We're asking too much of teachers. And they're drowning.

In this episode of LearnIt podcast we sit down with two powerhouses in education leadership: Usha James (The Critical Thinking Consortium) and Dr. Elisabeth Rees-Johnstone (OISE). They take us deep into the layers of the education system, challenging the narrative of individual burnout and offering a powerful new vision for critical inquiry and leadership presence.

In this episode you will discover:

• The Myth of Individual Burden: Why we need to stop applying "Band Aids" to teacher burnout. Elisabeth explains why "insurmountable accountability" cannot rest on one person's shoulders and how we must look at the systemic scaffolding, policy, budgets, and community that holds a school together.
• The Ultimate Question for Leaders: Usha challenges every school leader to ask one critical question: "For whom are our current practices working, and for whom are they not?"Discover how to move beyond the status quo to find where inequity lives and how to address it.
• Stop Reading Updates, Start Reflecting: A game-changing leadership shift. Elisabeth shares why she tells her team,"I can read an update."Meetings should be reserved for hearing the human voice, deep reflection, and learning rather than just checking boxes.
• From TV Panic to AI Anxiety: A history lesson on technology. We discuss how the panic over AI mirrors the fear of television in 1965, and why the solution isn't banning tools, but cultivating "thinking habits", like accepting discomfort and thinking courageously, to navigate a complex world.

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