Alisa Berger makes her second appearance on the podcast and engages with Rod and Jal in a friendly debate over where the change in school systems should stem from: schools or districts. They discuss what role schools and districts can play, give examples of significant change, and push each other on their theories of change.
Alisa Berger was the founding principal at both the NYC iSchool, a New York City public high school, and the Mott Hall II school, a NYC public middle school. She currently teaches at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in the Professional Education Program, and is Co-Director of The Deeper Learning Dozen. Throughout the conversation, Alisa will argue for schools, Rod will argue for districts, and Jal will serve as the moderator, while also reflecting on the overall debate. Highlights from the episode include: why context is so important to the change conversation; the various roles schools and districts play when trying to transform education systems; how size and scale can create both challenges and advantages; reasons for tension between schools and districts - sometimes a painting schedule becomes problematic; how the two entities can help each other; and an opening segment that ponders whether Producer Gino would make a good speaker of the house!
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