First hour: Designing school days from scratch
Second hour: Understanding Rochester's Climate Action Plan
If you were designing the school day from scratch, what would the day look like? What would the classroom look like? Education expert Sir Ken Robinson says the education paradigm must be changed. He argues schools are organized along factory lines --with ringing bells, separate facilities, and standardized curricula. He says this limits students’ creativity, their learning capacity, and their academic performance. So how can we change how school days are modeled to maximize students’ potential? Our guests weigh in on everything from class sizes, spaces, testing, and when certain subjects should be taught. In studio:
- Joanne Larson, professor of education and associate director of research at the Center for Urban Education Success at the University of Rochester’s Warner School of Education
- Kevin Meuwissen, associate professor of teaching and curriculum, social studies education scholar, and director of teacher education for the University of Rochester’s Warner School of Education
- Seth O’Bryan, Upper School math teacher and commons coordinator at The Harley School
Then in our second hour, Rochester City Council endorsed the city’s Climate Action Plan in May. The plan’s goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% from 2010 levels by 2030. We discussed the draft plan in November when the document was available for public comment. Now that the plan has been approved, members of local climate action groups say their input was not taken into full consideration. They want more information about how the plan will be enacted: How will programs be funded? Will the plan create jobs? Will it impact the city’s poverty issues? Last month, Mayor Lovely Warren joined the Mayors National Climate Change Agenda, which has pledged to strengthen local efforts to protect the environment. We’ll discuss how the Climate Action Plan fits in with this goal and if proposed efforts will have enough of an impact on combating climate change. Our guests:
- Norman Jones, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Services for the City of Rochester
- Abby McHugh-Grifa, member of the Rochester People’s Climate Coalition and co-leader of Citizens' Climate Lobby of Rochester
- Sue Hughes-Smith, member of the Rochester People’s Climate Coalition
