Marygrove School: Place- and project-based teaching and learning

Marygrove School: Place- and project-based teaching and learning

Author: Ethical Schools April 21, 2025 Duration: 58:06

We speak with Dr. Elizabeth Birr Moje, dean and professor at the Marsal Family School of Education, University of Michigan. Dr. Moje discusses Detroit’s School at Marygrove, a university-school partnership serving children and families from before birth through grade 12. We talk about design-based research, Marygrove’s innovative teacher-residency program, and what being a model means to Marygrove.

Overview

00:00-00:46 Intros

00:46-03:16 How the school at Marygrove came to be

03:16-06:27 Teaching and learning in Detroit

06:27-11:05 Why this neighborhood and community for Marygrove

11:05-12:05 Demographics of the community and the school

12:05-15:20 What an ethical partnership between a university and a school looks like

15:20-18:24 Funding—current and for sustainability

18:24-20:08 Proof of concept, scale, “translatable modules”

20:08-24:17 A model for curriculum and pedagogy

24:17-29:51 Design-based research

29:51-38:36 Selecting teachers and providing professional development and support

38:36-42:13 Promoting social justice

42:13-48:29 Cell phones, distractions, AI

48:29-49:11 Centrality of inquiry

49:11-56:45 Replication

56:45- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcription of this episode. 

References

The School at Marygrove website

Soundtrack by Poddington Bear


Conversations about education often focus on test scores and curriculum, but there’s a deeper layer that truly shapes a student’s experience. Ethical Schools digs into that layer, exploring what it means to build a learning community grounded in integrity and care. Each week, hosts Amy and Jon sit down with educators and innovators who are actively reimagining schools. You’ll hear specific, grounded discussions about the practical work of creating environments where every student feels safe and respected. The dialogue frequently addresses how to support young people dealing with trauma, moving beyond theory to share actionable strategies that teachers are using right now. More than just problem-solving, this podcast highlights how to empower students themselves to become advocates and changemakers in their own communities. It’s a series that connects philosophy with daily practice, looking at the social and cultural structures within schools through a lens of ethics. For anyone invested in the future of education-whether you’re a teacher, administrator, or simply a concerned community member-this podcast offers a thoughtful and necessary perspective on the foundational values that make education meaningful.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 240

Ethical Schools
Podcast Episodes
Students doing original research: Project-based learning in Ohio [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:47
We speak with middle school teachers, Debbie Holecko and Claudia Bestor, and their former student, Rafel Alshakergi, about a student-led research project that led to ethical civic engagement. Rafel explains how the exper…
Abolitionist education: Creating liberatory spaces (Part Two) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:30
We continue our conversation with Dr. Edwin Mayorga of Swarthmore College. We discuss the corporatization of schools that reduces students to their test scores. Dr. Mayorga encourages educators to center joy and healing.…
Abolitionist education: Creating liberatory spaces (Part One) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:30
We speak with Swarthmore’s Dr. Edwin Mayorga, who explains how abolitionist classrooms and schools create “freedom as a place” in contrast to racial capitalism. Teachers are the lead inquirers and try to “move at the spe…
BIPOC and undocumented: A trauma-filled intersection [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:10
Dr. Christiana Best, who spent thirty years in the New York City child welfare system before becoming a full-time academic, discusses her personal experience of being left behind in Granada while her mother settled in th…
The impact of deportation policies on Latinx students’ mental health [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:45
Dr. Randy Capps, Director of Research for U.S. Programs at the Migration Policy Institute, surveyed Latinx high school students to see how fear of deportation – of their parents, relatives, friends, or themselves – impac…
Empowering school counselors to support struggling students [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:30
Dr. Mandy Savitz-Romer of Harvard Graduate School of Education sees counselors as schools’ academic conscience, the hub for providing holistic support to students. To be effective, they need a seat at the leadership tabl…
Holistic history: The African diaspora [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:45
Dr. Kim Butler, who leads Rutgers’s Africana Studies program, says that while we usually teach history and social studies in discreet, testable units, events are complex and interconnected. Slavery throughout the America…
Students leading change: Inclusiveness at an elite school [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:12
Stacey Cervellino Thorp and Naima Moffett-Warden teach drama at Manhattan’s famed LaGuardia High School, and Abigail Rivera is a senior in the drama studio. Although all LaGuardia students are extraordinarily talented, t…
Teaching economics as political and ethical choices [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:00
We welcome back Lev Moscow of the Beacon School to discuss his approach to teaching political economy, which actually applies to any social science. It’s not primarily about the numbers but about the human choices behind…