Podcast for Leaderful Schools – Details, episodes & analysis

Dr. Robert Maxfield and Dr. Suzanne Klein welcome their guest Dr. Mag Gardner, Senior Global Capacity Building Facilitator for New Pedagogies for Deep Learning and the featured speaker at the fall EdCON22, hosted by the Galileo Institute. Her background experience includes: secondary school teacher, principal, superintendent, and work at the Ministry in different settings around Ontario, and a little bit of work in England.  Dr. Gardner noted, “Probably the most profound experience I had was leading deep learning in one of the districts in Ontario.  It was such a magical experience that I've been able to join the global team of New Pedagogies for Deep Learning (N.P.D.L.) and help to generate the enthusiasm and the work around the world.”

Reflecting upon the impact of the pandemic, Dr. Klein referenced one of the N.P.D.L. papers entitled, “Defying Pandemic Gravity”.  Dr. Gardner explained, “The pandemic presented some daunting complexities that are still constraining our schools and the pandemic made it really difficult to build capacity and advance learning for both kids and for staff…we asked ourselves, how can we support staff, so they can refocus that precious energy on student learning, and what was it that educators needed to jump start deep learning. So, our suggestion was really simple: to focus on the needs of staff, to build learning, capacity and culture in small deliberate moves.”

“The key words in that paper were all verbs like: dignify, gratify, simplify, clarify, amplify, and it just speaks to our own bias at N.P.D.L. (New Pedagogies for Deep Learning) where we have a bias towards action. So, for us, doing nothing was not an option. We advocated for just inching forward and investing in relationships and looking for the good that was all around us, knowing that change happens in those small micro moments. You know those little gestures, the small tweaks, the tiny moves like the moments of courage and love that snowball into life informing significance. And so really, that's what that paper was all about.” 

Dr. Gardner encourages educators "to think six and four, which partners the six global competencies: character, citizenship, collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking, with the four elements of learning design: learning partnerships, pedagogical practices, learning environment and leveraging digital. The four elements provide a simple framework, where teachers can return to designing learning that's responsive to the students’ strengths and their needs and their interests, and that stimulates students, minds and their hearts. So when we look at the four elements: learning partnerships, learning environments, leveraging digital, pedagogical practices, we're talking about well-known strategies that engage learners and also stimulate thinking.”

Learning partnerships

“How we create partnerships between and among students, relationships with teachers, with families and with the wider community. There's so much knowledge that a teacher can't be expected to know everything, but should be invited to draw in lots of expertise within the classroom, inviting student voice and their perspective. Students’ rich and robust experiences can contribute to the whole learning opportunity. This is really about relationships, relationships, relationships when we're talking about learning partnerships.”

Learning environments

“We're talking about the third teacher (the physical environment) and creating lots of flexible, inviting, welcoming spaces, but what do we do with the culture, that invisible environment? How does it foster that sense of safety and the sense of belonging? Do students feel as though they are significant, that their presence and their involvement in the class matters? What we're talking about is the learning environment, the physical space; it’s that learning community, that climate and culture that enables students to flourish.” 

Leveraging digital

“How do we leverage digital so it accelerates our knowledge and our understanding? Is there a way of using digital to go beyond those classroom walls and cultivate opportunities for collaboration and for creativity? Digital needs to be an accelerator, generating something new in the classroom; learning that couldn't be created without it.”

Pedagogical practices

“Teachers have well proven pedagogical practices to engage students, to really tap those six global competencies. It's important to acknowledge that there is good work happening everywhere. We're not asking teachers to throw all those good practices away, but rather think about how those other three elements can be incorporated into pedagogical practices to amplify innovation and to bring learning to a whole new level, and think about what's one next thing that they could do to move towards a much more fulfilling deep learning framework."

Dr. Gardner emphasized that “it is critical that teachers really understand who the students in front of them are, not the ones they taught five years ago, but the ones right now. What do they care about? What peaks their curiosity? We're talking taking the first step inviting authentic student voice, and actualizing the belief that students can contribute as change makers. And that's the way to begin to move and shift from a talking culture to a listening and coaching culture, enabling teachers to ‘defront their classroom' giving students navigational control.”

“We’re suggesting that deep learning is as important for the adult as it is for the students. Actually, the adults need to be able to exercise those six global competencies. The adults need to be able to pursue what interests them. They need to be able to exercise their strengths, and they need to be able to come together collaboratively to problem solve.”

When asked how teacher leaders and administrators start this journey, Dr. Gardner advised, “We always say begin with the coalition of the eager. Who are the teachers in your schools, who already are showing passion for this kind of work? They are courageous; they're willing to take a few risks. They want to work with each other. They want to build those connections with a global community. Start with them because they are going to learn so much together, and they will teach the school a lot about what is possible.”

Addressing concerns about low enrollment in teacher preparation programs, Dr. Gardner proposed that “we need to do a much better global marketing job. This is the best profession in the world, and it is a profession that prepares all professions, making an incredible impact on today’s society and also tomorrow’s society. There is no such thing as ‘just a teacher’; you change the world. We need to move to a space where we regenerate a real pride in the profession. We provide opportunities for professional rigor with each other, that important validation of our profession, so that people feel as though they can make a difference, that they can problem solve, that they can be creative, that they can again exert all those six competencies.We have to be optimistic about the future and we have to create conditions where teachers can thrive again. And so that's up to us.”

Dr. Gardner concluded the podcast speaking about two huge challenges: equity and well-being, which are priorities within our schools right now. “We need to create some deliberate opportunities and conditions for not only healing but for flourishing for every student. I would suggest that some initiatives such as school-wide assemblies on anti-racism, while checking a box on a school improvement plan, may not have an impact on all students. A yoga class addressing well-being may not respond to students’ needs, nor equip students with the meta-condition to manage their well-being independently. While they have good intentions, they may inadvertently work against the efforts to improve well-being and equity.”

“We can no longer tinker our way toward transformation. It's up to us as leaderful educators to intentionally create spaces where students can thrive, where equity and well-being are embedded, where equity and well-being are baked into our classroom communities and normalized in our day-to-day practice.  What we're learning in our deep learning work from our knowledge building partnership from around the world is that when classes are engaged in deep learning, it serves all of our kids, and especially those kids who are traditionally under served. It has a way of leveling the playing field and inviting all students to demonstrate their abilities in a range of ways. Students who struggled with well-being issues begin to feel empowered. Students who didn’t have a voice are now feeling as though they can exert themselves within the classroom. We know that deep learning is not only about drawing connections with what we learn, but it's about making connections with whom we learn, and making connections about how we learn, and all these connections open up hope for students. It builds a sense of individual and collective efficacy, and it changes their trajectories. We need to get at equity and well-being and deep learning is a great way to authentically get there.”

Gardner, Mag, et.al. “Defying Pandemic Gravity: How to Jumpstart Deep Learning in your School”, New Pedagogies for Deep Learning, Deep Learning in Action Series, Issue 04, March 2022.   

https://bit.ly/DefGravNP22                          

Also, here is a link to our Deep Learning Lab brochure. I forgot to mention that this is a great way for people to dip their toe into Deep Learning.   

https://deep-learning.global/DLL23/

After experiencing incredible challenges during the pandemic, schools are returning to in-person learning. Podcasts for Leaderful Schools hosts, Bob Maxfield and Suzanne Klein, invite their guest Will Richardson, co-founder of the Big Questions Institute, to reflect on the pivotal question of what’s worth teaching and learning, and how to promote learning so we can live up to the promise of American public education.

