Beyond the Margins: The Podcast

Dr. Sohn A. Butts

Welcome to Beyond The Margins, the podcast redefining education for students often overlooked and left behind. I’m Dr. Sohn A. Butts, the lead learner and host. This podcast exists to challenge traditional educational approaches, explore innovative strategies, and share real stories that transform learning. This channel is for educators, parents, and anyone invested in urban, alternative, and non-traditional education. You’ll get practical tools, research-backed insights, and creative approaches to boost student engagement, empower teachers, and elevate communities. From classroom strategies to big-picture ideas, Beyond The Margins is your go-to source for educational transformation. Why Subscribe? When you subscribe to Beyond The Margins, you’re joining a community of educators, parents, and education advocates committed to redefining what’s possible in learning. You’ll get: Weekly episodes with actionable strategies, stories, and insights.Exclusive interviews with experts and thought leaders in urban, alternative, and non-traditional education.Tips for boosting student engagement, classroom management, and leadership effectiveness.Tools to support equity, social justice, and culturally grounded learning.A community of like-minded changemakers ready to move education forward.Whether you’re scrolling for ideas, research, or inspiration, Beyond The Margins gives you tools you can use today and insights that transform tomorrow. Subscribe and join the movement and let’s engage, educate, empower, and elevate together.

  1. 6d ago

    When Schools Fail to See Us: Educator Beliefs, Student Identity, and Changing Learning Conditions

    What distinguishes a school that enrolls Black students from one intentionally designed to help Black students thrive? In this thought-provoking episode of Beyond The Margins, Dr. Sohn A. Butts welcomes educator and researcher Dr. Jaleel Howard for an examination of student engagement, identity, educational equity, and the social conditions shaping the experiences of Black students. Drawing from his own experiences as a Black boy navigating school environments that often misunderstood his behavior and identity, Dr. Howard shares how those early encounters influenced his journey into teaching and educational research. His work challenges educators to reconsider what meaningful engagement looks like and whether traditional measures of school success adequately reflect the experiences of Black students. The conversation explores the influence of educator beliefs, cultural representation, school resources, poverty, and institutional practices on students' academic and social experiences. Together, Dr. Butts and Dr. Howard discuss why students need to see themselves not only reflected in the curriculum but respected within the broader learning environment. They also examine the growing influence of artificial intelligence in education, the limitations of outcome-driven schooling, and the importance of reconnecting learning to identity, community, and purpose. Moving from research to practice, Dr. Howard offers educators actionable approaches to building meaningful relationships, creating psychologically safe classrooms, and developing learning environments where students feel valued, connected, and empowered to succeed. The episode closes with a powerful reflection on what Black boys need to hear more often and why love, affirmation, and authentic human connection remain essential to the educational experience. At its heart, this conversation asks whether we are simply expecting students to adapt to our schools or doing the necessary work to create schools that truly serve them.

    When Schools Fail to See Us: Educator Beliefs, Student Identity, and Changing Learning Conditions

  2. Oct 20

    Beyond the World You Know: Identity, Cultural Exposure, and the Transformative Power of Studying Abroad

    What happens when students discover that their educational opportunities extend far beyond the communities and circumstances they know? In this episode of Beyond The Margins, Dr. Sohn A. Butts welcomes Mr. Franklyn Paris of Bridge Across Education for an engaging conversation about international education, cultural exposure, and expanding postsecondary opportunities for Black students. A Morehouse College graduate who has lived and worked in China since 2014, Franklyn shares how teaching English abroad led to earning a master's degree, learning Mandarin, and discovering opportunities that transformed his understanding of identity, purpose, and possibility. Through Bridge Across Education, Franklyn now works to connect African American students with educational pathways in China, including undergraduate and graduate programs, language immersion experiences, and potential scholarship opportunities. Together, they examine the affordability of international education, the importance of credible programs, the challenges and rewards of living abroad, and how global experiences can develop independence, resilience, and a stronger sense of self. The conversation also raises a larger question for educators, families, and communities: Are we doing enough to expose students to the possibilities we want them to pursue? This episode reminds us that student engagement and educational opportunity are shaped not only by what students experience in classrooms, but also by the worlds we help them discover beyond them.

