What do all high-impact, disruptive—and sustainable—K-12 programs have in common?

In this episode of The TechEd Podcast, host Matt Kirchner sits down with Dr. Annalies Corbin, founder and CEO of the PAST Foundation and author of Hacking School: Five Strategies to Link Learning to Life. With more than 25 years of experience transforming how students learn, Dr. Corbin offers a bold, research-backed framework for schools to break away from obsolete models and embrace learning that’s applied, relevant, and enduring.

From student agency to transdisciplinary teaching, she unpacks five core strategies that successful, long-lasting innovative programs share. Along the way, she shares lessons from 275 episodes of her own podcast, Learning Unboxed, and reflects on what too many students—and educators—are missing.

If you’ve ever asked, “How do we fix education?” this episode answers: by rebuilding it for the real world.

Listen to learn:

• Why our education system isn’t broken—it’s just built for a world that no longer exists
• What employers say young professionals are missing (and why it’s not technical skills)
• How education research and funding models are holding back real innovation
• The five core strategies every long-lasting, high-impact program has in common
• What 275+ conversations with education disruptors reveal about the future of learning

3 Big Takeaways from this Episode:

1. The education system isn’t broken—it’s outdated: It still functions exactly as it was designed 100 years ago, prioritizing compliance over relevance. Dr. Corbin argues that instead of adding “federal band-aids,” we need a complete redesign from the ground up.

2. Young professionals are graduating without real-world readiness: Employers report that new hires can pass exams but struggle to collaborate, ask questions, or admit what they don’t know. These missing skills are costing companies time, productivity, and mentorship bandwidth.

3. The best programs that last 10+ years all share five traits: Dr. Corbin identified five essentials: student agency, culturally relevant education, mastery learning, transdisciplinary teaching, and problem-based learning. When schools commit to all five, students experience learning that connects directly to real life and future careers.

Resources in this Episode:

• Get the book Hacking School: Five Strategies to Link Learning to Life
• Learn more about the PAST Foundation
• Listen to Learning Unboxed

Connect with Annalies on Social Media:

Instagram | LinkedIn

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