Trending In Ed with Mike Palmer

Sunanna Chand, Executive Director of the Reinvention Lab at Teach For America, champions a bold vision for education. She discusses the 'Radical Departures' framework, advocating for collective learning goals over mere test scores. Chand critiques outdated pedagogical models, proposing credit flexibility that allows community-based learning and reimagining educator roles in an AI-centric world. She emphasizes that teaching remains an essential, resilient profession, rooted in human connection and community engagement.

Host Mike Palmer interviews Joshua Jones, CEO and Founder of QuantHub, an AI company focused on education and skills development. Jones, who previously co-founded the data science consulting firm StrategyWise, explains that QuantHub originated as an internal tool before spinning out to focus on delivering micro-learning chunks that target individual learners' specific needs. Jones offers sharp insights into the AI revolution: he argues that the focus has shifted from data science to tech literacy, including AI literacy, and understanding the "art of the possible." He emphasizes that successful AI implementation requires human factors and change management, noting that smart models will fail without proper "boots in the ground" support. Delving into the accelerating pace of change, Jones cites World Economic Forum data showing that critical thinking and creativity are increasing in importance for employers, while foundational skills like reading, writing, and math are decreasing. This suggests that understanding why you're using a tool is more critical than knowing the tool itself. The report also indicates that the structural job churn rate has jumped from an estimated 1% to about 4.5% per year, making continuous learning a necessity. Jones also tracks emerging technologies like quantum computing and robotics, predicting a significant market impact from 3D environment technologies around 2028. Here are the slides Josh references during the episode. Key Takeaways: - Skills Evolution: Critical thinking and tech literacy (including AI literacy) are becoming more valuable than specific technology skills as tools constantly change. - AI Implementation: Successful AI integration requires human support and change management; smart models can fail if people feeding them data don't understand the value of the technology. - Pace of Change: The speed of change in industry is quickening. The structural job churn rate has jumped from about 1% to about 4.5% per year, making continuous learning a necessity to keep up. - Learning Progression: Foundational data skills should be introduced in middle school, creating a path that extends through K-12, higher education, and professional development. Subscribe to Trending in Ed wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an insightful conversation like this one. Time Stamps: 00:00 - Introduction to Josh Jones, CEO of QuantHub 07:54 - Leading QuantHub through Disruption and the Importance of Human Factors 16:40 - World Economic Forum: Shifting Importance of Skills 27:48 - Emerging Technologies: Quantum Computing and Robotics 38:00 - Closing Thoughts: The Compounding Effect of Continuous Learning

AI permeates K-12 education, but the rush to adopt new tools often bypasses critical questions about equity, bias, and human connection. On this episode of Trending in Education, host Mike Palmer sits down with Stephanie Smith Budhai and Marie K. Heath, co-authors of the new book Critical AI in K-12 Classrooms: A Practical Guide for Cultivating Justice and Joy. Together, they dismantle the "myth of inevitability" surrounding EdTech and explore how educators can reclaim agency in the face of rapid technological change with AI. From the historical resistance of Sojourner Truth to the concept of the classroom as a "Home Place," the conversation offers a refreshing, techno-skeptical framework that prioritizes student flourishing over big tech's framing. Key Takeaways: - Reframing the Narrative: Why "Justice and Joy" must remain central to education, ensuring schools are spaces of affirmation rather than just sites of data extraction. - The "Home Place" Concept: How bell hooks’ notion of a "Home Place" helps teachers create safe harbors where students can critically interrogate harmful AI outputs and resist standardized bias. - Sojourner Truth as Metaphor: A look at how Sojourner Truth co-opted and subverted the cartes de visites photography of her day to fund abolition—and how modern students and educators can similarly "sell the shadow to support the substance". - Pedagogies of Resistance: An overview of culturally sustaining, fugitive, and abolitionist pedagogies that equip teachers to challenge oppressive structures within AI and educational technology. - The Four Ps of Action: Practical steps for moving forward through Personal, Professional, Pedagogical, and Participatory action. Why You Should Listen: This conversation moves beyond the basic "how-to" of generative AI tools. Instead, it tackles the moral and ethical dimensions of bringing powerful, often biased technologies into the classroom. If you are an educator, administrator, or parent looking for a way to navigate the AI hype with your values intact, this episode provides the historical context and practical strategies needed to foster true digital agency. Like, Share, and Follow wherever you get your podcasts to stay ahead of the curve on the future of learning. