Frustrated by the current state of education, Rachel Babcock and Josh Charpentier decided they would open a high school. Education Disruption is the story of how high school can be done differently, for the benefit of students and educators alike.
Can flexibility and high standards co-exist in high school? In this episode, you'll hear stories from students at Map Academy about how personalized learning, strong relationships, and meaningful accountability helped them overcome barriers while still maintaining ownership of their work. You'll also hear from Map Co-founder & Co-director Rachel Babcock about the systems that allow students who were left behind in other schools to succeed at Map.
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Explore more stories at educationdisruption.org (http://educationdisruption.org)
Education Disruption is a podcast by Map Academy (https://themapacademy.org/)—a free, charter public high school open to all Massachusetts students up to age 24.
Explore careers at Map: themapacademy.org/careers (http://themapacademy.org/careers)
This podcast is a Hairpin production: hairpin.org (http://hairpin.org)
15 Aug 2025
What Graduates Are Teaching Us About Doing High School Differently
The high school experience is critical for young people during their transition to adulthood. Understanding what they need to be successful during this pivotal time should shape the way schools evolve to meet their students’ needs.
In this episode, you'll hear from recent graduates of Map Academy (www.themapacademy.org), each with their own unique reason for being disconnected from high school—some thinking they might never be able to get their diploma. But then they found their way to Map—not only reaching graduation, but feeling prepared for life after high school. The stories they share tell us a lot about how high school can be done differently to better serve all learners.
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Explore more stories at educationdisruption.org (http://educationdisruption.org)
Education Disruption is a podcast by Map Academy (https://themapacademy.org/)—a free, charter public high school open to all Massachusetts students up to age 24.
Explore careers at Map: themapacademy.org/careers (http://themapacademy.org/careers)
This podcast is a Hairpin production: hairpin.org (http://hairpin.org)
5 Sept 2024
Students have enough barriers to learning—we shouldn’t create more
Increasingly, we’re hearing from teachers that student morale and engagement are concerningly low while behavioral issues are on the rise. But are the typical approaches to classroom management actually making student engagement and behavior worse? What happens when a teacher is expected to confront a student about their behavior in front of their peers, give them a failing grade due to absences, or confiscate their phone? These sorts of interventions can reinforce toxic power struggles between students and staff, ultimately creating more barriers to learning.
But there is an alternative approach—instead of policing and punishing student behaviors, the team at Map Academy intentionally doesn’t escalate situations that can lead to disconnected, dysregulated, or disempowered students. In this episode, hear from Map teachers and leadership about how they manage student disengagement and (mis)behavior while promoting a non-hierarchical power dynamic—all with a nuanced understanding of how defiant and apathetic classroom behaviors often stem from existing personal struggles.
(Clips at the beginning of the episode are excerpts of TikToks by @adventureswitheliza, @history_4_humans, @awalmartparkinglot, and @josh_dennis.)
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Explore more stories at educationdisruption.org (https://educationdisruption.org/)
Education Disruption is a podcast by Map Academy (https://themapacademy.org/)—a free, charter public high school open to all Massachusetts students up to age 24
This podcast is a Hairpin production: hairpin.org (https://hairpin.org/)
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.3 / 5
20 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
7 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 37 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
53
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
50
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