Season 1
Every episode of Enlightened Practitioners is a conversation worth having. Browse below to find stories, research, and ideas from the educators, researchers, and innovators who are transforming learning from the inside out — and find the episode that speaks to where you are right now.
Season 1 | Episode 1
Why This Podcast Exists — and Why It Matters Now
Meet your Hosts!
Season 1 | Episode 2
Rethinking School: AI, Agency, and the Revolution Education Needs
with Dr. Chris Unger
Season 1 | Episode 3
Equity in Education
with Dr. George Perry
Season 1 | Episode 1
Why This Podcast Exists — and Why It Matters Now
with Dr. Julie DiPilato and Dr. Jonathan Page
About This Episode
Every educator can name that one moment — the moment a student surprised them, challenged them, or reminded them why this work matters. For Dr. Julie DiPilato and Dr. Jonathan Page, those moments didn't just shape their careers. They shaped this podcast.
In this first episode, Julie and Jonathan introduce themselves, share the personal experiences that brought them to this work, and lay out the vision for what Enlightened Practitioners is all about. It's an honest, warm, and personal conversation about belonging, identity, and why the most important thing a school can do for a student is make them feel like they matter.
You'll hear Julie's story of growing up without an academic identity — not knowing until adulthood that she had ADHD — and the one teacher who changed everything. And you'll hear Jonathan reflect on building nearly 30 years of work around the simple belief that educators should meet students where they are, not mold them into who we think they should be.
This is the foundation. And if you care about meaningful change in education, you're in exactly the right place.
About Your Hosts
Dr. Julie DiPilato is a middle school educator and advocate whose passion for belonging was born from her own experience of not seeing herself as a learner. Her mission has always been clear: make sure every student feels like they can learn, like they belong, and like their future is full of possibility. Middle school — that powerful, underleveraged window for shaping purpose and identity — is her home base.
Dr. Jonathan Page came to education by accident and stayed for nearly 30 years. A former secondary English teacher turned higher education faculty member and student affairs professional, Jonathan's work has always centered on one thing: student growth and development. Deeply influenced by his own experience of not having mentors who looked like him or understood his journey, he has dedicated his career to creating spaces of belonging and helping people see their own value, voice, and agency.
Both Julie and Jonathan completed their doctoral work at Northeastern University, where a commitment to transformative change agency and equity-centered leadership became central to how they see the world.
Key Takeaways
Belonging isn't a soft concept — it's a powerful academic one. When students feel a genuine sense of belonging, they engage more deeply, take academic risks, persist through challenges, and show up for their own futures. Research backs this up at every level, from middle school through higher education.
Fitting in and belonging are not the same thing. Belonging means students can show up as their authentic selves — without hiding, code-switching, or becoming who the system expects them to be. That distinction matters enormously, especially for young adolescents who are building their identities in real time.
Social capital gaps are real — and schools can help close them. Not every student arrives with the same experiences, networks, or sense of what's possible. Schools have an opportunity to be the ecosystem where possibility expands, where doors open rather than close.
The "why not" question is the one worth asking. Enlightened practitioners don't just work within systems — they challenge them. They ask why not instead of why, and they see students not as data points but as emerging identities with their own stories and strengths.
This work spans pre-K through the workplace. The conversation about belonging, equity, and access doesn't stop at graduation. It shapes how people show up in every space they inhabit.
Resources & Links
👥 Scholars & Research Mentioned
Dr. Terrell Strayhorn — Author of College Students' Sense of Belonging: A Key to Educational Success for All Students. His foundational research on sense of belonging theory is central to much of the work discussed in this episode and throughout the season.
Dr. Tara Yosso — Scholar of critical race theory and education, best known for her framework of Community Cultural Wealth, which reframes the assets that students of color bring to educational spaces. A key lens for thinking about equity and belonging.
📚 Supplemental Reading
🎙️ Coming Up on Enlightened Practitioners
If today's episode resonated with you, share it with a colleague, school leader, or anyone who believes every student deserves to feel like they belong. And if we use a term or buzzword you'd like us to explain — just reach out. This is a community, and we're all learning together.
