EDUCATΞUS

Dr. Tiffany Smith

EDUCATΞUS is a podcast and learning collective that explores the ideas, experiences, and questions shaping education. Hosted by Dr. Tiffany Smith, educator, curriculum designer, and researcher, the podcast brings together educators, scholars, students, and community leaders to examine how learning connects to life beyond the classroom. Through conversations about curriculum, literacy, technology, inquiry, and community engagement, EDUCATΞUS explores new possibilities for teaching, learning, and preparing students to participate in an ever-changing world.

Episodes

  1. 23h ago

    🎙️ Episode 5: Identity, Voice, and Student Agency with Tracie McGhee

    💭 What happens when a podcast interview becomes a curriculum conversation? In this episode of the EDUCATΞUS Podcast, Dr. Tiffany Smith sits down with Tracie McGhee, founder of The Empowernista and the I Define ME Movement, to explore the relationship between identity, voice, and student agency. 💜 🌱 As the conversation unfolds, something unexpected happens. Rather than simply answering questions, Tracie helps challenge, expand, and refine ideas that are becoming part of the EDUCATΞUS multimodal curriculum. Listeners are invited into an authentic dialogue where curriculum is being developed in real time. • 🌟 Why self-awareness is foundational to student agency• 💪🏾 The power of defining yourself before the world defines you• 🗣️ How voice is cultivated through reflection, relationships, and experience• 🤝 Why community matters in the development of identity• ✨ What curriculum can become when it is built through authentic conversation 💜 This episode is unlike any we've recorded. Rich with reflection, vulnerability, authenticity, and energy, it marks the beginning of a two-part conversation—one that evolved in an unexpected way as the ideas themselves continued to grow.

    🎙️ Episode 5: Identity, Voice, and Student Agency with Tracie McGhee

  2. Jul 6

    🎙 Episode 4 – ELA and Real-World Learning

    What happens when English Language Arts moves beyond essays and grammar to become a vehicle for inquiry, observation, communication, and authentic engagement with the world? In this episode of EDUCATΞUS, Dr. Tiffany Smith is joined by English Language Arts educator Tamara Rodney for a conversation exploring how literacy can prepare students for life beyond the classroom. Together, they discuss student agency, intentional communication, multimodal literacy, and the role of authentic community experiences in helping students make meaning from the world around them. Building on the previous EDUCATΞUS episode featuring Sidney McGhee and the Damned Good People community center, Dr. Smith shares the multimodal curriculum she is developing for that community space. Rodney offers practical insight into designing and implementing community-centered literacy experiences that connect classroom learning with authentic engagement. Topics include: Student agency and intentional communicationTeaching writing with purposeMultimodal literacy and rhetorical awarenessCommunity-centered curriculum designAuthentic learning experiencesTransfer of learning beyond the classroomPreparing students for meaningful engagement in the real worldWhether you're an educator, curriculum designer, administrator, or researcher, this conversation offers both a vision and a practical framework for reimagining English Language Arts through inquiry, community, and multimodal learning.

    🎙 Episode 4 – ELA and Real-World Learning

  3. Jun 29

    🎙️Episode 3 – Designing Curriculum Around Community with Sidney McGhee (Featuring Kim Lomax of Koffee Ko.)

    Communities are filled with learning opportunities—but only if we teach students how to notice them. In this episode of EDUCATΞUS, Dr. Tiffany Smith sits down with Sidney McGhee, Director of Damned Good People, to explore how neighborhoods, businesses, public spaces, and community organizations can become meaningful parts of the curriculum rather than simply places students pass through. Together, they discuss: ✨ Why physical spaces are texts that students can learn to read 🏙️ How environments communicate identity, belonging, opportunity, and exclusion 🤝 What educators should consider when selecting community partners 📚 How authentic partnerships move beyond performative engagement 🌍 Why community-centered learning prepares students for the real world The episode concludes with a special conversation featuring Kim Lomax, owner of Koffee Ko., who shares the vision behind creating a space where people feel known, welcomed, and inspired. Her perspective reminds us that the environments we build communicate powerful messages long before a conversation begins. If education is preparing students for the world, then the world itself belongs in the curriculum. 🎙 Guest: Sidney McGhee, Director, Damned Good People☕ Community Spotlight: Kim Lomax, Owner, Koffee Ko.

    🎙️Episode 3 – Designing Curriculum Around Community with Sidney McGhee (Featuring Kim Lomax of Koffee Ko.)

  4. Jun 22 ·  Bonus

    🎙️Bonus Episode: Vivian Gibson on Bringing Mill Creek into the Classroom

    🎙️ Bonus Episode: Vivian Gibson on Bringing Mill Creek into the Classroom In this special EDUCATΞUS bonus episode, Dr. Tiffany Smith is joined by Vivian Gibson, author of The Last Children of Mill Creek. Throughout Episode 2, a conversation with Ellie DesPrez and Sara Jay, listeners hear repeated references to Vivian Gibson and her memoir, The Last Children of Mill Creek, which became the foundation for a community-based learning project at John Burroughs School. The project invited students to explore the history of Mill Creek Valley through local stories, lived experiences, and community engagement. In this companion conversation, Vivian reflects on her role in the project and her experiences engaging directly with students as they explored the history of Mill Creek Valley. Together, Tiffany and Vivian discuss their longstanding connection, Vivian's involvement in the Mill Creek project, and what it was like to witness students encounter the history, people, and places that shaped her story. In this conversation, we discuss: 🏘️ The history and legacy of Mill Creek Valley 📚 Bringing community stories into the classroom 🎓 Student engagement with local history 🗣️ Learning directly from lived experience 🤝 The relationship between schools and communities 💭 What students gain when learning extends beyond the classroom Vivian's reflections provide additional context to the learning experiences discussed in Episode 2, offering listeners the opportunity to hear directly from the author whose experiences became part of students' learning. Together, these conversations explore what becomes possible when communities become classrooms. #EDUCATEUS #VivianGibson #MillCreekValley #CommunityBasedLearning #PlaceBasedEducation #EducationPodcast #StudentLearning #LocalHistory #Teaching #StLouis

