a Platform For The Possible
In the premiere episode of Strictly Education with Dr. Tahira, I witnessed the launch of a platform grounded not in spectacle, but in something far rarer: a measured, thoughtful, and deeply human conversation about the present and future of education. From the outset, it was clear this moment was intentional. Dr. Tahira Dupree Chase opened the space with care, and her choice of guest, Dr. Miesha Porter, former Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education and a committed advocate for educational equity, set the tone for what followed. What unfolded was not simply an interview, but a genuine exchange shaped by the lived experience of two Black women who have spent their careers working within and challenging American education from the inside.
The conversation carried warmth, but also urgency. Education remains one of the most consequential and contested spaces in public life. Rather than leaning into familiar rhetoric or performative debate, the exchange slowed down. There was listening. There was reflection. Complexity was allowed to stand without being reduced for easy consumption.
Dr. Porter spoke with specificity drawn from her leadership across New York City’s school system. She addressed mentorship, policy, leadership, and the structural forces that shape outcomes long before a child enters a classroom. She did not shy away from naming persistent inequities, yet she spoke with a steady belief in the power of local leadership and community engagement to create change. That balance between honesty and hope gave the moment its quiet weight, leaving a lasting impression well beyond the conversation itself.
For her part, Dr. Tahira is not merely a host, but a curator of perspective. Her questions are not confrontational, but they are not deferential either. They prompt reflection, even reevaluation. There is a distinct generosity in her approach—an intellectual hospitality, one might say—which allows Dr. Porter to be expansive in her thinking without retreating into platitude.
The episode touches on themes that will be familiar to anyone who works in or around education: the challenges of teacher retention, the persistent opportunity gaps faced by students of color, the emotional labour of school leadership, and the often invisible work of care that sustains so many educators. But what distinguishes Strictly Education is not simply the relevance of its subject matter, but the calibre of its conversation. It is rare, and perhaps increasingly rare, to hear two educational leaders speak without performance, without spectacle, and without a predetermined conclusion.
One might expect an inaugural episode to trade in introductions and framing. Instead, what we receive is something fuller: a sense of intellectual positioning. Strictly Education, if this first installment is any indication, will not be a series of promotional interviews or pedagogical glosses. It aims to offer something deeper, a public space for thoughtful, long-form engagement with the moral and political stakes of education.
What it ultimately reveals is that behind the bureaucracy, the funding debates, the curriculum wars, and the legislative skirmishes, education remains, at its core, a profoundly human enterprise. And in the voices of Dr. Tahira and Dr. Porter, we hear what that enterprise can sound like when handled with care.