“It really is about not going back to school, but going back to creating environments where learning happens really deeply.” Will Richardson pointed out “the distinctions between learning loss and schooling loss; let’s get back to learning versus let’s get back to school; and not just going back and doing things a bit better, but doing things different. We’re helping schools, teams and communities build capacity to engage in conversations around different not just better, which is a shift in the way we talk about schools and education traditionally.” 

What is a coherent definition of learning? “The first step is you have to have some coherence as to how you define what learning is, and how it happens, and what the conditions are that are required for that. And the honest truth is that a lot of schools are still incoherent about that.”

“If you don't have a coherent, shared, lived definition of learning, then kids are in ‘incoherence’. They're going from classroom to classroom, having to figure out what every teacher means when they say to learn something. There isn't a coherent narrative or this thread or through line in their experience where everyone is building on the same understanding of how learning happens and what it needs to look like in classrooms.”

What contributes to learning? “We're starting to realize that a lot of what we do in schools really is not supportive of the way humans learn. Putting kids into age-grouped classrooms is not a great condition for learning, nor is limiting them to fifty or sixty, or eighty-minute time sessions, one subject at a time. That's not how we learn in the real world. None of those are conditions for really great learning to happen.”

“The type of learning that we want to see our kids do in classrooms is problem-based, question-based and meaningful. I think a lot more schools are trying to figure out how to create situations where kids can do more agentic learning where they have more agency, more choice, and more real freedom to pursue what they want to learn on their own terms.  Adults in the room fill in and support, question and probe, and do all those things that deepen that experience for them. I think that we're seeing a lot more opportunities for kids to really go in their own direction.”

“What we are seeing now are schools popping up on the edges that are really different and going about things very differently. They’re basically leaving the traditional systems, narratives and practices behind and going grade-less. They're not organizing by age. It really is about deep student-driven, project-based inquiry-based learning, with teachers more as supports. “

“Teachers may be up against a whole bunch of obstacles when it comes to moving into those types of pedagogies and those types of learning environments, because there is no coherent vision for what they want it to look like as a school, as a community. I don't think they've had the conversations.”

What do leadership teams need to do? “One of the most important jobs for leadership teams right now is to figure out a capacity building strategy for the community to understand a different narrative, a different story about the experience of school for their kids.  How are kids going to thrive in the future if they continue to live the current story?"

“Helping to create a different narrative or story is something we have to embed in our practice on a regular basis as school leaders, teachers and people in school.It's things like exhibitions of student work during the year or the community open exhibitions where kids are showing the types of interesting learning that they're doing, and describing it and talking about why it matters to them.”

“There is another layer to this that gets even more complicated, but is equally urgent. It’s not just about our kids in our schools; it’s about the world now. How do we all see ourselves as a part of the much larger kind of living system that is on this planet that is under duress right now?  I know a lot of people have a struggle even having that conversation in the community.” 

Should schools be places for the private or public good? “Schools have to be places now for literally the public community good, where we frame our work in the context that says we are part of a much larger system here. It can't be about ‘me’; it has to be about ‘we’.  It really has to change in terms of what we teach, how we teach it, the experiences we provide for kids, and the conversations we have in an ongoing way with the people in our communities.”

“We are facing a lot of challenges right now in the world. We’re not going to solve them without education. We can mitigate the challenging hardships and really contribute to the solutions if we think about education differently.”

What are two books you recommend to school leaders? “The first one is Who do we choose to be? by Margaret Wheatley, which is the powerful question she asks leaders.  How do we lead in our communities at a time of very, very deep difficulty, being good human beings and interacting with one another with a spirit of joy and hope but understanding that the larger problems may be unsolvable?”

“The second book is Education in a Time Between Worlds by Zachary Stein. His thesis is that we are in a ‘world system transition’. For education this brings up an almost unimaginable design challenge in terms of how we create an education for humanity at a moment of huge, huge shift.”

“Meg's book is about how we take this particular moment and make the best of it.  Zak's book is how we take this particular moment and aspire to something that really is different, and then begin to think about pathways to getting there.”

What is the design challenge for schools?   “We're helping schools move away from strategic planning to strategic design instead. How do we create the skills, literacy and disposition of designers, when we have conversations around schools, our practice and our environment?”

“So, if we're in this ‘world system transition’ and if we have this design challenge, then can we transport ourselves into the future to look into schools and see what are the things that are happening there that are good or bad, but then actually create artifacts and bring them back into the present?”

“As powerful as a story and narrative is when it comes to thinking differently or changing the script, even more powerful is actually holding an artifact in your hand and thinking about it. How do we get there, if it's something that we want to have happen? How is our work in the present getting us toward this kind of aspirational future?”

Final thoughts:

“I think that leaders have to engage in radical truth telling right now.  I think that we have to just be deeply honest about what's working and what’s not working in schools, in the context of how we understand learning and human beings, and acknowledge those things.”

“It requires a truthful assessment about the state of schools today, as well as thinking about potential opportunities for students and teachers and learners in communities in a world where we continue to see an explosion of ways that we can connect, create and access teachers and information in interesting and fascinating ways.”

“Engage students, teachers, parents, community members in these ongoing conversations.  Bring people together in groups and ask questions like: what is learning, what success means right now for this community. Be transparent about those conversations, and really try to use them as ways of building capacity in their communities.”

References:   https://bigquestions.institute/bqi-new-homepage/

Stein, Zachary, Education in a  Time Between Worlds Essays on the Future of  Schools, Technology and Society,  San Francisco, California, Bright Alliance, March 1, 2019.

Wheatley, Margaret, Who Do We Choose to Be? Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity, Oakland, California, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, June 9, 2017.

Podcast for Leaderful Schools, previous episode with Will Richardson, October, 2021

https://podcast-for-leaderful-schools.simplecast.com/episodes/epic-design-challenge-for-schools

Dr. Maxfield and Dr. Klein congratulated Dr. Dania Bazzi on being named 2022 Michigan Superintendent of the Year, by the Michigan Association of Superintendents and Administrators. Mentioned in the nominating materials was the fact that her district earned the Equity Innovator Award for 2019.  Dr. Bazzi discussed the district’s commitment to equitable learning opportunities for all students, the current initiatives, the importance of teacher leadership, teacher recruitment and retention, equitable school funding, and concluded the conversation with advice for current superintendents and school leaders. 

Her leadership journey included employment at Ford Motor Company as a project manager, followed by a teaching position at John Glenn High School in Westland. She pursued her doctorate and served as a School Improvement Consultant at Jackson County Intermediate School District; Director of Teaching and  Learning at Hamilton Community School;  Superintendent of Galesburg-Augusta Community Schools. Securing the superintendency in Ferndale “was like winning the lottery, having the same goals, values and really dedicated to always doing what's best for students.”

“We’ve been committed to really transformative change within the district, providing an equitable experience for every student within the district. We partnered with Great Lakes Equity, out of Indiana University, as it relates to diversity, equity and inclusion. That partnership has really been so impactful to the Ferndale Public Schools, examining if our policies match our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, whether it is board policy; student codes of conduct; dress codes. Are these equitable policies that ensure all students have the ability to pursue their life's passion? “

“It catapulted us into creating an equity-based strategic plan.  To achieve the goals of our strategic plan there has to be equity that runs through the veins of each of those pillars of our strategic plan. The partnership with Great Lakes led to policy change; to an equity-based strategic plan; to the creation of our district Diversity Committee and Equity Task Force; and most importantly it led to curricular changes to ensure that our curriculum is aligned and represented by our student body.”

"One metric used to measure the success of the systemic approach to equity is the growth and achievement of our students. Our focus was student participation in A.P. and honors classes. Students who identified as black were not represented in those courses, so we made systemic efforts to ensure that students have the opportunity and the support needed to be successful in those courses. In a matter of a year we increased student participation in A.P. classes by 14%, of which 95% were successful in those A.P. courses. So again, it comes down to access, and removing any barriers that prevent students from taking advantage of the opportunities that we have within our schools.”

