
The NAIS New View EDU podcast supports school leaders in finding those new possibilities and understanding that evolving challenges require compassionate and dynamic solutions. New View EDU delves into the larger questions about what schools can be, and how they can truly serve our students, leaders, and communities. It features conversations with brilliant leaders from both inside and outside the education world.
No prescriptions, no programs—New View EDU provides inspiration to ask new questions, dig into new ideas, and find new answers to the central question: "How can we use what we’ve learned to explore the future of what our schools are for?"
Find New View EDU on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher, and many other podcast apps.
Season 1 Episodes: Fall 2021
Episode 1: The Purpose of School

During the COVID-19 pandemic, educators have been forced to reimagine almost every aspect of school, changing our ideas about what’s truly essential. As we rest, recover, and reflect on the past year, we can also refine our vision for the future. NAIS President Donna Orem and celebrated author and speaker on the future of education, Michael B. Horn, join us to talk about redesigning the purpose and future of schools, collaborations between K-12 and higher education, and creating a culture of well-being in school communities.
- Go to the episode page for highlights, discussion questions, key takeaways, and additional resources.
Episode 2: Schools for Safety and Well-Being

It’s not just physical safety measures, like masks and social distancing, that mark the pandemic as a turning point for school safety. Some experts believe that the main work of educators in 2021—and for the foreseeable future—will be trying to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 and multiple big-picture social and cultural traumas on student achievement. In a landscape where trauma is an ongoing reality of American life for many members of our school communities, how do we envision forward-thinking systems that effectively treat emotional well-being as a core construct for teaching and learning? Celebrated architect Barry Svigals, who helped to reimagine and rebuild Sandy Hook Elementary School after the tragedy, joins us to share his philosophy on school safety. Also with us is Barry’s friend and colleague Sam Seidel, Stanford K12 Lab director of strategy and research.
- Go to the episode page for highlights, discussion questions, key takeaways, and additional resources.
Episode 3: Schools and the Science of Thriving
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In a world that’s only becoming more complex, simple concepts like having a good day can almost feel too rudimentary to think about. School leaders have plenty to do without worrying about who’s having a good day and who’s not. But having a good day is much more complicated—and far more important—than it seems. Some of our most talented staff are burned out. Our highest-achieving students leave the classroom uncertain about their ability to navigate the world with confidence and agency. Leadership expert, executive coach, and author Caroline Webb shares the research behind the science of thriving, and how changing your practices to help everyone have better days can fundamentally improve almost every aspect of education.
- Go to the episode page for highlights, discussion questions, key takeaways, and additional resources.
Episode 4: Schools for Growing Citizens
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The current reality facing schools is one of rapidly changing social and political conditions that affect educators, students, and communities as a whole. Whether it’s a question of how personal choices impact collective health, or finding the right balance in helping a school community process and respond to current events, school leaders are grappling with the role of educators in teaching citizen behavior in the classroom. Does our current “civics” curriculum go far enough in helping students identify ways they can become engaged members of a thriving society? Or is “civics” just the tip of the iceberg, leaving the larger topics of developing personal agency and community engagement unexplored in our schools? In this episode, Tim Fish and Lisa Kay Solomon are joined by Baratunde Thurston, award-winning writer, activist, comedian, and host of the podcast How to Citizen With Baratunde. Together, they explore the idea of changing our mindset about the word “citizen,” from engaging with it as a noun to treating it as a verb—a set of guiding principles that can be translated into actions each person can take to contribute to society.
- Go to the episode page for highlights, discussion questions, key takeaways, and additional resources.
Episode 5: Schools for Developing Superpowers

School leadership has never been easy, but at this moment in particular, there are new challenges and opportunities that could completely transform school, for better or worse. What is the role of a leader at this point in time? What are the practices that will help school leaders navigate the ambiguity and uncertainty ahead while staying true to a vision for their communities? This year, and the years ahead, are going to be a test of resilience, trust and courage. And to pass the test, CEO coach, author, and executive director of the Fuqua/Coach K Center on Leadership and Ethics at Duke University Sanyin Siang believes we’ll have to make a fundamental shift to prioritizing relationships in our schools. In this episode, hosts Tim Fish and Lisa Kay Solomon invite Sanyin to apply her learnings from working with top leaders from the military, athletics, and global entrepreneurship to the school setting. What are the essential understandings, skills, and practices school leaders can adapt from other settings to create dynamic and supportive environments for students and staff? How can we learn from the legacies of great leaders to transform our own teams and live lives of significance?
- Go to the episode page for highlights, discussion questions, key takeaways, and additional resources.
Episode 6: Schools for Exploration and Improvisation

In this episode, hosts Tim Fish and Lisa Kay Solomon chat with Rob about how schools can become more Yellow—or in other words, how the same thoughtful, seemingly loosely structured approaches to learning and discovery Rob has designed in his online learning space might be adapted to K-12 schools. What opportunities might reveal themselves if we instead learn to let go and apply the principles of improvisation to leading our communities? With greater flexibility and a spirit of possibility, can we use this moment to imagine School 2.0?
- Go to the episode page for highlights, discussion questions, key takeaways, and additional resources.
Episode 7: Schools for Diversity and Designing Inclusive Futures

- Go to the episode page for highlights, discussion questions, key takeaways, and additional resources.
Episode 8: Schools as Practice Zones for Adulting

- Go to the episode page for highlights, discussion questions, key takeaways, and additional resources.
Episode 9: Schools for the Long Term

In this episode—in the temporary absence of co-host Tim Fish—Lisa Kay Solomon sits down with Roman Krznaric to dig deeply into the concept of being a “good ancestor.” Roman, a public philosopher, bestselling author, and founder of the world’s first empathy museum, explains how the good ancestor framework can be a foundational guiding principle for school leaders. Starting from the place of asking what legacy our present-day decisions will leave for future generations, Roman traces good ancestor thinking from indigenous cultures to present-day innovations. He shares how grounding futures thinking in a deep understanding of empathy can lead people to make radically different choices than they would make under other conditions. And he makes the argument that the way we approach strategic planning may not actually be very future-focused at all.
- Go to the episode page for highlights, discussion questions, key takeaways, and additional resources.
Episode 10: What Have We Learned and Where Do We Go From Here?

In this episode, hosts Tim Fish and Lisa Kay Solomon highlight some of the “good news” in a panel discussion with NAIS President Donna Orem and three dynamic, committed independent school heads: Ashley Harper of Wakefield School (VA), Lisa Yvette Waller of Berkeley Carroll School (NY), and Luthern Williams of New Roads School (CA). Together, our guests represent nearly 100 collective years of experience in education. They share reflections on the themes of student agency, well-being, and purpose that have been core to the conversations throughout the first nine episodes of this season, as well as personal observations and experiences of pivoting to not just meet, but embrace and conquer, the constantly evolving challenges of the pandemic.
- Go to the episode page for highlights, discussion questions, key takeaways, and additional resources.