Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity

Today we're joined by professors Mark Smylie and Karen Seashore Louis . Mark and Karen along with Joseph Murphy are the authors of Caring School Leadership and Stories of Caring School Leadership , two books that speak to the need to develop caring leadership in schools. We'd think that "caring" in schools would be a given, but as the authors have seen, it's not always the case. Here we'll find ou...

Today we are joined by author Ted Dintersmith. Ted's LinkedIn profile reads "change agent" – and the changes he's focused on are at the intersection of "education, innovation, and democracy." He is the author of What Schools Could Be, which details the trip he took across the U.S. in 2016, visiting some 200 schools in all 50 states. Listen as he asks and answers his own question: "Is thinking abou...

Today, educational leaders and schools are barraged with suggestions and directives to do "this" and "that" to improve student performance and outcomes. But the problem is that we don't really have agreement on what we mean by "performance" and "outcomes." This special series seeks to turn up the volume on that much needed discussion. Someone who is uniquely qualified to give us a broad perspectiv...

Here, we welcome Dr. Lynne Pierson , an experienced educational professional with successful leadership achievements in urban, rural, suburban and international schools. In 2007, Dr. Pierson was asked to lead an effort to overhaul the educational system of the United Arab Emirates. Her six-year effort was a lesson in patience, understanding, and collaborating. Ultimately, coordinating the comprehe...

Anthony Kim , consultant and author of The New School Rules , is an advocate of embracing new management practices that allow continuous adaptation in today's rapidly changing environment. As he writes in the book, "Schools that are working – and there are many – always create, early on, environments designed for evolution, responsiveness, continuous learning. A new approach to the management, org...

If you're a leader or teammate, you're going to need to support the social and emotional health of your colleagues. To do that effectively, you must first establish and be secure in your own emotional intelligence. It's a variation on the axiom: if you're going to lead others effectively, you must first lead yourself effectively. We're joined here by Teresa Quinlan , a consultant and coach who spe...

We all have a superpower – a unique gift to share with the world. The question is, how are we going to unlock, grow, and share it? Schools can help tap into our natural curiosity, but we also have to be willing to experiment and turn down the volume of our inner critic. Today we're joined by Stacy McCoy Prime , a former New York City school principal and now the inspiration behind the "Upstream De...

Today we are deeply fortunate to sit down with two amazing guests: Benjamin Zander and Rosamund Stone Zander . Ben is the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and the Boston Youth Orchestra. Rosamund is a therapist and an accomplished painter. They are the authors of The Art of Possibility what can be a life-change book if you practice its twelve practices. Roz is the author of a follow-...

It's pretty accepted today by thought leaders that you can't effectively lead others until you know yourself and manage your behaviors appropriately. Understanding our various mindsets is key to building that self-awareness and the appropriate behaviors that follow. We'll dig into those mindsets in this conversation with Ryan Gottfredson PhD ., a cutting-edge teacher, consultant, author, trainer,...

School discipline has traditionally seen administrators and teachers mete out punishment for inappropriate student behavior. There's another way advises social and emotional consultant Jim Collin . It relies instead on a social and emotional approach – one that seeks to help adults and students first understand the underlying cause or causes of the disruptive behavior. Central to success is the ne...

Leading complex changes – especially during a crisis – requires leaders to be master balancers in that they have to manage both the human aspects of change , e.g., resistance to change, motivation, and consensus decision making, as well as the more technical aspects of change, e.g. What concern do we attack first? How do priorities shift over the life of a complex change? We hear the details from...

People think "virtual distance" is a function of geographic dispersion, but it's not. It's really the psychological and emotional distance that is created when we put a piece of machinery between us when we're talking. When virtual distance is high, this disconnect starts to affect how we feel, which affects how we think, which affects the decisions we make, which affects performance, which impact...

As authors Chris Mason and Dr. Melissa ("Missie") Patschke describe it in their new book, Visioning Onward , "visioning" is more than just another prescription for a lofty sounding Mission or Vision statement that we see adorning the walls of most schools. Instead, "visioning" is a step-by step process that helps schools and communities imagine in a heart-centered way what they want on behalf of t...

It's our pleasure to welcome Chester Elton back to Getting Unstuck. The thematic river that runs through Chester's books, coaching and consulting is staff engagement and its impact. His research shows that performance and results improve when leaders authentically and purposefully engage their staff whether it's in business or education. And the expression of authentic gratitude is one key way to...

Why are children more anxious, aggressive and shut down than ever before? And what can be done to reverse this course? In this episode of Getting Unstuck, we'll get answers from educators Tamara Neufeld Strijack and Hannah Beach , authors of Reclaiming Our Students: Why Children are More Anxious, Aggressive and Shut Down Than Ever – And What We can Do About It.

Welcome to Part 13 of a special series: "Leading Schools in a Time of Crisis." In these conversations, we probed how educators are helping their schools and communities pivot due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I this interview, our final one in the series, we hear from education transformation advocate Richard Gerver on why schools need to take advantage of this period and not slip back into the old no...

Welcome to Part 12 of a special series: "Leading Schools in a Time of Crisis." In these conversations, we will probe how educators are helping their schools and communities pivot due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because these educators are very busy, we've limited these conversations to about 15 minutes. So, how do educators effectively lead change during a crisis? For Senior Director of Technology M...

Welcome to Part 11 of a special series: "Leading Schools in a Time of Crisis." In these conversations, we will probe how educators are helping their schools and communities pivot due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So, how do educators effectively lead change during a crisis? For educational service agency heads Dr. Jeff Hawkins and Steve Miletto , it's ultimately about helping schools answer the questi...

With the huge focus on curriculum and testing, educator, consultant and author Jocelyne Chirnside cautions that we're missing  a critical part of a child's holistic development.

Welcome to Part 10 of a special series: "Leading Schools in a Time of Crisis." In these conversations, we will probe how educators are helping their schools and communities pivot due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because these educators are very busy, we've limited these conversations to about 15 minutes. So, how do educators effectively lead change during a crisis? For Principal Zaharah Valentine , i...

Welcome to Part 9 of a special series: "Leading Schools in a Time of Crisis." In these conversations, we will probe how educators are helping their schools and communities pivot due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because these educators are very busy, we've limited these conversations to about 15 minutes. So, how do educators effectively lead change during a crisis? For Chula Vista Elementary S.D. educ...

Welcome to Part 8 of a special series: "Leading Schools in a Time of Crisis." In these conversations, we will probe how educators are helping their schools and communities pivot due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because these educators are very busy, we've limited these conversations to about 15 minutes. So, how do educators effectively lead change during a crisis? For UK-based co-Principal Vic Goddar...

Welcome to Part 7 of a special series: "Leading Schools in a Time of Crisis." In these conversations, we will probe how educators are helping their schools and communities pivot due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because these educators are very busy, we've limited these conversations to about 15 minutes. So, how do educators effectively lead change during a crisis? For Principal Mike Oliver , it's abo...

Welcome to Part 6 of a special series: "Leading Schools in a Time of Crisis." In these conversations, we will probe how educators are helping their schools and communities pivot due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because these educators are very busy, we've limited these conversations to 15 to 20 minutes. So, how do educators effectively lead change during a crisis? For Superintendent Dr. David Schuler...

Today on "Getting Unstuck," authors Kirsten Richert, Jeff Ikler, and Margaret Zacchei unabashedly talk about their new book, Shifting: How School Leaders Can Create a Culture of Change , why they wrote it, the school leaders and thought leaders who influenced it, and how they feel it will help educators ask the right question about a potential change: "Is this change something that will help us ac...