Experience Matters with Steve Shapiro
If you ask someone about the most powerful learning experience of their youth, few people will mention a lecture, a textbook reading, or a test. Nearly all will identify an EXPERIENCE; that is because experiential learning is the most profound and lasting form of learning. So if experience matters, how do we offer it to students in our schools? This podcast invites folks to share the learning experience that most deeply impacted their lives, and each episode includes provocations about how we can bring those types of experiences into the mainstream of American schools. Experience Matters is about harnessing the power of experiential learning to transform public education
Episodes
22 episodes
Episode 22- Exquisite Compassion with Father Greg Boyle
Exquisite Compassion with Father Greg BoyleFather Greg Boyle has spent most of his adult years helping transform the lives of former gang members at Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles. In this conversation he applies his ma...
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45:03
Episode 21- Liberate! with Dr. Michelle Sadrena Pledger
Michelle Pledger confronted the internalized oppression from her experiences as a Black girl in a predominately white school; then she converted her newfound wisdom into a commitment to promote culturally relevant teaching practices that honor ...
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52:32
Episode 20- The Power of Voice with Russ Quaglia
Humans, young and old, share a basic need to have some authorship in our own lives. Dr. Russell Quaglia has built his entire career around how to bring students’ voices into focus in classrooms and schools across the world. The result is happie...
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39:28
Episode 19- The Achievement Culture Cure with Dr. Stuart Slavin
Episode 19: The Achievement Culture Cure with Dr. Stuart SlavinWhen Dr. Stuart Slavin received disturbing data about the dismal mental health of students at St. Louis University School of Medicine, he broke into action. The change...
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45:20
Episode 18- This is Your Brain on Achievement Culture with Dr. William Stixrud
This is Your Brain on Achievement Culture with Dr. William StixrudWe are in the midst of a youth mental health crisis, especially among kids in “high achieving” schools. Neuropsychologist William Stixrud has a front row-seat to th...
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42:04
Episode 17- It’s Not WHAT You Know with Julia Freeland Fisher
In our race to cover state content standards and prepare students for high-stakes tests, many educators are overlooking a powerful strategy for transforming students’ futures and making serious strides toward equity. Policy analyst and author J...
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37:48
Episode 16- 22 Voices from TeachBetter22
In October 2022, educators from across the country gathered at NIHF STEM Middle School in Akron, Ohio for TeachBetter22. In this special edition episode, you'll hear 22 conference participants share the most powerful learning experience of thei...
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36:04
Episode 15- Teenage Takeover with Sam Levin
Teenage Takeover with Sam LevinToday Sam Levin is the 29-year-old Oxford PhD CEO of a biotech company. Thirteen years ago he was a high school junior exasperated at his friends’ disengagement and unhappiness at school. So he did somethin...
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33:51
Episode 14: "Tuned In" to the Future with Tony Wagner
“Tuned In” to the Future with Tony WagnerA surprise package arrived at 11-year-old Tony Wagner’s house that permanently impacted his understanding of learning. Decades later, after a career that included twenty years of thought le...
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Episode 14
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34:28
Episode 13: The Secret to College Admissions with Julie Kim
Julie Kim is an L.A.-based college admissions counselor who helps young people gain entrance into America’s most selective colleges. In this conversation Julie pulls back the curtain on the college admissions process and shows young people how ...
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Episode 13
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34:05
Episode 12- The Epiphany with Daniel Pink
Episode 12: The Epiphany with Daniel PinkDaniel Pink’s book A Whole New Mind makes the case for why experiential learning is necessary in the 21st century. His book Drive...
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34:01
Episode 11: Crossing Cultures with Gavin Levine
Gavin Levine spent his junior year of high school as a Rotary Youth Exchange student in Taoyuan, Taiwan. This engaging conversation reveals the enormous growth young people can experience when they leave their comfort zones to enter new culture...
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28:53
Episode 10: Talking to Strangers with Bryan Drewry
Bryan Drewry is a community leader and a serial connector. He developed his talent for engaging with people through a series of high school experiences that served as a “hidden curriculum” of his education.
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26:54
Episode 9: Game-Changing Internship with Duncan Johnson
Duncan Johnson is a high school junior who runs a coding camp, is working in his second internship, and is filled with excitement for learning. It’s like he listened to the Episode 8 interview with Emmy Huefner and took her advice to heart. Dun...
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33:13
Episode 8: A Letter to My Younger Self with Emmy Huefner
Emmy Huefner spent her high school years doing everything others expected of her. She took lots of honors and AP classes, played sports and music, sought leadership positions in school clubs, and did volunteer work. She was driven by the goal o...
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Episode 8
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28:37
Episode 7: From Troublemaker to Ringmaster with Chad Hemmelgarn
Chad Hemmelgarn was an energetic kid for whom school just didn't work, until some visionary teachers found a way to identify and develop his creative gifts. Their utilization of experiential learning helped Chad develop into a beloved high scho...
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23:43
Episode 6: An Unlikely Teacher with Eric Acton
Eric Acton has been a beloved teacher and coach for more than three decades. As an 18-year-old custodian at the Columbus science center, he could never have dreamed of the life he was about to lead. That all changed because of the Girl Scouts a...
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22:18
Episode 5: Owl Pellets with Stacy Bell
Stacy Bell was preparing to become a teacher when an experiential lesson in one of her education classes transformed her approach to teaching and learning. Her encounter with owl pellets has impacted countless elementary and middle school stude...
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21:32
Episode 4- Anti-Racist Activism with Kaia Woodford
In the wake of George Floyd's murder, then 19-year-old Kaia Woodford headed to the Ohio Statehouse to join the protests. She began speaking at rallies, leading her to join other Bexley alumni in founding the Bexley Anti-Racism Project (BARP). S...
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27:07
Episode 3- CEO at age 20 with Olivia Weinstock
At age 10, Olivia Weinstock started a babysitting "camp" for her kid sister's friends. By 18 it was a thriving business with strong brand recognition. Two years later she expanded the service and became the Founder and CEO of a venture capital-...
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Episode 3
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25:28
Episode 2- 8th Graders Take Charge with Suzanne Goldsmith-Hirsch
What happens when you unleash a band of 8th graders in a major city and tell them to design their own learning? Author & journalist Suzanne Goldsmith-Hirsch describes a groundbreaking middle school program where she and her classmates did j...
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24:03
Episode 1- Global Gap Year with Zach Shapiro
After graduating high school Zach Shapiro embarked on a global gap year with Thinking Beyond Borders. He studied sustainability in Guatemala, education in Thailand, and public health in Ghana. Learn about the indelible impact that his gap year ...
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Season 1
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Episode 1
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23:51