Does our co-host, Jal Mehta have any original ideas, or did he learn everything from his mother? Louise Mehta stops by to answer that question and many more in this special episode of Free Range Humans.
Our first episode of the new year features two parts: an opening conversation between Rod and Jal addressing the latest COVID surge and what it means for education systems, and a one-on-one conversation between Jal and his mother, Louise Mehta, as they connected during the holidays.
Louise Mehta has been a teacher, administrator, and Associate Head of the Park School in Baltimore, Maryland, and most importantly, Jal's mother. Highlights from their conversation include: those who inspired and transformed Louise's perspectives on education; what Louise has learned over 30 years about how to support teachers and their growth; the role of students in hiring and whether too much student agency can be a bad thing; what policy changes we would need to professionalize teaching; why Harvard should train more teachers and fewer leaders; whether Jal's Mom thinks he can teach at an ed school without having been a classroom teacher; and exploring whether Louise is truly a "free range human."
Louise's conversation begins at 18:28 following Rod and Jal's intro segment.