New View EDU

How do we support our young people in becoming independent, thriving, adaptable, confident learners? How do we encourage them to develop a sense of their own agency and shape their lives, rather than having their lives dictated to them? And what is the role of schools in creating capable, responsible adults -- not just high-stat students who achieve academically but struggle to “adult” beyond the classroom?

The impact of the college admissions race on students and schools is becoming increasingly clear. While students pursue an ever-growing number of advanced courses, impressive extracurricular achievements and other “resume-builders” to boost their chances of getting into top colleges, educators and parents are taking stock of the other skills that seem to have fallen by the wayside. Is the pursuit of academic excellence at all costs leading to a generation of students who don’t know how to handle the basic tasks of adulthood? Julie Lythcott-Haims, NY Times bestselling author of “Your Turn,” “Real American,” and “How to Raise an Adult,” joins New View EDU to shed light on how our current concepts in education may be inadvertently restricting students’ growth.

In this episode, hosts Tim Fish and Lisa Kay Solomon talk with Julie about her personal concept of “rooting for humans” and her investment in helping all people thrive. A former dean at Stanford, Julie shares how her own observations about the emerging harm of helicopter parenting led her to begin exploring how young people suffer when they’re deprived of opportunities to develop agency, self-determination and problem-solving skills. She urges school leaders to consider how responsibility and care for the community can be infused into the school experience from the youngest ages, rather than left as “community service hours” check boxes for older students to complete. And in the wake of the pandemic, Julie encourages all adults to reconsider their definitions of both service and success -- understanding that no child can be considered to have “failed” when confronted with a global crisis, and that for many students, stepping up to help at home to fulfill a need may have been the highest form of service possible.

More deeply, Julie examines the ways in which true inclusion and care for every student make a stark difference in the educational landscape. Who “matters” in each school and classroom, and how can educators examine the evidence presented to them that shows which students feel seen and which don’t? What can educators do to commit to creating school cultures where each and every student feels that they matter deeply to someone? And how can school leaders ensure that everyone within their communities understands, commits to and lives the values upon which the school is founded, using those values to invest deeply in relationships that uplift every person?

Some of the key questions Tim and Lisa explore in this interview include:

• What opportunity currently exists for school leaders to let go of practices that don’t serve their values, and embrace changes that do?
• How do we design schools to deliberately embrace relationship-building and connection as core concepts, not secondary to test prep and rigor?
• In what ways might we be able to redefine concepts like SEL and service learning to become more joyful, integrated and internalized, and less performative?
• How can schools create cultures that support “fending” skills from the youngest ages, and why is it important to do so?

Resource List:

• Your Turn: Julie’s bestselling book about “how to be an adult.”
• The Your Turn Study Guide: A helpful resource for using Julie’s book to start “fending” and finding your voice. 
• Julie’s inspiring talks: Watch Julie speak on topics relevant to parents, educators, and young people who are trying to grow into competent adults.
• Hunt, Gather, Parent: The new book by Michaeleen Doucleff Julie mentions in this interview 
• The Daily SEL Leader: Julie’s recommended book for educators looking to improve their SEL practices 
• Hella Social Impact and Vaya Consulting: Two organizations Julie recommends to help schools level up their DEI efforts.

In This Episode:

• “You don't just sort of give someone the opportunity to fend at their 18th birthday. It doesn't happen that way. Fending is intrinsically about skills. You don't, we don't go from handling everything for kids to them suddenly being capable of doing for themselves. That's called being cut off cold turkey, and it's cruel, and it leads to, you know, can lead to real devastating results. So we are definitely in for a reframe.” (8:16)
• “At a very practical level, Home Ec and shop class-- Home Ec and shop class were terrific places to learn some of the fending skills. And in many communities, those courses have gone the way of the dinosaur because we've gotten so enamored of what we think of as enrichment, which we think is only the hardcore academic stuff. So we've jettisoned the stuff of life out the window, and we shouldn't be surprised that we graduate people with high GPAs, who cannot do much for themselves.” (10:17)
• “I try to hone in on the root, the Latin root educare, you know, educate, educare. Educare, I'm told-- I was never a student of Latin, but I have learned-- means to bring forth. And I tell educators, what's your subject? And they'll say French, Latin, Spanish, Math, English, History, Art, Music, et cetera. And I'll challenge that. I'll say, isn't your student the subject? Aren't you bringing your student forth, and simply your expertise-- math-- is, is what you use to bring them forth?” (14:15)
• “Our educators are hurting. They're, they're stretched so thin. They've been burning the candle at both ends and in the middle. And we all need to restore the self, if we have any hope of being of use to other humans. And when we can walk that walk, then I think we are reshaping education and reshaping the experience our children have within it.” (20:15)
• “You know, for some kids, they're just proud they're alive, and we need to celebrate that because people were pushed to the brink. So celebrating, recognizing the stronger capacities and emotional strength that was built because of this struggle. That would be an important thing, I think, to embed at least into this coming fall, if not to make it a part of a much bigger practice.” (27:31)

Full Transcript

About Our Guest:

Julie Lythcott-Haims believes in humans and is deeply interested in what gets in our way. She is the New York Times bestselling author of the anti-helicopter parenting manifesto How to Raise an Adult which gave rise to a TED Talk that has more than 5 million views. Her second book is the critically-acclaimed and award-winning prose poetry memoir Real American, which illustrates her experience as a Black and biracial person in white spaces. A third book, Your Turn: How to Be an Adult, is out now.