    Beyond the World You Know: Identity, Cultural Exposure, and the Transformative Power of Studying Abroad

  3. Oct 13

    The Opportunity That Changed Everything: Second Chances, Apprenticeship, and the Power of Exposure

    Senator Cory McCray on Second Chances, Apprenticeship, and the Power of Exposure What happens when the opportunity that could change your life has been right around the corner all along, but nobody ever showed you where to look? Before becoming a Maryland State Senator, Cory McCray was a young man navigating school removals, juvenile detention, incarceration, and an uncertain future. At 17, he told his mother he was too far gone. Her response would help change the trajectory of his life: "I'm gonna keep believing in you until you believe in yourself." That belief, coupled with an apprenticeship opportunity he never knew existed, helped transform a young man struggling to find his way into a skilled electrician, entrepreneur, author, and public servant. On this episode of Beyond The Margins: The Podcast, I sit down with Senator Cory McCray for a powerful conversation about second chances, mentorship, workforce development, financial literacy, and the transformative power of exposure. We explore why apprenticeships deserve a place alongside college pathways, how career readiness begins long before graduation, and why access to opportunity means little if young people cannot see themselves belonging in those spaces. Senator McCray also shares how listening to students helped turn a request for driver's education into legislative action, why ownership and financial literacy matter, and what it means to use personal success to create opportunities for the next generation. But perhaps the most important question emerging from our conversation is this: How many young people have we asked what they want to become before we've done enough to show them what's possible? This episode reminds us that talent can exist without exposure, intelligence can exist without opportunity, and potential can remain unrealized when pathways remain invisible. Sometimes the most powerful intervention isn't another conversation about working harder. It's opening a door.

    The Opportunity That Changed Everything: Second Chances, Apprenticeship, and the Power of Exposure

  4. Oct 6

    More Than a Paycheck: Financial Literacy, Student Purpose & Building Generational Opportunity

    What happens when one of the most difficult moments of your career becomes the beginning of your transformation? Dr. De’Shawn Washington's first year of teaching was so challenging that school leaders eventually took over his classroom. He was left watching from the sidelines. But that wasn't the end of his story. It became the beginning. Years later, Dr. Washington would become the 2024 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year and turn those early lessons into a philosophy centered on authenticity, student voice, purpose, community, achievement, and cultivating changemakers. On this episode of Beyond The Margins, we talk about what it takes to find your authentic voice as an educator, why students need to know their presence and gifts matter, and how classrooms change when we move from independence toward interdependence: "I am because we are." Then we take the conversation somewhere schools don't go nearly enough: MONEY. Dr. Washington makes the case that financial literacy is about far more than budgeting. It's about access. Agency. History. Opportunity. Wealth. And ultimately, freedom. From reading a paycheck and understanding credit to investing, budgeting, money identity, and generational wealth, this conversation challenges us to ask: Are we preparing students simply to graduate, or are we preparing them to build?

    More Than a Paycheck: Financial Literacy, Student Purpose & Building Generational Opportunity

  5. Sep 29

    As Close to the Margin as Possible: Courageous Leadership, and Creating the Conditions for Students to Thrive

    What does it mean to lead close to the margin? Dr. Sohn A. Butts sits down with veteran educational leader and The Middle School Master author Dr. Mark E. King for a powerful conversation about middle school education, student engagement, innovation, leadership, and creating conditions where students can thrive. Dr. King traces his journey back to age 12, when encountering Black male teachers and an all-Black male administrative team changed what he could imagine for his own future. That experience would eventually shape a career dedicated to creating opportunities for young people and developing the educators who serve them. Together, Dr. Butts and Dr. King explore what adults misunderstand about adolescent development, the difference between engagement and compliance, the power of arts integration, teacher voice and professional learning, Black male representation, vocational pathways, family relationships, and why context matters when interpreting student behavior and achievement. Dr. King also challenges educational leaders to move beyond rigid compliance and have the courage to innovate for the students in front of them. As he puts it: “If you want to do what nobody else has ever done, you have to be willing to do what nobody else has ever done.” This is a conversation about seeing possibility, questioning systems, developing people, and having the courage to get as close to the margin as possible for students. This is Beyond The Margins.

    As Close to the Margin as Possible: Courageous Leadership, and Creating the Conditions for Students to Thrive

  6. Sep 22

    Beyond Compliance: Belonging, Identity & Student Engagement: Creating Classrooms Where Students Feel Seen, Supported, and Included

    What does it really mean for a student to belong? In this episode of Beyond The Margins, Dr. Sohn A. Butts sits down with educator, author, speaker, and Leading Equity founder Dr. Sheldon Eakins for a powerful conversation about belonging, identity, equity, and the conditions that shape student engagement. Dr. Eakins challenges educators to look beyond compliance and reconsider how our expectations, biases, classroom practices, and definitions of the "ideal student" influence the experiences of young people, particularly Black boys and students who have historically been pushed to the margins. Together, they explore the difference between managing students and engaging them, why relevance and cultural context matter in instruction, how student voice creates ownership, and why relationships must be built intentionally rather than left to chance. The conversation also examines subtle exclusionary practices, the importance of understanding the story behind student behavior, balancing individual and collaborative approaches to learning, and what happens when educators are willing to learn from their students. Dr. Eakins introduces the idea of the "mood tax," challenging educators to consider whether the same student behavior receives a different adult response depending on the educator's own stress, fatigue, or emotional state. He also offers a powerful reminder about affirmation: Black boys too often receive correction after correction when what they also need are consistent, specific deposits reminding them that they are capable, valued, and seen. This conversation asks educators to move beyond simply asking, "How do I manage this behavior?" and toward a more important question: What might this student be communicating, and what conditions can I create that make belonging and engagement more likely? Because students should not have to become someone else to belong in our classrooms. They should experience learning environments intentionally designed to recognize who they already are. This is Beyond The Margins.

