Rethinking Learning Podcast

Barbara Bray
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Rethinking Learning Podcast

Join Barbara Bray in her conversations with inspirational educators, thought leaders, and change agents to define their WHY and reflect on how they learned from their experiences and challenges. Each conversation is complemented with a post on her site that includes images, videos, links, and more that illustrate the stories of their lives. Join Barbara and her special guests as they share their personal journeys that will inspire you, touch your heart, and might even touch your heart.

  1. FEB 26

    Episode #168 with Dr. Michael Harvey: Redefining Education with Curiosity, Innovation, and a Dash of Kiwi Humour

    Dr. Michael Harvey is the Director of Innovative Learning at Marlborough Boys’ College in Blenheim, New Zealand. Originally from Gisborne, Michael’s career spans the chemical industry, intellectual property, and education. A passionate advocate for EdTech, curiosity, and integrating indigenous knowledge to find novel solutions, Michael is committed to making education more equitable, engaging, and future-ready and is a strong advocate for public education. Ka whangaia, ka tupu, ka puawai – That which is nurtured blossoms and grows. Your WHY: Curiosity, Connection, and Service At the heart of everything I do is curiosity. My why is about sparking that same curiosity in others—helping students and teachers see the world not just as it is, but as it could be. I’m also driven by manaakitanga, which in Māori terms is all about looking after people. Education is about service: serving communities, supporting others to thrive, and building a future we can all be proud of through public education. I also advocate for education by serving the Post Primary Teachers Association here in New Zealand. Whether it’s helping a student figure out why rugby balls curve the way they do (spoiler: it’s physics!) or supporting a teacher to embrace technology without having a meltdown, my goal is to create spaces where people can grow and learn. Be curious, not judgemental.          ~Ted Lasso From Gisborne to the World (and Back Again) I was born and raised in Gisborne, the first city in the world to embrace the new day. Growing up in this corner of paradise taught me the value of community and the joy of a good question. I was the kid always asking “Why?”—to the point where my teachers probably needed a lie-down after class. Gisborne, the first city in the world to embrace the new day That curiosity carried me through a PhD in Chemistry, where I fell in love with the idea that tiny particles could explain massive phenomena. From there, I hopped across to the UK, working in the chemical industry before returning home to Aotearoa, where I decided to channel my inner Einstein (minus the hair) as a patent examiner for the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment. Fun fact: Einstein was also a patent examiner, so I’d like to think we’re kindred spirits. Eventually, I realized my true passion was sharing the wonder of science with others, so I swapped patents for classrooms and became a teacher. Teaching has taken me from New Zealand to China and Malaysia, and then back to New Zealand, which has introduced me to diverse ideas and the importance of different perspectives. Innovative Learning at Marlborough Boys’ College I am presently based at Marlborough Boys’ College in Blenheim, the wine capital of New Zealand and gateway to Te Waipounamu or the South Island. My job is to shake things up—in a good way. My role is all about helping teachers and students rethink how we learn. It’s not just about slapping a shiny bit of tech on top of a textbook—it’s about creating real, meaningful change. We’ve done some pretty cool things, from using Minecraft to explore historical events to 3D-printing models of sustainable homes. And while the tech is exciting, the real magic happens when students start thinking critically,

