Hunter Waltz

VTFT II - Nardelli

December 13th, 2021

Podcast Essay

The podcast episode “How Teaching is Changing and how to survive with Dr. Troy

Podell,” explored the future of education from the perspective of an innovator in the education

system. Troy Podell is currently the director of career readiness in a school district within

Philadelphia. He has a doctorate degree in Educational Leadership and Online Education. The

host, alongside Dr. Podell goes into detail about what Covid has done to the educational world

and how we expect education to change in the near future.

While listening to the podcast, I understood and agreed with many concepts that were

discussed. I was surprised to see such an understanding of the entire system and everyone’s

perspective from someone so high up in the educational hierarchy. One quote that was said very

early in the podcast was, “People are like tubes of toothpaste, you find out what’s inside when

you apply pressure.” I think this quote can apply to anyone overcoming hardships, but can

specifically be applied to education for this purpose. Covid is the pressure in this situation. Covid

asked a lot from both students and teachers. But what we can take away from this “pressure” is

what will really make or break the education world. I agreed with this quote so much because of

how applicable it is to so many situations but really nailed our current stage in education.
 While this podcast episode had a mass number of statements I agreed with, one idea I do

not support is the idea of flipped classrooms. “Flipped Classrooms,” are the practice of learning

material through lectures, videos, and other tools and then practice the material during class and

instructional time. This method of teaching and learning is supposed to be more efficient by not

making a teacher repeat the same lesson multiple times and gives more built in practice time.

From a student’s perspective, this is a very uninvolving way to learn. The tools we are given to

learn are often very generalized and create no academic connection with their instructor. This

makes students feel they are just watching a video off of a website like Khan Academy or IXL

without their actual teacher. Students depend too much on asking questions in the moment for

teaching to be switched to unlive interactions.

Adaptability is one of the most important traits an individual can have. Having the ability

to overcome different situations is a great attribute. Our teachers and students need this trait more

than ever right now. Covid has increased the acceleration of the push for technology in education

and there’s nothing we can do to slow it down. While we are forcing ourselves to adapt to

technology, we may need to become more adaptable than we think. Binders being traded for

chromebooks, pencils being replaced by a keyboard, and textbooks switched with google. What

this technological adaptation has done has made the skill ‘problem solving’ a non-crucial trait to

have. As Dr. Podell stated, because of the access students have to other resources, our internal

problem solving will be affected in a negative way.

At the end of the podcast, Dr. Podell emphasizes one statement that was a really good

way to end the episode. He explained the biggest student need was, “modeling functional
adulthood.” Having sophisticated interactions, problem solving, and maintaining real in-depth

relationships. These are all items that aren’t in a curriculum but have the most long term impact

on a student. Representing the rules and norms of society provides a second-hand education,

where the student learns without knowing they are learning. So the biggest thing I will be taking

away from the podcast will be how important the teacher figure truly is to a student’s

development.

Learning and educating are changing. They are rapidly evolving to increase efficiency,

productivity, and the speed at which we perform. As much as students need to adapt and

overcome these hardships, educators must do this with even more urgency. Educators need to be

ahead of the curve so they can prepare and lead for their students in these times of change. But

most importantly, teachers and students need to be real people. The role model role that a teacher

has is irreplaceable and is what truly magnifies the importance of teachers in our education

system and our world.