“One thing that's unique about Ferndale is our commitment to our social-emotional learning curriculum, recognized at the state and federal level. We prioritized time integrated into our PreK-12 school day to work on the five core competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and reasonable decision making. People may call these 'soft skills'; these life skills are essential. Content skills are important as it relates to being college and career ready, however, to be a student who is ready to make an impact on the world both content and ‘soft skills’ sets are needed.”

When asked what might have been learned over the last 18 months which has challenged schools, teachers, families and students, Dr. Bazzi commented on the digital divide; access to technology and the Internet.  Fortunately the district’s Technology Director applied for and was awarded a grant providing a Chromebook to every student to keep at home. What also came to light was the reliance that some families had on their students to work to help the family make ends meet, thus impacting students’ virtual school attendance. The importance of in-person learning was also highlighted during the pandemic when everyone missed just being together. The pandemic did allow more flexibility with parent meetings, which were typically done in the evening, and now can be done virtually.”

Dr. Bazzi also reflected that during the pandemic “the human connection piece is key and the government and public put so much responsibility on public education.Along with the role of educator, teachers also assumed the roles of nurse, confidante, and social worker in order to support students in all ways, taking on that responsibility with great pride.”

The district has developed a career ladder that recognizes and encourages leadership roles. Dr. Bazzi expressed her support for teacher leadership.  “It is important that teachers take on leadership as experts in the classroom in terms of teaching and learning. We really need instructional leaders leading our buildings. Building management is really important but it’s not focus of what we ask of administrators in today's times. We're asking people to be teacher leaders, to be teaching and learning experts as superintendents, as principals, and various other administrative roles. In my career taking teacher leaders into administrators positions have been my most successful hires. If they're an authentic teacher leader, people will follow them because they have trust and belief in that person, they know who they are, and they know that they have the expertise to lead them.”

In response to how Ferndale will recruit, hire, retain and develop the next generation of leaders, Dr. Bazzi referred to their efforts to grow their own teachers from within their student body. “The district is participating in Wayne State University’s Urban Educator Path. Students can be dual enrolled to take collegiate education courses, held on site at the high school, leading toward a teaching degree at Wayne State. Students graduating from Ferndale can take a teacher education path and then are able to come back.”

“The second piece is that Human Resources revamped the hiring process to clearly articulate the district vision and mission throughout the interview process so candidates understand our commitment to social equity, social justice, and our celebrated pride in our diversity. We want people who are committed to us for the long term, because teacher tenure and administrator tenure have an impact on student achievement. Our HR approach is really to continue to build partnerships that let people know what Ferndale is about and highlighting the great work that we do, and telling our story. If we don't share what we're doing how will anyone know? So I really urge districts to tell your story and celebrate your success to create that school family atmosphere and let people know what you're about.”

Returning to the topic of the high school students who are dual enrolled in college classes for teacher education, Dr. Bazzi advises the students “that as teachers you help students achieve their goals and every year you hear of successes of your former students. As a secondary teacher you are having an impact on 150 kids a day and as an elementary teacher, you are creating really strong bonds with 25 to 30 students in a particular year. Having that impact has intrinsic value that money just can’t buy. And there is a sense of familial community that you just don’t get in the corporate world. I always tell people you do have to be a patient person, an empathetic person, a strong person to be an educator but your impact will go on far longer than you're even here on this earth.”

In closing, Dr. Bazzi pointed out an additional issue that arose from the pandemic, which was the need for school funding to be addressed in Michigan. "I think the funding of schools has come out and people have really put in the time and effort and study to show the why behind this. Equitable school funding has to be addressed, especially with what we have been able to do with our COVID relief funds."

Her final advice was for superintendents and school leaders. “Every decision you make has to be rooted in what's best for kids, not based on outside pressures. Adult problems are adult problems and shouldn't impact kids.Ultimately you have to be able to explain the 'why' of your decision making. I will say that as a superintendent another piece of advice that is important for all of us, have a mentor. I still reach out to colleagues when I have a complex situation. Always seek to understand. Lastly, as a superintendent it's very important that the community knows you and knows you care about their kids, and you are visible at school events.  Seeing students outside of the classroom is vitally important for the superintendent role. My goal is to have as many students know who I am and know that they have access to me for whatever it is that they might need. It’s important to be visible, be honest, and be accessible.”

https://www.ferndaleschools.org/

dania.bazzi@ferndaleschools.org

Dr. Bob Maxfield welcomed Julie (Wilson) Jungalwala, author of The Human Side of Changing Education and Director of the Institute for the Future of Learning, to the Podcast for Leaderful Schools, as part of the series on resetting education after the pandemic. Guests are asked to reflect on what we ought to be doing differently in education as we emerge from the pandemic. Dr. Maxfield’s regular co-host, Dr. Suzanne Klein, was unable to join him for today’s conversation, and in her place Dr. Elaine Middlekauff joined as acting co-host.

Julie (Wilson) Jungalwala grew up in North Ireland and first came to the United States in 1997, for a six month project in San Francisco. After about a decade of working in adult development, leadership and management development, she “recognized a recurring theme that much of what she taught people in those programs, as well as in coaching sessions was essentially to unlearn what they’ve learned through a standardized system of education.” That revelation prompted her to create the Institute for the Future of Learning as a non-profit; with a mission to help transform the one size doesn’t fit all model of education. While studying for her master’s in Education at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, Ms. Wilson Jungalwala recalled the impact of Dr. Eleanor Duckworth’s “Having of Wonderful Ideas” class.  Professor Duckworth studied directly with Piaget, enabling Ms. Julie (Wilson) Jungalwala to experience what inquiry-based learning actually is from a learner’s perspective.

Currently the majority of her work is writing about the topic, coaching leaders, keynote presentations, workshops and conducting research. She credits the research she did for Arthur Levine of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation with the genesis for her book, The Human Side of Changing Education.  “When we're asking schools to change, we're asking people to change. If we're not focusing on the adults we're never going to see the outcomes that we're looking for with the students. When you're asking human beings to change it goes against how we're wired. I think about David Rock’s research on neuroscience and leadership and the acronym SCARF: status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, and fairness. All those are thrown up in the air when school or district is going through change.”

“You've got a lot of folks with an amygdala hijack; we lose our rational thinking mind but also too few change initiatives actually tap into what is an unbelievable force for change, which is the fact that I would say 99.9% of the teachers I know enter the profession because of the mission that's in their hearts to deliver.  Rather than engage in what Richard Boyatzis called “negative emotional attractors”, if you were to tap into that mission as part of an overarching change process then you've got some real opportunity for change. The biggest tool is the passion and the mission that's inherent in every single person in your building. Apply Carol Dweck’s growth mindset to adults. I have seen some folks really turn around if you actually start being curious about their experience, what they see as being potential obstacles, how we might come together to mitigate or overcome those obstacles and what is it we're actually moving towards. It's part of a broader adult development behavioral change arc.”

Dr. Maxfield wondered what has gotten in the way of unleashing the passion and mission of teachers. Julie (Wilson) Jungalwala posited it is a “century plus bureaucracy. The goal of any system is status quo. Practically every human being, at least in the western world, has gone through school and has a very distinct set of mental models of what it is, and what it isn't.  The system is resistant to change and the vast majority of people have an idea of what school is therefore, we need to do more of that. Go ahead and change, but don't do anything to jeopardize my child's future. There's so many external forcing function pieces in place to hold this, again not one thing, just a lot of significant forces at play at once.” 