    Beyond Compliance: Belonging, Identity & Student Engagement: Creating Classrooms Where Students Feel Seen, Supported, and Included

  7. Sep 15

    Still Somebody’s Future: Education, Juvenile Justice, and Believing in What’s Possible

    What happens when we stop seeing the charge and start seeing the student? In this episode of Beyond the Margins, Dr. Sohn A. Butts sits down with Byron Goodwin, President and CEO of Travis Hill NOLA, an organization providing education inside juvenile and adult correctional facilities in New Orleans. Their conversation goes beyond the walls of juvenile justice to examine what makes student engagement possible when young people are navigating incarceration, trauma, disrupted education, family instability, and experiences that have often taught them not to trust the adults or systems around them. Mr. Goodwin shares his deeply personal connection to this work, including how his family's legacy in education and his younger brother's wrongful incarceration shaped his commitment to reaching young people before they reach what he describes as the "last stop." Together, Dr. Butts and Mr. Goodwin explore the power of relationships, consistency, student voice, restorative education, hands-on learning, transition support, family engagement, identity, purpose, and the responsibility educators have to see potential even when systems see problems. One of the most powerful ideas in this conversation is simple: They're still kids. They're still students. They're still somebody's future. For educators, juvenile justice professionals, school leaders, and anyone committed to transforming outcomes for students pushed to the margins, this conversation offers both a challenge and a reminder: engagement doesn't always begin with compliance. Sometimes it begins with a student believing that you will show up. Sometimes it begins with consistency. Sometimes it begins with someone finally seeing the student before seeing the charge. Because a student's worst moment does not have to define their future.

    Still Somebody’s Future: Education, Juvenile Justice, and Believing in What’s Possible

  8. Sep 8

    Black Boys Grow Up. Some Become Educators: Exploring the Journey of Black Men in Education

    Black boys grow up. And some Black men become educators. In Season 2 of Beyond the Margins, we are putting Black men in education at the center of the conversation. What happens when the Black boys who once navigated our schools become the men standing at the front of classrooms, leading schools, teaching in colleges, developing programs, mentoring students, and transforming educational systems? This season explores the experiences, expertise, perspectives, and purpose of Black men who have chosen education as their profession and their platform for impact. We will explore the journey from student to educator, the experiences that shaped their educational perspectives, the challenges they have encountered, the communities they serve, and the work they are doing to create more responsive, relevant, and transformative learning environments. These conversations are not simply about representation. They are about understanding what Black men bring to education, what education has asked of them, and what becomes possible when their voices, experiences, and expertise are centered in the conversation. This is Beyond the Margins. Where we engage. Educate. Empower. And Elevate. Join us for Season 2 as we move beyond assumptions and into the stories behind the work. Because Black boys grow up and become Black men. And some Black men become educators. Keep teaching. Keep learning. Keep leading. And keep pushing beyond the margins.

    Black Boys Grow Up. Some Become Educators: Exploring the Journey of Black Men in Education
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Welcome to Beyond The Margins, the podcast redefining education for students often overlooked and left behind. I’m Dr. Sohn A. Butts, the lead learner and host. This podcast exists to challenge traditional educational approaches, explore innovative strategies, and share real stories that transform learning. This channel is for educators, parents, and anyone invested in urban, alternative, and non-traditional education. You’ll get practical tools, research-backed insights, and creative approaches to boost student engagement, empower teachers, and elevate communities. From classroom strategies to big-picture ideas, Beyond The Margins is your go-to source for educational transformation. Why Subscribe? When you subscribe to Beyond The Margins, you’re joining a community of educators, parents, and education advocates committed to redefining what’s possible in learning. You’ll get: Weekly episodes with actionable strategies, stories, and insights.Exclusive interviews with experts and thought leaders in urban, alternative, and non-traditional education.Tips for boosting student engagement, classroom management, and leadership effectiveness.Tools to support equity, social justice, and culturally grounded learning.A community of like-minded changemakers ready to move education forward.Whether you’re scrolling for ideas, research, or inspiration, Beyond The Margins gives you tools you can use today and insights that transform tomorrow. Subscribe and join the movement and let’s engage, educate, empower, and elevate together.

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