A Revolution in Education – Season 3
This season includes extraordinary educators moving the needle in education – creating learner-centered, community-embedded, agency-oriented learning opportunities for youth, ranging from superintendents, individuals spotlighting the need and possibilities, and those in the trenches doing the work. Amazing stories, inspirational ventures, and practical wisdom, all rolled into one.
A Revolution in Education – Season 3
Episode 11: Kerry McDonald – A Powerhouse for School Choice and Alternative Learning Communities
Kerry McDonald is, quite simply, a powerhouse in the world of school choice, alternative schooling, innovation and entrepreneurship in education – a voice that bemoans the outcomes of government compulsory schooling. This may sound harsh, but it’s a reality. And without alternatives, educators, parents, and learners have to look to starting, building, and accessing their own learning opportunities. Her diligent pursuit of such stories has provided us with a wellspring of examples of how entrepreneurial educators can innovate outside of our public school ecosystem, with the most recent explosion of microschools across the country, partly fueled from the pandemic. In this episode she shares a ton of what she has learned and eloquently gives language to the need for the growth of these alternatives and points us to the stories of how these alternatives can take root. And, once again, her commentary speaks to the need for a revolution in our public school ecosystem.
Besides her numerous personal efforts to identify and showcase how new learning environments can take root and how entrepreneurs can start and scale their efforts, Kerry is also a Senior Education Fellow at the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute's Center for Educational Freedom, author of Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom, several case studies of entrepreneurship in education, and writes across several well-known publications including Forbes, and actively contributes to X (formerly Twitter) where she shares her insights and work. Her podcast LiberatED is available on various platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube and can be found on her website, LiberatED.