Dr. Cinde Lock
Head Of School, Pickering College
Author Connections, Academics and Purpose
 
Introduction of Guest BIO –

Dr. Cinde Lock is the Head of School at Pickering College, a K-12 day and boarding school in Newmarket, Ontario, where she leads with a deep commitment to meaningful learning, community engagement, and student well-being. Her work is informed by a global perspective shaped through school leadership roles across Canada, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
 
With degrees in Chemistry and Mathematics (BScH), Education (BEd and MEd), and a PhD in Education and Mathematics from Queen’s University, Cinde brings both academic depth and practical experience to her leadership. She has guided innovative programs, developed transformative learning frameworks, and contributed to international best practice networks such as the Academy of International School Heads (AISH) where she contributes as a Board Trustee.
 
Cinde’s interests span student-centered design, experiential and project-based learning, and the intersection of education and well-being. She writes and speaks widely on school transformation, including her work developing the CAP Method of Education, which prioritizes connections, rigorous academics embedded in context, and purpose-driven learning. Her leadership continues to inspire educators to create schools where young people feel connected, confident, and prepared to make a meaningful impact.
 
Visit Cinde’s website at www.cindelock.com to learn more.
 
 
Interview
Agents of Change: Leaders/Innovators.
 

• 30,000 Ft. View – Why so we, as a society invest in education?
• What drew you to education? Global Perspective
• New Book  - Connections, Academics and Purpose
• Need to break the system and start over
• Mastery education
• AI and Measuring success
• What are the biggest challenges to you?
• What would you like decision makers to know?”

 

 
Podcast/ website/ book shoutouts
Connections, Academics and Purpose
 
Education Perspectives is edited by Shashank P
Intro and Outro by Dynamix Productions
​

PODCAST Season 7 EPISODE 2
Barnett Berry
Author, The Future of Public Education 
Introduction of Guest BIO – 
Barnett Berry serves in variety of research and consultative roles to advance school redesign and the teaching profession, currently working with school districts, states, and philanthropies focus reinventing public education. Berry is Senior Research Fellow at the Learning Policy Institute as well as a senior advisor to several organizations: RedesignEd, 2Revolutions, and the Center for Reimagining Education at the University of Kansas. 
Barnett has been a high school teacher, social scientist, professor of education, and senior leader at state education agency. His work with the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, spurred his founding of the Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ) in 1999, a non-profit the led for 20 years to advance a bold brand of teacher leadership essential for an effective and equitable system of public education. In 2021, Berry was honored by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards with the James A. Kelly Award for Advancing Accomplished Teaching.  His latest book is The Future of Public Education: One District's Journey to Transform Schools and Systems (2026)
Interview
Agents of Change: Leaders/Innovators.

• 30,000 Ft. View – Why so we, as a society invest in education?
• What drew you to education as a practice?

·       1.     Why has school transformation been so difficult? What are the major obstacles?
·       2.     What did you learn from AUHSD and school and system transformation? 
·       3.     The book has a lot to say about the teaching profession. What are some key takeaways? 
·       4.     The book suggests that the district is far from perfect— and has to make major shifts in order to take the next leap forward. 
·       5.     What are you working on next? 

• What are the biggest challenges to you?
• What would you like decision makers to know?”

Podcast/ website/ book shoutouts
The Future of Public Education

Support the show
Education Perspectives is edited by Shashank P athttps://www.fiverr.com/saiinovation?source=inbox
Intro and Outro by Dynamix Productions

PODCAST Season 7 EPISODE 1
Randy Ziegenfuss
Professor of Practice, Moravian University
 Quotes of the Podcast: 
"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves." — Viktor Frankl (Man's Search for Meaning)
Introduction of Guest BIO – 
Dr. Randy Ziegenfuss is committed to transforming K-12 and higher education systems from the traditional, school-centered model to one that prioritizes the learner and adapts to our dynamic, technology-rich world. His research agenda focuses on the transformational leadership practices needed to catalyze systemic change. Driven by his interest in strategic foresight and understanding both Generation Z and Generation Alpha, Randy collaborates with school leaders to design innovative, transformed educational systems. He retired as the superintendent of Salisbury Township School District (PA) in 2021, after a full career in public education. Randy is currently a Professor of Practice, Education Department Chair and the Director of the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) Program in Transformational Leadership at Moravian University. He holds degrees from Moravian University, Teachers College at Columbia University, and The University of Pennsylvania. In his free time, Randy works on a side project called The Human School and frequently visits New York City to enjoy its rich arts culture.
Interview
Agents of Change: Leaders/Innovators. 