Julie is a former corporate lawyer and Stanford dean, and she holds a BA from Stanford, a JD from Harvard, and an MFA in Writing from California College of the Arts. She serves on the board of Common Sense Media, and on the advisory board of LeanIn.Org. She volunteers with the hospital program No One Dies Alone.

She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her partner of over thirty years, their itinerant young adults, and her mother. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The way we understand equity in our schools is constantly evolving. Students and staff in our communities reflect a broader and richer spectrum of identity, heritage, and self-discovery at this moment than at any other moment in American history. Yet educational practice is still catching up, and the students most likely to be heavily impacted by trauma, such as the spectrum of recent events, are students of color, students with disabilities, and learners from other marginalized communities. How can a deeper understanding of the struggle for true equity in education inform the way we design schools and learning opportunities in the future? And what opportunities would exist for our school communities if we learned how to design education to be truly inclusive of all voices and perspectives from the very beginning?

As educators and school leaders hone their methods in response to a growing understanding of the importance of representation and culturally responsive practices in the classroom, New View EDU dives into the subject with a transformative conversation on the power of structured imagination in creating inclusive cultures. Guests Lonny Brooks and Ahmed Best are, together, the co-hosts of the Afrofuturist podcast and creators of the game Afro-Rithms From the Future. Lonny is also a futurist, scholar, professor of communications, and co-principal investigator for the Long Term and Futures Thinking in Education Project; Ahmed is an award-winning actor best known for his role as Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars films, as well as a writer, director, producer, futurist, and science fiction devotee. They delve into how their shared understanding of the future-thinking orientation inherent in the Black American experience, and the lack of representation of the Black community in the science fiction and gaming worlds, led to their creation of a communal game experience devoted to “democratizing the future.” They also share what their work means for educators and schools everywhere.

“For every algorithm of oppression, we have to have an Afrorithm of liberation.” What are Afrorithms? What does the concept of an “algorithm of oppression” mean for the way we build systems and structures throughout our society? Lonny and Ahmed trace the importance of futurist thinking from the historical realities of the slave trade, through the Drinking Gourd and the Underground Railroad, to the present day. With a keen eye toward the voices that are invited to tell and shape stories, and the perspectives that are left out, they examine how marginalization of different communities has shaped a culture that doesn’t fully reflect its full diversity of heritage, ethnicity, experience, or thought. 

In this episode, hosts Tim Fish and Lisa Kay Solomon ask Lonny and Ahmed to share the inspiration and process behind the creation of their imaginative gameplay experience, and how they have consciously structured a virtual world that invites inclusive participation. Exploring how sensitivity to the importance of every individual’s perspective and intrinsic value develops student agency, Lonny and Ahmed reflect on the ways in which educational and social structures may stifle the emergence of vitally needed new voices and points of view. A rich and nuanced discussion sheds light on the growth of Afrofuturism and the potential the discipline holds for transforming the way we learn, share, communicate, and build our future worlds, In what ways do we need to interrogate our well-meaning current practices and beliefs to create meaningful long-term change? And what would education for the next generation look like if we radically shifted practices to bridge divides and intentionally design a more inclusive future?

Some of the key questions Tim and Lisa explore in this interview include:

• How do we bring structured imagination into our classrooms and communities to reimagine more just, equitable, and abundant futures?
• What role does the future—or futurism—play in helping us better understand the present?
• In what ways can school leaders and communities intentionally bring more future-oriented practices into their planning and into their classrooms?
• What is the value of being “seen,” and what does it take to become a “seer” of our students and community members?

Resource List:

• The Afrofuturist Podcast: Learn more about Afrofuturism and Lonny and Ahmed’s work by listening to their podcast.
• Afro-Rithms From the Future: Check out Ahmed and Lonny’s immersive game to democratize the future.
• Institute for the Future: Familiarize yourself with Lonny’s work as a research affiliate for IFTF.
• The Long Now Foundation: Check out the work of a foundation dedicated to long-term thinking.
• Afro-Rithms in Action: See Afro-Rithms From the Future played in this video from Fathomers.
• Community Futures School: Learn about Lonny’s work to bring futures thinking and imagination to education.
• Black Speculative Arts Movement: Dive deeper into the world of Afrofuturism and structured imagination.

In This Episode:

