Community of Praxis is a series of conversations about big ideas in education. In each episode, host Brenna Clarke Gray sits down for critical chats about teaching and learning to invite a more care-centred, student-focused approach into our classrooms, while still minding structural limitations like time and precarity. Together, we make theories of education practical for teachers.
Community of Praxis is published by Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
doi:10.51644/GTIO6874
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Episode 0: Welcome to Community of Praxis!
Brenna Clarke Gray
In this episode, host Brenna Clarke Gray introduces her podcast as a space for educators who crave meaningful change, thoughtful conversation, and a touch of rebellious spirit. She shares her vision of blending theory with practice by interviewing bold thinkers in education and then unpacking those ideas with her longtime collaborator, David N. Wright, in companion episodes full of candid, coffee shop-style chats. With themes of accessibility, kindness, and “productive disobedience,” Brenna invites listeners into a supportive community where big ideas meet real classroom challenge…and where breaking the rules might just be the key to better teaching.
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Episode 1a: CoP Interview: A Pedagogy of Kindness with Cate Denial
Brenna Clarke Gray
In this episode, Brenna interviews Cate Denial about her essay-turned-book, A Pedagogy of Kindness. Cate talks about her journey to kindness, the devaluing of teaching and learning in higher education, and the practice of ungrading (including an unessay assignment!). In doing so, Cate addresses what is radical about really assessing learning.
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Episode 1b: CoP in Conversation: Kindness as Harm Reduction
Brenna Clarke Gray
In this episode, Brenna and Dave unpack authentic assessment, how care can be exploited, and contract grading as a practice, and Brenna confesses that she didn’t know what a reader response was for two years.
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Episode 2a: CoP Interview: Care at the Core with Sheri Spelic
Brenna Clarke Gray
In this episode, Brenna interviews Sheri Spelic about her book Care at the Core and what reciprocal learning can happen between post-secondary and K-12 educators. Sheri discusses the importance of curiosity to learning, “school thinking” and rule-breaking, and the importance of care. Sheri asks us to think about who we are in the classroom, who we want to be, and what assumptions underpin the choices we make.
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Episode 2b: CoP in Conversation: Who Am I in the Classroom?
Brenna Clarke Gray
In this episode, Brenna and Dave unpack “trickle-down clamping down,” making space for curiosity, and the importance of being surprised in the classroom, and Dave confesses that he’s tired of learning.
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Episode 3a: CoP Interview: Open at the Margins with Maha Bali
Brenna Clarke Gray
In this episode, Brenna interviews Maha Bali about her edited collection Open at the Margins and the ways open education is not always already equitable. Maha discusses intentionally equitable hospitality, being a scholar outside the dominant discursive frame, and the complexities of consent in the classroom. Maha invites us to consider our values and the challenges in upholding them.
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Episode 3b: CoP in Conversation: Relinquishing Control, but not Care
Brenna Clarke Gray
In this episode, Brenna and Dave unpack ethical open practice, releasing your inner control freak, and caring about learners’ ideas (not just our own), and Brenna confesses that she’s not sure what she was supposed to learn in Digital Humanities class.