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com for more. Time Stamps: [00:00] Intro: Criticality in the Age of AI [01:58] Stephanie’s Origin Story: From Nursing to EdTech [04:58] Marie’s Origin Story: Reluctant Teacher to Critical Scholar [09:25] Writing the Book: Centering Justice in Tech [11:20] Why Justice and Joy Matter [16:00] Bell Hooks and the Classroom as "Home Place" [20:30] Confronting AI Bias: The "High School Boy" Example [23:00] Sojourner Truth and Co-opting Biased Tech [29:00] The Myth of Inevitability: Do We Have to Use AI? [33:00] Culturally Sustaining, Fugitive, and Abolitionist Pedagogies [41:40] The 4 Ps: Taking Action Towards Just AI [44:00] Conclusion

Dr. Adam Gamwell returns to Trending in Education to explore the evolving collision of anthropology, artificial intelligence, and the human experience. Since his last appearance in 2019, the technological landscape has seen seismic transformations—from the pandemic to the explosion of generative AI. Host Mike Palmer and Adam discuss why the anthropological imagination is more critical than ever for navigating these changes. Adam details his transition from predicting trends to actively building AI tools with his organizations, Anthrocurious and Clueful. He argues that anthropologists must move beyond critique and become makers to ensure human context remains central to technological development. The conversation spans the fragmentation of modern culture, the "Prometheus moment" of AI adoption, and the challenge of maintaining epistemic security in an era of digital exhaust and "AI slop." Mike and Adam also tackle the personal side of the equation: parenting and education. They discuss the atrophy of critical thinking skills, the insights Western parents can learn from Maya and Inuit child-rearing practices, and the importance of designing "socio-petal" technologies that bring people together rather than driving them apart. Key Takeaways: - Anthropologists as Builders: Adam emphasizes the need for social scientists to get their hands dirty with code. By moving from pure critique to "vibe coding" and software development, anthropologists can bake human context and ethics into AI tools from the ground up. - The Fragmentation of Culture: The internet and algorithmic feeds have fractured the monoculture into isolated microcultures. Understanding this landscape requires using the very tools—AI and large-scale data analysis—that helped create the fragmentation in the first place. - Critical Thinking as Muscle Memory: Just as language acquisition changes after age five, critical thinking is a skill that can atrophy without practice. Over-reliance on generative AI in education risks weakening the cognitive muscles students need to evaluate truth and context. - Ancient Wisdom for Modern Parenting: Adam and Mike discuss the book Hunt, Gather, Parent and how indigenous practices of patience and autonomy offer a counter-narrative to the high-control, high-anxiety style of Western parenting in a digital age. Why You Should Listen: This episode offers a refreshing departure from the standard "robots will take our jobs" narrative. Instead, it provides a grounded, human-centric framework for understanding how we co-evolve with our tools. Whether you are an educator worried about AI plagiarism, a parent navigating screen time, or a tech enthusiast interested in how "thick data" can improve large language models, Adam’s insights bridge the gap between high-level academic theory and the practical realities of daily life. If you enjoy this conversation, please like, follow, and share Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts. Timestamps: [00:00] Intro and welcome back to Dr. Adam Gamwell. [02:40] From predicting the future to building software: Anthropology meets AI. [07:45] Robots, agentic AI, and keeping humans in the loop. [11:00] Taste, community, and the human elements AI cannot automate. [13:30] Cultural fragmentation and the challenge of sensemaking. [21:10] The atrophy of critical thinking and the "training wheels" problem. [27:00] Parenting in the digital age: Lessons from Hunt, Gather, Parent. [34:00] "Socio-petal" vs. "Socio-fugal" technologies: Designing for connection. [36:00] Mindshare and Klu: Making academic research accessible to business. [41:00] Conclusion and takeaways.

