36 episodes
The Unexamined Education Jonathan Ali & Shaun Dalrymple
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- Education
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5.0 • 16 Ratings
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Ever feel like the rhetoric of education doesn’t match the reality? Join two veteran teachers as they envision a more perfect system by interrogating the hidden assumptions that alienate love of learning in our schools.
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Education Punches Sam
Shaun interviews a former student, Sam, who is a public school teacher and coach. Epic.
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Shaun Punches Education
Wait...what??? Is it over? Is this really happening? Am I free from listening to this anymore? Jonathan don't respond...please don't!!!
BUT...wait a minute...do I only exist to critique this show? If Jonathan does not respond, will my existence end? Jonathan! My continued pattern of existence relies solely on you!
Please be merciful in your decision. -
Emergency Episode - New Teacher...High Expectations
"Jonathan" and Shaun interview John, a new teacher in a crisis situation. As is so often with new teachers under the influence of The Unexamined Education, John struggles mightily with how things could be and rather than turning off his humanity and assuming the children are soulless so that he can get on with delivering essential curriculum, John wants to think about human things.
Oh, you young fool! Change now, while you still can! Don't nurture the human side of education! All that will do is make you realize how inhumane the system is! -
Reunification: Holding It Down for the Robots
It's been so long since I listened to this and now that I cannot remember what these two guys were talking about. They have some idea that they'll get better engagement by restructuring the podcast, but it has only left me with an empty mind.
The Critic -
The Mechanical and the Human
Jon delivers a monologue in an attempt to ease Shaun's feeling of isolation, but ultimately questions the humanity of Shaun's existence.
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Alone in the Black Box
This is a discussion on the analogue between AI learning and student learning. I wonder if Jon abandoned Shaun. That drama is way more interesting than the monologue.
Customer Reviews
Critical look at standardized teaching
I generally listen to fiction so it’s an interesting change listening in on this examination of teacher and student roles. They’ve also started securing feature of “super teacher” movie reviews.
As a description, this podcast features two professional educators/administrators who work at Montessori-influenced private schools. The general gist of things is that they believe that many features of current American education are harmful or otherwise require additional scrutiny (which leads to the name of the podcast). It takes a strong student-led position, advocating for the ability for both students and teachers to personally tailor their education.
The format is a friendly chat, sharing past experiences and examples from popular media, together with a good deal of off-the-cuff theorizing.
Here’s my breakdown of various elements:
-Production quality: the voices are clear and the editing is smooth. There aren’t really any gaps where people pause or are at a loss for words. Everything is stripped down and minimal, so there’s only light opening music and no other special effects, which works for this format.
-Characters: while I know this is a non-fiction podcast, it’s still a performance, as they acknowledge is true of all teaching in general. The two speakers have good camaraderie and balance each other well. Their positions as current educators able to try out there principles gives them authenticity.
-Topics: each episode meanders over a lot of area but it’s all relevant. I think this would be valuable for basically anyone wanting to dig deeper into how they feel about education.
I look forward to listening to new episodes, and would recommend this to anyone interested in education.
Engaging and insightful
Wonderfully engaging and thoughtful look at education. The hosts manage to be both critical and understanding of the constraints put on public Ed today while providing insightful commentary based on their years of experience. Great listen for anyone in the world of education!
Direct, Clever, and Inspiring
There are few times that something comes along to change your view on the world. This is one of those moments.