  2. FEB 18

    Episode #167: The Art of Living in the Question with Melanie Ching

    Melanie Ching is a life-long educator and learner. She is passionate about play, curiosity, and using ed-tech to amplify student voice. The way she does this is by tinkering, designing makerspaces, and living in the question. A maker enthusiast, she believes intentionally designing environments where learners are free to tinker and experiment builds stronger communities and richer connections. Your WHY  I believe, with my whole heart, we need a lot more kindness, compassion, and empathy in this world. We each have spaces that we can hold for this to happen. For me, that space is education. I am passionate about designing environments for curiosity and experimentation, whether in my classroom or a makerspace or currently in the online community I manage. That environment sets the conditions for deeper connections with ideas and with each other.  Your Background I’ve always been a curious learner. My grandmother taught me to read at a young age, unlocking the puzzle of language and sparking a love for exploration that has shaped every part of my life. As a child, I loved looking through stacks of National Geographic magazines and encyclopedias of wild animals—not because I had to, but because I was fascinated by how the world worked. The school was a mostly safe and fun place for me, and I thrived in what we’d now call a traditional environment. I did well enough academically and socially that I never questioned how I was being taught—until college when I had my first glimpse of what education could truly be. In my teacher preparation program, I was immersed in a school-based model where our professors came to us, and we learned in the real environment of a working school. In fact, at that same time, the school itself was on a renaissance of its own, relooking at its beliefs about learning that would eventually culminate in it becoming the first public conversion charter school in the state of Hawaii. That experience—where learning wasn’t just theoretical but deeply embedded in a community—set the foundation for everything I do now. It taught me that the spaces we create matter just as much if not more than the content we teach. I graduated from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa with a Bachelor of Education in Elementary Education, and I moved to Kona on Hawaiʻi Island. There weren’t any teaching jobs available at that time that didnʻt require an extremely long commute, so I worked temporarily in Human Resources, training new employees and welcoming them to the team. A year and a half later, I got an interview for a teaching position on Oʻahu at the same school that hosted our teacher training program. I was hired and began working there while completing my Master’s in Education at Chaminade University. That school eventually became my “home” for more than two decades. Your Family My husband and I were blessed with two boys, now adults (23 yo and 19 yo) pursuing their interests. One is in Washington working and looking for a pathway that involves helping people. The other is in Hawaii in his first year of a culinary arts program. I also have several nieces and nephews in different stages of figuring out their life paths. I’m grateful that I get to see their journeys unfold. Seeing this also underscores the importance of the work we do in education,

  3. JAN 6

    Episode #166: Fostering a Sense of Purpose and Belonging with Chris Pultz

    Chris Pultz, an educator, was a Peace Corps volunteer in Madagascar and a Fulbright exchange teacher in Hungary. He has experience teaching in New York City public schools and international schools. He’s worked in Belarus, Turkiye, and Jordan. Chris lives in Istanbul, Turkiye with his wife, Gamze Keskin Pultz. His work with personalized and competency-based learning led him to focus on helping students foster a sense of purpose and belonging. Chris loves designing educational experiences that challenge students and allow them to thrive in a growingly complex world. Your WHY It’s evolved over the years, and it will likely continue to evolve, but for now, I would say it is “Helping Students find their why.” As best I can, I try to complement that WHY with my other WHY, which is “To be a loving and supportive husband and father.” What was it like for you as a child in school?  I grew up in Long Island, New York where I attended public schools in large classes with tracking systems. It was a sports culture, which I enjoyed, but it left other sides of myself underdeveloped. I navigated that as best I could until I got to University.  When did you decide to become an educator? At University, I volunteered for the Xerox Center for Multicultural Teacher Education. I sat in the back of a class during a vocabulary lesson. I didn’t know it by name then, but I experienced a flow state while identifying problems and imagining possible solutions. I got to work with some students who responded positively to simply seeing someone curious about them. I felt useful. I fed that and decided to do my student teaching in California, surfed every day, and developed competence in the classroom. I felt like one of the lucky ones who’d happily stumbled on what he wanted to do. Who or what impacted you to change your path? I returned to the university for my final semester and met with a professor I had for a freshman seminar on Ngugi Wa Thiong’o. My professor’s experiences in Kenya during his sabbatical impacted me. I said I wanted to do what he did, and he suggested I join the Peace Corps. So on graduation day, I told my parents, “Surprise. I’m moving to Madagascar.” I taught there and navigated the initial culture shock–learned a lot more than I taught–and felt the reverse culture shock even harder. My experiences there really turned my understanding of the world upside down. It looked like you changed paths again. What happened? I came back to New York and started my teaching career in New York City Public Schools. I enjoyed it, but I lost my father in my first year of teaching and that created another hole. I started a master’s degree in cultural anthropology, trying to keep busy, but also trying to make sense of a lot of what had been scrambled up. My naive thoughts about being a savior in New York started to show. I probably watched too many movies with sages on stage to understand the complexities of teaching, and then schools were pivoting to the trappings of No Child Left Behind. I started feeling the burnout. I took a Fulbright teaching exchange to Hungary, taught EAL, and lived an immersed life in a small city on the Romanian border. Loved it. Was offered a second year, but my boss wrote: “Get your ass back to Brooklyn.

