51: Letting Go of Old Ideas with Homa Tavangar

For over three decades, Homa Sabet Tavangar’s work has addressed themes of culture, innovation, leadership, global citizenship and global competence, and deep diversity, equity, belonging and inclusion. She connects timely topics of the moment with the timeless desire to work with purpose and make a difference – whatever one’s circumstances.

Homa’s clients range from Fortune 50 corporations to public, international and independent K-12 schools around the world; from an Ivy League university to Disney Channel and numerous not-for-profit public and multilateral organizations and professional associations. Co-founding the Big Questions Institute and Oneness Lab represents a natural extension of her work, especially during a time of unprecedented global challenges.

Homa is the author best-selling Growing Up Global: Raising Children to Be At Home in the World (Random House, 2009), which was the inspiration behind NBC-Universal’s animated series Nina’s World, starring Rita Moreno. Her other books and publications include Global Kids (Barefoot Books, 2019), The Global Education Toolkit for Elementary Learners (Sage/Corwin, 2014), and her 2021 release, 9 BIG Questions Schools Must Answer to Avoid Going "Back to Normal" (*Because "Normal" Wasn't That Great to Begin With), written with Will Richardson, is available now as a free download.  

A graduate of UCLA and Princeton University, Homa has lived on four continents, has heritage in four world religions, speaks (almost) four languages, and is the mother of three daughters. She and her husband live just outside Philadelphia.

Join us for this hope-filled episode about letting go of dead ideas, finding what is sacred to the learning journey, and taking small steps to create global shifts in education.

IN THIS EPISODE, WE COVER:

• Fearless inquiry and starting the Big Questions Institute during a pandemic
• Which dead ideas need to be left behind in order to keep what is sacred to learning
• The one thing that educators universally say is sacred to school and learning
• Why students need to be seen as civilization builders
• The stories we are telling with our school environments and how we can realign our vision and our practice
• Taking small steps toward global shifts in education
• The importance of being able to share our culture with our peers

RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Connect with Homa on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook and visit her website at homatavangar.com
• Get the free eBook 9 BIG Questions Schools Must Answer to Avoid ‘Going Back to Normal’ from the Big Questions Institute
• Visit The Oneness Lab to see the work they are doing to embrace diversity and produce equity
• Learn more about Rebel Educator, explore our professional development opportunities for educators and students, sign up for a  webinar and check out our project library
• Visit us at UP Academy to learn more about our personalized and inclusive learning environment
• Connect with Tanya and UP Academy on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram and learn more about her journey here

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MORE ABOUT THE REBEL EDUCATOR PODCAST:

In each episode of the Rebel Educator podcast, I deconstruct world-class educators, students, and thought leaders in education to extract the tactics, tools, and routines that you can use as teachers and parents. Join me as we discuss how to shift the classroom, the learning environment, the mindset, and the pedagogy, to resist tradition, reignite wonder, and re-imagine the future of education.

This podcast is dedicated to all of the educators who work thankless hours to make our next generation the best it can be.  It was designed to begin conversations on how we can redesign education for the future of work and the success of our students.  It is meant for teachers, students, administrators, homeschoolers and anyone who interacts with and teaches youth.

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