When asked what tools she would encourage people to embrace, Julie (Wilson) Jungalwala replied, “When you start asking people what's right with them as opposed to fixating on what's wrong with them, you're much more likely to enter into a productive conversation. Another great tool or resource is Richard Boyatzis's work. His latest book, Helping People Change, gets into the neuroscience of how coaching with compassion is so much more helpful, and actually produces behavioral change compared to coaching with compliance. In The Human Side of Changing Education, I profiled the work of William and Susan Bridges on managing transitions. I use that framework because they talk about how change is an event and it's external, while transition is internal, it's a process and it's psychological. You need to start with the people, their vision for what's possible, bring people into the co-creation of that change, and then with each other, we get through that change together, and each person's experience is different.” 

The final tool Julie (Wilson) Jungalwala would recommend is Joseph Campbell and his framework, The Hero's Journey. “I see that narrative arc with leaders leading change. Your school will not transform if you're not transforming. As a leader if you can make your learning explicit that gives others permission to do the same. It helps reorient the schools to become 'institutions of learning' as opposed to 'institutions of knowing'. As the teacher, as the superintendent, as the principal, ideally you're modeling what it is to be a lead learner. What excites me about it though is I think there's tremendous opportunity here for leaders to emerge. And that's what brings me back to Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey, on the call to adventure. If we could help each other really listen to the mission that's inside each of us and help us move forward with that, then great change would be possible.”

“There were school districts doing tremendous work before COVID.  A local school district was three-four years into a high-quality interdisciplinary project-based learning curriculum that was superb.  With COVID, they were back to here’s your desk, space, all the pods and the physical set up of the room felt like 10 years in the past. From the book, The Third Teacher, how things are physically set up has a significant impact. I wrote an article on Corwin’s blog describing a school district in Maryland in which each teacher committed to become a master in mind brain education. When district leaders thought about bringing adults and students back to school, they modeled leading with well-being for adults and students alike.” Julie (Wilson) Jungalwala acknowledged that with COVID “the stakes are heightened as the veil is lifted and we can’t ignore it, and sides are more entrenched. There is the potential here for schools to play a very different role and that takes level 5.0 leadership to lead that work. I read an article by Arundhati Roy, the writer and activist, and she gave this clarion call with the heading “Pandemic Is a Portal” and I thought this is where we are.  Humankind is going through a massive transition right now. There's tremendous opportunity here for leaders to emerge. That brings me back to Joseph Campbell's  Hero's Journey, on the call to adventure. If we could help each other really listen to the mission that's inside each of us and help us move forward with that, then great change would be possible.”

When looking ahead to the 2022-2023 school year, Julie (Wilson) Jungalwala advises listen to teachers. “We could really start to bring the teacher voice forward and listen to their experience. We could have more teachers and parents and students in conversation together to talk about their experience. I would like schedules to fundamentally change. Teachers have no time for prep and students have no time for recess. Neuroscience tells us that kids need time for recess. That's when the brain does the majority of its work and secondly, we all know that we need time to prep, to debrief, to be with colleagues.”

A driving question Julie (Wilson) Jungalwala introduced was what we should put under the heading of D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate). “What should we not resuscitate from the old model? What's just one of the things we should stop doing? School change is too much like evolution by barnacle, where we just stick one thing on top of the other. We never take a step back and say, okay what's working well. What should we keep? What's not working, what should we stop, and then what should we start doing?”

For future prospective teachers, Julie (Wilson) Jungalwala hopes “principals and superintendents will go out into their communities and find teachers that represent the diversity of the children in the classrooms, and invite a much broader and diverse range of people into the profession and honor the difference that they will bring.  If I'm a child in the classroom and I can see a role model, a teacher who can reflect back my lived experience and the best of it and what's possible, then we have a tremendous opportunity for change right there in the communities. I'd also diversify the age. I know so many people who tell me they failed at retirement, so many folks in education. You can't not do what you're doing, so you find opportunity elsewhere all within the broader learning umbrella. There is massive talent there, so when you think more flexibly about recruitment in general, you can see what might be possible.”

Dr. Maxfield supported increasing flexibility and broadening the options for teachers. “Does getting into teaching require signing a regular contract?  Maybe you teach in a high school three days a week, because you've got a particular passion and we figured out a way to certify you to do that. That could allow that recent retiree to have some free time but still do what he or she likes.” Julie Wilson Jungalwala expanded that idea to include flexibility of role: subject matter experts, pedagogical experts, coaches. With the challenges of recruiting teachers and teacher education students, there are corresponding shortages of school administrators. Dr. Maxfield noted “with forty new or newer superintendents in the Detroit metropolitan area, the candidate pools were smaller. The problem is not getting better and the pandemic has accelerated that as well.”

 In closing, Julie (Wilson) Jungalwala gave some final words of advice to those who want to do things differently and better as we move forward. “I'm prepared to bet that your listeners have a mission; that they have a clear call to adventure; they do have a sense of the work that they would like to do; the change they would like to see in education. Rather than allow the fear, uncertainty and doubt to bubble up, your only job once you hear the call to adventure is to take the next step. Take the tiniest baby step, and if that seems too big, make it smaller. And once you start taking those baby steps, it's like a trail of breadcrumbs, you start to get some traction and then you start to meet people of like-minded mission and connect yourself with those folks. That's your support group, you need them, and they need you. So ground yourself in your call to adventure, your mission, take tiny baby steps with relentless consistency and do not do this work alone, find your peace.”

https://www.the-ifl.org/                Julie M. (Wilson) Jungalwala (@juliemagretta) / Twitter

Jungalwala (Wilson), Julie Margretta, The Human Side of Changing Education: How to Lead Change With Clarity, Conviction and Courage, Corwin, May 24, 2018.

Books and articles referenced in the Podcast

Boyatzis, Richard, Helping People Change: Coaching with Compassion for Lifelong Learning and Growth, Harvard Business Review Press, Illustrated edition, August 20, 2019.

Bridges, William, Ph.D. with Susan Bridges, Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change, Da Capo Lifelong Books, January 10, 2017. (25 anniversary edition)

Campbell, Joseph, The Hero’s Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work, New World Library, March 11, 2014.

Duckworth, Eleanor “The Having of Wonderful Ideas” & Other Essays on Teaching and Learning, Teacher’s College Press: 3rd edition, November 24, 2006.

Dweck, Carol S. Ph.D., Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Ballantine Books, December 2007.

Mau, Bruce, A collaborative project, OWP/P Architects +VS Furniture + Bruce Mau Design   O’Donnell Wicklund Pigozzi and Peterson (Author), Bruce Mau (Author), David W. Orr (Foreword), The Third Teacher: 79 Ways You Can Use Design to Transform Teaching & Learning, New York, Abrams Books, March 1, 2010.

Rock, David Dr., Neuroscience research and SCARF, Dr. Rock holds a professional doctorate in the Neuroscience of Leadership from Middlesex University in the UK.  https://www.euroleadership.com         

 1 page summary -Understanding David Rock’s SCARF Model   https://conference.iste.org/uploads/ISTE2016/HANDOUTS/KEY_100525149/understandingtheSCARFmodel.pdf

Roy, Arundhati, “The Pandemic Is a Portal” in Rethinking Schools.org, Volume 34, No. 4 https://rethinkingschools.org/articles/the-pandemic-is-a-portal/  This text is abridged and excerpted from “The Pandemic Is a Portal,” in Azadi: Freedom. Fascism. Fiction., forthcoming from Haymarket Books. Used by permission of Haymarket Books. Copyright © 2020 by Arundhati Roy.       Roy, Arundhati, “The pandemic is a portal”, Original publication in the Financial Times, April 3, 2020. https://www.ft.com/content/10d8f5e8-74eb-11ea-95fe-fcd274e920ca

Stern, Julie and Julie Wilson Jungalwala, “Slow and Steady Summer School Planning”, Blog: Corwin Connect, May 17, 2021. https://corwin-connect.com/2021/05/slow-and-steady-summer-school-planning/

Dr. Bob Maxfield sat down for a conversation with Carolyn McKanders, author of It’s Your Turn: Teachers as Facilitators, who spent  three days facilitating work with the cohort of Galileo Academy teacher leaders and district superintendents. As a former teacher, counselor, social worker, staff development specialist and administrator, her primary focus is supporting the well-being of students, teachers and the community.  She asks the pivotal question, how do you bring your best self to meetings as adults, because the quality of adult talk directly influences student outcomes. As a meeting facilitator, she shared her thoughts on managing polarities or natural tensions that occur in human systems.

