Q-Ed Up With Ziz & Pam Q-Ed Up with Ziz & Pam

In this episode, Ziz and Pam talk about innovation in education with Peter Hostrawser. He shares his outlook as an educator and entrepreneur on the changing landscape of education. The world today demands more from our younger generation and we need to allow them to step up and become design thinkers and creative problem-solvers.

Parents and educators can pave the way by helping less and empowering more. HallPass Education's Level Up Gap Year Program is an example of a program actively working with kids to help them discover their interests and purpose. Peter describes the critical role of mentorship and networking for career preparation. Our communities must also take a more active role in defining what education looks like as we change with the times.

Peter Hostrawser is the host of the podcast, Disrupt Education, highlighting journeys outside the traditional education system and educational reformers. He is also the co-founder of HallPass Education, an education think tank specializing in innovative educational solutions designed to guide people through their hallway of life.

RESOURCES:

Find Peter at PeterHostrawser.com and Disrupteducation.co, YouTube: HallPass Education with Peter Hostrawser, Audrey Boyle, and Dr. Peter James

In this episode, Ziz and Pam are discussing the connection between academia and reality with an innovative education specialist, Peter Hostrawser. On his podcast, Disrupt Education, Peter features educational reformers and their innovative approaches to education. He’s also the co-founder of HallPass Education, an educational think tank specializing in innovative educational solutions designed to guide people through their hallway of life.

As an educator, Peter’s passion is to transform people to become energetic learners through personal interest discovery. He says students in the 21st century need to learn focus management and be creative problem solvers who are adaptable to change. We need to make it okay for them to fail because that is how we learn. Enlightened teachers like Peter Hostrawser are making a difference inside and outside of the classroom!

Resources:

Peter Hostrawser

Sir Ken Robinson

Jo Boaler

Viktor Frankl

Quotes:

Peter: “We are going to be uncomfortable and we need to be uncomfortable. You’re going to need to pivot and learn some things…this is the place where we can start to shake things up.”

Pam: “What COVID did do is it highlighted the rigidity of the structure we have and how inflexible it is to adapt to the changes in the world.”

Peter: “You’re either on board with this, or you’re fighting. You can fight all you want, it’s just a lot of things that you can’t control.”

Peter: “People are starting to learn the agile way of doing things…I like to think of us not as teachers anymore. We are now becoming accountability partners. We’re becoming people who are really there for the student individually.”

Peter: “We got away from really giving students an opportunity to show what they’re pursuing, their purpose, and trying to have them figure out what their ‘why’ is and we got into checking boxes. The college realm, the AP realm… I don’t think those work for a large percentage of our kids.”

Peter: “I think people are realizing this whole thing isn’t a race. It’s really, let’s try to figure out where kids are right now and let’s try to move them.”

Peter: “I’m super excited about this year because we are forced to pivot. We have to look at things differently and we can learn more from our students.”

Peter: “You do see a lot of teachers who are the owner of knowledge starting to realize that a real win in a classroom isn’t a grade or an ACT/SAT score…So when you make it safe to fail and then you teach the learning beyond it, that’s really what makes an educator a true educator.”

In this conversation with Ai Addyson-Zhang, Ziz and Pam explore the changing landscape of education. Dr. Ai, an entrepreneur and self- described 'disruptive educator,' shares what she's learned in her transition out of the classroom to 'real world' education: Start with the heart. Listen to what students are passionate about because pursuing their interests will make learning more engaging. Start with meaning. Ask, 'who are you and what are your strengths?' It requires interest, relationship and safely. If you don't have those three components, it's not learning. It is just absorbing content. Project based learning is the best model based on the 70-20-10 rule, which suggests that 70% of what we learn is experiential, 20% is social learning, while only 10% is formal learning. For transformation to happen, people need to practice, fail and learn from their mistakes. With the skills of collaboration, adaptability, and communication, we can innovate and create the job we want.

According to Dr. Ai, the higher the GPA, the more obsessed children are with their academic performance, the less likely they are to innovate. Disruptive students own their opinions and feel good about who they are. Today, more than ever, we are seeing the need to disrupt education and redefine what it means to be educated in the 21st century.

