moment.

So we'll see you next week in the Wheelhouse.

And that's a wrap on season 11, episode 8 of the Wheelhouse.

A special thank you to the Wheelhouse team, Kathy Mone, Michael Pipa and Dr. Alicia Munro for navigating this season's journey toward future ready innovation rooted in humanity.

If you're a like minded educator who believes the future of learning must stay human centered, we'd love for you to stay connected.

Follow Students Matter LLC on Instagram or LinkedIn or find any of us there on LinkedIn.

Kathy Mone, Michael Pipa, Dr. Alicia Munro and me, Dr. Grant Chandler.

And we're thrilled to invite you to step inside the Wheelhouse Below deck at Lern harbor, our new online space where these conversations come to life.

It's more than a platform, it's a Community, a free curated safe harbor for educators, leaders and thinkers who want to reflect, connect and take action together.

Inside Below Deck you'll find our special segment the All Hands on Deck.

Extended conversation and content from today's episode where purpose meets possibility and learning stays joyful, collaborative and deeply human.

Join us at learnharbor.thinkific.com and become part of this growing movement to build future ready schools where innovation is always rooted in humanity.

Until next time.

Remember, keep your doors open and your hearts even wider.