  4. 11/09/2024

    Episode #165: Developing Human-Centered Skills in an AI World with Dr. Michelle Ament

    Dr. Michelle Ament is an educational pioneer renowned for creating the Learning, Experienced (LXP) model as Chief Academic Officer at ProSolve. As co-founder of the Human Intelligence Movement, she leads educational systems to develop Human Intelligence, the essential human-centered skills needed to be career-ready in an AI world. Michelle’s unique blend of visionary thinking, strategic acumen, and strong leadership skills has empowered educators and administrators to embrace personalized learning experiences, resulting in universal academic achievement to create more equitable and inclusive schools. Your WHY  My WHY is to change the student experience to prioritize human-centered skills that machines cannot replicate. My family means the world to me. My husband, Brian, and I have been married 25 years and have three amazing children; William, Maggie, and Sam. It’s time to fundamentally rethink education. Traditional methods are becoming obsolete as AI can instantly access and process information. Educators must shift to being facilitators, nurturing uniquely human skills that enable adaptability, collaboration, and creative problem-solving in complex, dynamic environments. Chief Academic Officer, ProSolve https://prosolve.com Travis Allen and I pioneered the strategy and vision for our K-12 modern curriculum, revolutionizing the development of social-emotional wellness and career readiness through experiential learning. That’s when we developed the Learning, Experienced (LXP) model that will reimagine teaching, learning, and assessment while rekindling the art of teaching. We catalyzed partnerships with school districts, educators, and stakeholders, harnessing their insights to drive curriculum development that surpasses market needs. We orchestrated cross-functional teams of educators, content developers, and subject matter experts, fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation. We curated and created game-changing professional development programs, equipping educators and administrators with transformative strategies to integrate experiential learning. Human Intelligence Movement https://www.humanintelligencemovement.org/ The mission of the Human Intelligence movement is to equip each student with the necessary human-centered skills to thrive in an AI world and workforce. With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), our workplace is undergoing a profound transformation. AI is revolutionizing the workforce by gradually replacing routine cognitive and manual tasks traditionally performed by humans. As technology advances, AI can efficiently carry out these repetitive tasks, allowing human workers to focus on more complex and creative endeavors that require uniquely human skills. This paradigm shift highlights the need for individuals to develop and cultivate the essential abilities that set them apart from machines.  What are the unique human skills AI can’t replicate? Creative thinking Empathetic Relationship Building Emotional Intelligence Contextual Reasoning Complex problem-solving

  5. 10/31/2024

    Episode #164: Shaping the Future of Education with Dr. Kapono Ciotti

    Dr. Kapono Ciotti, a leader in social-constructivist education, directs the PEAK Distinction Model. He promotes student-driven impact education globally, influencing educators in 100+ schools to shape the future of education. Kapono champions Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice, with 15 years at the National Association of Independent Schools.  Your WHY  My strong belief in education being an act of social justice drives my work. School is Community Your Philosophy and Background I attribute my educational philosophy to my schooling experience in a progressive, social-constructivist school during his early years in Honolulu, Hawaii. I taught in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Dakar, Senegal, for over a decade before moving into school leadership. I have led schools in the United States and Egypt, where I put into practice the philosophy of “students making the world a better place,” shifting school culture to impact-based education practice.  I earned a Ph.D. in International Education in 2018 from Northcentral University, a Master’s degree in Social Change and Development from the University of Newcastle, Australia, and a Bachelor’s in Language and Cultural Studies from The Evergreen State College, Washington. I currently live between Hawaii, Cairo, Egypt, and Dakar, Senegal. All of us are indigenous. Your Journey as an Educator I have worked internationally in educational change organizations, leading the work of Deeper Learning and place and culture-based pedagogy, was the Executive Director for What School Could Be, and now am leading the PEAK Distinction Model through What School Could Be. In these roles, I have trained teachers in over 100 schools and school districts on four continents, impacting hundreds of thousands of students. In addition, I spent 15 years as National Faculty for the National Association of Independent Schools in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice, facilitating national and international learning experiences. As a curriculum writer, he has authored multiple curricula for federal and non-profit programs. His work has significantly contributed to the organizations What School Could Be, The Buck Institute, EdLeader21, The Pacific American Foundation, and many others. A little rain brings thousands of blooms and then they wither. What do we value in education? We need ongoing support. PEAK Distinction Model The PEAK model ensures students develop Purpose, focus on Essential skills and mindsets, experience Agency, and foster deep retained Knowledge because we believe the future of education lies in students developing three sets of PEAK Human Traits traits. https://www.reimaginelearning.ca/peak-distinction/ What does this mean for System Change? Through What School Could Be (WSCB), we present raw data with evidence of deeper learning to lead the reflection process. We then repeat the cycle to continue the growth. Reflect and Assess: Work through the change process by reflecting on and assessing strengths and challenges according to seven areas of focus in our diagnostic tool. Mobilize to Reimagine: Reimagine the future by reviewing the data to plan the f...