• “Afrofuturism is a combination of speculative fiction and science fiction and fantasy to envision alternative futures and memories about—about the future, leveraging our ancestral intelligence from the Black Diaspora, indigenous, people of color, but fundamentally based in the Black experience of the Middle Passage.” (2:12)
• “I think African people and those of African descent have always had the futurist mindset, the futurist thinking, and you know what I, what I like to talk about when we play Afro-Rithms, our game, is how as enslaved Africans were brought throughout the Western world, we had no choice but to look forward to a time where enslavement wasn't a possibility. Even the idea of the Civil Rights movement, and even before that, when we're talking about, you know, the 14th, 15th, 16th amendments in the United States, you have to be a futurist in the thinking in order to convince a body, a governmental body of which you have no representation in, that you are worth being moved from commodity to an actual human being.” (4:48)
• “A lot of times with futures thinking, people don't invest the amount of time that I think is necessary into futures thinking because they believe they can't afford it. Right. I think most people look at the past and try to learn from the past, and hedge the present on the past without looking forward to the future.” (10:03)
• “The screen is a portal to the universe. And if you are not taking advantage of the portal to the universe, the students are going to find another way to do it.” (11:25)
• “And I just think, you know, like with any language, the kids come to it more naturally. They are like the natural linguists in adopting that language and implementing it. So my students, you know, have access to putting in—implementing their voices, and especially their own cultural experiences into the game, that really expands and gets them excited about doing this work.” (22:00)
• “What I am interested in is letting you know that you are the only you in this universe, and that is special. And I want to hear what you have to say, right? I don't want you to do algebra. I want you to do your algebra. What does that mean? I don't want you to learn history. I want you to be able to learn history your way, right?” (30:21)
• “But I think what's tantamount, what's really important, is we have to, to stop thinking about the 20th century industrial age type of thinking where everybody's going to be on an assembly line and get a job. I think we have to move more toward the individual idea of the process of each person. Believe that each student is special in their own right. And give the student the ability to get a dream rather than get a job.” (34:12)

Full Transcript

About Our Guests:

Ahmed Best was a founding member of the acid jazz group The Jazzhole and starred in the Broadway musical Stomp. He then went on to be the first CGI lead character in a motion picture, starring as Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace,  Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith.

A graduate of the American Film Institute, Ahmed is an Ovation Award, LACC Award, Stage Raw Award, and Annie Award winner. He’s the executive producer of The DL Chronicles (GLAAD award winner for Best Anthology series); co-director of the web series Bandwagon; and the creator, writer, and director for the web series This Can't Be My Life and the sci-fi comedy The Nebula. Ahmed is addicted to culture and devoted to the future.

Lonny J Avi Brooks is an associate professor in the communication department at California State University, East Bay, which is, in turn, part of the newly formed School of Arts Media. He teaches in the public, professional, and organizational concentration in communication, and he is the co-principal investigator for the Long Term and Futures Thinking in Education Project. He has piloted the integration of long term and futures thinking into his communication courses for the last four years.

His current manuscript is Working in the Future Tense@Futureland: Circulating Afrofuturetypes of Work, Culture and Racial Identity (in review). His latest articles include the forthcoming “Minority Reports from 2054: Building Collective and Critical Forecasting Imaginaries and Afrofuturetypes in Game Jamming” for the special 2018 issue of the Canadian journal TOPIA: Black Lives, Black Politics, Black Futures, and “Cruelty and Afrofuturism,” a special commentary section for the Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies journal. With Dr. Reynaldo Anderson, Lonny published “Student Visions of Multiple Urban Futures 2050” in Envisioning Futures for Environmental and Sustainability Education.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Complexity deserves an improvised response. In the wake of more than a year of uncertainty, our impulses may be to more tightly control and script the experience of school. But what opportunities might reveal themselves if we instead learn to let go and apply the principles of improvisation to leading our communities? With greater flexibility and a spirit of possibility, can we use this moment to imagine School 2.0?

Structure is, and always has been, an important element of school. We create systems, benchmarks, routines, schedules, and ways of “doing school” that allow us to measure and define the learning process. But we know that too much structure can have its downsides, sometimes sapping creativity, joy, and inspiration from the experience of school. How can school leaders create the right amount of structure to support emerging agency while giving space for new ideas? And how can we learn to view challenges or setbacks as new possibilities instead of disruptions? Author, co-founder of the online learning space Yellow, and associate fellow at Oxford’s Saïd Business School Rob Poynton joins New View EDU to share how improvisation can be a game-changer for school leaders.

In this episode, hosts Tim Fish and Lisa Kay Solomon chat with Rob Poynton about how schools can become more Yellow—or in other words, how the same thoughtful, seemingly loosely structured approaches to learning and discovery Rob has designed in his online learning space might be adapted to K-12 schools. Leading from the insight that improvisation is actually a discipline with its own set of guidelines and practices, Rob shares the deliberate process behind making choices that set the stage for deeper learning and relationship-building in a classroom. This starts with how entering a room, greeting students, or placing chairs in different locations can all have startling effects on class behavior. Exploring the idea that a longstanding standardized approach to education is poised to give way to something new and different, he encourages school leaders to view improvisation not as a last resort in difficult circumstances, but a daily practice that can be incorporated into this new vision of what school can become.

What, and who, is education for? What’s the necessary and healthy tension between structure and discipline, and freedom and creativity? If both are needed in our schools, how can we learn to constantly adapt to the right levels to allow our communities to grow and thrive? And how can we use challenges as springboards to new possibilities—moving from a problem-solving mindset to one that acknowledges that not all problems can be solved, but all problems can lead to potential growth? Rob reminds us that we can’t plan for every outcome, control every circumstance, resolve every challenge, or fill every moment. Instead, he urges school leaders to lean into the power of pause, let go of the need for certainty, and invite every member of their communities to join them in co-creative action as they reimagine what the next version of school could be.

Some of the key questions Tim and Lisa explore in this interview include:

• How can school leaders set up environments that reflect where they want to go, not just where they’ve always been?
• What is the value and power of “pause,” and how is intentionally pausing part of good leadership practice?
• How can we learn to reframe challenges and concerns, such as worry over possible “learning loss,” with a spirit of possibility? How can we learn to approach problems not correctively, but creatively?
• What does it look like to invite others to co-create a community of learning? 
• How can we become more willing and able to support risk-taking in our schools?

