PMP483: Leaders of the Class with Maureen Chapman and James Simons

A Quick Note to Listeners:

Before this week’s episode, Will Parker and Jen Schwanke take some time to answer a listener question. This week’s question is:

Why do you think reading non-education books is important?

Listen in to hear their response!

Meet Maureen Chapman and James Simons:

Maureen Chapman and James Simons are co-founders of Cor-Creative partners, a Boston-based company that provides inspiring and practical professional development for educators, by educators. They are also the coauthors of the Solution Tree book Leaders of the Class: Teaching Motivation, Perseverance, Communication, and Collaboration in the Secondary Classroom. Both have written articles for Edutopia, Inside Higher Ed, and Middleweb. 

A little more about them individually:  Maureen Chapman loves school. As the co-founder of Cor Creative Partners, Maureen supports leadership development and student engagement through speaking, coaching, workshops, and PLCs. Maureen is a lifelong educator who taught for 15 years in elementary, middle, and high school classrooms and spent eight years in school leadership. As a curriculum director and the head of an instructional leadership team, Maureen oversaw curriculum, resources, student data, instructional coaching, professional development, new teacher induction, and career education.

James Simons loves school. James is the co-founder of Cor Creative Partners, and supports leadership development and student engagement through consulting coaching, facilitating workshops and PLCs, delivering speeches, and producing videos. Prior to co-founding Cor Creative Partners, James served as a high school principal and dean of students, an instructional coach, a middle and high school English teacher, a video-based storyteller, and a writer. 

In this episode, Dr. Jen Schwanke interviews a dynamic duo, James Simons and Maureen Chapman, co-founders of Core Creative Partners and co-authors of the Solution Tree book “Leaders of the Class.” Drawing from their combined experiences as teachers and school leaders, they discuss the parallel work of adults and students in building leadership skills. The conversation centers on a framework that emphasizes the importance of motivation, perseverance, communication, and collaboration as essential leadership competencies. They argue that leadership is not a fixed position, but rather a set of skills and a mindset that can and should be cultivated in everyone, from school administrators and teachers to students in the classroom.

Their discussion reveals a philosophy that sees leadership not as a top-down mandate, but as a collective endeavor fueled by a shared love for school and a belief in one another. By providing a practical framework for educators to teach and model these competencies, James and Maureen hope to empower every member of the school community to see themselves as a leader. Their work is a compelling call for a more empathetic, collaborative, and joyful approach to education, grounded in the belief that when adults and students work together to develop these essential human skills, everyone wins.

Staying Connected:

You can keep up with Maureen and James’ work via the channels linked below:

www.corcreativepartners.com

www.linkedin.com/in/maureenmckennachapman

www.linkedin.com/in/jamesrobertsimons

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