What if schools are doing exactly what they were designed to do, but we've simply outgrown the design? This week, Rod and Jal welcome Caleb Collier for a wide-ranging conversation about one of education's biggest questions: What is school actually for? Drawing on history, philosophy, and years of experience building learner-centered schools, Caleb argues that our education system has prioritized efficiency, compliance, and workforce preparation over something far more important—human flourishing.
Caleb Collier is the co-founder of The Forest School and The Institute for Self-Directed Learning in Fayetteville, Georgia. He is also a co-founder of Story Arts, a creative storytelling collective of schools in Atlanta, Georgia, has a PhD in Language and Literacy (Georgia State University), and has published books and articles on the field of education. Highlights from his conversation with Rod and Jal include: why schools may be producing exactly the outcomes they were built to produce; why those outcomes may no longer be preparing students for the future; lessons traditional schools can learn from camps, apprenticeship, and Indigenous approaches to learning; the importance of decision making and even failure in the classroom; considering the difference between cultivating intelligence and cultivating wisdom; how AI and rapid technological change make adaptability more valuable than memorization; and a lightning round that covers beard maintenance and a case of mistaken identity.
Check out Caleb Collier's Substack
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