What if you didn't have to wait for your whole school to change before creating learning that better prepares students for the future?

In this episode of the Student-Centered Shifts, I sit down with education scholar Dr. Yong Zhao to explore a bigger vision for what school could become. From strengths-based education and human interdependence to curriculum, assessment, equity, and AI, they challenge some of the assumptions that continue to shape schools—and ask what might happen if we designed learning around the uniqueness of each student instead.

We explore:

• Why strengths-based education requires us to rethink more than just classroom instruction
• How schools can loosen curriculum constraints while still maintaining academic expectations
• Why equity doesn't necessarily mean giving every learner the same experience
• How courageous educators and leaders like you can begin experimenting with new models without waiting for whole-system change

For international school leaders and educators thinking seriously about what needs to change—and what's possible—this conversation offers both a challenge and an invitation: stop waiting for the entire system to transform and start creating new possibilities now.

Learn more about Yong Zhao: https://zhaolearning.org/

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Dr. Yong Zhao's Bio:

Dr. Yong Zhao is a Foundation Distinguished Professor in the School of Education at the University of Kansas. He previously served as the Presidential Chair, Associate Dean, and Director of the Institute for Global and Online Education in the College of Education, University of Oregon, where he was also a Professor in the Department of Educational Measurement, Policy, and Leadership. Prior to Oregon, Yong Zhao was University Distinguished Professor at the College of Education, Michigan State University, where he also served as the founding director of the Center for Teaching and Technology, executive director of the Confucius Institute, as well as the US-China Center for Research on Educational Excellence. Additionally, he worked as a professor of educational leadership in the Faculty of Education at University of Melbourne and senior researcher at the Mitchell Institute of Victoria University in Australia. He was a visiting Global Professor at University of Bath and a visiting scholar at Warwick University in the UK.

He is an elected member of the National Academy of Education and a fellow of the International Academy of Education.

Yong Zhao has received numerous awards including the Early Career Award from the American Educational Research Association, Outstanding Public Educator from Horace Mann League of USA, Distinguished Achievement Award in Professional Development from the Association of Education Publishers, ACEL Nganakarrawa Award, and AECT 2022 Outstanding Digital Learning Artifact Award and AECT Distinguished Development Award. He has been recognized as one of the most influential education scholars.