The Homecoming

First heard in November 2003 Cipher is a beautiful expression of deep listening, with Tari Nelson-Zagar and Tom Swafford on violin and Jesse Canterbury and Greg Sinibaldi on clarinets.

Cipher [SY-fər]   Part of speech: noun  Origin: Arabic, 14th century  1. A secret or disguised way of writing; a code.  2. A monogram.   Examples of cipher in a sentence   "The twins developed their own cipher, a secret code for keeping notes hidden from their parents."   "Their wedding registry was filled with linens marked with their new cipher. "

Listeners, Real World Learning is a Kansas City-based initiative, incubated at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, in partnership with the community, that works to prepare its region, students, and employers for the future. Through immersive experiences like projects and internships with leading employer partners, students get a head start on achieving their career goals at an early age. I learned about Real World Learning through its facilitator at the Kauffman Foundation, educator in residence, Bill Nicely. Eventually, after being knocked out by what Real World Learning is doing in the Kansas City area, I asked Bill to name someone to be a guest on this show. He named Sarah Renfrow, who teaches at Ray-Pec High School and works as a consultant for the Kauffman Foundation. Bill Nicely wrote the following about Sarah for today’s episode. "True 'Master Teachers' are an amazing gift. And even knowing this, to say that Sara Refrow is a Master Teacher is to make a significant understatement. Sarah is or course, a master teacher, one of the best I've observed. She is also a master teacher of teachers. The best I’ve observed. Her understanding of how to strategically integrate Client Connected Projects into core content high school courses is amazing, but it is her ability to help teachers do the same that is her true talent. When done well integrated Client Connected Projects are synonymous with Competency Based Learning and can very quickly become over complicated and burdensome for teachers. Sarah's real skill lies in simplifying the process to manageable pieces while conveying a low pressure, 'just try it' disposition. The result for teachers is they not only learn a new and better way to engage students, they also find themselves equally engaged themselves especially as they transition from teacher to facilitator of learning. All the while, Sarah, in a whispering kind of way, checks for understanding and moves to the next step in the process. Before you know it, teachers are implementing with fidelity and students are not only learning content, they are discovering new things about themselves and the world around them. It is this approach and her talent that has helped to catalyze the Kansas City’s Real World Learning Collaborative. Some day, when we step back and ask ourselves, 'how did this initiative take hold to benefit so many students,' one response will surely be; 'we had Sarah Renfrow.'" Editing for this show is provided by the talented Evan Kurohara. Our theme music comes from the master pianist, Michael Sloan.

Celebrating the influence and impact teachers have had on their students is at the heart of Teachers Inspire.  Hundreds of people have shared their stories and told us about that one teacher who helped to change their life. Some of the teachers nominated for a Teachers Inspire award were retired, others are still working in schools, primary and secondary, around the country. A great many of them trained to be teachers at DCU’s Institute of Education, and on St. Patrick's campus.  Louise’s guest for this episode is Professor Anne Looney, Executive Dean of DCU’s Institute of Education.  Professor Looney tells Louise about teaching the teachers of tomorrow and how student teachers at DCU are surrounded by research and so, when they graduate, they carry new ideas into their schools. Professor Looney also shares her thoughts on the requirement of a high standard of Irish for student teachers and how we might need to think about focusing on the standard of Irish students have when they leave college rather than the standard of Irish they have when they start. We also hear the thoughts of some of DCU’s student teachers on why they want to teach.