• 30,000 Ft. View – Why so we, as a society invest in education?
• What drew you to education as a practice?
• Transforming systems and interacting with school leaders to do this
• Human-centered leadership; 
• AI in education; 
• Generations - understanding Gen Z and Alpha
• What are the biggest challenges to you?
• What would you like decision makers to know?”

Podcast/ website/ book shoutouts
Ed.D. in Transformational Leadership at Moravian University - a place for changemakers interested in elevating their skillsets and mindsets to change systems.
Support the show
Education Perspectives is edited by Shashank P athttps://www.fiverr.com/saiinovation?source=inbox
Intro and Outro by Dynamix Productions

PODCAST Season 6 EPISODE 14
Antonio P Gustin
The Bug Whisperer - Director of the Gateway Science Project
Quotes of the Podcast: 
The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. 
Introduction of Guest BIO – 
Antonio "Tony" Gustin, known as The Bug Whisperer, is an entomologist and performing science educator who founded Tony's Creepy Crawly Zoo in 1995 as a traveling live invertebrate show. Over roughly 30 years it reached more than 1.5 million students and grew into The Gateway Science Project, Inc., a 501(c)(3) STEAM nonprofit whose mission is to turn curiosity into scientific literacy. A UW-Madison-trained entomologist, Tony invented a custom 8K macro 360-degree camera system and spent six years building Tony's Creepy Crawly Zoo 2.0, a macro VR experience that drops viewers inside insect, arachnid, and reptile habitats at roughly a two-inch scale. His work centers on hands-on wonder as the antidote to scientific misinformation, especially for kids.
Interview
Agents of Change: Leaders/Innovators.

• 30,000 Ft. View – Why so we, as a society invest in education?
• What drew you to education?
• Science is a verb: hands-on, experiential learning 
• From a traveling live show to macro VR: the 30-year evolution of Tony's Creepy Crawly Zoo 
• VR as an access and equity tool for any classroom 
• Curiosity as the cure for misinformation
• What are the biggest challenges to you?
• What would you like decision makers to know?”

Podcast/ website/ book shoutouts
Experience the app! https://www.meta.com/experiences/tonys-creepy-crawly-zoo-20/26476390235366322/

Education Perspectives is edited by Shashank P
Intro and Outro by Dynamix Productions
Support the show
Education Perspectives is edited by Shashank P athttps://www.fiverr.com/saiinovation?source=inbox
Intro and Outro by Dynamix Productions

PODCAST Season 6 EPISODE 12
 
Trudy Shellenbarger
10th Grade Teacher
Escambia Hogh School
 
Quotes of the Podcast:
“The stars we are given, the constellations we make.” Rebecca Solnit
 
 
Introduction of Guest BIO –
Trudy Shellenbarger has just finished up her first year as a 10th-grade English teacher at Escambia High School in Pensacola, Florida. Originally from Ohio, she received her Bachelor of Science in secondary English education and her Bachelor of Fine Arts in creative writing from Miami University in 2025.
Interview
Agents of Change: Leaders/Innovators.
 

• 30,000 Ft. View – Why so we, as a society invest in education?
• What drew you to education?
• 1. Literacy rates/what I've seen with reading.
• 2. Book bannings/media restrictions in Florida (where I teach).
• 3. Newer issues from a young/new teacher's lens (things like AI, vaping, Chromebooks/tech, security--I'm not an expert in any of these but I've seen it firsthand for the first time in the last year).
• What are the biggest challenges to you?
• What would you like decision makers to know?”

 
Podcast/ website/ book shoutouts
 
Education Perspectives is edited by Shashank P
Intro and Outro by Dynamix Productions
​

