Ep62: Jennifer D Klein, Author, Speaker, Facilitator & Coach

Today my guest is Jennifer D Klein, an Author, Speaker, Facilitator and Coach. In this episode, we ask ‘What does good education look like if we place the student at the centre of their learning?’ Jennifer outlines how she and co-author Kapono Ciotti approached the development of their recent book ‘The Landscape Model of Learning’ by collaborating remotely during the pandemic, engaging with established and emerging educational theories, and gaining further insights through dialogue and conversations with teachers, school leaders, parents, and other stakeholders. Jennifer shares her thoughts on teacher professional development and the power of story, that is, an individual’s authentic lived experience, and how this might shift how we think and feel about classroom practice. We explore the fundamentals of The Landscape Model of Learning, including the use of metaphors. There’s ‘the ecosystem’ – with an understanding of the context that each child brings to their learning, ‘the horizon’ – where teachers co-construct with students with the aim of understanding student goals, aspirations, passions and interests, and ‘the pathway’ – where teachers using pedagogies that allow students to work on slightly different pathways so what they’re doing feels personally relevant and appropriate to where they are in their learning journey. All going well, this encourages a student-centred classroom, ideally with students doing most of the thinking and talking in class. We also explore other metaphors sometimes used by educators, such as racetrack, a dominant yet limited representation that fosters competition but fails to acknowledge the diverse needs of the learners within a typical class. Jennifer shares some ideas and practicalities of ‘inclusive prosperity’ with every student prospering and thriving, and every voice being valued and honoured; learning to value all the voices. We also chat about Jennifer’s first book, ‘The Global Education Guidebook’ which seeks to humanise K-12 classrooms worldwide through equitable partnerships. Jennifer offers insights into the intersection of writing, improving education and encouraging students to increase their influence and positive impact on the world. Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jdeborahklein/ https://www.principledlearning.org/ https://www.principledlearning.org/the-landscape-model-of-learning https://www.principledlearning.org/the-global-education-guidebook