Resource List:

• Rob’s Website: Learn more about Rob and his unique approach to using improvisational theater to improve leadership practices.
• Yellow: Check out Rob’s online learning space, offering “generative and re-generative learning journeys for the real world.”
• Do Pause: Rob’s most recent book explores the power of pause in life and leadership.
• Do Improvise: Rob’s foundational work on how the practice of improvisation can benefit all disciplines.

In This Episode:

• “You know, so if you take that last piece of practice, use everything, one of my favorite ways to think about that is to reframe any shortage, shortcoming, error, or mistake as an offer. And this is really important. It's not about being Pollyannaish and saying, oh, it's all lovely, it's not about that at all. It's about being much more pragmatic and saying, OK, this has just been canceled or we don't have the budget or there's no time.How can we use the fact that there is no time?” (10:50)
• “You know, in improvisation, it's not true that we don't prepare. We don't plan in a detailed, detailed kind of micromanaging anticipatory way, but we do a huge amount of a different kind of preparation. We prepare for a territory, not a path, if you will.” (26:50)
• “Sometimes we forget that the decisions or choices we make about where to put our attention have what I would call an energetic cost. And so if you choose to spend your time focusing on those things you shouldn't do, and that you have to avoid for compliance, and we all understand how important that is and you obviously can't, you know, you can't shirk that, but if all your energy, and if the mood that accompanies it goes on that, the energetic cost is ... you know, we're all now so exhausted and tired and neurotic and paranoid that, that nobody's going to dare suggest something new or different, or let alone outlandish or playful or crazy.” (32:36)
• “There are costs attached to safety. I know that sounds completely weird, but, you know, there's a lovely quote from Keith Johnston, who's a guru in the improv theater world, but this one is so deeply relevant to all walks of life, particularly teaching and education. ‘Those few people who say yes are rewarded by the adventures they have. Those people who say no are rewarded by the security they attain. Unfortunately, there are more no sayers than yes sayers.’" (34:21)
• “Pause is not the opposite of action. It's part of action. So pausing is not stopping. It's not surrendering. Pauses enable people to act more effectively more quickly. If you never pause, pause will be forced upon you.” (40:15)

Full Transcript

About Our Guest:

Robert Poynton is the founder of Yellow learning, an online space for regenerative learning, and author of Do Pause and Do Improvise.

He lives in rural Spain, in a remote, off-grid house, and is a co-founder of On Your Feet— a consultancy based in Portland, Oregon. He is also an associate fellow of the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, where he works on Leadership Programmes, using improv theater as a tool to explore complexity.

Rob believes in playing around with things (and people) rather than trying to control them, and is fascinated by the power of place and the absurdity of human attempts to control ourselves, other people, and things around us.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are we creating school environments that allow us to see the “assumed awesomeness” in everyone? Now, more than ever before, school leadership is about modeling hope, resilience, and a sense of possibility, so we can support our communities in developing their collective superpowers.

School leadership has never been easy, but at this moment in particular, there are new challenges and opportunities that could completely transform school, for better or worse. What is the role of a leader at this point in time? What are the practices that will help school leaders navigate the ambiguity and uncertainty ahead while staying true to a vision for their communities? This year, and the years ahead, are going to be a test of resilience, trust and courage. And to pass the test, CEO coach, author, and executive director of the Fuqua/Coach K Center on Leadership and Ethics at Duke University Sanyin Siang believes we’ll have to make a fundamental shift to prioritizing relationships in our schools.

In this episode, hosts Tim Fish and Lisa Kay Solomon invite Sanyin Siang to apply her learnings from working with top leaders from the military, athletics, and global entrepreneurship to the school setting. What are the essential understandings, skills, and practices school leaders can adapt from other settings to create dynamic and supportive environments for students and staff? How can we learn from the legacies of great leaders like Coach K to transform our own teams and live lives of significance? It’s a big topic to tackle at a time when many are focused on just getting students back to school and back to the traditions and systems we recognize. But Sanyin argues that in this moment of transformation, we have a unique opportunity to adapt our practices to help our schools thrive in a rapidly changing world.

Examining resilience through the lens of leadership, Sanyin explains how individual resilience must give way to a deeper understanding of collective resilience. She offers insights into the difference between developing learning environments for transactional education—such as knowledge acquisition—and developing learning environments for relational education that recognizes the personal contributions each person can make to a team. And she vividly paints the picture of leadership as an art form that chips away all but the “assumed awesomeness” in each person, leaving every student and staff member ready to develop their own superpowers.

Some of the key questions Tim and Lisa explore in this interview include:

• How can seeing themselves as coaches help school leaders model more effective practices?
• How can we see the full range of value and possibility inherent in every person within our school communities? 
• What does it look like to honor the contributions of each person to a larger team dynamic, rather than focusing on individual achievements? How can we measure the impact of great “assists?”
• What does it mean to live a life of significance, and how do we shift our leadership practices to model and support lives of significance for everyone in our communities?