In this special on-location episode, Mike Palmer visits the headquarters of The Urban Assembly (UA) in New York City’s Financial District to sit down with David Adams, CEO of The Urban Assembly and host of the Innovations in Education podcast. We explore how David and his team have evolved from designing 22 high-performing schools in NYC to "designing tools" that solve critical constraints in public education. David breaks down his "Theory of Constraints"—analyzing how barriers like time, knowledge, and resources limit school outcomes—and how UA is using Artificial Intelligence to dismantle them. The centerpiece of this innovation is Project CAFE (Classroom Automated Feedback Environment). David explains how this AI-powered tool acts as an "instant replay" for educators, allowing them to view 10-second clips of their own practice—such as questioning techniques or student talk time—without the high cost or pressure of traditional observation. By reducing the cost of feedback to roughly $150 per teacher, CAFE is flipping the script on professional development, moving from an "avalanche of evaluation" to a "drip, drip, drip of professional development". We also touch on the Urban Assembly’s impressive results, including a record-breaking 92.4% graduation rate, and how their focus on social-emotional learning (SEL) and workforce readiness is reshaping economic mobility for students. Key Takeaways: - From Schools to Tools: How UA supports its network of 22 schools while building scalable solutions for the broader education system. - Project CAFE: An inside look at the AI tool that automates observation, offering private, low-stakes feedback for teachers to improve their "game tape". - The Theory of Constraints: Using AI to reduce the "time tax" on learning outcomes and instructional coaching. - Workforce Readiness: How "CounselorGPT" and Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways are moving students from "guessing to guidance" regarding the labor market. - Record-Breaking Outcomes: Discussing the 92.4% graduation rate and the 100% success rate at the Urban Assembly Institute for Math and Science for Young Women. Next Step for You: Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com for more.

Mike Palmer returns to the Thanksgiving table to serve up a side of applied neuroscience. Powered by the recently released Gemini 3, he examines the "gratitude cocktail," a potent neurochemical mix of dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin that mimics the effects of antidepressants and strengthens social bonds. Beyond the chemistry, Mike explores the psychological framework of The Gap and the Gain by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy. He explains how measuring progress against an ideal future creates unhappiness, while measuring against the past generates resilience and satisfaction. The conversation shifts from theory to practice, detailing why gratitude stories are more effective than rote lists and how specific "Notice, Think, Feel, Do" protocols rewire the brain. Mike also debunks the tryptophan myth, explaining how carbohydrates and compelling narratives—like football—actually drive the post-meal nap. Finally, he reflects on the origins of Trending in Education, shares updates on the new Trending in Higher Ed feed, and previews upcoming live events from SXSW EDU to Alexandria, Virginia. Key Takeaways - The Gratitude Cocktail: Gratitude activates the brain’s reward centers. Dopamine drives motivation, serotonin stabilizes mood similar to SSRIs, and oxytocin fosters trust and bonding. - Mindset Shift: "Gap thinking" focuses on the distance between your actual self and an unreachable ideal, leading to burnout. "Gain thinking" measures your actual self against your past self, highlighting progress and abundance. - Stories Over Lists: Rote gratitude lists often lead to mechanical habituation. Constructing gratitude narratives creates stronger neural pathways and emotional connections. - The Science of the Nap: It isn't just the turkey. Tryptophan is a precursor to serotonin and melatonin, but the heavy carbohydrate load and the relief of social bonding are the real drivers of sleepiness. - Podcast Expansion: Trending in Education is expanding its network with a dedicated Trending in Higher Ed feed to allow listeners to dive deeper into specific verticals. Why You Should Listen This episode moves beyond the platitudes of "giving thanks" to reveal the biological mechanisms that make gratitude a high-performance tool. If you find yourself doomscrolling or fixating on what you haven't achieved, the "Gap and The Gain" framework offers a practical method to reset your cognitive baseline. Mike connects these mental models to tangible brain health, offering a compelling argument for why gratitude is essential fuel for resilience and innovation. Like, follow, and subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com for more. Here's the link to the Horacio Sanchez episode on Applied Neuroscience. And this is the link to our first Don't Be A Turkey, Learn to Be Grateful episode. The Education Equation with Jeremy Singer Innovations in Education with David Adams Time Stamps: 00:00 Introduction to the Neuroscience of Gratitude 00:49 The Science Behind Gratitude 02:01 Neurochemistry and Brain Health 04:01 The Gap and the Gain Framework 07:05 Practical Applications of Gratitude 09:18 Gratitude in Daily Life 13:48 Personal Stories and Reflections 19:49 Upcoming Projects and Gratitude 25:49 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