  6. 09/05/2024

    Episode #163: The Blueprint for EMPATHY to IMPACT with Aaron Moniz

    Aaron Moniz is the co-founder, director, and lead facilitator of Inspire Citizens which started in 2018. Aaron grew up in a small town in Canada and then moved to Abu Dhabi and experienced diversity and interculturalism first-hand. He focuses on social issues, human rights, anti-racism and anti-homophobia, environmentalism, animal rights, etc. through Punk. What is Your WHY NOW  My WHY is to make sure that as many students and families around the world get to engage with global issues, develop empathy for people and the planet, and use their learning to be able to take action, at any time.  My WHY is to inspire as many people as possible to believe that taking action to make a difference is always an option and that our collective agency can help shape the world.   I do this by dedicating myself to global citizenship education and by working with students, educators, school leaders, school stakeholders, and community partners around the globe to build systems based on sustainable development and global citizenship education.   EMPATHY to IMPACT: Understanding and enacting this process has the power to positively influence everything.  Share about Your Education and How You Became a Teacher I started in a very different place than I ended up. My academic and professional career began with a desire to do good and influence the world positively through politics. I quickly learned that Political Science was not the right field, but I fell in love with Psychology. I completed my Bachelor of Science in Psychology specializing in Buddhism and Psychology and Minors in Political Science and English Literature. I was enthralled by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, Buddhism and psychoanalysis, and all the wisdom around using the mind to heal the mind. I felt compelled to investigate how creating the right conditions might help people reach their full potential and make wise decisions so the world is a better place. This whole experience taught me that at 20 years old, I was not ready to go into clinical psychology. The best way for me to help minds reach their full potential while also being an advocate for inclusion was to go into psychology and education. So my journey began as an intern in a special education department of an international school in Casablanca, Morocco. Within the first week of my experience, a teacher had to leave, I was asked to step in and support an 8th-grade math class and that was it. I was hooked on the beauty of education, and the puzzle of helping students to reach their full potential.   After this, I decided to do 3 more concurrent degrees in education while teaching full-time. I was able to complete my B.Ed and M.Ed with The College of New Jersey. After being promoted to the head of learning support, EAL, Remedial Reading, and Talented and Gifted, I sought further professional certification in Special Education virtually at the University of Victoria during the year and summers.   Developing Inclusive Education and Experiential Learning While developing my skillset in inclusive education, I started getting more involved in experiential learning, service learning with Berber populations in the High Atlas Mountains, and partnering with local NGOs like Corps Africa to link community development projects to Talented and Gifted projects,

