THE ABC’S OF EDUCATION

About THE ABC’S OF EDUCATION

“Schools ain’t the way they used to be and they never was.” – Will Rogers Since schooling is mandatory in most of the world, it is an extraordinary opportunity to create the kind of learning communities that both make children feel happy, welcomed, valued and challenged at each age and also prepare them for a lifetime of intelligence, caring, artistic expression and social responsibility. But mostly we squander this chance by continuing business as usual. The ABC’s of Education, taken from one of Doug’s books published in 2006, is a look at 26 things that could refresh and revive schools

Publisher

Doug Goodkin

Category

education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

11 Nov 2024

Latest episode

8 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

46 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   8 Oct 2026

   Reflection and Discussion

   Send your questions to Doug directly by emailing your question to GoodkinDG@AOL.com. Want to get your hands on a copy? Here's a ⁠link⁠ (https://www.westmusic.com/the-abcs-of-education-825754) to purchase the book. THE ABC’S OF EDUCATION: ABOUT THIS PODCAST: “Schools ain’t the way they used to be and they never was.” – Will Rogers Since schooling is mandatory in most of the world, it is an extraordinary opportunity to create the kind of learning communities that both make children feel happy, welcomed, valued and challenged at each age and also prepare them for a lifetime of intelligence, caring, artistic expression and social responsibility. But mostly we squander this chance by continuing business as usual. The ABC’s of Education, taken from one of Doug’s books published in 2006, is a look at 26 things that could refresh and revive schools and give children both the present and the future they deserve. Take a listen to the ideas, testimonies and stories from a half-century of teaching kids of all ages that could change school culture as we know it.  In the “race between education and catastrophe” (H.G. Wells), education is lagging behind as disinformation, misinformation and ignorance push on ahead. Here is the energy drink that will help us catch up and eventually win the race. BRIEF BIO: Doug Goodkin is an internationally recognized teacher of Orff Schulwerk, training teachers in over 50 countries worldwide. Alongside his teacher-training work, he worked with children from three years old to eighth grade in The San Francisco School for 45 years before his recent retirement. Post-retirement, he  continues working as a consultant, mentor, guest teacher, workshop leader and performer in schools locally, nationally and internationally. Doug is an author of ten books, keeps an ongoing Blog titled  “Confessions of a Traveling Music Teacher,” (now in its 13th year), is a speaker at various Conferences and in a TEDx talk. He is the director of and teacher in the prestigious ⁠San Francisco International Orff Course⁠ (https://sforff.org/), the Jazz/Orff Course and frequent teacher at the Orff Institute in Salzburg, Austria. He is also the pianist in and leader of the jazz quintet, The Pentatonics, bringing jazz to people of all ages. Doug is featured in a documentary film titled ⁠The Secret Song⁠ (https://www.pbs.org/show/the-secret-song/) that played at various film festivals worldwide and now is streaming on Amazon Prime, Apple TV and PBS.

2. 

   28 Sept 2026

   Process and Performance

   Send your questions to Doug directly by emailing your question to GoodkinDG@AOL.com. Want to get your hands on a copy? Here's a ⁠link⁠ (https://www.westmusic.com/the-abcs-of-education-825754) to purchase the book. THE ABC’S OF EDUCATION: ABOUT THIS PODCAST: “Schools ain’t the way they used to be and they never was.” – Will Rogers Since schooling is mandatory in most of the world, it is an extraordinary opportunity to create the kind of learning communities that both make children feel happy, welcomed, valued and challenged at each age and also prepare them for a lifetime of intelligence, caring, artistic expression and social responsibility. But mostly we squander this chance by continuing business as usual. The ABC’s of Education, taken from one of Doug’s books published in 2006, is a look at 26 things that could refresh and revive schools and give children both the present and the future they deserve. Take a listen to the ideas, testimonies and stories from a half-century of teaching kids of all ages that could change school culture as we know it.  In the “race between education and catastrophe” (H.G. Wells), education is lagging behind as disinformation, misinformation and ignorance push on ahead. Here is the energy drink that will help us catch up and eventually win the race. BRIEF BIO: Doug Goodkin is an internationally recognized teacher of Orff Schulwerk, training teachers in over 50 countries worldwide. Alongside his teacher-training work, he worked with children from three years old to eighth grade in The San Francisco School for 45 years before his recent retirement. Post-retirement, he  continues working as a consultant, mentor, guest teacher, workshop leader and performer in schools locally, nationally and internationally. Doug is an author of ten books, keeps an ongoing Blog titled  “Confessions of a Traveling Music Teacher,” (now in its 13th year), is a speaker at various Conferences and in a TEDx talk. He is the director of and teacher in the prestigious ⁠San Francisco International Orff Course⁠ (https://sforff.org/), the Jazz/Orff Course and frequent teacher at the Orff Institute in Salzburg, Austria. He is also the pianist in and leader of the jazz quintet, The Pentatonics, bringing jazz to people of all ages. Doug is featured in a documentary film titled ⁠The Secret Song⁠ (https://www.pbs.org/show/the-secret-song/) that played at various film festivals worldwide and now is streaming on Amazon Prime, Apple TV and PBS.

3. 

   14 Sept 2026

   The Mixed-Age Classroom

   Send your questions to Doug directly by emailing your question to GoodkinDG@AOL.com and/or Kelly_Corbin@pvusd.net. Want to get your hands on a copy? Here's a ⁠link⁠ (https://www.westmusic.com/the-abcs-of-education-825754) to purchase the book. THE ABC’S OF EDUCATION: ABOUT THIS PODCAST: “Schools ain’t the way they used to be and they never was.” – Will Rogers Since schooling is mandatory in most of the world, it is an extraordinary opportunity to create the kind of learning communities that both make children feel happy, welcomed, valued and challenged at each age and also prepare them for a lifetime of intelligence, caring, artistic expression and social responsibility. But mostly we squander this chance by continuing business as usual. The ABC’s of Education, taken from one of Doug’s books published in 2006, is a look at 26 things that could refresh and revive schools and give children both the present and the future they deserve. Take a listen to the ideas, testimonies and stories from a half-century of teaching kids of all ages that could change school culture as we know it.  In the “race between education and catastrophe” (H.G. Wells), education is lagging behind as disinformation, misinformation and ignorance push on ahead. Here is the energy drink that will help us catch up and eventually win the race. BRIEF BIO: Doug Goodkin is an internationally recognized teacher of Orff Schulwerk, training teachers in over 50 countries worldwide. Alongside his teacher-training work, he worked with children from three years old to eighth grade in The San Francisco School for 45 years before his recent retirement. Post-retirement, he  continues working as a consultant, mentor, guest teacher, workshop leader and performer in schools locally, nationally and internationally. Doug is an author of ten books, keeps an ongoing Blog titled  “Confessions of a Traveling Music Teacher,” (now in its 13th year), is a speaker at various Conferences and in a TEDx talk. He is the director of and teacher in the prestigious ⁠San Francisco International Orff Course⁠ (https://sforff.org/), the Jazz/Orff Course and frequent teacher at the Orff Institute in Salzburg, Austria. He is also the pianist in and leader of the jazz quintet, The Pentatonics, bringing jazz to people of all ages. Doug is featured in a documentary film titled ⁠The Secret Song⁠ (https://www.pbs.org/show/the-secret-song/) that played at various film festivals worldwide and now is streaming on Amazon Prime, Apple TV and PBS.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

11 ratings

Contact THE ABC’S OF EDUCATION

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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