Courageous Conversations About Our Schools podcaster

In part 2 of this episode, host Ken Futernick continues his conversation with author Stephanie Krauss about Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and her new book, Whole Child, Whole Life. They explore the growing pushback from conservative policy organizations, like the American Enterprise Institute, and from parent rights advocates like Stephanie McWil…

Host Ken Futernick speaks with Stephanie Krauss, author of the new book, Whole Child, Whole Life - 10 Ways to Help Kids Live, Learn, and Thrive. In Part I of this episode, Krauss, a former teacher with years of experience doing social work, explains why she wrote the book and why it’s especially relevant right now for parents and educators.“We're a…

Host Ken Futernick and his guests strive for civil dialogue around an increasingly contentious debate playing out across the country: What rights should parents of public school students have when it comes to what’s taught, the books students have access to, and the policies educators must follow? Ken’s guests, which include parents, a high school …

Antisemitism in America is on the rise. In 2022, the Anti-Defamation League reported a 50% increase in antisemitic acts in schools over the previous year. In this episode, two students from Montgomery County, Maryland discuss the impact of recent antisemitic acts at their high school. One of them, Rachel Barold, was the target of a particularly vil…

My guest, Dr. Peter Coleman, is a professor of psychology at Columbia University and a renowned expert in constructive conflict resolution. He is also the author of the book, The Way Out: How to Overcome Toxic Polarization. In this conversation, Coleman shares valuable insights about the sharp rise of polarization in America and the divisive cultur…

What role should schools play when it comes to gender and sexuality? What books should students have access to? What topics should teachers and students be able to discuss? What kind of support should LGBTQ students be able to expect from their schools? These questions have become the focus of intense debate among parents, educators, students, and …

In 2021-22, 138 school districts in 32 states banned more than 2500 books, affecting close to 4 million students. according to EdWeek. In some cases, books are removed because they are deemed by some to be pornographic. In other cases, book bans were prompted by themes considered inappropriate by local decision-makers. Forty-one percent of the book…

In the end nobody wins the culture wars, says journalist Monica Guzman. The key to transcending these conflicts is to become curious rather than confrontational — to reframe the us/them confusion with complexity. Guzman also urges us to reject the easy answers and the sense of certainty many of us feel that we have all of the answers and they don’t…

Weston Brown was homeschooled in Dallas, Texas and had limited access to the internet, books, television, and the outside world. At age 24, he mustered the courage to tell his parents that he was gay. Their reaction was not unexpected, he said. “They thought that I was mentally ill or demonically possessed.” Brown had no intentions of battling his …

Virtually everyone who has attended public school in America will remember class discussions of current events and controversial topics. These were opportunities to become knowledgeable about what was going on in the world, to hear opposing perspectives, and to formulate one’s own opinions. In the past few years, however, several states have begun …

Ken’s guest, journalist Amanda Ripley, has devoted much of her career studying and writing about conflict. She has written for Time Magazine, The Atlantic, the Washington Post and numerous other publications. Her most recent book is High Conflict – Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out. In this interview, Ripley suggests ways to respond to the “con…

America’s culture wars are driving great teachers out of the classroom, exacerbating a shortage that has reached critical levels in most states. The story of Willie Carver, an English and French high school teacher from Kentucky, is especially tragic. He was selected as the state’s teacher of the year in 2022 and honored recently with 49 other outs…

New laws are being enacted in many states that restrict what teachers can talk about with their students with regard to gender and sexual identity. What should students be taught and when? How should the views and concerns of parents be honored? Hear what happens when a politically diverse group discuss the roles schools should play when it comes t…

High school students on Kentucky’s Student Voice Team discuss findings and recommendation in a report they produced called, Race to Learn. Their findings and recommendations reflect survey responses from nearly 11,000 fellow middle and high school students about how they want their schools to deal with race and racism. At least one of the students’…

Educators, parents, students, policy makers, and concerned citizens have become deeply divided about how history, current events, and controversial issues should be discussed in our public schools. At the center of these debates are questions about race and racism – what exactly students should learn about these concepts, how the concepts should be…

Education board rooms across the country have become battle grounds over mask and vaccine mandates, how history should be taught, and how race and racism should be studied. Amidst these contentious debates are concerns among some that too many educators are indoctrinating their students with partisan viewpoints. But what does it really mean to indo…