"Why are we trying to get back to "normal” if normal was broken?" In this week's episode Neema Avashia and Jen Ploeger stop by to talk about how the pandemic has created a disruptive moment in education, and how we should use it as an opportunity to improve the system as a whole.
Neema Avashia teaches ethnic studies in the Boston Public School system, and Jen Poeger is the Assistant Principal of La Follette High School in Madison Wisconsin. Both have accomplished incredible things and learned valuable lessons over the past year. Highlights from their conversation with Rod and Jal include: what classrooms should be focusing on as students return to in-person learning; what it means to re-socialize an entire school community; how we should leverage the pandemic disruption to re-think what "normal" schooling looks like; why saying all the right things isn't enough - educators need to start "walking the walk;" and emphasizing that there needs to be more dialogue between students and policy makers.