Ms. McKanders noticed that “as teachers and kids are returning to in-person learning we're discovering some really significant changes and pressures that are being experienced.” In her current book, It's Your Turn: Teachers as Facilitators, she makes the powerful statement which aligns with the podcast series theme: “Never let a conflict go to waste, it's an opportunity to do things that you never thought you could do before.”

Dr. Maxfield asked her, “What do you see as some of the challenges that have surfaced during the pandemic, some of those truths that were probably there all along but have certainly become more evident, and how do we then not let that conflict and those tensions go to waste?”

Ms. McKanders responded, “Tensions are not always something bad. They  point us in the direction that this part of the system needs attention. These tensions have always been there. The pandemic painted them with a yellow highlighter so that we could no longer ignore  the huge differences in educational opportunities between affluent communities and economically poor communities. That was always there and now we're shining the light of awareness on it. We're rethinking how do we support students where there are such economic challenges, personally in their personal lives, and also in their educational lives. One of my favorite advocates is Jonathan Kozel, Savage Inequities, who has been shining a light on this for decades. I'm really hopeful now with the pandemic and with us rethinking and resetting, that conversations will lead to action.”

“We have to look holistically at a child’s life not separately. and recognize that they have been traumatized, as well as the adults. Next steps are to  look at what we already know about trauma informed teaching and crafting environments of safety, psychological safety, physical safety, cognitive embracement of different ways of learning, and put that into practice. We don't have to go in and create something; we have a lot of good solid principles that we can begin to put in place for students.”

“I think we need to look at the working conditions of teachers and the relatively low compensation for a very difficult job. What is the environment that needs to be crafted for teachers, so that they can craft an environment of support and safety for students? Teachers need more support; they need to be honored and pulled into leadership; they need a safe environment; they need time to collaborate with each other; they need more even more ways to partner with parents because school and home have totally merged this last year. How can we continue to merge school and home in ways that are productive for both teachers and students and parents and community? We need to start talking to let these challenges flip into opportunities. What gets talked about gets attention and it needs to be talked about in a particular way. We as adults need to truly know how to dialogue about social issues with empathy, skill and openness with other adults.” 

Dr. Maxfield concurred that “what needs to be done to better address the emotional well-being of our children, needs to be considered for our teachers as well. The same holds true for our administrators, superintendents and lately school board members.” The conversation turned to the current issue of diversity, "which is a strength that can enhance the self and collective efficacy of the group.” and he asked Carolyn McKanders about examples she has seen where diversity is welcomed, cherished, applauded and integrated into the culture of the building.  

Carolyn McKanders “commended Riley Middle School in Livonia, Michigan, where she noticed that students and staff were “happy”. Students and staff are celebrated for who they are, how they are and everyone has a strength.” She recalled her interaction with three middle school students who welcomed her and introduced themselves, accompanied by a different personal point of pride. “That is the utopia that we want, where diversity is announced and not hidden. Nothing needs to be hidden, and there is space for differences. There's a coalescence of all of those differences into one, and it becomes not who you are but who we are. There's synergy because systems that are the most diverse are the most adaptive. I have to make space for you and you make space for me and we create something beautiful together from these parts.”

When reflecting upon her experience with the Galileo Academy  teacher leaders, Carolyn McKanders was "inspired by their resilience, love of children, and tenacity to support students not only cognitively, but holistically. Coming together as a community with like-minded and like sharp people is important for your own support, and to support students.She expressed how significant and influential they are in saving lives." She hoped the Galileo Academy  teacher leaders “learned the importance of seeking to understand first and second to be understood.  The phrase she teaches around the world, “when in doubt paraphrase your butt off”. When in doubt, seek to understand because understanding brings people together. It sustains connection and is what students need to see modeled from adults right now. To disagree gracefully, seek to understand and never use the word “but” or “however.”  Use the word “and”- and I see it differently, and from a different perspective. She recommends in a conversation with tensions:pause, paraphrase, use the word "and” and then add their ideas, or a different perspective so that collectively we can come up with better solutions for students and for community.”

Referencing society’s current polarity in schools, politics, religion, race relations, Dr. Maxfield called upon Carolyn McKanders’s expertise in polarity management for advice.  She explained “Polarities are two or more ideas and they’re seemingly opposing ideas that need each other in the same space, at the same time for good outcome. Most social issues are complex, multi-answered issues and not problems to be solved. They must be managed with two or more right answers and those are called polarities. The polarity over mask mandates, is really personal autonomy and collective responsibility for community. Both of these need to exist in a society or in a community and we can begin to strategize and dialogue together, recognizing the polarity, to stay in the upside of both, for the good of all is what we are really looking for. People are not quite there, because they don't have the consciousness yet around that it's okay for two seemingly opposing large ideas to live in the same space, at the same time.”

Dr. Maxfield asked, "How to handle pronounced polarization, where it is hard to find common ground?" Carolyn McKanders advised, “What makes people get insane is fear. How can people settle down their fears? It still comes back to understanding. People  get really upset when they don't feel heard, so what we do is we keep pushing against each other and what you resist persists and get stronger.  Mediated proximity is needed because we can't come together by staying apart and yet when we're together, we need some mediation. We need someone to support us in listening, hearing each other and pulling out the larger issues that caused the fear in us and we need the common ground paraphrased because there is a space of oneness where we can meet.Skillful facilitation and mediation can happen, helping people understand there are really only two emotions: fear and love (Elizabeth Kubler-Ross). Coming out of a space of fear will not get me what I want, and coming out of a space of love will get me what I want while also helping someone else get what they need. We need that space of mediated proximity where someone can support the lessening of that aspect of conflict and more of the cognitive, social, spiritual aspects  come to the surface and letting people be heard.”

When asked what she continues to reflect upon Ms. McKanders answered, “I ask myself daily how might I love more fully, because I know love is really going to conquer. What’s my responsibility in healing human suffering? There’s so much human suffering and I don’t turn a blind eye to it. It bothers me and stays with me. And I ask myself, how can we be more like toddlers.I ask myself where does that toddler go, who is full of themselves? Toddlers know that they’re whole. They feel a love for themselves and they see a oneness. When they see their friend, they don't care if their friend is purple, they run towards their friend and they give them a big hug. How can we be more like toddlers?”

Carolyn McKanders’s book, It’s Your Turn: Teachers as Facilitators, published by MiraVia, LLC., 2022.

https://www.miravia.com/products/its-your-turn-teachers-as-facilitators-a-handbook/

To connect with Carolyn McKanders and know more about her work:

teachersasfacilitators@gmail.com

website https://www.thinkingcollaborative.com

Dr. Robert Maxfield and Dr. Suzanne Klein welcome podcast guest, Will Richardson, the co-founder of the Big Questions Institute.   Author Homa Tavangar, who has frequently spoken about diversity, equity, justice and global competence  co-created this Institute, which is driven by questions.  Mr. Richardson explained, "We don't believe that there are a lot of answers right now, but we do believe that there are some really important questions that we need to be asking."

