Embracing Change and Supporting Innovation in New York State Schools: A NYKids Podcast Alert
The latest episode of NYKids Deep Dive features Rory Glass, Regional Director for the Master Teacher Program, and Tim Backus, Executive Director of the Capital Area School Development Association (CASDA), in a thoughtful conversation about the future of education and the challenges of implementing New York’s emerging vision for teaching and learning.
As New York schools begin to engage with initiatives such as New York Inspires and specifically the Portrait of a Graduate, Glass and Backus reflect on one of education’s most persistent challenges: change. “In education, we can be slow to change,” Glass observes, noting that educators often struggle to move beyond familiar routines and structures. He suggests that one of the biggest barriers is “getting out of our own way” and trusting both educators and students to embrace new possibilities.
Backus echoes this concern, arguing that schools have often been “slow to adjust” to how students learn today. While technology and society have evolved rapidly, many educational structures remain largely unchanged. At the same time, leaders and educators must navigate uncertainty, balancing the freedom (and imperative) to innovate with regulations, schedules, and other constraints that shape school systems.
A key theme of the conversation is the distinction between schooling and educating. This podcast’s guests explore how the goals outlined in New York’s Portrait of a Graduate call for learning experiences that foster curiosity, collaboration, critical thinking, and real-world problem solving. Achieving this vision requires both leadership and collective effort.
School leaders can support innovation by
- creating structured time for collaboration,
- encouraging experimentation, and
- providing safe opportunities for educators to share new approaches
Teachers, in turn, can help drive change by
- working together on new lesson and unit designs that encourage deeper learning
- learning from one another by sharing what works and doesn’t
- imagining student-led possibilities to complement (and even replace) traditional teacher-led classroom practices
The discussion offers a hopeful reminder that meaningful change is possible when educators, leaders, and communities work together toward a shared vision of student success.
🎧 Listen to the full episode and join the conversation and check out some of NYKids’ latest positive outlier case studies for inspiration and promising practices you can implement today!
