Welcome to the Counter Narrative Podcast, a show designed to change the way we talk, and think, about education. By sharing stories of successes and triumphs, we aim to challenge the dominant narrative that often negatively portrays our disenfranchised populations.

I’m your host, Charles Williams. An educator for 15 years, a current school principal in Chicago, and an educational consultant.

Let’s get started.

This episode is a pause to ponder segment. These biweekly sessions will allow me to share with you my personal thoughts and reflections on a wide spectrum of topics as they relate to education. It is my hope that you will be able to take something from these segments and apply it in a meaningful way as you continue to do amazing work. Remember, while we all have different roles, we all have a single job, educating our students.

In this episode I reflect on the need for deep, systematic change to address the current needs of education. The COVID-19 pandemic provided us with an opportunity to look at education in a very different way and to consider the myriad of possibilities on how we could best improve an antiquated system. Although innovative approaches were adopted, they are struggling to be maintained because the current system does not support them. Unless we address the foundational educational system, we face the very real possibility of returning to structures that we know do not work for all students.

Bonus Episode: How Do We Make Our Debates Happen?