I am starting my Podcast class this coming Monday. I taught it last year, and I think I learned everything that I do not want to do more than I wanted to do. But in thinking about all that and how I wanted to conduct class this year, it made me think about what my philosophy of education was and how it pertained to podcasting. Below is what I came up with. I am going to record it as my first podcast of the year and have the students listen to it. We’ll see how that goes. Students can be fierce critics. Stay tuned.
What I Believe About Education
Education should teach you how to think, not what to think.
Just because I stand up in front of the room doesn't mean I have everything figured out. I'm on my journey, same as you. I just have a few more rings on my tree than you do.
Ask me questions. Challenge me. Disagree with me. I'm not saying I'll always have the answers, but I'm willing to look for them with you. That's kind of the point.
Curiosity is more valuable than memorizing answers.
I suppose memorization has its place, but I don't necessarily think memorizing something is the same as understanding it. You can slap something into that old memory bank, pull it out for a test, and then promptly forget it. But what do you actually know about it? Have you questioned it? Explored it? Figured out why it matters?
I want you to move beyond simply knowing things. I want you to understand them.
Everyone has something worth saying.
Your ideas have value. Whatever that noodle of yours is thinking about matters. Seriously. This is important enough that I'm going to spend quite a bit more time talking about it later.
Your experiences and perspectives matter.
Your experiences are the fabric of what makes you, you. Nobody has lived your life, and because of that, nobody sees the world in precisely the same way you do.
That perspective is inherently valuable. The way you see things and express them might lead someone else to reconsider how they look at the world. You might introduce an idea that someone has never considered before.
Don't undervalue your experiences. You have more to contribute than you probably realize.
Learning should challenge you to see the world differently.
If taking in new information has absolutely no relevance to how you understand the world, then we need to rethink why we're learning it or how we're going about learning it.
Learning should change something. Maybe it's a belief, an assumption, an opinion, or simply the way you look at something you thought you already understood.
If nothing changes, I'm not sure we've accomplished much.
Making mistakes is part of making progress.
There is an incredible fear of screwing up. Somewhere along the way, we've normalized that fear, almost as though it's perfectly reasonable to avoid taking chances because something might not work.
That gives me a giant, momentous ick.
Seriously. We need to talk about this, because being afraid of making mistakes is a pretty effective way to guarantee that you never do anything particularly interesting.
Your Voice Matters
You don't have to be an expert to have something meaningful to say.
What about an outsider's perspective? Sometimes not knowing all the conventional wisdom is an advantage. You aren't necessarily trapped by the assumptions, expectations, or preconceived notions that come with being an expert.
Don't misunderstand me. Expertise matters. But so does fresh thinking.
There are consulting firms making ridiculous amounts of money selling people answers that aren't particularly good. So let's not pretend that having a title or being an expert automatically makes someone right.
Get comfortable not knowing. Embrace the opportunity to ask questions without feeling embarrassed about it. Your perspective is worth exploring.
Good conversations begin with genuine curiosity.
I could go a really long way with this one.
When did we lose that childhood whimsy? Remember when everything about the world was new and you had an endless supply of questions? Why is the sky blue? How does that work? Why do people do that? What's going on over there?
Somewhere along the way, many of us stopped asking.
I want to help you bring some of that curiosity back. It's a pretty significant perspective shift, but I'd like us to work on it together.
The world is an interesting place. Let's start acting like it.
Listening is just as important as speaking.
I'm a bit of a hypocrite here because this is something I struggle with every day.
I don't know if it's because I'm a teacher and have gotten used to being the person who explains things, or maybe it's just a little good old-fashioned mansplaining. Either way, it's something I need to work on.
And I want you to work on it with me.
Think about how often we're already formulating our next response while someone else is talking. We're so busy preparing what we're going to say that we miss what the other person is actually saying.
There are potentially fascinating, meaningful, and even life-changing things happening right in front of us, and we're missing them because we're too busy listening to ourselves.
Let's work on that.
You can learn something from almost anyone.
Pay attention to other people and what they have to say. There are nuggets of wisdom, interesting observations, and genuinely cool ideas everywhere. We miss a lot of them.
Don't make assumptions about what someone knows, what they've experienced, or what they have to contribute. Dismissing someone because you think you've already figured them out is a pretty good way to miss something worthwhile.
Besides, being dismissive is a rather pompous and pretentious way to go through life.
You don't have to agree with someone to understand them.
Be intellectually curious enough to give someone your attention, even when their perspective is different from yours.
Understanding someone's position doesn't mean you have to adopt it. It simply means you're willing to consider it.
A thoughtful disagreement can be incredibly productive. You might change someone's mind. They might change yours. Or you might both walk away understanding something you didn't before.
That's a pretty good outcome.
Think, Don't Just Consume
Question the information you encounter.
I think there are different ways we consume information, and not all of them require the same level of engagement.
For example, when I'm reading a Lee Child book (he's the guy who writes Jack Reacher), I tend to let it wash over me. I enjoy the ride. The story takes me somewhere, and I just go along with it.
I sometimes think of that kind of reading as intellectual fast food. Man, it's good, but maybe it's not doing a whole lot for me intellectually.
Except, wait a minute. I'm going to argue with myself here. Reading for pleasure still builds vocabulary, improves reading fluency, and exposes you to different ideas. So maybe that fast food analogy isn't entirely fair.
But when I'm reading Kurt Vonnegut, it's a different experience. I have to be paying attention. I need to think about the metaphors, the satire, and what he's really saying beneath the surface. If I just let the words wash over me, I'll miss a whole lot.
Both kinds of reading have value. The important thing is knowing when to engage more deeply with what you're consuming.
Don't just absorb information. Think about it. Question it. Challenge it.
