71: What If We Radically Shift How We Think About Education? A Conversation with Colin Seale
08/05/20 • 63 min
2 Listeners
As we think about the kids of this country going back to school (or not) in the fall, we can’t help think about how the educational inequality that was already in place is being further exacerbated by the effects of COVID-19.
However, if you take it back before internet connectivity problems and the lack of computer devices to learn from home on, there has always been a problem with equal and easy access to quality education.
We bring you a conversation with Colin Seale, whose biggest mission centers around providing equal access to critical thinking skills by working with teachers, administrators, and parents alike. Hear how every single one of us can make a difference, and how educational opportunities are so intricately linked to racial justice.
Have questions, comments, or concerns? Email us at [email protected]
What to listen for:
- Colin’s story of success is based on because of, rather than despite, his upbringing.
- How creating schools within schools - regardless of private or public - create separate but unequal access to educational opportunities.
- The skills that are necessary to go beyond fixing a broken system, but to re-imagine education as it should be.
- How White parents and adults can make a difference today.
For this episode, we spoke with Colin Seale, the founder, and CEO of thinkLaw. Tackling inequity hands-on has always been personal to Colin because the amazing educational opportunities he received in gifted and talented courses and an exclusive specialized high school despite his underprivileged background growing up in Brooklyn, NY made him an exception to a painfully unjust rule. So whether Colin was teaching middle and high school math in Washington, D.C. and Las Vegas, NV, applying his computer science degree and Master’s in Public Administration to fight for child safety at Nevada’s largest child welfare agency, or practicing as a business attorney at one of Las Vegas’ top law firms while representing children in foster care, Colin has always dreamed of a world where stories like his were no longer the exception, but instead, all students had an equal shot at being exceptional. Colin created thinkLaw to give all students access to the type of game-changing critical thinking education they need to not only fully understand the way the world is, but to question it and imagine the way the world ought to be. When he’s not serving as the world’s greatest critical thinking evangelist, Colin proudly serves as the world’s greatest entertainer for his two little kiddos and loving husband to his wife Carrie. His new book Thinking Like a Lawyer: A Framework for Teaching Critical Thinking to All Students came out in April of 2020.
Relevant episodes:
- Ep. 57: It all starts here - educational inequality.
- Ep. 58: The school to prison pipeline - six year old’s don’t belong in handcuffs.
- Ep. 70: From Compton to Oxford, talking with the exceptional Caylin Moore.
Like what you hear? Support us through Patreon!
Don’t miss another episode and subscribe to the podcast!
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter – and don’t miss our new anti-racism action calendar by joining our email list.
As we think about the kids of this country going back to school (or not) in the fall, we can’t help think about how the educational inequality that was already in place is being further exacerbated by the effects of COVID-19.
However, if you take it back before internet connectivity problems and the lack of computer devices to learn from home on, there has always been a problem with equal and easy access to quality education.
We bring you a conversation with Colin Seale, whose biggest mission centers around providing equal access to critical thinking skills by working with teachers, administrators, and parents alike. Hear how every single one of us can make a difference, and how educational opportunities are so intricately linked to racial justice.
Have questions, comments, or concerns? Email us at [email protected]
What to listen for:
- Colin’s story of success is based on because of, rather than despite, his upbringing.
- How creating schools within schools - regardless of private or public - create separate but unequal access to educational opportunities.
- The skills that are necessary to go beyond fixing a broken system, but to re-imagine education as it should be.
- How White parents and adults can make a difference today.
For this episode, we spoke with Colin Seale, the founder, and CEO of thinkLaw. Tackling inequity hands-on has always been personal to Colin because the amazing educational opportunities he received in gifted and talented courses and an exclusive specialized high school despite his underprivileged background growing up in Brooklyn, NY made him an exception to a painfully unjust rule. So whether Colin was teaching middle and high school math in Washington, D.C. and Las Vegas, NV, applying his computer science degree and Master’s in Public Administration to fight for child safety at Nevada’s largest child welfare agency, or practicing as a business attorney at one of Las Vegas’ top law firms while representing children in foster care, Colin has always dreamed of a world where stories like his were no longer the exception, but instead, all students had an equal shot at being exceptional. Colin created thinkLaw to give all students access to the type of game-changing critical thinking education they need to not only fully understand the way the world is, but to question it and imagine the way the world ought to be. When he’s not serving as the world’s greatest critical thinking evangelist, Colin proudly serves as the world’s greatest entertainer for his two little kiddos and loving husband to his wife Carrie. His new book Thinking Like a Lawyer: A Framework for Teaching Critical Thinking to All Students came out in April of 2020.