Season 1 | Episode 2
Rethinking School: AI, Agency, and the Revolution Education Needs
with Dr. Chris Unger
About This Episode
What if the problem with education isn't a lack of effort — but that we've been trying to fix the wrong thing? In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Chris Unger, professor at Northeastern University and author of A Revolution in Education: Scaling Agency and Opportunity for All, for an honest, hopeful, and sometimes sobering conversation about what school could look like if we actually built it for students.
Dr. Unger has spent more than 30 years working alongside schools, districts, and education organizations asking one central question: what would it look like if schools actually worked for every student? From kids designing pedestrian bridges for city council to a shy teenager who raised $25,000 for her community after a windstorm — he's seen what becomes possible when young people are trusted with real work in the real world.
We also dig into AI — not as a threat to learning, but as a co-intelligence tool that, when used well, can expand student agency, fuel creativity, and help educators build something better. If you're a parent, educator, school leader, or just someone who believes students deserve more, this conversation is for you.
About Dr. Chris Unger
Dr. Chris Unger is a professor in the Doctor of Education Leadership program at Northeastern University and a longtime advocate for learner-centered education. For over three decades, he has partnered with schools, districts, and education organizations across the country to reimagine what teaching and learning can look like — not just for some students, but for all of them. His book, A Revolution in Education: Scaling Agency and Opportunity for All, documents the stories, research, and innovators who are redesigning school from the inside out.
Key Takeaways
The current system isn't just imperfect — it's causing harm. 42% of students report persistent sadness or hopelessness. 270,000 teachers leave the profession every year. A trillion dollars in reform efforts have produced minimal change. These aren't reasons to despair — they're reasons to think differently.
Learner-centered education already exists. Schools like Iowa BIG, Big Picture Learning, Gibson Ek, DaVinci Schools, and the CAPS Network are proving that when students do real work in real communities, they rise to the occasion. These schools are far and few between — but they show us what's possible.
You can't fix a broken system by tweaking it. Real change requires building something new from the ground up, creating protected space for new learning environments to take root and grow — rather than trying to turn a train moving at 90 miles an hour.
AI is a co-intelligence tool, not a replacement for thinking. When students and educators learn to use AI for ideation, planning, execution, and assessment, it expands what they're capable of — it doesn't do the thinking for them. The key is teaching people how to fish, not handing them the fish.
Change won't happen fast enough by accident. States need to actively incentivize the creation of new learner-centered environments — because if we rely on serendipity alone, Dr. Unger's AI-assisted math puts us about 400 years away from meaningful scale.
Resources & Links
📘 Featured Book
A Revolution in Education: Scaling Agency and Opportunity for All by Dr. Chris Unger — the essential read for anyone who wants to understand what learner-centered education looks like and how to make it happen.
🏫 Schools & Networks Mentioned
Iowa BIG — A project-based school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa where students work on real community projects instead of traditional classes.
Big Picture Learning — A national network of schools built around student interests, community internships, and personal learning plans.
CAPS Network — Center for Advanced Professional Studies; 120+ affiliates offering real-world professional learning for high school juniors and seniors.
DaVinci Schools — A network of innovative public schools in the LA area focused on project-based, real-world learning.
STEM School Chattanooga — A community-designed school focused entirely on critical thinking, collaboration, and communication across all four years.
Gibson Ek High School (Issaquah, WA) — A Big Picture school where students pursue internships, personal projects, and interest-driven design labs.
🌐 Organizations & Reading
Getting Smart — A go-to resource for articles, blog posts, and deep dives on learner-centered education. Search "Horizon 3" for their framework on the future of school design.
🤖 AI Tools Mentioned
Perplexity AI — Great for research and sourcing; Dr. Unger's top recommendation for educators and students exploring ideas.
Claude — Anthropic's AI assistant; useful for feedback, drafting, ideation, and planning.
ChatGPT — OpenAI's widely used AI tool.
Gemini — Google's AI assistant.
Microsoft Copilot — Microsoft's AI integration across productivity tools.
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with a parent, educator, or school leader who's asking the same questions — and subscribe to Enlightened Practitioners so you don't miss what's coming next.
