It’s a new year and I’m excited to bring you new episodes with some pretty amazing guests, beginning right now. My guest today is Dr. Denise Pope. Denise is a Senior Lecturer at Stanford University Graduate School of Education and is also the co-founder of Challenge Success, a school reform nonprofit. Additionally, she is the author of “Doing School”: How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed Out, Materialistic, and Miseducated Students. Dr. Pope lectures nationally on parenting techniques and pedagogical strategies to increase student health, engagement, and integrity. During our discussion, we talk about the importance of student feedback to improve their health, well-being, sense of belonging, and engagement with learning. Denise shares some results from the “Fit Over Rankings” research brief that she contributed to and…spoiler alert…where you go to college doesn’t make a difference. Denise reinforces what I keep saying over and over again, there is not one path to success. Whether you are an educator, a parent, or someone who cares about the future well-being of teens and young adults, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.
About Dr. Denise Pope
Denise Pope, Ph.D., is a Senior Lecturer at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education, where she specializes in student engagement, curriculum studies, qualitative research methods, and service learning. She is co-founder of Challenge Success, a school reform nonprofit that partners with schools and families to embrace a broad definition of success and implement research-based strategies that promote student well-being and engagement with learning.
She is the author of, “Doing School”: How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed Out, Materialistic, and Miseducated Students (Yale University Press, 2001), which was awarded Notable Book in Education by the American School Board Journal, 2001, and lead author of Overloaded and Underprepared: Strategies for Stronger Schools and Healthy, Successful Kids(Jossey-Bass, 2015). She also co-hosts the Stanford University SiriusXM radio show called “School’s In.”
Dr. Pope lectures nationally on parenting techniques and pedagogical strategies to increase student health, engagement with learning, and integrity. She is a 3-time recipient of the Stanford University School of Education Outstanding Teacher and Mentor Award and was honored with the 2012 Education Professor of the Year “Educators’ Voice Award” from the Academy of Education Arts and Sciences. Prior to teaching at Stanford, Dr. Pope taught high school English in Fremont, CA and college composition and rhetoric courses at Santa Clara University.
Episode Highlights
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- Denise’s journey through high school and college
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- Denise’s decision to work in and improve education
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- The big “a-ha” when shadowing five high-achieving students
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- Denise wrote a book to create awareness of what students are experiencing
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- Challenge Success is a standalone non-profit affiliated with the School of Education at Stanford University focused on pre-K through grade 12
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- The goal of Challenge Success is to elevate student voice and help communities to improve student health, well-being, belonging, and engagement with learning
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- School schedules are not healthy for students or adults working in the school
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- The centerpiece of the work of Challenge Success includes student feedback
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- Challenge Success offers resources for schools, parents, and students
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- Mental health and sleep directly correlate
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- Does where you go to college really make a difference?
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- A Fit Over Rankings research brief
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- Gallup Purdue Poll thriving scale – financial, physical, and mental health, community connection
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- Alternative post-secondary options are a viable choice after high school
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- College resource page on the Challenge Success website
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- Ikigai – what you are good at, what you enjoy, what the world needs
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- There is not one path to success
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- Every kid needs PDF every day. PDF = Playtime, Downtime, Family time
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- Advice for parents
Links and Resources
A Fit Over Rankings research brief