In this special episode, we welcome back Lindsay Whorton, President of the Holdsworth Center, to discuss her new book, A New School Leadership Architecture: A Four-Level Framework for Reimagining Roles. We dive into why the current model for school leadership is unsustainable and explore a new framework for building capacity and driving results in Texas public schools and beyond. The Holdsworth Center is a nonprofit focused on building and strengthening leaders for Texas public schools. Texas educates 10% of the nation's children, and the challenges faced there—like high teacher turnover and the increased complexity of the principal and superintendent roles—reflect national trends. Lindsay explains that we have created leadership roles that are "pretty close to impossible" for an average person. A core mistake is the assumption that if educators simply work harder and build the right skills, everything will be fine. We argue that the old model of the principal as the single "hero" responsible for the development of all 30-40 teachers must evolve. Lindsay's framework offers a way to diagnose and restructure leadership roles to create shared leadership and meaningful stepping stones for development. It's about getting clear on the different leadership jobs and how they relate, moving away from an unhelpful hierarchy and toward an ethos of sharing power. Key Takeaways: - The Impossible Job: The current principal role, where one person is the primary developer for an entire staff of 30-40+ teachers, is unsustainable, especially with new teachers entering the profession with limited preparation. - The Four-Level Framework: The book outlines a four-level architecture—Team Member, Team Leader, Bridge Leader, and School Leader (Principal)—each with a unique leadership mission for building capacity and delivering results . - The Bridge Leader: This key middle layer is vital for coaching Team Leaders, ensuring coherence, and connecting the different levels of the school. It also creates meaningful, smaller-jump development opportunities for future principals. - A Shift in Identity: Moving into new leadership roles requires not just new skills and time allocation but a fundamental shift in professional identity, often requiring leaders to "release control" and trust their colleagues. - AI and the Human Core: As technology changes the future of work, cultivating the "most human" skills—like recognizing the beautiful, feeling confident, and building relational capacity—becomes even more critical in education. Why You Should Listen: If you work in education, you understand the increasing pressure on school leaders and teachers. This conversation offers a practical, thoughtful, and evidence-based way to rethink your school's operating structure, unlock the untapped leadership potential (the "stranded brilliance" we discuss) in your building, and create a system where success doesn't depend on "superheroes". We provide a blueprint for supporting your current staff while developing the next generation of resilient school leaders. Subscribe, like, and follow Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts. Time Stamps: 00:00 Welcome Back to Trending in Education 00:16 Introducing Lindsay Whorton and Her New Book 01:18 The Holdsworth Center's Mission and Impact 03:03 Challenges in Leadership Development 07:52 The Importance of School Culture 11:45 Reimagining School Leadership Roles 15:44 Developing Leadership Capacity 17:58 Transitioning from Teacher to Coach 19:26 The Player-Coach Experience 20:39 Challenges in Professional Development 21:29 Introducing the Four-Level Leadership Framework 22:18 Exploring the Four Levels of Leadership 24:20 The Role of the Bridge Leader 28:12 Leadership and Control 29:50 The Impact of AI on Education 33:02 Final Thoughts and Appreciation

Matt Dalio, founder and CEO of Endless Studios, joins host Mike Palmer to explore the profound connection between games, technology, and workforce development. Matt, who grew up with an early global perspective—including a transformative year in China at age 11—brings his philanthropic drive to the world of scalable tech solutions . We dive into how Matt's company, Endless, initially focused on providing computers in emerging markets, realized that skills are what truly pay the bills. A simple math game, Tux Math, engaged students in a way traditional instruction could not, with classrooms full of kids shouting multiplication tables . The even bigger revelation? Many top tech entrepreneurs, including Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, started by hacking their games . Matt asserts that the goal is to transform kids from consumers to creators. We discuss how game creation, using tools like Unity and GitHub, develops five core, high-value disciplines: coding, design, digital art, management (product/project), and