Thursday Webinar - Schools That Change Communities

Join me Thursday, September 20th, for a live and interactive FutureofEducation.com webinar with returning guest Bob Gliner about his new film, Schools That Change Communities. "While the classroom as a vehicle for educational success remains largely unchallenged, despite often questionable levels of achievement, a few public schools across the country are trying a different approach to engaging students in the learning process, using the communities and neighborhoods where students live as classrooms - creating not only a different type of learning environment, but a different kind of student. This documentary has the potential to refocus the national debate around the direction educational reform should take."

Also joining us will be rural-school Principal Dana McCauley, who's school is featured in the film and who has: "inspired the development of a culture at the rural school in which character education is part of daily routines. Her success in this endeavor earned Crellin Elementary the distinction of receiving the Ernest L. Boyer Best Practices in Character Education Award in 2008. In leading her community to build a history-themed school playground while also coordinating a stream restoration project, McCauley organized the Crellin Community Corps of Discovery. Composed of school staff members, students, community members, and representatives of agencies and organizations, the Corps seeks to engage students in meaningful learning opportunities. Its efforts have resulted in the creation of an outdoor classroom for Crellin Elementary’s 84 students. This five-and-a-half-acre learning site is the Crellin Environmental Education Laboratory. The Environmental Protection Agency awarded McCauley’s school the President’s Environmental Youth Award in 2007. In addition, the Maryland Association of Environment Outdoor Education named Crellin Elementary a Maryland Green School. McCauley holds a B.S. and an M.Ed. from Frostburg University in Maryland and an Ed.D. from West Virginia University." (Bio courtesy of naesp.)

Date: Thursday, September 20th, 2012
Time: 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern (international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate). Log in at http://futureofed.info. The Blackboard Collaborate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Blackboard Collaborate, please visit the support and configuration page.
Recordings: The full Blackboard Collaborate recording is at https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2012-09-20.1729.M.9E9FE58134BE68C3B413F24B3586CF.vcr&sid=2008350 and a portable .mp3 recording will be available shortly after the show at http://www.futureofeducation.com.
Mightybell Space: Resources, videos, links, and conversation about the interview can be found HERE.

Bob Gliner is an award winning documentary producer with more than 40 programs to his credit. His programs have appeared on PBS stations throughout the United States and have also been shown to classes in a wide variety of university and public school settings, as well as by nonprofit organizations. His primary focus is social problems and social change - both inside the United States and throughout the world. He has shot programs in such disparate locales as Russia, Macedonia, Viet Nam, India, Tanzania, Israel, Ecuador, and Cuba. He is competent in all aspects of the production process from initial stages of researching and organizing the production to script writing, interviewing, camera and editing. He is also a professor of sociology at San Jose State University in San Jose, California.