What if school actually prepared you for real life?
In this episode of GenNext, we sit down with two grade seven teachers who are doing things differently and getting incredible results.
Jennifer Schaefer and Jes Nielson are grade seven teachers at Groh Public School in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada and long-time teaching partners. They share how they’ve moved away from traditional teaching methods to create a more engaging, student-centered learning experience, one rooted in curiosity, collaboration, and real-world problem solving.
Instead of memorizing content, their students are solving real community challenges, building empathy through real conversations and creating projects with real impact. This isn’t something nice to have “in theory”. It’s what is happening right now in their classroom.
We talk about:
- Why traditional lesson planning can hold students back
- What “messy learning” actually looks like (and why it works)
- How removing tests changes everything
- A powerful student-led project supporting newcomers
- What the future of education needs to look like
If you’ve ever felt like school could be more, this episode will definitely hit home.
🚀Try This Challenge:
For educators: try one small “quarter turn” in your teaching practice this week. Find one interesting provocation (something real, surprising, or thought-provoking) and bring it into your classroom. Put it in front of your students and simply ask: “What do you think about this?”
Let them talk. Let them wonder. Let them be curious.
Links
WRDSB Blog: Students Take the Lead with Design Thinking at Groh Public Schoolhttps://www.wrdsb.ca/blog/2023/10/26/students-take-the-lead-with-design-thinking-at-groh-public-school/
WRDSB Blog: Students Aim to Improve Experiences of Newcomers with Design Thinking
The Community that Groh Built (Full Version Youtube Video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpefkvsR12c&t=661s
Camelia website: https://camelianunez.com/
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@GenNextPodcast
Instagram: @thegennextpodcast
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gennext-podcast