marketing/business analysis . These skills translate directly into a modern, AI-augmented workforce, where the ability to architect and validate production software is crucial. Key Takeaways: - From Consumption to Creation: We need to move young people from passively using smartphones (consumption devices) to actively creating with devices that have a keyboard and mouse (creation devices), fostering a "lean forward" mindset . - The Power of Hacking and Games: Learning starts when it becomes more fun to hack your games than to play them, leading to the development of deep, technical understanding. - Five Core Disciplines: Game design is a launchpad for learning highly employable, durable skills in coding, design, digital art, management, and go-to-market business analysis . - A New Model for Learning: The future of education involves immersing students in real projects on collaborative platforms like GitHub, replicating the workforce environment to teach mindsets like autonomy, agency, and teamwork . - AI and the Future Developer: AI is a powerful tool, but it demands new skills: prompt engineering, chaining agent tools, and knowing how to architect, read, and debug production-level code to avoid technical "slop" and security issues. Why You Should Listen: The gap between traditional education and the demands of the AI-driven workforce is wider than ever. You'll hear Matt's global perspective on the rising number of high school students choosing not to pursue costly college degrees and the hunger for education in emerging markets. We discuss how the allure of video games—where the average kid spends 10,000 hours by graduation—can be channeled into productive, skills-building creation time . Matt shares an example of a Peruvian student who used his new skills to build a video game for rural communities to preserve their local language, illustrating the real-world, positive impact of this new educational approach . Listen to understand the model that could prepare the next generation to be "superhumans empowered by AI" . If you liked this conversation, be sure to like, follow, and share Trending in Ed wherever you get your podcasts. Ray Dalio's books referenced in the conversation: Principles: Life and Work and How Countries Go Broke: The Big Cycle Timestamps 00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome 00:57 Matt Dalio's Early Life and Influences 02:58 Journey into Technology and Philanthropy 04:07 The Power of Games in Education 06:39 Skills vs. Mindsets in the Workforce 11:10 Preparing for the Future Workforce 13:58 Global Challenges and the Future of Jobs 15:51 The Declining Value of Education 17:01 Global Perspectives on Education 18:52 The Power of Community and Mentorship 20:47 Learning Through Game Development 24:50 AI and the Future of Work 28:47 Encouraging a Maker's Mindset 31:29 Concluding Thoughts and Takeaways

On this episode of Trending in Education, host Mike Palmer talks with Halley Bowman, who focuses on curriculum and tutor training at Saga Education, and Katherine Huete, founder of the consultancy Estelita and a leader in scaling language support at Saga. We explore the powerful resurgence of high-impact tutoring, especially its critical role in supporting emergent multilingual learners (EMLs) in secondary math. Halley shares Saga's unique model, which integrates dedicated, small-group tutoring into the school day, making this high-impact intervention accessible to all students and leading to astounding results, including the closure of up to 50% of the opportunity gap. She highlights the importance of the individualized, caring relationship between a student and their dedicated adult tutor. Katherine, a former newcomer student who became a bilingual special education teacher, defines the shift to the more asset-based term, "emergent multilingual learner" (EML), which values all a student's languages rather than ranking them. We discuss the misconception that math is a universal language, needing no language support. We delve into the concrete, "bite-sized" strategies SAGA uses to train its diverse workforce of tutors—from recent college graduates to career changers—to effectively support EMLs without needing a deep education background. These effective, implementable strategies include using visual aids to provide context and reduce language barriers , and offering sentence frames to help students articulate their mathematical understanding. The conversation also emphasizes the value of translanguaging, where tutors encourage students to use all the languages in their linguistic repertoire to better cement knowledge. Finally, we address the role of AI in quickly generating translations and customized strategies, while emphasizing that the crucial human element of cultural responsiveness and building trust remains paramount. Key Takeaways: - High-Impact Tutoring is a Proven Solution: SAGA's in-school model closes up to 50% of the opportunity gap. - Math is Not Language-Proof: Math contains complex language, and even differences in punctuation (like using a comma instead of a decimal) can pose barriers for EMLs. - Small, Actionable Strategies Work: Tutors are trained using micro-learnings