What’s the purpose of education? If you were to ask 10 different people this question, you may get 10 different answers. Education shouldn’t be this complex, but getting people to come to a consensus on anything right now is a challenge. This can be a problem. If teachers are expected to meet ambiguous goals, it can lead to burnout and frustration.  In this episode, we hear how conflicting values in education may be contributing to teachers’ decisions to leave. 

 Music: 

Theme Song By Julian Saporiti 

“Your Paradigm Dial” by Origami Repetika is licensed under a CC  BY license.  

“Room With a View” by Jahzzar is licensed under a CC BY-SA license. 

“Business Getaway  ” by Scott Holmes Music is licensed under a  CC BY-NC license.

“I Was Different” by Ov Moi Omm is licensed under a CC  BY license. 

 “Sunny Afternoon” by HoliznaCC0 is in the Public Domain.

Transcript:

In the spring of 2016, Julian Saporiti, the guy that made the theme song for this podcast, asked me if I wanted to help him teach a summer road trip class for the University of Wyoming. It was easy to say yes, and this class ended up being one of the most influential educational experiences that I’ve ever had. 

Many of our students felt the same way. One of them, Sam Mallory, even talked about it in his graduation speech. 

Sam Mallory: Two years ago about this time of year, I was officially enrolled in the most influential course in my college experience

And what made this class so significant likely had to do with the fact that we valued experience over product, which is a pretty non-traditional approach to a college course..

Our Syllabus included the following: 

• Introductions: Julian Saporiti -  Instructor /Guitarist. Charles Fournier Advisor/ Contemplation Mentor

• Books: Jack Kerouak’s On The Road and John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charlie

• Music: Songs and lyrics for sing-alongs

• Assignments: This list included items like helping a stranger, keeping a journal, and dancing in the moonlight

• Safety Measures: Information about bear country, how to react if lost, and how to create a cross-draft in your vehicle to fart rather than holding it in and risking feeling sick 

• Traveling Recommendations for Women: A list focused on hygiene and affirmations created by wife, Jennie, who is a brilliant traveler but opted to stay home to plan for classes and manage our new ornery dog

• Lastly: “Be Amazed. Be Present.”

We set out for two weeks across Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. We danced to music by firelight in the Tetons under the Milky Way. I taught a pair of girls how to build a fire and when they asked what I thought about feminism, we read parts of The Vagina Monologues while lighting things on fire- one of those girls just wrote an award-winning screenplay. We observed the wildlife of nat