The ThoughtStretchers Podcast

The ThoughtStretchers Podcast delivers thoughtful heterodox conversations to stretch your thinking about important issues in education.

Memorizing History Facts, So What? 11/17/2025

Memorizing History Facts, So What? talks with Lauren Brown, Jonathan Dallimore, and Aaron Aastor about the role of facts and critical thinking in teaching history. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/39062975

Are Leveled Readers Hurting Student Growth? 11/10/2025

Are Leveled Readers Hurting Student Growth? and guest co-host, Melinda Karshner, talk with Timothy Shanahan about his new book, Leveled Reading, Leveled Lives, How Students’ Reading Achievement Has Been Held Back and What We Can Do About It. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/38984005

Change Starts Here with Shane Leaning 11/05/2025

Change Starts Here with Shane Leaning talks with Shane Leaning about his new book, Change Starts Here: What If Everything Your School Needed Was Right in Front of You? /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/38924800

Digital Literacy, Civics, And Surveillance 10/29/2025

Digital Literacy, Civics, And Surveillance talks with Heidi Boghosian about her book, Cyber Citizens: Saving Democracy with Digital Literacy. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/38826440

A Critical Look at Educational Research 10/21/2025

A Critical Look at Educational Research Drew Perkins talks with George Lilley, a veteran teacher from Australia, about his critiques of the work of John Hattie, and the Science of Learning. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/38733765

NASSP Leadership, Policy, And Student Well-Being 10/15/2025

NASSP Leadership, Policy, And Student Well-Being talks with return guest, Ronn Nozoe, CEO of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/38596480

When Politics Hijacks Education 10/08/2025

When Politics Hijacks Education talks with Vladimir Kogan about his new book, No Adult Left Behind: How Politics Hijacks Education Policy and Hurts Kids. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/38512315

A Dynamic Equilibrium Of Research And Practice 10/02/2025

A Dynamic Equilibrium Of Research And Practice talks with Rod Naquin about balancing educational research with practice as he returns to the classroom after 7 years doing educational leadership work. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/38440930

Bridging Gaps With Mental Models 09/24/2025

Bridging Gaps With Mental Models talks with Jim Heal and Rebekah Berlin about their new book, Mental Models: How understanding the mind can transform the way you work and learn. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/38341545

"Soul-Destroying" Or Empowering Pedagogy? 09/17/2025

"Soul-Destroying" Or Empowering Pedagogy? talks with Karen Vaites about navigating educational tribalism, the "Science of Learning," and the impact of knowledge-rich, coherent curricula on student outcomes. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/38256545

Strategic Leadership 09/11/2025

Strategic Leadership talks with Rachel Curtis and Liz City, co-authors of the book Leading Strategically: Achieving Ambitious Goals in Education. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/38181210

Using A Prohuman Curriculum To Build Character And Civic Virtue 08/29/2025

Using A Prohuman Curriculum To Build Character And Civic Virtue talks with Christina LaRose about her work with the Prohuman Foundation to develop a curriculum focused on learning character through literature. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/38020795

Bridging The Science of Learning And Inquiry With Socratic Experience 07/30/2025

Bridging The Science of Learning And Inquiry With Socratic Experience talks with Michael Strong, founder of The Socratic Experience, a K–12 high-touch virtual school that equips students through Socratic dialogue, 1:1 mentoring, and creative and entrepreneurial projects. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/37578915

Is The Science of Learning 'Soul Destroying'? 07/24/2025

Is The Science of Learning 'Soul Destroying'? talks with teacher-educator Rachael Jefferson about her Education HQ article from an interview that is critical of the Science of Learning movement. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/37519350

How To Have Nuanced Conversation 07/14/2025

How To Have Nuanced Conversation talks with Shane Leaning as a guest on his Education Leaders podcast about how to have conversations that focus on nuance, complexity, and understanding. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/37402030

AI In Education 05/30/2025

AI In Education talks with Songyee Yoon, author and founder and managing partner of the venture capital firm Principal Venture Partners (PVP), where she focuses on investing in AI-native companies transforming industries. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/36791350