Resources:

Viktor Frankl

Jo Boaler

Duncan Wardle

Gary Vaynerchuk

Why Happiness Should Not be the Goal for our Children

Ikigai

Seth Godin

Ivy Untold

About Dr. Ai Addyson-Zhang:

Dr. Ai is a professor turned entrepreneur. She taught in the classroom for 10+ years and has helped more than 2K students achieve career success. She produces live content multiple times a week to interview leading industry professionals and teach beyond the walls.

Watch her interview with Seth Godin who encouraged her to explore the purpose of education and what we can do to help our children become future-ready, creating successful and fulfilling lives.

FOLLOW Dr. Ai ON SOCIAL: LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. Join her WhatsApp Group to stay informed.

In this episode, Ziz and Pam talk about disrupting education with Dr. Ai Addyson-Zhang. Dr. Ai shares some best practices to help future-proof the next generation.

In Classroom Without Walls, Dr. Ai offers programs for students and their parents to discover how to become engaged learners. With the right knowledge, skills, and mindset, they can create career success, regardless of the path they take. Dr. Ai also helps educators to understand social media and learn how to incorporate social media and creative technologies in the classroom to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes.

The best education happens outside the classroom! 

QUOTES

Dr. Ai: "I knew there were important life skills, emotional intelligence, lots of important links that students are not necessarily learning."

Dr. Ai: "I made two decisions. I became a practitioner and that's why I launched my live streaming show to really bridge the gap between academia and industry. I think students need to learn not only from academics but from people who are in real life, actually doing this... I became a practitioner and I became a student."

Dr. Ai: "I think the biggest part is really getting to know who I am...I feel like the struggle is more internal...I discovered the deeper we go within, the more we transform the outside. Our external environment is a mirror reflecting what is inside."

Dr. Ai: "Children don't need to wait until they have a mid-life crisis to start going within. They should start this journey much, much earlier."

Pam: "This goes back to the work of Viktor Frankl, which starts with a unique person and their contributions and you go within. But you can only go within by being challenged without, reaching out to the world. So really, self-transcendence beyond yourself is the movement. It is a movement to better the world, better humanity, which you're doing. But you have to be quiet enough to hear your conscience to tap into your higher self, your human spirit, to be able to understand where to decide."

About Dr. Ai Addyson-Zhang:

Dr. Ai is a professor turned entrepreneur. She taught in the classroom for 10+ years and has helped more than 2K students achieve career success. She produces LIVE content multiple times a week to interview leading industry professionals and teach beyond the walls. 

Watch her interview with Seth Godin who encouraged her to explore the purpose of education and what we can do to help our children become future-ready, creating successful and fulfilling lives.

FOLLOW Dr. Ai ON SOCIAL: LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. Join her WhatsApp Group to stay informed.

In this episode, Ziz and Pam get to discuss the future of work with Tim Salau, the CEO and founder of Guide. His mission is to "strengthen the bonds people share through compassionate action." Tim hosts Unleashing the Future of Work (UTFOW), a live online series available on LinkedIn Live, Spotify, and Apple Podcast. Guide is a B2B learning and talent development platform that helps people to learn the skills they need to advance their careers.

Quotes:

Tim: "The future of work is constantly being molded and shaped." 

Tim: "Everything a high schooler needs to develop that career they want they can do in high school. You don't have to wait until you get to college nowadays and you don't have to wait until you get into corporate America."

Tim: "There is so much access to information, the tools, and even mentorship, online."

Tim: "My biggest advice to highschooler is, don't take this opportunity in your youth for granted."

Tim: "Colleges and universities need to stop acting as if they are the premier solution for education because the reality is that they are not anymore. They do offer value in the sense of the experience of college. I believe it's really important because you get to build relationships, you get to build a network, and professors can as act mentors, kind of a guiding light. But you also have to think about what the consumer experience is for early-career, college students. Do you think it's fair for them to be paying $50K tuition but that isn't actually leading to a longterm career path?"

