Episode 14: Patrick Mark Twomey, Ed.D.

Host Ed Sutkowski talks with Patrick Mark Twomey, Ed.D., who is the superintendent of the Havana Community Unit School District. Effective Fall of 2012, Patrick Mark Twomey implemented the Flip Teaching program in the Havana Community Unit School District #126. The program was first introduced by Eric Mazur, prominent physicist, educator, Area Dean for Applied Physics at Harvard University and author of his best selling book, "Confessions of a Converted Lecturer."

The program is a form of teaching which blends off-site lecturers via the Internet or DVDs and classroom assistance and review of the lecturers, all with a view toward allowing a teacher to spend more time interacting with students - the abandonment of the "sage on the stage" for the one-on-one and group learning process. Specifically, the student first studies the topic by himself, typically using video lessons created by the instructor or shared by another educator. Then, in the classroom, the pupil applies the knowledge by solving problems and doing practical work. The role of the classroom teacher is to tutor the student when they become stuck, rather than to impart the initial lesson.

Patrick discusses and exhibits the passion of his "tipping point" - the event which compelled him to abandon his career in plastics, return to school, secured his Ed.D. and embark upon his educational mission despite critics. Finally, he compared and contrasted the conventional teaching model with the KIPP Program, charter schools, the virtual classroom and Flip Teaching.