According to Will Richardson, "We are in the midst of an epic design challenge right now, to try to figure out what it is that schools need to become. This is not just because of the pandemic, but because of many other things that have happened and come to the surface in the last couple of years. What we have been doing has contributed to this moment in some pretty powerful ways, and the only way we're going to get out of this moment is through education redesigned. We have to be willing to take every part of our system, every piece of our practice and ask: Do we want to continue doing this? What is sacred? What do we want to leave behind in this moment? What do we want to take forward with us?  How does it comport to our understanding of how people and specifically children learn? How is it relevant for the moment that we find ourselves in? Do we want to continue to do it and if not, then what do we replace it with? The problem is that a lot of these practices are very deeply embedded in the narrative of school.” 

Looking at models of redesign, Will Richardson pointed out, "most of the really transformative, progressive changes are in new innovative startup schools that have been built for that purpose.  Kids are doing real work for the world there. They have real agency and input on what the experience of school looks like. They are developing all sorts of skills and literacies and dispositions, more than this emphasis on content knowledge and on recall.  But taking a school or school system that's been around for a long time, and moving it to something like that is excruciatingly difficult for any number of reasons.”

When asked what two or three things he hopes that schools have the courage to begin with, Will Richardson suggested that right now “there's just a ton of capacity building that we need to do in terms of leadership- teachers, parents, community members. That's number one, we have to get a contextual coherence as to what's happening in the world.  Budget our time and money to educate ourselves to a level where we can look at schools through a different lens to make the best decisions we can for kids.”

“The second thing is that we need to get some coherence around or some common language around what learning is.  Learning, success, achievement, all of those things; we need to have some conversations as to how we define those and how maybe our mission becomes different when we use those lenses to look at our work.”

Will Richardson observed  “kids find that they have a lot more agency outside of school to learn, to connect, to create. Most kids say they're doing their most interesting, important work on their own, not in school. Kids have a sense of the changes and challenges we face in the world today. They are aware of the conversations around justice and concerns for the climate, so schools need to be relevant."Student voice and agency is critical. “If we're talking about kids, kids need to be at the table. Kids need to have a voice because they are bringing a perspective and a knowledge base that many adults don't have.  We can't make really good decisions about the future for our children if we're not listening to them. In many ways they know more than we do about what's going on and about how learning is possible in the world today. If we are going to make good decisions, we have to put the collective in front of the individual.  He referred to Otto Scharmer, author of Theory U, (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2018) whose work advances the need to shift from ego systems to ecosystems.”

When asked about how to reverse the declining numbers of education majors, Mr. Richardson proposed “we have to make it more of a learning opportunity for the teachers. Create environments where they are engaged, creating and learning. The way to do that is redesigning the role", so students and teachers can come together in really healthy, joyful ways, to do collaborative, dynamic, important work in the word.  "We need to center wellness in order for kids  to learn and  flourish by cutting back to the things that are most important and that matter most. I think that would be the one message; try as hard as you can to advocate for less right now and more wellness."

https://bigquestions.institute/9-questions/   

will@bigquestions.institute

Dr. Bob Maxfield and Dr. Suzanne Klein invite Podcast guests Dr. Cynthia Carver, Associate Professor and Chair of the Teacher Development in Educational Studies Department at Oakland University, in the School of Education and Human Services, and Marcia Hudson, Elementary Field Coordinator, to discuss lessons learned during the pandemic that have informed their teacher preparation program and highlight the prominent features of the newly launched Elementary Teacher Preparation Program.  

Dr. Carver explained “about 85% of students take teacher preparation courses through her department,  which also works closely with the Reading and Language Arts, and the Department of H.D.C.S. (Human Development and Child Studies).”  As a long time teacher educator and scholar of teacher leadership, she is deeply passionate about clinical preparation and partnerships with area schools, which is a key component of the Oakland program. “The university does the work of  preparing new teachers in concert with our partners in our local schools, with the implicit expectation of mentor classroom teachers that they are also field-based teacher educators.”

Marcia Hudson incorporates her experience as a teacher, teacher leader and Literacy Consultant in the Avondale Public School District into her current position, which includes “supporting mentor teachers to fully recognize their leadership role as field based teacher educators and live into that vision. It's really necessary that our students have the opportunity to see the great practices that they're learning about taking place within their mentor teachers’ classrooms.”  

Marcia Hudson recalled the challenges brought about by the pandemic.  “When the pandemic hit, students were in the middle of the semester and suddenly schools closed. Then last fall we had 93 student teachers ready to begin their final internship. When our student teachers were connected with their mentor teachers they developed strong partnerships. Some of our students were taking the lead and helping our mentor teachers navigate new ways of teaching.”

“We didn’t have a vision for fully remote learning. In the past students were being prepared for brick and mortar schools.” Going forward, Dr. Carver described “the intention on the part of university faculty to help prepare students for this new reality of using technology in ways not previously imagined to support student learning and make connections to the community, as well as how to use technology to support our own learning as educators with one another.”

“We learned a lot during the pandemic about the importance of engaging with families who play a vital role in supporting learning. Teaching the whole child is not a new idea though the competencies around S.E.L., social emotional learning, provide new ways for us to think about equitable practices, as well as practices that help kids regulate their emotions and participate in more independent, self-regulated ways in the classroom. Some of the things I mentioned around S.E.L. and family engagement are important curricular pieces that will have a different emphasis going forward.”

“In K-12 education, we are being pushed to reconsider thinking so tightly around the boundaries of the bell schedule, but begin to think more creatively about learning itself, and how learning starts and stops in different ways, on different days around different topics. and the integrated nature of learning that can take place.”

Dr. Carver identified the three  hallmarks of the Oakland program: “practice-based teacher preparation;  a very important strand around equity and justice; and clinical practice and school partnerships. They existed pre- Covid and offer a lens to look at the past and forward to the future.”

“The redesign of the elementary program took four years as a faculty across departments and offices to define the touchstones of our program; what is it that our graduates would need to experience in order to be well prepared to do no harm when they go into the classroom and be well-started novices. “

“Practice-based teacher preparation focuses on putting theories about teaching into action to develop core practices; the term we use now in the state of Michigan. Every teacher, regardless of subject or grade level, will lead large and small groups and lead discussions. Every teacher will need to build respectful relationships with students and their families. Every teacher will need to help students elicit their thinking. We’re informed by our standards, state and national standards of course, but the difference lies in the way we tie it together in the coherence of our programs.” 

“One of the things that makes our program remarkably different from many other programs is the coherence of our programs. We have been very intentional to be collaborative as a faculty. Students are not taking classes that do not connect with one another. The faculty are always in conversation with one another about where their students are and how they are building these concepts and skills and deepening them over time.“

Marcia Hudson added “not only does the faculty continually meet, discuss, and create opportunities for students to make sure there's coherence with everything; they're also working with all of the support staff,  they're speaking with advisors, they're speaking with the support team.  Another thing that's really special about our new program is that we have faculty meetings and work regularly with the mentor teachers who are working with our students, so it's a full circle of support. I'd like to say that it's almost like a personalized kind of program that we offer to students. “

Dr. Carver emphasized that “part of being an Oakland student means that we care about you as a person and that's absolutely true here. We know our students, we’re following our students, and when students need some extra guidance and help, we're here to help them. 

