Please Speak Freely
By Eric Gurna
To listen to an audio podcast, mouse over the title and click Play. Open iTunes to download and subscribe to podcasts.
Podcast Description
Interviews with leaders in the fields of youth development and education.
| Name | Description | Released | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Episode 15: Mark Mannella, CEO of KIPP Philadelphia Schools | The KIPP network of charter schools has been at the forefront of the charter school movement. In this episode, Marc Mannella discusses the KIPP approach to working with young people, including their values, and the systems they use to control/manage student behavior. "We are trying to teach the kids that there is a way that KIPPsters act. There is a curiosity that they bring to the classroom; there is a respect that they bring to their interactions with their peers and with their teachers. We are going to be pragmatic about that approach, and we're going to do what we think works." - Marc Mannella | 5/18/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
2 |
Episode 14: Jennifer Davis of the National Center on Time and Learning | Jennifer Davis leads a campaign to get educators and others to re-think how time is used in schools. In this episode, she describes the Expanded Learning Time (ELT) movement and responds to some of the concerns raised by people in the after school/youth development field. | 5/2/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
3 |
Episode 13: Hanaa Arafat of the YWCA of the City of New York | Hanaa Arafat spearheaded an appeal effort that had a big statewide impact in New York, by gently but rigorously insisting that the State maintain standards of fairness in how they dole out grants for afterschool programs. | 4/10/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
4 |
Episode 12: Brad Lupien | Brad Lupien, Co-Founder and Co-President of Champions (now ARC) has a million ideas for how to improve education and the lives of young people, and in this episode we got to discuss a few. | 3/21/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
5 |
Episode 11: The 2012 PASEsetter Award Winners | The PASEsetter awards honor afterschool program staff who bring passion and excellence to their work. In this episode, sponsored by the Partnership for Afterschool Education, I interviewed this year's winners, Sadie Mahoney, Fabyiene Miranda, Deena Hellman, Mi Jung You, and Patrick Pinchinat. Jodi Grant, Executive Director of Afterschool Alliance wrote the guest blog that accompanies the podcast, which can be found at www.developmentwithoutlimits.org/podcast. | 3/10/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
6 |
Episode 10: Michael Edwards, October 27, 2011 | I can’t remember how I first came across Michael Edwards’ book, Small Change, Why Business Won’t Save the World, but it was a rarely engrossing experience for me. I love to read, but I often skim the non-fiction stuff, and I was surprised to find myself highlighting passages, dog-earing pages and reading lines aloud to whoever happened to be nearby. I even bought a stack of them and started giving them away – to me the book is somewhat of a manifesto, and I wanted others to share my fascination. Small Change is a thin paperback that packs a punch – it’s a critique of the current culture and system of philanthropy, and more than that it’s a sharp analysis of where we are as a culture in general. I had a great conversation with Mr. Edwards at his home in Swan Lake, NY. We talked about how the current definition of education reform – a package of policies that all amount to a move towards privatization and a reliance on “market forces” – is part of a larger agenda that puts more value on efficiencies than values, and makes false assumptions about the power of business-like practices. I hope you enjoy the talk, along with a guest blog by Jakada Imani, Executive Director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights (and also my best friend since seventh grade). | 3/10/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
7 |
Episode 9: Alfie Kohn, October 25, 2011 | Alfie Kohn is a busy man, and I had to be pretty pushy to get him to agree to be a guest on Please Speak Freely. As the author of bestselling books Punished By Rewards, The Schools Our Children Deserve, Beyond Discipline and more, Mr. Kohn pretty much embodies the title of the podcast, and his work has been incredibly important to me – he’s shaped my perspective on youth work more than any other writer. Our conversation ranged widely – we talked about charter schools, expanded learning time, Race to the Top, and the dark side of using extrinsic rewards to motivate both young people and adults. He doesn’t pull any punches, but his views are always grounded in solid research and compassion for young people and families. It wasn’t until we wrapped up the interview and I took his picture that I noticed the giant frog balloon gazing admiringly at him the entire time. | 2/10/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