PODCAST Season 6 EPISODE 12
Jane R. Shore
Founder, School of Thought; Author, People-Based Learning: The Future of Learning is Human
Quotes of the Podcast: 
“The stars we are given, the constellations we make.” Rebecca Solnit
 Introduction of Guest BIO – 
Jane R. Shore, EdD is the founder of School of Thought PHL, and a learning scientist and research visualizer devoted to the idea that learning is, at its core, a human act. She is especially drawn to the hard-to-measure dimensions of learning - connection, reflection and action, and to the conditions that allow them to emerge. Her work explores how People-Based Learning offers a way forward in a world overflowing with information, but starved for meaning, bridging the space between rapidly expanding knowledge, emerging technologies, and our enduring need to learn with and through one another. Through her publication School of Thought, Jane translates research into practice using visual storytelling and lived experience. She is also the co-creator of The Art of Being Human, a collective art project with Sam Chaltain that invites reflection and connection through making and shared inquiry. Her keynotes, workshops, and learning designs create spaces where ideas are not just understood, but felt. Jane’s work has been published across academic journals, book chapters, and research reports, and she also illustrated two books for children, Imagine Song and For All the Curious Girls. Her forthcoming non-fiction book, People-Based Learning: The Future of Learning Is Human, (Routledge, March 2026) brings together research, stories, and design practices to show how learning with and through others makes learning meaningful and lasting.
Interview
Agents of Change: Leaders/Innovators. 

• 30,000 Ft. View – Why do we, as a society invest in education?
• What drew you to education as a practice?
• School of Thought exists to make People-Based Learning visible, intentional, and possible everywhere we live, work, and gather. We sit at the intersection of learning science, storytelling, art, and community, translating research into forms people can feel, see, and use.
• People-Based Learning (PeBL), the essential learning we do with and through one another. PeBL is an orientation defined and described through research, stories and experiences in my book! (Routledge, 2026).
• Measuring the important intangibles
• What are the biggest challenges to you?
• What would you like decision makers to know?”

Podcast/ website/ book shoutouts
My School of Thought substack: https://schoolofthought.substack.com/
My The Art of Being Human Substack created in collaboration with Sam Chaltain: https://theartofbeinghumanproject.substack.com/; 
People-Based Learning: The Future of Learning is Human: https://www.routledge.com/People-Based-Learning-The-Future-of-Learning-is-Human/Shore/p/book/9781041089858?utm_source=cjaffiliates&utm_medium=affiliates&cjevent=2dd4af965df611f181da002f0a82b836
Support the show
Education Perspectives is edited by Shashank P athttps://www.fiverr.com/saiinovation?source=inbox
Intro and Outro by Dynamix Productions

PODCAST Season 6 EPISODE 11
Sheela Vanhoose
Shareholder, The Southern Group
Founder, TSG Advisors
Introduction of Guest Bio
Sheela Vanhoose is a Shareholder at The Southern Group, where she helps organizations navigate Florida’s political and policy landscape with a focus on strategy, relationships, and long-term positioning. Her work sits at the intersection of government, education, business, and emerging policy trends, supporting clients ranging from educational institutions and technology companies to private sector leaders seeking to better understand how policy, procurement, funding, and public perception shape markets.
Sheela is also the Founder of TSG Advisors, an education-focused consulting firm created to help organizations move beyond advocacy and into deeper work around implementation, strategy, and institutional change. What began as a founder-led initiative has grown into an education advisory practice with its own leadership and momentum.
Before her work in government relations, Sheela was a competitive athlete and member of the United States National Karate Team, an experience that shaped her leadership style with discipline, resilience, and calm under pressure. Her work reflects a belief that the best outcomes rarely come from the loudest voice in the room, but from understanding people, timing, and how policy decisions ripple far beyond politics.
Interview
Agents of Change: Leaders/Innovators.

• 30,000 Ft. View – Why so we, as a society invest in education?
• What drew you to education as a practice?

·       00:00 Insight on Southern Group's education lobbying
·       04:22 Stages of Public Policy Implementation
·       07:10 Expansion of School Choice Programs
·       12:23 School districts leveraging excess capacity
·       13:26 Rethinking higher education models
·       18:20 AI in Education Legislation
·       19:56 Embracing AI in Education
·       23:32 Improving education through collaboration
·       28:18 Discussing policy work phases
·       32:11 Evaluating Policy Implementation Timelines
·       34:47 Challenges of personalized education policy
·       36:40 The challenge of understanding legislation
Podcast/ website/ book shoutouts


Education Perspectives is edited by Shashank P
Intro and Outro by Dynamix Productions


Support the show
Education Perspectives is edited by Shashank P athttps://www.fiverr.com/saiinovation?source=inbox
Intro and Outro by Dynamix Productions

Mark Sparvell
Director Of Education, Microsoft
Author: Good Brain Bad Brain
Quotes of the Podcast: Schools are places where society is created and recreated, so, it follows, teachers are the architects of that preferred future.
Introduction of Guest BIO – 
Mark Sparvell is a global award wining educator and leader, currently a Director of Marketing at Microsoft, specializing in education. He leads strategy, messaging, and customer storytelling across AI, data, and cloud solutions, partnering with K‑12 and higher education leaders globally to drive meaningful, responsible digital transformation
Interview
Agents of Change: Leaders/Innovators.

