Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity

Whether you're a parent, an educator, or a concerned citizen, you have a big stake in what happens in our classrooms – the incubators of our future. If you listen to education transformation advocates, we need to build an educational system that better prepares children for our post-industrial age. The problem is most school systems are still rooted in competition, the status quo, and trying to make what already exists more efficient. Author and transformational change advocate, Richard Gerver, explains.

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 out why caring has ebbed away in many schools and what can be done about it.

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 about what's going on in schools nice or imperative?"

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 perspective on this topic is Mike Soules, President of Corwin.

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 comprehensive school reform plan was as much an exercise in leadership as it was in educational development.

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, organizational practices, and work of schools is an essential component to the success of students in our schools."

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 specializes in personal and team transformation through emotional intelligence training and coaching.

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 Design Lab," which creates transformational learning products and experiences for educators, students, and parents.

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-up volume, Pathways to Possibility.

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, and researcher who helps improve organizations and leaders by improving their mindsets.