Welcome to Outspoken, powered by Outschool! The hosts of the podcast, Amir Nathoo, CEO of Outschool, and Justin Dent, Executive Director of Outschool.org - Outschool’s independent nonprofit partner, introduce the show, which aims to address educational challenges and promote innovative solutions. Drawing from personal experiences and reflections, they emphasize the importance of fostering a love of learning and providing equitable educational opportunities.

Kaya Henderson, the CEO of Reconstruction, talks about how community partnership and co-creation can drive educational change, empowering young people and giving them leadership opportunities and the limits of meritocracy. She explores the challenges and impact of anti-diversity initiatives on educational efforts and discusses the company's success in making education inclusive and engaging through K-12 supplemental classes centering Black people, their contributions, and history.

Michael Horn, a recognized public speaker and author, delves into the shortcomings of traditional education systems and the potential for reinvention. He discusses personalized learning and the rise of micro-schools and education savings accounts (ESAs) to improve learning environments, while addressing challenges like the public school system's resistance to change and societal expectations and the need for sustainable alternatives in education.

Lakisha Young, founder & CEO at The Oakland REACH, delves into supporting individuals when education systems falter and the role of leadership in catalyzing this change. She shines a light on the importance of community support, technology paired with human guidance and actionable strategies for empowering vulnerable populations. Lakisha advocates for a multi-generational, goal-oriented approach to literacy and math, introducing her innovative Liberator Model that empowers families by training parents as tutors to enhance community education.

John Danner, co-founder of Project Read AI, shares his thought-provoking ideas about the future of K-12 education in the age of AI. According to him, the current education system does not work for everyone, and the role of the teacher needs to be fundamentally rethought. Throughout the episode, John discusses the potential impact of AI on education and society as a whole, suggesting that AI could take on a significant part of the instructional load, thereby freeing teachers to focus on other aspects of student development.

fill in