8 |
Episode 8: Crystal FitzSimons, October 17, 2011 and Lucy Komisar, December 7, 2011 | This episode of Please Speak Freely is all about food. I sat down with Crystal FitzSimons of the Food Research Action Center at the Bridge Conference in Seattle last October, and learned a lot about how school lunches, snacks and suppers are funded and provided, and the efforts being made to ensure high quality nutrition. Because I am recording the podcasts faster than I can edit and post them, some time passed before I got a chance to listen to the conversation, and I happen to read a gripping article in the NY Times called, “How the Food Industry Eats Your Kid’s Lunch,” and immediately reached out to the author of the piece, Lucy Komisar, who was kind enough to sit down with me as well. The two conversations provide interesting perspectives on an important issue. Having worked on the Healthy Chilren, Healthy Futures program for many years, and because I love to cook (and of course, love to eat), the issue of what we feed kids matters to me very much, and I hope you enjoy the conversation. Coming soon…my conversation with one of my professional heroes, Alfie Kohn. | 1/30/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
9 |
Episode 7: Rich Berlin, September 15, 2011 | As a youth development organization, Rich Berlin and his team did an audacious thing – they started their own school. What began as a notion to revive baseball in the inner city grew, until Harlem RBI was a major resource to the East Harlem community, and then they founded DREAM Charter School. I had a frank and interesting conversation with Rich, Harlem RBI’s executive director and the chair of the charter school. Rich was more than happy to speak freely! Plus we get to hear from Earl Martin Phalen of Summer Advantage (and founder of BELL) again, as he responds to Rich's challenge that out of school time organizations who want to make a real impact on academic success should start schools. DWL Senior Consultant Rebecca Fabiano wrote the PSF Blog for this episode, and she draws an interesting parallel between what Harlem RBI is doing and the Expanded Learning Time movement. Please join the conversation! | 12/21/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
10 |
Episode 6: Dr. Paul Heckman, September 6, 2011 | I've known Dr. Paul Heckman, Associate Dean at the University of California School of Education for a long time – thirteen years ago, when I was Director of Staff Development for LA's BEST Afterschool Enrichment Program, Paul was a consultant for LA's BEST, and a mentor for me. I've learned so much from him over the years, and I was so happy to talk with him for this episode. We didn’t even get close to covering everything I wanted to talk about, but we did have a great talk about the current culture of education, and how to create a new path. | 11/30/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
11 |
Episode 5: Live from the Bridge Conference in Seattle, WA with Zach Wilson and Others, October 17-18, 2011 | This is a special episode of Please Speak Freely, recorded live at the Bridge from School to Afterschool and Back Conference in Seattle, WA! While I have recently recorded a few more interviews that still need to be edited and put online, I wanted to get this episode up while the conference is still fresh in the minds of everyone involved. In this episode, I tried to capture some of the ideas and conversations from the conference, and I included excerpts from the keynote speeches of Karen Pittman, President and CEO of the Forum for Youth Investment and recent PSK guest, and Dr. Shawn Ginwright of San Francisco State University, who I will be interviewing soon. I also spoke briefly with several conference participants, and had a more in depth conversation with my friend and colleague Zach Wilson, Director of Educational Services for School’s Out Washington, and the “maestro” of the Bridge Conference. The editing might be a little shaky, because I’m no radio producer, but I think you’ll enjoy what you hear. Thanks to School’s Out Washington for sponsoring the first few episodes of the podcast! | 11/2/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
12 |