Given the challenges going forward, Dr. Carver indicated “it’s really important that we continue to bring forward  the importance of teaching for diversity, equity, and inclusion; looking at ways in which we ensure that our candidates ‘don't do further harm to children’. That's a phrase we're starting to use a lot with one another and we've used it with students. And what we mean by that is that all children have opportunities to learn; all children are celebrated for their strengths; they have a voice in the classroom; they feel safe in the classroom, and that they are appropriately challenged. Also we are looking at the ways in which we are marginalizing students, because of their color or their gender or their ableness, or any number of other factors, and the heightened attention that we're placing on that and how very important that is. If we want to eliminate achievement gaps, we have to create opportunities to learn for all children.  We  want our teachers to leave our program ready to advocate on behalf of all children and their families and serve all children and their families well. As a faculty we've re-committed ourselves to that important form of teacher leadership.”

Another challenge that Marcia Hudson identified was “ the need to attract the best and brightest to the teaching profession”. As a fifth generation teacher, Marcia Hudson expressed very real concern about the teacher shortage and the negative response going into teaching elicits today.   While there is no silver bullet to address it, Dr. Carver suggested that “part of the solution is going to have to be elevating the status of the profession.  We have to give teachers as professionals that autonomy back;we have to celebrate their expertise; we have to honor and respect that expertise; we have to compensate that expertise. And we have to thank the teachers that we know and work with.” Dr. Carver and the Oakland University Teacher Preparation Program were featured in the Channel 4 WDIV-DET news broadcast TEACHERS IN HIGH DEMAND, 8/30/2021, 6:50 am.

 https://mms.tveyes.com/MediaCenterPlayer.aspx?u=aHR0cDovL21lZGlhY2VudGVyLnR2ZXllcy5jb20vZG93bmxvYWRnYXRld2F5LmFzcHg%2FVXNlcklEPTI3NTY0MSZNRElEPTE1NzMxNDkyJk1EU2VlZD03ODk1JlR5cGU9TWVkaWE%3D

As cheerleaders for the teaching  profession and teacher leadership, Dr. Maxfield and Dr. Klein thanked Dr. Cynthia Carver and Marcia Hudson for sharing their experiences, wisdom and optimism.

To learn more about the Elementary Teacher Preparation Program at Oakland University, School of Education and Human Services:

https://oakland.edu/teach/undergraduate-degree-programs/elementary-education/

Dr.  Carver  and Marcia Hudson have provided their email addresses should you wish to contact them.

Dr. Cynthia Carver, Associate Professor and Chair of the Teacher Development in Educational Studies  Department, carver2@oakland.edu

Marcia Hudson,  Elementary Field Coordinator, mlhudson@oakland.edu

Robert McCann is the Executive Director of The K-12 Alliance of Michigan, which strives to be the statewide leader in education policy and advocacy to ensure every child in Michigan has equitable access to a quality education and the opportunity to succeed both in and outside of the classroom. Currently the organization represents districts in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Genesee, and St. Clair Counties, and is continuing conversation with other areas for potential partnerships and further expansion.

Responding to the challenges of the current school year Mr. McCann urged the school community as a whole, to focus solely on the best way to provide students a ‘normal’ school experience, laying aside the politics surrounding those discussions. From his viewpoint, “utilizing the guidance and directives of public health experts is essential for schools to offer in-person learning, keeping students in school where they learn best. Additionally if there is an outbreak, schools need the flexibility to shut school down for a period and continue offering learning remotely and third, schools need to have long term policies in place to support student recovery.”

Mr. McCann reflected on the impact of the uneven experiences students have had due to the pandemic, and how schools can best move forward.  “As we bring them back to classrooms this fall we know it's not just about focusing on where they are academically, but where they are socially and emotionally in their own recovery process that's ultimately going to dictate how we can best help them get back on paths towards academic success. Schools play a unique role not just in academics, but in these students' lives and in their ability to overcome whatever obstacles they're facing at home, whatever obstacles they're facing in their social circles. That schools give them that support that they need to succeed overall in their growth is so critical to getting them back on that path to success going forward.”

Mr. McCann lauded the increased “funding from the federal stimulus packages, enabling districts to provide students a number of opportunities which they wouldn’t otherwise have, for the next two or three years. With the stimulus funding for programs we are looking at what wraparound services schools  provide to address those unique needs of any individual student, as a model to demonstrate what normal could look like if we were funding schools properly in the first place.”

“It's about taking those services: getting reading coaches into younger kids' classrooms; getting tutors into school buildings; getting social workers into school buildings to help with those needs; and providing all of those wraparound services as the best chance we have to not only help these students that have been struggling over the last year and a half, but meet those unique needs of every student instead of just saying all students are the same and here's a funding plan that fits that.”

Mr. McCann noted, “if we can redefine what normal is over the next couple of years and then advocate for the funding to meet that normal, then I think we'll have done the best job we can to give these students the best opportunities possible going forward. The Alliance wants to show that if the state of Michigan were to make the type of investment that those federal stimulus dollars are making on an ongoing basis, the good we could be doing for students for generations to come. We are going to show what some of these programs look like over the next few years that could be invested in perpetually by the state. We're going to say this is exactly what we could be doing if the state adopted an SFRC (School Finance Research Collaborative) based formula.”

In terms of funding for programs, Mr. McCann is a strong proponent of the School Finance Research Collaborative recommendations. He pointed out the disparity between the current state funding formula, with its one size fits all, and the SFRC recommendation that provides funds based on the unique needs of the students in schools and districts, explaining that “it's treating every student as the same when we know that's not the case. What that means is that we are under-funding every student and not doing even the most minimal effort to meet the unique needs that many students have; these are special education students, English language learners, people that need extra reading help. We're not funding those programs correctly, so when schools implement those programs because they're necessary, that means we're ultimately pulling funding from every student, which under serves the entire student population of Michigan.”

Mr. McCann also commented on the state of the teaching profession in Michigan, which has been “impacted by chronic under funding of schools, a lag in pay, to not enough teachers being in classrooms, overcrowded classrooms, to not funding classrooms properly, as well as increasing the responsibilities of educators, as evidenced by decisions made by school officials who aren’t public health experts, about the conditions for students to return to school.” In response to the low number of students enrolled in schools of education across the state, and the rate of retirements accelerated by the pandemic, Mr. McCann asserted the need to look holistically as a state to address the status of the teaching profession. “The more we can be doing to say that Michigan is a state that is willing to invest in public education, that is willing to invest in the profession of educating students again, that's what's ultimately going to start this process of encouraging young students in high school and going into college to say that's the profession I want to get into again.”

Looking ahead, Mr. McCann advised, “the best thing we can be doing as a school community right now is highlight the good work that we're doing as students benefit from the new supports that are available: instituting new reading programs, tutoring programs, social programs to help students' emotional recovery. Let's highlight the success that some of these students are going to be having this year: recovering from the pandemic, getting caught back up to grade level, getting reintegrated in with social programs and having school dances again and just even some of those most basic of things, to remind people the integral role that schools ultimately play within their communities, because we need to be doing that, right now.”

In the short term, Mr. McCann insisted “the state and local health departments need to be stepping up and making and giving very clear direction to schools of what they need to be doing inside the classrooms, inside the school buildings to keep kids safe.”

In the longer term, Mr. McCann is adamant about showcasing the benefits to students of programs derived from the stimulus funding or risk losing the gains that will be made over the next two years with those additional resources, by returning to an old funding formula. “We need to have lawmakers start looking at how we can start fixing the funding formula again. Next year in the budget process, we are going to be pushing to make some of those significant changes away from the one size fits all formula, to meeting that SFRC based formula. That is going to be critical moving forward, or we’re missing this opportunity that we have in front of us.”