    48 min

  7. 08/09/2024

    Reflection #19: Power of Gratitude with the Barbaras

    This is the Barbaras’ show with Barbara Gruener and Barbara Bray (me) on my virtual porch. We were excited to talk about “Gratitude” which is close to our hearts. We wanted to discuss why it is important to have gratitude as a daily habit.   We shared our walk-up songs. My walk-up song is “Rise” by Andra Day. Barbara G’s walk-up song is “Up Up Up” by Rose Falcon. We were surprised that both of our songs had similar themes. You can hear excerpts of both songs in the reflection that goes with this post.  I get up every morning and write a gratitude note. I feel grateful as I walk with my coffee in my garden enjoying the birds, flowers, bees, and everything.  Barbara G. shared that everything today is a gift, yesterday is a gift, and tomorrow (if we’re lucky) will be a gift. She feels that Gratitude has so much POWER and shared a prescripted gratitude journal “A Gratitude with Attitude” with props, prompts, and much more. Two questions/prompts include: What was today’s victory?  Key people who I’m grateful for. I talked about my gratitude jar where I write something on a slip of paper I’m grateful for. Writing a gratitude note shows me how lucky I am to be here and to have this person or that person in my life. At the end of each week, I reach inside the jar full of notes and read one of the gratitudes out loud.  Barbara G. talked about how writing gratitude in a journal or on paper is like therapy or medicine. You can’t have negative thoughts if you say you are grateful every day. It’s that feeling of being lucky to be alive.  Liz Murray from Homeless to Harvard said, “Gratitude is imagining what you do have could just easily be what you don’t have.” Her message was so powerful. She gave a speech one year before school that started with “Imagining what you do have could just be easily gone.”  Oprah Winfrey had a similar quote. “Be thankful for what you have and you will end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never have enough.” It’s all about our beliefs. If you believe you can be the person you want to be, you can become that person. Some people say it is an “Attitude of Gratitude” but it is more than that. It is the ABUNDANCE mindset. This does have an attitude component but this mindset needs to be a lifestyle, a way of life.  When we’re older, we may focus on our health issues and how bad we’re feeling. I understand it’s difficult to think of anything else when we’re not feeling well. However, it can take over our minds and that’s all we think about. If we focus on how lucky we are to be here, we put more energy into that ABUNDANCE mindset. I have health issues but having this mindset has impacted me. I feel great and grateful every day. I was fortunate to coach Miriam Winokur as she wrote her memoir. Miriam is my friend, Ilene Winokur’s mom. She had an amazing life and lived 99 years. In fact, from age 86 to 92 she was a competitive ballroom dancer. Miriam taught me about LIFE and that we only have one life.  Why not be grateful and live life to the fullest every day? ~ Miriam Winokur Barbara G. did the research for a gratitude talk she was going to give. One of the suggestions was from Huston Kraft: “Specificity leads to Significance or Relevance.

    31 min

  8. 06/21/2024

    Episode #162: Empowering Educators and Championing Student-Centered Classrooms

    Dr. Kaylah Holland is passionate about empowering educators through professional development, one-on-one coaching, and innovative lesson design. She holds a Doctorate of Education in Instructional Design and Technology with extensive research in active learning environments. Driven by a passion for a student’s potential that cannot be confined, Kaylah works to restore justice and shares her accidental journey as an educator, author, and advocate for justice-involved youth. Kaylah shares the importance of books over bars, education over incarceration, and her book, Putting Out Fires.  Your WHY I foster active learning environments for ALL students to succeed in school and life while empowering educators to make a huge impact in classrooms around the world. Students need to receive a high-quality education. Education matters and can change someone’s life.  Background in Education I am a Google Certified Innovator, Trainer, and Coach, a college professor, and an ISTE Community Leader. I am a part-time adjunct professor for a couple of universities in the United States. She works to educate and empower teachers beginning their careers in their Master’s degree programs. I was presented the “20 to Watch” award by ISTE in 2022 and was recognized by EdTech K-12 Magazine as a top 30 influencer in 2023. I was selected as a featured voice at the ISTE Live 2024 conference.  Accidental Journey In 2016, I received my Doctorate of Education in Instructional Design and Technology with extensive research in active learning environments. This is what I worked hard for, but I had no job. That’s when I lived as an ex-pat full-time in Haiti. There was lots of problem-solving. I fell in love with the people, the place, and the culture. When the pandemic happened in 2020, I had to leave. Be a voice, not an echo. ~Albert Einstein   BreakFree Education As the Director of Instructional Technology and Blended Learning for BreakFree Education, I empower educators to foster innovative, sustainable, and active educational experiences inside juvenile justice facilities across the United States offering students held in confinement a path to success in school and life. As an ISTE Community Leader, I work to empower educators around the globe. I am directly involved in managing the For Coaches, By Coaches monthly meetups and am part of the Global Group. I amplify the voices of educators across the globe through the Featured Educator program. I was a pivotal part of the organizing team to create the Global Impact Virtual Conference hosted by ISTE Community Leaders in April 2024. The virtual conference included 13 live sessions and 50 pre-recorded sessions representing 25 countries.  Your Book, “Putting Out Fires” I published Putting Out Fires: A Framework for Solving Problems in Your Classroom and School in June 2024. This book will help educators solve problems using the author’s “Putting Out Fires Framework,

    52 min
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About

Join Barbara Bray in her conversations with inspirational educators, thought leaders, and change agents to define their WHY and reflect on how they learned from their experiences and challenges. Each conversation is complemented with a post on her site that includes images, videos, links, and more that illustrate the stories of their lives. Join Barbara and her special guests as they share their personal journeys that will inspire you, touch your heart, and might even touch your heart.

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