Relevant episodes:
- Ep. 57: It all starts here - educational inequality.
- Ep. 58: The school to prison pipeline - six year old’s don’t belong in handcuffs.
- Ep. 70: From Compton to Oxford, talking with the exceptional Caylin Moore.
Like what you hear? Support us through Patreon!
Don’t miss another episode and subscribe to the podcast!
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter – and don’t miss our new anti-racism action calendar by joining our email list.
Previous Episode
70: Exceptionalism and Educational Inequality with Caylin Moore
Just because one person manages to make it out of a really tough neighborhood does NOT mean that if everybody applies the same level of grit, they should be able to make it out, too. We need to use their story as what it is - an exception - and learn from what worked to help them make it out, and change the environment and reality of all the other kids who are having to fight to just exist, let alone thrive every day.
Today we bring to you a conversation with an exceptional young man, Caylin Moore, who went from growing up in Compton, CA to being a Rhodes scholar on his way to earning a Ph.D. from Stanford so he can be a college professor and continue to focus on educating himself and others.
We learned SO MUCH from his experiences moving from a predominantly White area to one where going to and coming from school was an issue of physical safety, and how he made it back out. Listen in.
Have questions, comments, or concerns? Email us at [email protected]
What to listen for:
- The power of teachers - as he recites the names of those who helped nurture him with such fondness.
- How some kids exit school to find needles and bullet shells on the sidewalk.
- What community fixtures you won’t find in areas that are predominantly Black or Brown.
- The experience of being labeled a lower-tier student (“the dummy track”) and being given a dictionary so old it didn't have the word “computer” even in it - how can you get ahead?
- What being a Rhode Scholar taught him about focusing on your own 1/11th.
- What he thinks White privileged families can do to begin making change - moving from sound bytes to sound analysis.
Relevant episodes:
- Ep. 57: It all starts here - educational inequality.
- Ep. 58: The school to prison pipeline - six year old’s don’t belong in handcuffs.
More information on Caylin:
- To read Caylin’s book A Dream Too Big, visit here.
- To follow him on social media, check out Twitter and Instagram.
Like what you hear? Support us through Patreon!
Don’t miss another episode and subscribe to the podcast!
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter – and don’t miss our new anti-racism action calendar by joining our email list.
Next Episode
72: Going Back to School During COVID
Parents, we are right there with you with the stress, uncertainty, and fear about how this next school year is going to look. Teachers and administrators, we know you are doing your best. But what should we be thinking about when we look at the fall with regard to our own families, as well as our communities as a whole?
Today we riff.
And we bring you, at the end, a special bonus - a meditation by Lisa Guyman to bring you peace, calm, a sense of healing and insight. Because what we’re all going through right now, and are about to jump into with online schooling, is an absolute cluster. Take this gift and run with it.
Have questions, comments, or concerns? Email us at [email protected]
What to listen for:
- What we should be thinking about when it comes to pandemic pods and inequality.
- Things every parent can do - now or in a few months when things settle down a little (maybe) - to ensure that everyone in the community has access to education.
- The importance of early childhood education in development, and what happens when access is restricted.
- Challenges around actual access to working technology, as evidenced literally in this episode, midway through.
- Oh, and that meditation with spiritual instructor Lisa Guyman - and her YouTube channel is full of AMAZING resources!
Relevant episodes:
- Ep 70 talking with Caylin Moore, who has lived through all sorts of educational systems
- Ep 57 - it all starts here, talking about educational inequality
- Ep 71 and what if we radically reimagine education with Colin Seale
- Ep 58 and the school to prison pipeline
Like what you hear? Support us through Patreon!
Don’t miss another episode and subscribe to the podcast!
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter – and don’t miss our new anti-racism action calendar by joining our email list.
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