Episode 4: Karen Pittman, July 26, 2011 | I got to sit down withKaren Pittman, President and CEO of theForum for Youth Investment and a national leader and advocate for positive youth development. Ms. Pittman has received many awards and has advised the top levels of government, foundations and nonprofits on how to create programs and policies that promote the values of youth development and address the holistic needs of young people and communities. We had a great conversation about the importance of "low-stakes accountability" strategies for encouraging rigorous practice while still letting creativity and risk-taking thrive, as well as the range of challenges facing the field today. Ms. Pittman was refreshingly reflective about how the youth development field could frame the issues in a way that connects with people, and insightful about the language that she now prefers. She also talks about how the OST field can educate and support the regular classroom, and vice versa. Ms. Pittman will be the keynote speaker at the Bridge Conference in Seattle, WA next week, where I will also be presenting a session that screens the documentary, Race to Nowhere. Hope to see you there! This episode of Please Speak Freely is sponsored by the School's Out Washington Bridge to Afterschool and Back Conference, happening on October 17-18 in Seattle Washington. Come to the Bridge Conference to connect, act and transform! | 10/14/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
13 |
Episode 3: Dr. Pedro Noguera, June 14, 2011 | I was thrilled to speak with Dr. Pedro Noguera of New York University, who has been a leader and advocate for holistic and equitable education. Dr. Noguera has been a consistent and strong advocate for the role of community organizations and the importance of afterschool and summer learning opportunities.We had a good conversation about the complexity of the movement towards "expanded learning time," the value of social and emotional learning supports, and the role of afterschool programs in the larger context of education reform. We got to talk about the advice he gave to the chancellor of the New York school system, and how that advice was interpreted. Enjoy! | 9/9/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
14 |
Episode 2: Earl Martin Phalen, June 10, 2011 | In this episode, I had a chance to talk with Earl Martin Phalen, who founded BELL and Summer Advantage and is the President and CEO of Reach Out and Read. BELL, which Earl founded when he was a law student, has grown to become one of the leading afterschool providers in the country, and Summer Advantage has received a lot of attention recently because of their results with helping keeping young people engaged over the summer months. Earl and I talked about some of the thornier issues in the field today – how organizations represent their work as opposed to the realities, who gets to call themselves an educator and the value of investing in measuring results. We also had a few laughs. | 8/18/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
15 |
Episode 1: Alexis Menten, June 3, 2011 | For this first episode of Please Speak Freely, I interviewed Alexis Menten at the Asia Society headquarters on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and we had an interesting conversation about global competence, and the need to prepare young people for a 21st century world. While Asia Society is known internationally as a cultural institution and museum that has helped to build bridges between Asia and "The West," in recent years they have played a significant role in the afterschool and youth development field. We talked about the importance of having high expectations of our colleagues, and the value of putting young people in charge of their own learning. This episode of Please Speak Freely is sponsored by School's Out Washington's Bridge Conference, happening on October 17 & 18, 2011 in Seattle, WA. Alexis and I will both be presenting and attending the Bridge Conference, and I will also be taping live interviews for a special episode of Please Speak Freely. Check back soon (or subscribe on iTunes) to listen to the next episode, which will feature a dynamic conversation with Earl Phalen of Reach Out and Read, (and founder of Summer Advantage and BELL). | 7/24/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 15 Episodes |
Customer Reviews
At the heart of the matter
As a youth development professional, I value the opportunity to hear from leading experts in the field in their own words. Eric is a thoughtful interviewer and creates a space for the guest to have an honest conversation that gets to the heart of the matter. As an educator of college students, PSF is a tool I can use in the classroom to introduce prospective youth workers to pioneers in the field.
Real Talk
Having worked in the field of afterschool/out-of-school time education for a number of years, I find the conversations on Please Speak Freely to be refreshingly honest, not to mention informative. Host Eric Gurna dives deep in his discussions with some of the foremost thought leaders in education today, and what results is always thought-provoking and often quite inspiring. Highly recommend to anyone who is passionate about working with youth.
On the leading edge of the education conversation
These conversations give a great perspective to some of the cutting edge thoughts on education. Eric is constantly finding high profile people and getting a solid hour of their time in a way you won't hear anywhere else. If you're an educator you should be listening in on what's happening here.... these are some of the most advanced voices out there.