on implementable skills like providing visuals and sentence frames, which benefit all students, not just EMLs. - Translanguaging is Empowering: Encouraging students to use all their languages (e.g., Spanglish) helps them grasp and transfer mathematical concepts more effectively. - The Human Connection is Essential: Cultural responsiveness, including pronouncing a student's name correctly, builds the trust and respect that is fundamental to high-impact tutoring. Why You Should Listen: If you care about equity in education and the future of the teaching workforce, this episode provides a clear, evidence-based look at one of the most effective interventions available today. We offer practical, actionable insights into supporting multilingual learners in subjects often presumed to be language-independent. Like, follow, and share Trending in Ed wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe so you never miss an episode. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome 01:02 Meet Halley Bowman and Katherine Huete 03:00 The Evolution and Impact of Saga Education and High Impact Tutoring 06:16 Defining Multilingual Learners 08:06 Tutoring Strategies for Multilingual Learners 19:46 The Role of AI in Tutoring 23:26 Cultural Responsiveness in Education 25:04 Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Mike Palmer welcomes Carlo Rotella, a professor at Boston College and author of the book What Can I Get Out of This? Teaching and Learning in a Classroom Full of Skeptics. Rotella, who has an academic specialty in the cultures of cities and also writes for magazines like The New York Times Magazine, approaches his classroom as a "scene" much like a boxing gym or a music club, where people practice a craft and hone their "chops". We dive into the book, which captures the spring semester of 2020 and presents a narrative-style look at Rotella's required freshman literature course. He shares his mission: to change his students' initial question from "Can I get out of this?" to "What can I get out of this?" by treating the interpretation of literature as a learnable craft, not "sorcery or bullshit". Rotella explains how this approach requires us to build a strong classroom community, including policies like banning devices and expecting every student to speak at every class meeting. He reveals the effort required to get quiet students to participate, sometimes using techniques like rehearsing answers in office hours—just as a team practices a play. Rotella argues that in a world of AI and "endless number of talking heads" , the classroom remains a vital "haven" where students can build critical skills and practice analytical response to the world. 🔑 Key Takeaways - Teaching as a Craft: Rotella treats teaching the interpretation of literature as a practical, learnable craft, focusing on skills like pattern recognition and extracting meaning from the world. - Building Community: A core philosophy involves making the classroom a community where every student must "ante up" and contribute, often facilitated by a no-devices policy and the expectation that everyone speaks in class. - The Power of Face-to-Face: The pandemic and the rise of AI have made the physical classroom more valuable and "cutting edge" than ever as a unique human experience. - The Loneliness of the Modern Student: Today’s college students are highly accomplished but are also more anxious, isolated, and less comfortable with trial-and-error than previous generations. - Reading as Resistance: Reading is framed as an "athletic" exercise that builds mental "muscles in your core" like critical skills, attentional fortitude, and the ability to assess reliability—skills essential for navigating an AI-driven world. 🎧 Why You Should Listen If you're an educator, writer, or just curious about how humans truly learn in a time of radical change, listen in as Rotella shows us that the most memorable and lasting impact of a class often comes from the experience of working together—not just the content. We discuss how to use students' "violent reaction against a work of art as the way in" and why we need to show people how to move beyond outrage and into analysis. We close with Rotella's belief that a liberal arts education offers durable tools for life, reminding us of the enduring power of a shared intellectual experience—like the unforgettable image of a guy in an elephant suit. Do you want to hear more conversations on the future of learning? Subscribe, like, and follow Trending in Ed wherever you get your podcasts. Time Stamps: 00:00 Introduction to Carlo Rotella and His Book 01:04 Carlo's Professional Journey and Writing Career 02:15 Exploring the Classroom as a Scene 06:23 The Impact of the Pandemic on Teaching 08:39 Building Community and Engagement in the Classroom 12:21 The Value of Face-to-Face Learning 17:02 The Lasting Impact of Classroom Experiences 19:13 Understanding Reactions to Art 20:04 Insights into Gen Z's College Experience 21:31 Challenges and Changes in Modern Education 22:58 The Importance of Reading and Critical Thinking 25:28 AI's Impact on Education and Society 29:44 Teaching Strategies for the Modern Classroom 36:04 Final Thoughts and Takeaways