At the end of the violent dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in 1990, Chileans united for a newfound democracy. The short interview you are about to hear picks up at this historic time, when primary care doctors at Chile’s leading medical school called for a...
Episode 12: Learning is in the Doing and Deciding
On this final episode of Simply True, Jane is joined by all her co-hosts – Rebecca, Val, and Peter – to reflect on the axiom, “Learning is in the doing and deciding.” Val and Peter share similar stories – they met Jane over two decades ago, early on in their...
Episode 10: Hold / Fold the Opposites
Dr. Jane Vella and Rebecca Hutchins talk with Dan Haase, Associate Lecturer at Wheaton College, about the axiom “Hold the opposites” (aka “Fold the opposites”)…
Episode 9: Begin with the End in Mind
Dr. Jane Vella and Peter Noteboom are joined by Marian Darlington-Hope, community organizer and former co-owner of GLP, to discuss the axiom, “Begin with the end in mind.” In 1986, Marian read about a workshop at Tufts University and was immediately drawn to...
A Chance to Be Your Truest Self
I have learned a lot about connection recently. Previous to the last couple of months, I was afraid of it. In a way, I’d imagine we all were. As a shared humanity, it seems as though in the last year we’ve never been farther apart. Amidst wars and division in many...
Episode 8: No Laughing, No Learning
Dr. Jane Vella and Rebecca Hutchins talk with Dr. Paula Berardinelli about on of Jane’s personal favorite axioms: “No laughing, no learning!” Jane and Paula have known each other since the last century at UNC Chapel Hill, and they are still very close friends...
Episode 7: Don’t Do For the Learners
Dr. Jane Vella and Val Uccellani talk with Ellen Turgasen RN about the axiom “Don’t do for the learners what they can do for themselves.” Ellen met Jane in 1985 when she took a Popular Education ‘bootcamp’ prior to flying off to Peru to work as a nurse for...
Episode 6: Classrooms Can Be Radical Spaces of Possibilities
Dr. Jane Vella and Rebecca Hutchins chat with Adriano Pianesi – Founder of ParticipAction Consulting and Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins University – about the axiom “classrooms can be radical spaces of possibilities.” Like many others, Adriano read Learning...
Episode 5: Affirmation is Like Oxygen
Dr. Jane Vella and Peter Noteboom chat with Christine Little, Certified Dialogue Education Teacher, about the axiom “Affirmation is like oxygen – we all need it to survive.” Christine first met GLP nearly twenty years ago through her work with Habitat for...
Episode 4: Dialogue is Among Learners
Dr. Jane Vella and Rebecca Hutchins chat with Michael Gibbons – ITEP Scholar in Residence at the School of Education, American University – about the axiom “Dialogue is not among teacher and learner, but among learners, of whom the teacher is one.” We often...
Episode 3: How Do They Know They Know?
Dr. Jane Vella and Peter Noteboom – President of GLP – talk with Dwayne Hodgson, a longtime member of GLP’s Certified Network about the axiom “How do they know they know? They just did it.” Listen as they talk about how designing for accountability in learning...
Episode 2: Less is More
Jane and Val – Owner and Senior Partner at GLP – talk with Alex Ciconello from International Budget Partnership (IBP) about the axiom “Less is More”. Alex was introduced to GLP through his work with IBP in Brazil – his roots with Paolo Freire’s Popular...