Resource List:

• The Fuqua/Coach K Center on Leadership and Ethics: Learn more about the center’s work on leadership and listen to its “Life of Significance” podcast series.
• Sanyin’s Forbes Profile: Read Sanyin’s articles on ethical leadership strategy. 
• The Launch Book: Motivational Stories to Launch Your Idea, Business or Next Career: Sanyin’s latest book on leadership and inspiration.
• How You Build Resilience for the Long Haul: Sanyin’s article on resilience, which Lisa quotes during the episode.

In This Episode:

• “When we look at our students, we're dealing with human possibilities here. Why can't we look at our teams the same way and say, ‘Hey, I wonder what awesomeness there is that have yet to be discovered about you, that you don't even realize, and how we can draw that out?’” (5:48)
• “I know the great coaches all care deeply and want to see only the best things happen for the person they're working with.” (9:03)
• “I think we're also moving from eras of transaction to eras of relationship. When you think about knowledge acquisition, that can feel transactional. Knowledge is very individualistic. But the world is moving so fast, no one single person could have the answers. And so we now are moving to a world of, instead of individuals, to teams. And so with moving to this world of teams, we have to talk about relationships.” (12:51)
• “And one thing I know about us high achievers is we tend to play our mistakes over and over and over in our head. Instead of thinking about them as mistakes and failures, can we just reframe failures as simply outcomes different than the ones we had hoped for or anticipated?” (19:39)
• “And what we've discovered is some key themes such as big moments matter, but to be true in the big moments, you have to be true in the small moments. And moments, moments matter.” (38:20)
• “What is the real role of education? Is it only about knowledge? Is it creating workers for the economy? Or is it about something bigger, more purposeful than that, which is unleashing human possibilities? Because teachers, I think the reason why we think of teachers, is they were among the first to really see us. And when we see someone that's how we matter.” (39:22)

Full Transcript

About Our Guest:

Sanyin Siang is on a mission to discover and enable greatness in others. Whether it’s in her work as a CEO coach, educator, startup advisor, or author, she teaches individuals and organizations to find the champions within themselves and gives them the tools to keep on winning.

Sanyin co-founded and leads Duke University's Coach K Center on Leadership and Ethics at its Fuqua School of Business and is a professor with Duke's Pratt School of Engineering. The center is a leadership laboratory that convenes think-tank gatherings across sectors to explore today’s complex leadership challenges. Sanyin has worked with four-star generals, world-class CEOs, athletes, and Nobel laureates.

Her ideas on leading innovation, storytelling, culture in an age of disruption, and sports business have been featured in The New York Times, Fortune, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal. She was named to LinkedIn’s Top 20 Global Influencer Voices in 2017 and 2018. She is a member of the 86th Joint Civilian Orientation Conference, the Department of Defense’s oldest civilian program. Her book, The Launch Book: Motivational Stories for Launching Your Idea, Business, or Next Career, inspires readers through stories of different leaders and gives them an action plan for leveraging change using behavioral science concepts.

She is also an advisor for GV (Google Ventures) and Sports Innovation Lab, a faculty member with Story Lab at Duke, and serves on the boards of the Emily K Center and North Carolina Museum of Life and Science.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does it mean to be a citizen of this world, of our community, and of our future? What does “citizen” mean, anyway? And what is the role of schools in growing citizens—or what should it be?

The current reality facing schools is one of rapidly changing social and political conditions that affect educators, students, and communities as a whole. Whether it’s a question of how personal choices impact collective health, or finding the right balance in helping a school community process and respond to current events, school leaders are grappling with the role of educators in teaching citizen behavior in the classroom. Does our current “civics” curriculum go far enough in helping students identify ways they can become engaged members of a thriving society? Or is “civics” just the tip of the iceberg, leaving the larger topics of developing personal agency and community engagement unexplored in our schools?

In this episode, Tim Fish and Lisa Kay Solomon are joined by Baratunde Thurston, award-winning writer, activist, comedian, and host of the podcast How to Citizen With Baratunde. Together, they explore the idea of changing our mindset about the word “citizen,” from engaging with it as a noun to treating it as a verb—a set of guiding principles that can be translated into actions each person can take to contribute to society. Rather than thinking about “citizen” as describing where someone is from, Baratunde argues that we should think about it as describing how people behave as members of a community, and that schools should take an active role in helping students develop proactive citizen behaviors that will serve them, and their communities, well.

Baratunde shares his “four pillars” of How to Citizen, as well as personal stories about how his experiences as a student at an independent school shaped his own worldview and citizen behaviors. He also explores ideas about the different ways in which school leaders, educators, and students can understand the concept of power and how both individuals and institutions can exercise power effectively. Lisa, Tim, and Baratunde delve together into questions about how schools can create environments that encourage students to clarify their own perspectives, engage in respectful debate, and find ways to participate in creating the change they want to see in their communities.

Some of the key questions Tim and Lisa explore in this interview about growing citizens and developing thriving citizen behaviors at school include:

• How does teaching students “how to citizen” fit into our broader ideas about the purpose of schools?
• Why, and how, should school leaders encourage the active teaching of “citizen” as a verb at this particular moment in history?
• How can schools provide appropriate opportunities for students to practice personal agency and changemaking?
• What’s the difference between teaching civics and teaching citizening—and how can schools become more deliberate about including both?