Tim: "Colleges have to work with private sector leaders and businesses to create new models that actually value the customer which in this case is the student."

Tim: "The community component to learning is just as crucial as the self-directed motivation."

Ziz: "At the middle of it all is relationships. That's the intersection and that might be the rub with a lot of different people."

Resources:

Big Picture Learning: It is our vision that all students live lives of their own design, supported by caring mentors and equitable opportunities to achieve their greatest potential. We move forward prepared to activate the power of schools, systems & education through student-directed, real-world learning. We are activists.

Imblaze: ImBlaze allows students to experience the power of internships, apprenticeships, community service, CTE Training Programs, Shadow Days, and College Dual Enrollment.

Esther Wojcicki: Global Moonshots in Education works to enable every child to reach their fullest potential by being fully engaged and inspired in their learning. The 21st century demands a fundamental shift in the mindset and culture of teaching today. The fundamental shift is to give students more control and agency in the classroom. To achieve this, the role of the teacher needs to change from the lecture model to the mentor/coach on the side model.  That is the teacher needs to change from the “sage on the stage” to “the guide on the side.”  The more a teacher does for a student in the learning process, the less empowered the student is.

Find GUIDE here: https://www.guideapp.co/

Mentors & Mentees

Find Tim Salau here: https://www.timsalau.com/

http://mrfutureofwork.com 

https://www.utfow.com/

In this episode, Ziz and Pam, revisit the subject of our ever-changing economy and the need for a shift in higher education. Students entering the workforce in the shrinking corporate world will also need to look for opportunities in the gig or sharing economy. This is the future of work. Most companies are outsourcing and relying on freelance workers to meet their needs. Technology is changing so fast that many degrees are being rendered obsolete. Instead, certificate programs through MOOCs or corporations are available to get people up to speed. What can schools and families do to support our children in this environment? Teach kids to be agile. Focus on soft skills and building networks. According to LinkedIn, 85% of jobs are found through networking. Teach kids how to get a job but also how to create a job. By allowing our children the opportunity to explore, experience, and find their way, we are creating the best possible environment for them to flourish.

RESOURCES

Fiverr

Upwork

Scott Galloway, NYU

60-year curriculum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRlo-K7WQYk

David Deming STEM majors

Jim Goodnight, CEO of SAS 

Western Governors University

QUOTES

Pam: "The college degree is not preparing (students) for the literal agility they need to be able to move between the different economies at different times."

Pam: "Somehow we've associated education with the school building. And that's a new construct, an industrialized construct when we were preparing for compliance and conformity, to work in factories, and to work in institutions where you had to fit in. That is no longer the case."

Pam: "This whole idea of being agile in an uncertain environment, having to figure out, having to navigate, we need to prepare our kids for that."

Pam: "That's the hindrance of a system that was built for the 20th-century institutional economy. We've shifted to this entrepreneurial networking economy and the skill sets are different. So in fact, the way we're teaching devalues the human being and their worthiness and the individual by standardizing them based on their age."

Pam: "In the past when we've gone through shifts in arrows, from agriculture to industrial and industrial to the information age, it's been a kind of a longer spread, a hundred years. Now in 20 to 30 years, boom, complete shift. It's because technology builds on technology. This whole idea of machine learning, where they can all connect and learn from each other on a greater level, completely reshaping what's happening, what we do, but also creating tremendous opportunity."

Ziz: "What we're saying is a major paradigm shift is underway. As you already know, if not: attention, attention, the paradigm shift is happening. It's happening in higher education. We have clearly identified the full-time/corporate job, gig, and sharing economy."

Ziz: "Our jobs will be found through another human being through a network. Open up your networks, figure out who's in your network. Understand who's in your network, which also means you have to understand who you are and what you have to offer."

Pam: "As community members, as parents reaching out with other parents with businesses to say, it's all our jobs to create the environments that allow these kids to explore, experience, et cetera. That is critical. We have a big job ahead of us in this next century, not in defining them, but in creating the environments that allow them to flourish."