Second Look Education

second look education

Second Look Education is a practitioner-scholar podcast hosted by experienced educators. Each episode begins with real moments from classrooms, teacher preparation, policy, and professional life — the moments that make us pause and take a second look. From there, we engage in shared inquiry, examining development, relationships, professional judgment, and the systems shaping teaching and learning. Thoughtful, evidence-informed, and grounded in practice, this podcast resists oversimplification and centers the conditions that make good teaching possible.

Episodes

  1. 4 DAYS AGO

    When Learning Has to Leave a Trace

    Episode Summary In this episode, we start with a simple moment — a child bringing home a stack of completed workbook pages — and follow it into a larger question: How did written work become the primary way schools recognize learning? We explore how assessment systems shape classroom tasks, why teachers rely on visible artifacts, and what may become invisible when proof becomes the priority.This is not an argument against worksheets — it’s an examination of what role they are quietly being asked to play. We close with practical ways parents and teachers can look beyond completion and notice understanding. Key Question When evidence of learning becomes the goal, what kinds of learning stop counting? Topics Discussed Observable vs. experiential learning Accountability and instructional design Task architecture in classrooms Developmental learning vs. documented learning Parent–teacher feedback loops Practical ways to surface student thinking Readings & Resources Mentioned Practitioner & Teaching Perspectives Elaine. 5 Reasons to Stop Using Workbooks. Hummingbird Learning Centrehttps://hummingbirdlearning.com/5-reasons-to-stop-using-workbooks/ Segar, Sara. Why I Don’t Give My Students Worksheets and What I Do Instead. Experiential Learning Depothttps://www.experientiallearningdepot.com/experiential-learning-blog/why-i-dont-give-my-students-worksheets-and-what-i-do-instead Research Sources Referenced in the Episode Utami, A. R., Aminatun, D., & Fatriana, N. (2020).Student Workbook Use: Does It Still Matter to the Effectiveness of Students’ Learning? Journal of English Language Teaching and Learning, 1(1), 7–12.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349654476_STUDENT_WORKBOOK_USE_DOES_IT_STILL_MATTER_TO_THE_EFFECTIVENESS_OF_STUDENTS'_LEARNING Osborn, J. (1984).Evaluating Workbooks (Reading Education Report No. 52). Center for the Study of Reading, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/items/17574/bitstreams/63193/data.pdf Foundational Research & Further Reading Shepard, L. A. (2000).The Role of Assessment in a Learning Culture. Educational Researcher, 29(7), 4–14.https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X029007004  Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998).Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment.https://people.bath.ac.uk/edspd/Weblinks/MA_Ass/Resources/Using%20assessment%20formatively/Black%20&%20Wiliam%201998%20PDK.pdf  Stein, M. K., & Smith, M. S. (1998).Mathematical Tasks as a Framework for Reflection (QUASAR Task Analysis Framework overview)https://www.nctm.org/Handlers/AttachmentHandler.ashx?attachmentID=wTjgEy0K1jw=  Dewey, J. (1938).Experience and Education.https://archive.org/details/experienceeducat00dewe Author Background & Related Scholarship The ideas discussed in this episode draw on research about how accountability systems influence classroom practice: Kelly, A. L. (2019).The High Stakes of Testing: Exploring Student Voice and Standardized Assessment through Governmentality. Brill Sense.https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004401365 Kelly, A. L. (2021).A Guide to High-Stakes Standardized Testing in the United States: A Historical Overview. Brill Sense.https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004511736_001 Try This After Listening Parents: Ask what was confusing today before asking if it was correct. Teachers: Decide whether a page is practice or documentation before collecting it — then respond accordingly. Follow us on Instagram: @secondlookeducation Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts| Watch on YouTube @secondlookeducation

    39 min

  2. 6 DAYS AGO

    Why We’re Taking a Second Look

    Welcome to Second Look Education. In this first episode, Amy and Candace introduce who we are, where we come from, and why this podcast exists. We are experienced educators, former classroom teachers, school leaders, researchers, and parents. We are not observing education from the sidelines. We are living it. We prepare future teachers while also watching our own children move through increasingly complex school systems. This show was created because we kept having the same honest conversations behind closed doors. Conversations about the growing gap between how teachers are prepared and how systems ask them to teach. Conversations about autonomy, compliance, developmentally appropriate practice, instructional scripts, technology, standardized systems, and the narrowing of professional judgment. Second Look Education is a practitioner-scholar podcast examining policy, curriculum, technology, and instructional trends through a developmental, relational, and classroom-reality lens. We are not neutral. We are thoughtful, evidence-informed, and grounded in lived practice. In this episode, we lay out: What we believe about children and learningWhat we believe about teachers and professional judgmentWhat we believe about systems and reformThe core questions that will frame every episode:Are we designing systems for compliance, or for human development? Who benefits from current structures, and who carries the cost? This episode sets the foundation for the conversations to come. Follow us on Instagram: @secondlookeducation

    17 min
  • 2 Episodes

About

Second Look Education is a practitioner-scholar podcast hosted by experienced educators. Each episode begins with real moments from classrooms, teacher preparation, policy, and professional life — the moments that make us pause and take a second look. From there, we engage in shared inquiry, examining development, relationships, professional judgment, and the systems shaping teaching and learning. Thoughtful, evidence-informed, and grounded in practice, this podcast resists oversimplification and centers the conditions that make good teaching possible.

Information

  • Creator
    second look education
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    2
  • Rating
    Clean
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    Second Look Education