Resource List:

• Baratunde’s Podcast: Listen to How to Citizen, the podcast that inspired Tim and Lisa’s conversation with Baratunde about the role of schools in growing citizens.
• Baratunde’s Newsletter: Sign up to get regular updates from Baratunde and learn more about his work.
• Living While Black: NBC’s Brian Williams called Baratunde’s TED Talk “one of the greatest of all time.”

In This Episode:

• “I think the founding of public education, citizenship was a key element. And I remember always wondering, like, what did we mean when we said school was a place where we would create citizens? And are we in fact doing that? Have we ever really done it effectively? And for whom or what, who did we think of as a citizen and what opportunities were available?” (2:19)
• 
  
• “(To be a citizen) is not just to be born in a certain place and inherit rights and privileges, but to live in this practice of self-government. We're trying to live together. We're trying to live together with a lot of difference and we're trying to rule ourselves. Not be ruled by others.” (3:08)
• 
  
• “We're taught your power is your vote. And your vote is your voice. And it's partially true, but it's not the whole story.” (4:49)
• 
  
• “It's such a basic concept, but educational institutions are not just there to educate the students. Everyone should be learning. And I think if you're the leader of a school, that does not exempt you from learning, and that's true in every domain where there's this kind of structural power.” (25:01)

Full Transcript

About Our Guest:

Baratunde Thurston holds space for hard and complex conversations with his blend of humor, wisdom, and compassion. Baratunde is an Emmy-nominated host who has worked for The Onion, produced for The Daily Show, advised the Obama White House, and wrote The New York Times bestseller How To Be Black. He’s the executive producer and host of How To Citizen with Baratunde, which Apple named one of its favorite podcasts of 2020. Baratunde also received the Social Impact Award at the 2021 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards on behalf of How to Citizen with Baratunde. In 2019, he delivered what MSNBC’s Brian Williams called “one of the greatest TED talks of all time.” Baratunde is unique in his ability to integrate and synthesize themes of race, culture, politics, and technology to explain where our nation is and where we can take it.

Baratunde serves on the boards of BUILD and the Brooklyn Public Library and lives in Los Angeles, California. 

Follow Baratunde on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: @baratunde

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It’s easy to say “have a good day at school!” But are we actually designing the environments that will support our students and staff in having good days?

In a world that’s only becoming more complex, simple concepts like having a good day can almost feel too rudimentary to think about. School leaders have plenty to do without worrying about who’s having a good day, and who’s not. But having a good day is much more complicated -- and far more important -- than it seems. Some of our most talented staff are burned out. Our highest-achieving students leave the classroom uncertain about their ability to navigate the world with confidence and agency. Leadership expert, executive coach and author Caroline Webb shares the research behind the science of thriving, and how changing your practices to help everyone have better days can fundamentally improve almost every aspect of education.

In this episode, Tim Fish and Lisa Kay Solomon grapple with how weary school leaders, staff and students can summon resilience and optimism to return to the classroom. Infusing schools with positive attitudes that instill lifelong learning dispositions, critical thinking skills, empathy and the ability to thrive seems like a big ask. But it’s also the kind of environment we know will serve students in the long run. Caroline draws upon her extensive experience in using neuroscience and behavioral research to improve leadership practices, applying her practical methods to the school environment. 

Caroline’s suggestions for leaders are both concrete and unique. Walking through the neuroscience behind why people react as they do in certain situations, she shares how to stop negative reactions in their tracks and create positive outcomes. She also gives advice to leaders on creating welcoming, affirmative cultures that make “having a good day” more possible for everyone in the school community. And she shares the science of intentionally directing our attention so we can make the most of our time and efforts.

Some of the key questions Tim and Lisa explore in this interview about having a good day and understanding the science of thriving include:

• How do we teach lasting resilience and thriving to our young people?
• How can we deliberately reframe our practices so that we uplift “soft skills” as critical to thriving in the long term? 
• We’ve just come through a year of heightened ambiguity and uncertainty. What can we learn from leaders who navigated it successfully? How might we bring those lessons to our leaders and learners?
• How can school leaders encourage and deliberately design workplaces that support “having a good day?”

Resource List:

• Caroline’s Website -- Learn more about Caroline and her work on leadership and behavioral science
• Caroline’s Science Essentials -- The must-have list of scientifically proven practices behind having a good day
• How to Have a Good Day -- Stay up to date with Caroline’s consulting practice and book
• How To Have A Good Day in Uncertain Times -- Caroline’s video series on thriving despite ambiguity
• Behavioral Science Will Be More Important Than Ever in the 4th Industrial Revolution -- “We’re still uniquely placed to reach deep insight and connection with fellow humans, and to display wisdom and innovation in situations where there is no right answer.”

In This Episode:

• “In order to be the best leader you can be, I've seen this time and again, with leaders in very challenging situations, you need to invest in yourself. You need to not see that as a luxury.

