Learning Out Loud with Education Reimagined

As we grapple with the complexity of what it means to develop equitable, community-based, learner-centered ecosystems, we can’t explore our myriad questions and wonderings in isolation. By delving into important topics and questions as a community, we can hear different perspectives, talk through half-baked ideas, and receive valuable feedback, together.

Learning Out Loud with Education Reimagined is focused on doing just that. Our first series dives into the “Big Picture” of learner-centered transformation, including why we are thinking about ecosystems in the first place, why innovation isn’t enough, what it means to build with equity at the foundation, and what we can learn from Indigenous, learner-centered knowledge and practices that have existed for millennia.

Our second series investigates the need for freedom and funding to invent new ways of organizing, supporting, and credentialing learning that enable young people to equitably access learner-centered education. Conversation topics include debunking the myth of where meaningful learning happens, how districts can be the new inventors in education, and how we can rewrite the rules to make community-based ecosystems a reality in our communities.

Complementing each video, we have conversation summaries, resources, and full transcripts that can be accessed via the links at the end of each summary paragraph.

Why We Must Invent Community-Based Ecosystems of Learning

On May 26th, 2021, Kelly Young, Education Reimagined’s President; Alin Bennett, Education Reimagined’s Vice President of Practice & Field Advancement; and Olivia Christensen, Education Reimagined Board Member and Iowa BIG alum dove into the possibilities of community-based ecosystems of learning. View the recording of the conversation along with the conversation summary and full, lightly edited transcript here.

The System We’ve Inherited and Why Innovation Isn’t Enough

On June 9th, 2021, Kelly Young, Education Reimagined’s President and Peter McWalters, former Rhode Island Commissioner of Elementary & Secondary Education explored the 125+ year history of our current, conventional education system and why innovation will not achieve the outcomes we hope to achieve for every child, regardless of background or circumstance. View the recording of the conversation along with the conversation summary and full, lightly edited transcript here.

Equity as a Way of Being

On June 23rd, 2021, Kelly Young, Education Reimagined’s President; Timothy Jones, Chief Visionary Officer of #HipHopEd; and Izzy Fitzgerald, learner at the San Diego Met High School explored equity within the context of learner-centered transformation and the inequitable world young people and adults must navigate along their journey to a transformed future. View the recording of the conversation along with the conversation summary and full, lightly edited transcript here.

Bringing Forth the Wisdom and Practices of Indigenous Communities

On July 7th, 2021, Kelly Young, Education Reimagined’s President and Kara Bobroff, President of The One Gen Fund and Founder of Native American Community Academy (NACA) explored the wisdom and practices of Indigenous communities and how their natural ways of being can inform the creation of powerful community-based ecosystems of learning. View the recording of the conversation along with the conversation summary and full, lightly edited transcript here.

Debunking the Myth of Where Meaningful Learning Happens

On August 18th, 2021, Kelly Young, Education Reimagined’s President, and Karen Pittman, Co-Founder and former President and CEO of the Forum for Youth Investment discussed where meaningful learning happens and how we can create the structures and supports for that learning to be recognized no matter when, where, or with whom it happens. View the recording of the conversation along with the conversation summary here.

Marrying Freedom and Funding: How Districts Can Become Education’s New Inventors

On September 1st, 2021, Kelly Young, Education Reimagined’s President, and Thomas Arnett, Senior Research Fellow at the Christensen Institute explore why invention is so difficult within an already existing system and the pathways available to district leaders to overcome this barrier. View the recording of the conversation along with the conversation summary here.

Marrying Freedom and Funding: How Districts Can Become Education’s New Inventors

On September 15th, 2021, Kelly Young, Education Reimagined’s President, and Dr. Steve Kossakoski, CEO of the Virtual Learning Academy Charter School (VLACS) explored how VLACS has been able to operate as a statewide learner-centered environment and what paths their success paves for similar models to emerge across the country. View the recording of the conversation along with the conversation summary here.