Centering Relevance (ft Charlie Jenkinson)

This week’s Inspire & Innovate Podcast features guest, Charlie Jenkinson, serves as the Chief Strategy Officer for the World Leading Schools Association (WLSA).  He believes that “schools have responsibility to act as powerhouses of social and global mobility” and he leads with a vision of ever-broadening access to and transformation of our educational spheres.  During our conversation, we discussed

 

• How Charlie’s experience as a student  led to his drive to transform the system of education . . . and why extrinsic motivation never worked for him (4:10-7:28)
• Why this transformative work cannot be the sole responsibility of individual teachers or even individual schools . . . a network is required (7:29-8:00; 18:10-18:53; 25:35-26:54)
• A powerful example of why simply developing individual, measurable skills and performance  is not enough for transformative teaching/learning (8:02-9:02)
• How WLSA is fighting for equity and access for all youth to learn, travel, and develop as global citizens through the acquisition of  intercultural lenses and working toward change  (13:58-16:30; 53:56-55:50)
• Why the pandemic makes all of these commitments more important and more timely than ever (16:30-17:55)
• The kinds of experiences youth need to thrive: featuring (in part) the double helix of “a deep understanding of what they offer the world and what does the world need from [them]”  (22:08-25:35)
• The influence individual teachers and schools can have (26:54-28:58)
• Charlie’s philosophy about the utilization of literature in schools in relation to student interest and faculty expertise (28:58-31:58)
• A new phrase (and literacy practice) to incorporate into your vernacular, thanks to Charlie’s dad: “reading ‘round your subjects” (32:40-36:12)
• How an individual school can best contribute to a network of schools, and why those of us in the Jackson, MS area are uniquely positioned to provide youth opportunities to study and make sense of civil rights in the US (38:30-41:25)
• The definition of  intercultural intelligence and why it has more to do with math class than you might think (41:31-48:25)
• Why a combination of a proactive and responsive curricula is key for older youth (48:26-51:33)
• Why your ability to connect personally/relationally with your students is the part that really sticks with them (56:35-58:36)
• The book that Charlie Jenkinson thinks all educators should read (1:00:18-1:00:01:46)

 

Don’t forget to also tune in to our Teacher Talks companion podcast . . . this week I interview two St. Andrew’s superstars that both teach and fill a variety of other central roles at our school:  Kate Dutro (our lower school librarian) and Rev. Annie Elliott (chaplain, upper school teacher).  They help us unpack Charlie’s interview in some profound ways, so don’t miss it!