You need to take the time to get to know yourself and your patterns, to take a step back perhaps and reflect on the past year and say, okay, now how do I equip myself as best I can for the continued uncertainty that we're all going to face?” (3:40)

• “I'm very much a fan of things that it takes three seconds to do, because I think, you know, our lives are busy and challenging and if an intervention is complex, then there's an excellent chance that we won't end up doing it. So just simply understanding that giving someone a little bolt of appreciation has such disproportionate effects on their state of reward and therefore their state and their ability to think expansively and in discovery mode rather than go on the defensive.” (19:10)
• 
  
• “Leaders often think they're giving plenty of praise and they're not doing it half as much as they think, and they're not doing it in a way that is as effective as it could be.” (19:50)
• 
  
• “I can shift my demeanor, then I can shift that person back towards the arms of their better angels.” (31:30)
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• “And it's not hard to learn it, except it is.” (37:00)

Full Transcript

About Our Guests:

Caroline Webb is an executive coach, author and speaker known for being one of the world’s leading experts in using insights from behavioral science to improve professional life. Her bestselling book on that topic, How To Have A Good Day, has been published in 14 languages and more than 60 countries. In a previous life she was a Partner at McKinsey and co-founder of their leadership practice, and in an even earlier life she was an economist working on public policy.

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2020 made us think about school safety in a completely different way from before. As we move forward, how can we redefine what we mean by “safety,” and imagine new ways to create school environments, conditions, and cultures of true safety and well-being?  

It’s not just physical safety measures, like masks and social distancing, that mark the pandemic as a turning point for school safety. Some experts believe that the main work of educators in 2021—and for the foreseeable future—will be trying to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 and multiple big-picture social and cultural traumas on student achievement. In a landscape where trauma is an ongoing reality of American life for many members of our school communities, how do we envision forward-thinking systems that effectively treat emotional well-being as a core construct for teaching and learning? Celebrated architect Barry Svigals, who helped to reimagine and rebuild Sandy Hook Elementary School after the tragedy, joins us to share his philosophy on school safety. Also with us is Barry’s friend and colleague Sam Seidel, Stanford K12 Lab director of strategy and research.

In this episode, hosts Tim Fish and Lisa Kay Solomon invite Barry and Sam to share the foundations of the work they do to help communities reimagine school safety. Sam shares one of his moments of inspiration, revolving around a personal experience as a visitor during a school shooting drill that led him to question the purpose—and the hidden costs—of some of our common safety practices. Barry delves into the careful, compassionate, and surprising questions he asked school leaders at Sandy Hook when reimagining safety for their community. And both guests talk passionately about the importance of creating linkages between schools and their surrounding neighborhoods to help foster a sense of communal caring.

In addition, Barry and Sam share simple, actionable ideas for exercises schools can implement right away to help them improve well-being and belonging. From starting with love to designing for joy, this conversation about school safety is filled with unexpected approaches to a challenging topic. 

Some of the key questions Tim and Lisa explore in this interview include:

• As school leaders think about safety choices they may make for the future—starting “anew”—what should they be considering? What questions should they be asking?
• If “safety is everyone’s job,” what should school leaders know about creating holistic environments of safety for every member of their communities?
• If feeling safe and being safe are two different things, what does it mean to feel safe, and to be safe, at school?
• How do we manage the tension between protecting students from physical threats, while also allowing them to feel a sense of agency and empowerment?

Resource List:

• Questions to Your Answers About School Safety: Barry and Sam’s thoughtfully designed set of 47 guiding questions school leaders and communities can ask to help make empowered decisions about safety in their schools.
• Being Safe and Feeling Safe Are Not the Same Thing: “Pre-pandemic, our national obsession was the rare instances of extreme violence, while far greater problems stemming from an inattention to emotional well-being were often marginalized. But who would believe they were greater?”
• School Safety: Follow the work the Stanford K12 Lab is doing on reimagining school safety.
• Sam Seidel on Medium: Stay up-to-date with Sam’s latest writings on education.
• The Overprotected Kid: “A preoccupation with safety has stripped childhood of independence, risk taking, and discovery—without making it safer.”
• Tim Gill on Child-Friendly Urban Planning and Design: “Children don’t live in cities at all. Children live in neighborhoods. … A neighborhood that’s good for children has lots of choice.”

In This Episode:

• “The methodology that we need to bring to schools is that we need to start with questions. We need to begin with, first, the most fundamental of questions. We don't start with, ‘What kind of chain link fence should we have?’ or ‘What kind of camera systems should we have?’ or ‘Who should we hire to be security resource officers in our school?’ I mean, a whole other host of things that superintendents and administrators of schools very often begin with. It is precisely the wrong place to begin, because as we know, for a hammer, all the world is a nail.” (10:30)

•  “What allows for a joyful experience in your school? If all our strategies around school safety are put through that lens, you come up with a whole different set of outcomes.” (13:00)

• “I think we get too often caught up in this idea that it's a zero sum game, that if we prioritize physical safety, we automatically have to sacrifice emotional well-being. Or community.” (20:10)

• “If you want to know something about a school, there are three people you should talk to: the person at the front desk, the person who works in the cafeteria, and the person who is maintaining the school.” (24:30)

• “If you don't think kids can change things, think again. If you ask them to be involved, the most extraordinary things can come of it.” (29:20)

Full Transcript

About Our Guests:

Artist, architect, musician, keynote speaker, and thought leader Barry Svigals is helping communities and organizations become more creative and collaborative, making places that express who they are. Trained as both an artist and an architect, he wove those two worlds together in the founding of an architecture+art firm that he led for more than 30 years. At the heart is his passion to challenge his own creativity as well as the creativity of others in service of what is needed in the world. A graduate of Yale College and the Yale School of Architecture, Barry’s focus on community engagement as well as art enlivening architecture contributed to a long list of projects for diverse clients, among them major universities, corporations, and institutions. The firm’s best known project is the Sandy Hook School in Newtown, Connecticut, completed in 2016. 