    🎙️Bonus Episode: Vivian Gibson on Bringing Mill Creek into the Classroom

  5. Jun 22

    🎙️Episode 2: When the Community Becomes the Classroom with Ellie DesPrez and Sara Jay

    What happens when students learn with their community instead of simply about it? This week on EDUCATΞUS, Dr. Tiffany Smith is joined by Ellie DesPrez and Sara Jay of John Burroughs School to explore how community-based learning can transform the classroom. Together, they discuss a multidisciplinary project centered on The Last Children of Mill Creek by Vivian Gibson, helping seventh-grade students connect history, place, economics, public policy, and civic engagement to the world around them. In this conversation, we discuss: 📍 Place-based and community-centered learning 📚 Teaching local history through lived experiences 🏘️ The history of Mill Creek Valley in St. Louis 🗳️ Student inquiry, civic engagement, and public policy 💭 How authentic experiences deepen student learning 🎓 Why schools should extend beyond the classroom walls These students are not simply studying history—they are considering questions about housing, taxation, community investment, and social responsibility while learning to see their city as a text worth studying. Join us as we explore what becomes possible when the community itself becomes the curriculum. #EDUCATEUS #CommunityBasedLearning #PlaceBasedEducation #Curriculum #StudentVoice #CivicLearning #EducationPodcast #Teaching #StLouis #Literacy #RealWorldLearning

    🎙️Episode 2: When the Community Becomes the Classroom with Ellie DesPrez and Sara Jay

  6. Jun 15

    🎙️ Episode 1: The Problem with Traditional School Curriculum

    In the first episode of EDUCATΞUS, Dr. Tiffany Smith is joined by Dr. Joelle McIntosh, veteran Career and Technical Education educator, curriculum leader, and global education advocate, to explore a question at the heart of contemporary schooling: Is the traditional school curriculum still meeting the needs of today's learners? Together, they discuss the challenges educators face within standardized systems, the tension between consistency and innovation, and the growing need to connect classroom learning to life beyond school. Drawing on more than 25 years of experience in education, Dr. McIntosh shares insights on curriculum relevance, student engagement, career readiness, and the role of educators in preparing students for an increasingly complex world. This conversation serves as the starting point for a broader inquiry into how schools can better support meaningful, real-world learning. About EDUCATΞUS EDUCATΞUS is a podcast and learning collective that explores the ideas, experiences, and questions shaping education. Hosted by Dr. Tiffany Smith, the podcast brings together educators, scholars, students, and community leaders to examine how learning connects to life beyond the classroom and to explore new possibilities for teaching, learning, and community engagement. New episodes every Monday. © 2026 TMS Visionary Group. All rights reserved. EDUCATΞUS is a TMS Visionary Group learning collective. No portion of this recording may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without prior written permission, except for brief quotations used for educational, scholarly, or review purposes.

    🎙️ Episode 1: The Problem with Traditional School Curriculum

  7. Season 1 Trailer

    EDUCATΞUS Pre-Launch Announcement: A First Look at the Conversations Ahead

    The EDUCATΞUS podcast is almost here. In this special pre-launch announcement, host Dr. Tiffany Smith introduces the vision behind the series and shares what listeners can expect as we prepare for the official launch on June 15, 2026. EDUCATΞUS explores how educators, community leaders, researchers, nonprofit professionals, higher education faculty, and other practitioners can work together to create more authentic learning experiences for students. Throughout the series, guests will discuss curriculum design, inquiry, literacy, multimodal communication, community partnerships, and the connections between classroom learning and the real world. Whether you are an educator, administrator, parent, student, or community partner, this series invites you to reimagine where learning happens and who should be part of it. Subscribe now and join us as we begin the conversation. New episodes released weekly beginning June 15, 2026. 🎙️📚 © 2026 TMS Visionary Group. All rights reserved. EDUCATΞUS is a TMS Visionary Group learning collective. No portion of this recording may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without prior written permission, except for brief quotations used for educational, scholarly, or review purposes.

    EDUCATΞUS Pre-Launch Announcement: A First Look at the Conversations Ahead

  8. Season 1 Trailer

    🎙️ Welcome to EDUCATΞUS

    Welcome to EDUCATΞUS, a podcast hosted by Dr. Tiffany Smith exploring teaching, learning, inquiry, community, and the human experiences connected to education. This brief introduction offers a preview of the conversations ahead and an invitation to join us as we explore how learning happens both inside and beyond the classroom. © 2026 TMS Visionary Group. All rights reserved. EDUCATΞUS is a TMS Visionary Group learning collective. No portion of this recording may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without prior written permission, except for brief quotations used for educational, scholarly, or review purposes.

    🎙️ Welcome to EDUCATΞUS

Trailers

Ratings & Reviews

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out of 5
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About

EDUCATΞUS is a podcast and learning collective that explores the ideas, experiences, and questions shaping education. Hosted by Dr. Tiffany Smith, educator, curriculum designer, and researcher, the podcast brings together educators, scholars, students, and community leaders to examine how learning connects to life beyond the classroom. Through conversations about curriculum, literacy, technology, inquiry, and community engagement, EDUCATΞUS explores new possibilities for teaching, learning, and preparing students to participate in an ever-changing world.

Information

  • Creator
    Dr. Tiffany Smith
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    8
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Dr. Tiffany Smith
  • Show Website
    EDUCATΞUS