Powerful Knowledge And A Capabilities Curriculum 05/21/2025

Powerful Knowledge And A Capabilities Curriculum talks with teacher and author, Richard Bustin, about his book What Are We Teaching? /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/36659150

Science Of Learning, PBL, And Inquiry: A Salon Conversation 05/09/2025

Science Of Learning, PBL, And Inquiry: A Salon Conversation is joined by Andrew Watson, Dr. Cindy Nebel, and Fox Demoisey to discuss the intersections between the Science of Learning, project-based learning, and inquiry. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/36511900

Anti-DEI And Enlightenment Liberal Principles 04/16/2025

Anti-DEI And Enlightenment Liberal Principles talks with Tim Minella, Senior Constitutionalism Fellow at The Goldwater Institute, about their work to eliminate DEI in higher education. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/36187900

DEI: Expansive or Restrictive? A Salon Conversation 04/10/2025

DEI: Expansive or Restrictive? A Salon Conversation is joined by educators and DEI practitioners Carlos Hoyt, Daryl Sinclair, and Nunana Nyomi for a salon-style conversation about the complexities and nuances of DEI. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/36085720

Powerful Questioning, Powerful Pedagogy 04/02/2025

Powerful Questioning, Powerful Pedagogy talks with Bruce Robertson about his new book, Power Up Your Questioning: A Practical Handbook for Teachers. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/35889185

Breaking The Generational Cycle Of Poverty 03/26/2025

Breaking The Generational Cycle Of Poverty talks with Dr. Abraham George about his work to help children transcend India's caste system through education and his Shanti Bhavan School. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/35869920

Differentiated Instruction With Modern Classrooms Project 03/19/2025

Differentiated Instruction With Modern Classrooms Project talks with Robert Barnett, Modern Classrooms Project cofounder, about his new book, Meet Every Learner's Needs: Redesigning Instruction So All Students Can Succeed. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/35779145

The Knowledge Revival, Curriculum For Deep Thinking 03/12/2025

The Knowledge Revival, Curriculum For Deep Thinking hosted this conversation with Paul Kirschner, Claudio Vanhees, and Daniel Muijs, three of the ten co-authors of the open-access book, Developing Curriculum for Deep Thinking: The Knowledge Revival. This was a ThoughtStretchers Community event that included registered participant questions. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/35653660

Beyond Phonics, The Challenge Of Teaching Dyslexic Students 03/05/2025

Beyond Phonics, The Challenge Of Teaching Dyslexic Students talks with, parent, Jackie Castillo-Blaber, and parent/teacher Melinda Karshner about the challenges of teaching reading to dyslexic students. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/35547020

Centering Educational Progress 02/26/2025

Centering Educational Progress talks with Jack Despain Zhou about his project to establish a new think tank called Center for Educational Progress. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/35439470

How Should We Be Teaching History? 02/19/2025

How Should We Be Teaching History? talks with Jonathon Dallimore about his book, Teaching History: A Practical Guide for Secondary School Teachers. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/35352265

The Essential Howard Gardner 02/13/2025

The Essential Howard Gardner talks with Howard Gardner about his two new books, The Essential Howard Gardner On Education and On Mind, both reflections on his academic career and work. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/35269680

Cognitive Load Theory: A Reflective Conversation 02/05/2025

Cognitive Load Theory: A Reflective Conversation hosts this salon-style conversation with Dylan Wiliam, Oliver Caviglioli, Carl Hendrick, and Christian Bokhove about Cognitive Load Theory. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/35162910

School Choice Debate And Dialogue 01/30/2025

School Choice Debate And Dialogue This episode is the recording of a live discussion about school choice and vouchers, hosted by Drew Perkins, with Josh Cowen and Neal McCluskey as part of our ThoughtStretchers Community. It includes RSVP'd guests and their questions. /episode/index/show/teachthought/id/35090425

The ThoughtStretchers Podcast

TOPICS