Sam Seidel thinks, writes, speaks, and designs learning experiences at the intersections of education, race, culture, and design. He is the director of K12 strategy and research at the Stanford d.school. Sam is also the author of Hip Hop Genius. He has taught in a variety of settings, from first grade to community college, and directed youth programs for young people affected by incarceration. He speaks nationally about education issues and writes for the Huffington Post, among other publications.

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Imagine that we have been given the opportunity to completely redesign the concept of school. Where would we go?  

During the COVID19 pandemic, educators have been forced to reimagine almost every aspect of school, changing our ideas about what’s truly essential. As we rest, recover and reflect on the past year, we can also refine our vision for the future. NAIS President Donna Orem and celebrated author and speaker on the future of education, Michael B. Horn, join us to talk about redesigning the purpose and future of schools, collaborations between K12 and higher education, and creating a culture of wellbeing in school communities.

In this episode, hosts Tim Fish and Lisa Kay Solomon dig into a number of big ideas, starting with a full examination of the purpose of schools. Donna brings up the historical purpose of education, but one relevant theme that surfaces throughout the episode is that purpose is also the future of schools. But how do school leaders and parents understand the purpose of school? Are they on the same page? And where does higher ed fit in?

Building on questions about the way parents and educators view student achievement, Michael points out areas of disconnect between K12 schools and higher education. He shares his views on what needs to change in terms of creating a stronger culture of collaboration between colleges and K12, as well as how the current dynamic feeds a culture of fear among parents. Donna also wonders how that culture of fear holds schools back from creating a more purpose-driven educational environment, and how parents and schools could become better partners in helping students pursue their passions.

Some of the key questions Tim and Lisa explore in this interview about the purpose of schools include:

• We need to increase collaboration between K12 and higher ed. What could that look like? 
• Independent schools should become centers of wellbeing. How might that be the defining value proposition for many of our schools? 
• Purpose-driven education is the future. How do we design schools and universities to develop passion, purpose, and well-being? 
• How do we move from a narrative of fear to one of hope?

Resource List:

• Begin With the End: What’s the Purpose of Schooling? -- “As we seek to build schools back better, individual schooling communities must be clear about purpose and priorities.” Michael Horn, in Forbes
• https://michaelbhorn.com/ -- Keep up with Michael’s work
• The National Association of Independent Schools -- Stay up-to-date on all the developments in the Independent Schools community
• Hopes and Fears: Working with Today’s Independent School Parents -- Make a major difference in how well your school works with parents. Learn practical, empathic advice from psychologists Rob Evans and Michael Thompson in this book from the National Association of Independent Schools.
• The Future of Education Substack -- “We’re living during an amazing opportunity to transform learning worldwide so that all individuals can achieve their full potential.”
• Future U Podcast - Jeff Selingo and Michael Horn discuss what’s next for higher ed and talk with the newsmakers you want to hear from most.
• Class Disrupted Podcast -- A weekly pandemic education podcast hosted by Michael Horn and Diane Tavenner
• Michael Horn on Youtube -- Hear from Michael on the latest topics of importance in the education world
• More books by Michael:
• Disrupting Class 
• Choosing College
• Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools

In This Episode:

• “I went back a few years ago and found the historical purpose -- which is to bring people to as full a realization as possible of what it is to be human. Isn’t that the greatest purpose to think about? What does it mean to be human today?” (6:36)
• 
  
• "Hope is your super power. Don't let anybody or anything make you hopeless. Hope is the enemy of injustice. Hope is what will get you to stand up when people tell you to sit down." (11:59)
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• “I do think that the walls between higher ed and K-12 need to come down in more concerted ways. And you think about how we have divisions between those two institutions. That is a function of history, not perhaps what we need in the current moment.” (19:22)
• 
  
• “So I think if K through 12 and higher ed can get together to really figure out how to open up these pathways, how to help students really explore their purpose and to, you know, really meet that potential head on. It's going to create a different society for us and, you know, that's my hope. That's how I want to use my super power, in creating the world that looks like that. “ (26:29)
• 
  
• “We need to blow past the zero sum game to get to a positive sum world.” (27:30)

Full Transcript

About Our Guests:

Donna Orem is the President of the National Association of Independent Schools. Prior to joining NAIS, she was the vice president for products and services development at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).Orem speaks frequently about leadership, governance, innovation, trends in independent education, workforce development, and student health and well-being. She is co-author of the NAIS Trustee Handbook and contributes regularly to Independent School magazine, the Independent Ideas blog, the NAIS Trendbook, and Looking Ahead. 

Connect with Donna on LinkedIn

Michael Horn speaks and writes about the future of education and works with a portfolio of education organizations to create a world in which all individuals can build their passions and fulfill their potential. He is the author of many books, including Choosing College, and Goodnight Box, a children’s story. Michael is also a senior strategist at Guild Education, which partners with leading employers and organizations to help offer education and upskilling opportunities to America’s workforce. He is also the co-founder of and a distinguished fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation, a non-profit think tank.

Connect with Michael on Twitter: @michaelbhorn

Connect with Michael on LinkedIn 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.