• 30,000 Ft. View – Why so we, as a society invest in education?
• What drew you to education?
• EI
• AI
• What are the biggest challenges to you?
• What would you like decision makers to know?”

Podcast/ website/ book shoutouts
My Superspeaks podcast http://aka.ms/superspeakspodcast 
Buy my book http://bit.ly/goodbrainbadbrain Book a keynote http://marksparvell.com
Explore education stories http://aka.ms/educustomerstories
Explore education videos http://aka.ms/educustomervideos 
Try Reading Coach http://coach.microsoft.com
 
Education Perspectives is edited by Shashank P
Intro and Outro by Dynamix Productions
Support the show
Education Perspectives is edited by Shashank P athttps://www.fiverr.com/saiinovation?source=inbox
Intro and Outro by Dynamix Productions

PODCAST Season 6 EPISODE 9
Patty McGee
Author, Educator, and Consultant 
Quotes of the Podcast: That is a wildly difficult question for a literacy person. So, I have narrowed it down to my favorite quote from the last book I read. “And when you open your heart to rewilding a landscape, the truth is, you’re opening your heart to rewilding yourself.” Once We Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy
Introduction of Guest BIO – 
 Patty McGee is a nationally recognized literacy consultant, speaker, and educator passionate about transforming classrooms into spaces where language and learning come alive. With decades of experience as a teacher, coach, and advocate for delightful literacy practices, Patty has worked alongside educators across the country, partnering to unlock the full potential of their students through innovative and practical teaching strategies. Not Your Granny’s Grammar is her third book. Connect with Patty at www.pattymcgee.org
Interview
Agents of Change: Leaders/Innovators 

• 30,000 Ft. View – Why so we, as a society invest in education?
• What drew you to education?
• A whole new approach to grammar instruction
• What are the biggest challenges to you?
• What would you like decision makers to know?”

Podcast/ website/ book shoutouts
Not Your Granny’s Grammar
 
Education Perspectives is edited by Shashank P
Intro and Outro by Dynamix Productions
​

Amanda "Mandy" Ralston
Founder of NonBinary Solutions & CEO of KidsChoice Therapy
Quotes of the Podcast: “Wisdom is like frequent-flyer miles and scar tissue; if it does accumulate, that happens by accident while you're trying to do something else.” Barbara Kingsolver 
Introduction of Guest BIO – 
Amanda “Mandy” Ralston, M.Ed., BCBA, LBA, is a CEO, behavior analyst, and serial founder with more than 25 years of experience at the intersection of autism services, applied behavior analysis, and technology-driven innovation. She currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of KidsChoice Therapy, leading multi-site pediatric therapy and autism service operations with a focus on clinical excellence, scalable systems, and equity-centered care. Known for her signature nonbinary thinking framework, Ralston speaks nationally on compassionate care, cognitive flexibility, and the future of behavioral health, bringing a pragmatic yet creative voice to conversations about ethics, outcomes, and neurodiversity-affirming practice.
Interview
Agents of Change: Leaders/Innovators.
 30,000 Ft. View – Why so we, as a society invest in education?

• What drew you to education?
• How nonbinary thinking can help educators move beyond “compliant vs. noncompliant” and really understand student behavior in context. 
• What truly neurodiversity-affirming classrooms look like and how schools, families, and clinicians can partner so kids don’t have to be three different people in three different settings. 
• Using nonbinary thinking to rethink “behavior problems” in schools  
• What neurodiversity-affirming practice actually looks like in real classrooms  
• How schools, families, and clinicians can work together instead of in silos 
• How we move past binaries like “good/bad kid” or “compliant/noncompliant” and into more flexible, compassionate ways of understanding behavior. That ties into neurodiversity-affirming classrooms and better partnerships between educators, families, and therapy providers.
• What are the biggest challenges to you?
• What would you like decision makers to know?”

Podcast/ website/ book shoutouts
Thanks to Dr. Karly Kordvoa and the RBT Textbook that I was recently asked to contribute to. We also just talked about it on her podcast podcast The Grey Area.
 
Dr. Genevieve Leonard Series by Estelle Ryan


Support the show
Education Perspectives is edited by Shashank P athttps://www.fiverr.com/saiinovation?source=inbox
Intro and Outro by Dynamix Productions