Season 1 | Episode 3
Equity Warriors: Cracking the System's Code to Build Schools Every Child Deserves
with Dr. George S. Perry, Jr
About This Episode
What does it actually take to build a school where every child belongs — not just in theory, but in practice? In this episode, hosts Dr. Jonathan Page and Julie DiPilato sit down with Dr. George S. Perry, Jr., a nationally recognized equity and leadership consultant with over four decades of experience walking into America's most underperforming schools and refusing to leave until they work for every child.
Drawing from his book Equity Warriors: Creating Schools That Students Deserve and partnerships with over 30 districts and 100 schools, Dr. Perry unpacks the hidden codes embedded in school systems, the difference between technical and adaptive challenges, and what it truly costs — personally and professionally — to be an equity warrior. The conversation covers culturally responsive education, closing achievement gaps, leadership strategy, and how to crack the system from the inside out.
About Dr. George S. Perry, Jr.
Dr. George S. Perry, Jr. is a nationally recognized equity and leadership consultant, a professor in Northeastern University's Educational Doctoral Program, and former director of school leadership and organizational alignment for the New York City Department of Education. He served as senior education advisor to two big-city mayors and has partnered with over 30 districts and 100+ schools across the country, including districts that have won the prestigious Broad Prize for Urban Education. He holds a doctorate from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a master's in education from Harvard University. His book, Equity Warriors: Creating Schools That Students Deserve, is available through Corwin Press and at equity-warriors.com.
Key Takeaways
Belonging is a more powerful starting point than equity alone. When families are surveyed about what they want for their children's schools, they consistently say they want their kids to be safe, successful, and welcome. "Belonging" communicates that vision more accurately — and more inclusively — than catchphrases that can feel confrontational or exclusive.
Technical fixes won't solve adaptive problems. Heifetz and Linsky's framework distinguishes between technical challenges (things we know how to fix with existing knowledge) and adaptive challenges (deeply held beliefs that drive practice). Most schools treat adaptive problems as if they were technical — and that's exactly why reform efforts stall.
Culturally responsive education has three essential elements. High-quality instruction that addresses prior knowledge; building trusting relationships between students, families, and the institution of school; and nurturing pro-academic social networks and community capital. Schools most often underinvest in the second and third.
The "system's code" runs through data, leadership, and instruction. Dr. Perry identifies three domains where hidden codes operate: data systems (knowing who your students are and telling an honest narrative), value-enhanced leadership (courage, perseverance, and the will to act), and teaching and learning (starting with students' assets). Tools within each domain can be understood as politics, diplomacy, and warfare.
Equity warriors need a circle of champions. The work is emotionally demanding, never-ending, and often disheartening. What sustains practitioners is not willpower alone — it's community. Finding like-minded colleagues, celebrating small victories, and remembering why the work matters are what keep equity warriors from burning out before the work is done.
Resources & Links
📘 Featured Book
Equity Warriors: Creating Schools That Students Deserve — A field guide for education leaders who are ready to fight for every student, Equity Warriors gives practitioners the strategic framework and concrete moves needed to crack the hidden codes embedded in school systems — and build the schools every child deserves.
🌐 Organizations
Equity Warriors - tools, protocols, and resources from Dr. Perry's wor
📚 Scholarship Mentioned
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Deming, W. E. (n.d.). Deming quotes. The W. Edwards Deming Institute https://deming.org/quotes/10141/
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Dewey, J. (1902). The school and society. University of Chicago Press.
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Heifetz, R. A., & Linsky, M. (2002). Leadership on the line: Staying alive through the dangers of leading. Harvard Business School Press.
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Moses, R. P., & Cobb, C. E., Jr. (2001). Radical equations: Civil rights from Mississippi to the algebra project. Beacon Press.
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National Study Group for the Affirmative Development of Academic Ability. (2004). All students reaching the top: Strategies for closing academic achievement gaps. Learning Point Associates. https://www.air.org/sites/default/files/downloads/report/All_Students_Reaching_the_Top_0.pdf
Enjoyed this episode? Share it with a parent, educator, or school leader who's asking the same questions — and subscribe to Enlightened Practitioners so you don't miss what's coming next.