Keep that noodle activated.
Don't automatically believe everything you hear.
We are surrounded by information. Everything, everywhere, all the time.
And then there's the damn algorithm. It knows us better than our families do. It knows what we like, what we watch, what makes us angry, and what keeps us scrolling.
Echo chambers as far as the eye can see.
We need to be discerning now more than ever. We need to recognize how stories, opinions, and media shape our understanding of the world.
Learn to distinguish between fact, opinion, assumption, and evidence. Understand that the way something is presented can influence what you believe about it.
Become an informed participant in the world, not just a passive consumer of it.
Be willing to challenge your own thinking.
Kill your darlings.
This is tough. We are all a little narcissistic when it comes to our own ideas. We become attached to what we believe, and sometimes we defend an idea simply because it's ours.
But you have to be willing to examine your own thinking. Take an idea you believe in and test its validity. Look for evidence that challenges it. Consider the possibility that you might be wrong.
And if you are? Be humble enough to move on to something better.
Changing your mind isn't a weakness. Refusing to change it when presented with good reasons might be.
Creativity Requires Courage
You cannot discover what you're capable of without trying.
I'm not going to sit here and repeat all the motivational quotes you've heard throughout your school careers.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."
Blah, blah, blah.
Okay, maybe I'll use that one, but you get the point.
You have to be willing to try things. You have to be willing to explore ideas that might not work. You have to be willing to look a little foolish now and then.
That's how you discover what you're capable of.
Original ideas rarely arrive fully formed.
I like to be analog when I'm in idea-creation mode. Give me a pencil and a piece of paper.
Why? Because ideas seem to stick around longer when I write them down. When I type something into a document, it's too easy to hit delete the moment I start doubting whether the idea has any merit.
A handwritten idea has a little more staying power.
Ideas need time to simmer. Sometimes they need a day, sometimes a month, and occasionally much longer. They marinate. They evolve. They occasionally blossom into something that resembles what you were trying to say all along.
That's one reason I like journaling. Ideas can live there for a while without having to prove themselves immediately. Eventually, they might fit perfectly into something you're creating. Or they might not. But even then, they can lead you somewhere else.
Give your ideas some room to breathe before you decide whether they're any good.
Experimentation is more important than perfection.
Your first attempt at almost anything probably won't be as good as your twentieth.
When I look back at some of the videos I made ten years ago, I shudder. Seriously. But that was part of the journey. I had to be willing to fail, and fail I did. Spectacularly in some cases.
But by taking those creative risks, I learned all the little things that eventually make for better videos.
This isn't to say my videos are perfect now. They aren't. They might not even be particularly good, depending on the day.
But they're better. And I'm okay with that because better is what I'm chasing.
Not perfect. Better.
Don't be afraid to make something different.
So what if nobody else has done something quite like what you're thinking about?
That might be the most interesting part of the whole idea.
If you're always trying to make something that looks like something you've already seen, you're probably not pushing yourself very far.
There is something courageous about pursuing an idea without knowing exactly where it's going to take you. Embrace that. Keep experimenting. Keep exploring.
And here's the really interesting part: that willingness to try something different can bleed into all the other things you do in life.
What's not to like about that?
Finish what you start. Not everything needs to be perfect to be worth sharing.
We are almost always our own worst critics. And sometimes the criticism starts before we've even made it halfway through a project.
We begin questioning the idea, doubting our abilities, and convincing ourselves that the whole thing isn't worth pursuing.
And then we quit.
Pretty soon, we're surrounded by a wake of unfinished projects and ideas that never had a chance to become anything.
I want you to understand something: growth is the goal.
Perfection is often unattainable, and learning to accept that is an important part of creating anything worthwhile. Give yourself a little grace. Finish the project. Put it out into the world. Learn from it and move on.
There is something genuinely good for the soul about finishing something you once thought you couldn't do.
Respect Your Audience
When it comes to creating a podcast, there are a few things we need to keep in the front of our minds.
Respect other people's time and attention. If someone gives you ten minutes of their day, make those ten minutes worthwhile.
Have something worth communicating. Don't create something simply because you can. Have a reason for doing it.
Be thoughtful about the stories you tell. Consider the people involved, the perspectives you're presenting, and the impact your words might have.
Be honest and responsible with the information you share. Your audience deserves the truth, not whatever makes for the most entertaining story.
Give people a reason to listen. Make them curious. Make them think. Make them laugh. Make them feel something.
Remember that having a platform comes with responsibility. Even a small audience is an audience. What you create can influence how people think, feel, and understand the world.
These aren't always easy concepts, and we'll spend quite a bit of time discussing them throughout the class.
What I Hope You Take Away
Greater confidence in your own ideas.
You have a voice. Trust it. Develop it. Challenge it. Your ideas and thoughts have value, and the world has room for another perspective.
The ability to ask better questions.
Questions. Always be asking questions. The quality of the questions you ask can change the quality of the answers you find.
A willingness to listen to different perspectives.
Find value in the things you hear when you genuinely listen. You might be surprised by what you discover.
The ability to communicate clearly and thoughtfully.
Great ideas that are poorly communicated often go unheard. Learn how to express yourself in a way that makes people want to listen.
The confidence to create something of your own.
Fly your freak flag high. Be proud of yourself, your ideas, your experiences, and all the wonderfully unusual things that make you who you are.
A better understanding of yourself and the people around you.
We're going to take a journey together. What you get out of this journey will depend totally on your mindset and perspective. Be positive. Inform people about things that will reduce the suck of the world. Make people laugh, cry and all things in between. Talk about life, the messy and the beautiful and examine new ways to see it and experience it. If there's a better reason to learn how to communicate well, I don't know what it is.
I am excited about this journey - lets go.