131: Embracing Non-Traditional Education with Jennifer D. Klein

How do you create meaningful change in education without losing your job?

My guest this week, Jennifer D. Klein, explores the delicate balance of innovation and resistance through the lens of her experiences in nontraditional education. 

Jennifer shares with us her incredible insights about leading change in schools today. From poetry in the wilderness to navigating political turbulence, discover how language, timing, and understanding can help leaders create schools where every student thrives.

IN THIS EPISODE, WE DISCUSS:

  • The transformative experience of growing up in alternative education
  • How leaders can navigate resistance to change while staying true to their educational vision
  • The unexpected ways language choice can impact how communities receive educational innovation
  • Creating school environments where each child is celebrated

RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:


GUEST BIO:

Jennifer D. Klein is a product of experiential project-based education herself, and she lives and breathes the student-centered pedagogies used to educate her. She became a teacher during graduate school in 1990, quickly finding the intersection between her love of writing and her fascination with educational transformation and its potential impact on social change. A former head of school with extensive international experience and over 30 years in education--including 19 in the classroom--Jennifer facilitates dynamic, interactive workshops for teachers, leaders and students, working to amplify student voice, to provide the tools for high-quality project-based learning in all cultural and socio-economic contexts, and to shift school culture to support such practices. Motivated by her belief that all children deserve a meaningful, relevant education like the one she experienced herself, and that giving them such an education will catalyze positive change in their communities and beyond, Jennifer strives to inspire educators to shift their practices in schools worldwide.

Jennifer’s first book, The Global Education Guidebook, was published in 2017, and her second, The Landscape Model of Learning: Designing Student-Centered Experiences for Cognitive and Cultural Inclusion, written with co-author Kapono Ciotti, was published in 2022.

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MORE ABOUT THE REBEL EDUCATOR PODCAST:

In each episode of the Rebel Educator podcast, I deconstruct world-class educators, students, and thought leaders in education to extract the tactics, tools, and routines that you can use as teachers and parents. Join me as we discuss how to shift the classroom, the learning environment, the mindset, and the pedagogy, to resist tradition, reignite wonder, and re-imagine the future of education.

This podcast is dedicated to all of the educators who work thankless hours to make our next generation the best it can be.  It was designed to begin conversations on how we can redesign education for the future of work and the success of our students.  It is meant for teachers, students, administrators, homeschoolers and anyone who interacts with and teaches youth.

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131: Embracing Non-Traditional Education with Jennifer D. Klein