The hosts begin this episode by reflecting on their recent interview with Jethro Jones (1:11). In particular, they respond to Jethro’s stories about creative ways he and his staff developed a strong school culture. They also discuss some of the strategies Jethro shares in his book, SchoolX: How principals can design a transformative school experience for students, teachers, parents – and themselves.

Next, Tom explains how Jethro’s design thinking approach to leadership reminded him of the “builder’s” mindset shared by Robyn Jackson in a previous episode (8:14). He furthers the thought by discussing the concept of “broccoli fractals” that provides another illustration of leadership. In a school, you can’t control every interaction, but you can define the ethos of the school; and if you do that, the stakeholders in the school will understand and the positive elements will “reproduce.”

Then Tom and Emma then check in on the state of exams in the UK (15:01). There are fast-moving changes to what students and educators can expect, making it even more important for students to understand what they’re aiming for.

For the final topic of the discussion, the hosts discuss the “In Action” book series (27:18). Tom discusses some of the contributing authors and how this highly practical series of titles came together.

Mind the Gap is produced by MindRocket Media Group and presented by John Catt Educational, a leading independent publisher that has supported teachers and school leaders with research-based, easy to use professional development publications since 1959. Learn more about books from Tom, Emma, and many other world-class authors at us.johncattbookshop.com (US) or johncattbookshop.com (International). Visit edCircuit.com to watch this episode.

About the hosts:

Tom Sherrington is a consultant specializing in teacher development and curriculum & assessment planning. His books include Teaching WalkThrus, Rosenshine’s Principles in Action and The Learning Rainforest Fieldbook. Follow Tom on Twitter @teacherhead

Emma Turner is the Research and CPD lead at Discovery Schools Academy Trust. She is the author of Be More Toddler: A Leadership Education From Our Little Learners. Follow Emma on Twitter @emma_turner75