Website    https://www.k12michigan.org

Bob Maxfield and Dr. Suzanne Klein invited Jarod McGuffey, who leads the work of Trusted Voices, joined by Trusted Voice Fellows Mary Binge and Laura Haydamacker, to share the history, mission and current activities of Galileo 3.0 Trusted Voices. Trusted Voices is a nonpartisan advocacy group of teacher leaders, supporting superintendents through collaborative advocacy and serving policy makers by offering feedback on how education policy shapes Michigan schools, as well as the teaching profession.

Bob Maxfield introduced the background of the guests. Jarod McGuffey is currently a 21st Century Teacher and Instructional Coach in Fraser Public Schools, and Chairman of the Board of a charter school in the Detroit area. "He worked with the Galileo Consortium for the past four years to lead the development of a network throughout the state of Michigan of teacher leaders, concerned about the future of education.” Mary Binge is an instructional coach at the elementary level, from the Center Line Public School District in Macomb County. Laura Haydamacker is a middle school science and math teacher from Flat Rock Community School District in Wayne County. The third fellow, representing Oakland County is Kyle Geralds, who was unable to join us today. Kyle is a high school social studies teacher in the Farmington Public School District.

Jarod observed that the movement in education has been growing around teacher leadership, especially in recent years. “Teachers should be valued, both as the foremost authorities of instruction and as leaders whose feedback can inform the development of policies that can drive improvements in the education system and student outcomes.”

He credited “Dr. Bob Maxfield, who along with a powerful group of educators launched the Galileo Teacher Leadership Academy, which has empowered close to 1500 teachers. These teachers would graduate from one of the most transformational two year commitments in their career.”

As a graduate of the program, Jarod described the first year, Galileo 1.0, “as guiding teachers through the self -examination of their own practices and helping them become the best version of themselves, whether this is their pedagogical practice or just as an individual. Then Galileo 2.0 equips teachers with the necessary skill set to lead and build capacity at the building and or district level.”

“Dr. Maxfield launched the new initiative to expand that influence of teacher leadership at the state level. Galileo 3.0 is a nonpartisan advocacy group of educators focused on building collaborative partnerships among teachers, administrators, and policymakers, to ensure every Michigan learner receives the highest quality of education. The goal is to simply support our superintendents through collaborative advocacy, and serve policy makers offering feedback on how education shapes Michigan schools, as well as the teaching profession. So the mission for Galileo 3.O is to collaboratively reframe the agenda for public education.”

“The original priorities, which have shifted a little bit, were: teacher retention and recruitment, which still stands to be a very big concern, and the issues we need to continue to address: adequate, equitable school funding; mental health and social emotional learning; teacher evaluations; and the third grade reading law.”

“One way we could be most effective in meeting the needs around these priorities was by simply creating an awareness of the suggestions and findings of the 2018 school finance research collaborative, the SFRC. The School Funding Research Collaborative is a research based successful school model, bipartisan adequacy study that suggested that the cost to educate a general education student is roughly $10,000. Although we are closer to that number than we have been in the last 25 years, we still have further to go, hence the need for Trusted Voices.”

“Recently one webinar we hosted featured former state Rep. Dr. Sheryl Kennedy, who now serves as MDE legislative liaison, and current state Rep. Brad Paquette. Together they helped us walk our teachers and ourselves through looking beyond the pandemic. And that webinar can be found on our website.”    www.trustedvoicesed.com

“Prior to the pandemic, Trusted Voices were holding meetings with dozens of the legislators from both sides of the aisle. We'd partnered with the Education Caucus in Lansing, where 10 educators and 10 legislators met together to build those relationships that are necessary in moving forward. We met with our current and previous state superintendents. We presented to MASA (Michigan Association of Superintendents and Administrators), regional superintendent meetings, and local ISD superintendent meetings. We wanted our superintendents to be well informed and to vet their Trusted Voices representatives.  We published a few articles, one of which was an op-ed entitled “Trust teachers with reform ideas.”

“In order to really have an impact and a seat at the policy making table, Trusted Voices needs teacher leaders who are conversant in both classroom practice and education policy, to speak the language and understand the invisible playing field. We held some initial training on policy and representing one's district with former state Rep.Christine Greig, accompanied by district HR and public relations personnel. Dr. Kathy Merry from Wayne RESA (Wayne Regional Education Service Agencies) clarified for us the difference between advocating and lobbying, as we need to make sure that we are seen as advocates as opposed to lobbyists. Dr. David Arsen, MSU professor of Educational Policy, led us in a zoom meeting regarding issues of school funding and finance.  Additionally we had mentors like Dr. Randy Liepa, Wayne ISD Superintendent, and our Oakland University Galileo team.“

“Trusted Voices has worked with representatives from both sides of the aisle; former state Rep. Dr. Sheryl Kennedy, a Democrat and former school administrator, who now serves as MDE legislative liaison, and current state Rep. Brad Paquette, a Republican and former public school educator. This whole initiative has to be seen as oriented toward education policy, not toward the platform of either the Republican or Democratic Party.”

Moving forward as the new school year begins, Jarod notes that “Zoom is the appropriate choice for communicating with our stakeholders from every level.  Recorded zoom trainings can be re-watched, shared and archived. Zoom has enabled teachers to lead from the classroom without leaving the classroom.” As far as future plans, Jarod emphasized that "the SFRC remains relevant. Although districts have ESSER funds, we still need to address this blueprint and create that awareness.”

Laura Haydamacker reflected that “the pandemic gave us time to evolve, reinvent ourselves and self-examine our goals; how we can influence policy to help teachers in the future and how to highlight what's best for kids through policy. We want to highlight the benefits to students of programs created with ESSR funds. There are programs that are new, innovative and well needed to help learning for all Michigan students and to be more equitable now that funds are there. So we're excited to be able to advocate for these policies to continue.”

 Mary Binge commented on the long standing concerns and inequities which were revealed by the pandemic. In her district which went virtual, “not all children had devices and the district rallied and got devices to everyone.” Sharing the concern for internet access, she seconded the importance of equity and access for all students in Michigan. “In the metro area, we know that a lot of the schools have different needs but I mean Michigan. There's a lot of rural parts of Michigan that children don't have access to the Internet.”

Jarod explained, “Equity we define as the responsibility of public schools to ensure all children receive an opportunity for success, and when you have this reality of resource scarcity and that's simply with public schools that the need for our students will always be greater than the available funds.”  He alluded to the current environment, “which exposed inequity with some districts lacking some critical resources and the need to shift thinking about school funding. While acknowledging the need to address funding, the current mission of recipients of ESSR funds is deciding what to do with the money."

Mary Binge previewed the agenda for the upcoming months. Along with this podcast, she listed writing an op-ed and a call to action to our Trusted Voices Fellows.  Writing organized letters to legislators and policy makers was another action on her list. The first letter would be written in September or early fall, introducing Trusted Voices as partners and thanking them for the additional funding. A second letter would be sent in January, providing examples of how this funding has impacted our students. 

Another goal of Trusted Voices is reconnecting with legislators and policy partners such as the Michigan Education Caucus, The Education Trust-Midwest, the Michigan Association of Superintendents and Administrators (MASA) as well as Launch Michigan which has a similar goal of equitable funding for students. Mary shared that she has established Trusted Voices connections with Rep.Lori Stone from her district, and former Center Line Public Schools Superintendent Eve Kaltz.

For more information on Trusted Voices, visit their website   www.trustedvoicesed.com or Trusted Voices (@TrustedVoicesEd) on Twitter

Bob Maxfield and Suzanne Klein spoke with Larry Thomas, facilitator of the Galileo Institute’s professional learning series on Re-imagining Teaching and Learning, to reflect on the workshops as well as hear his perspective on the challenges facing educators moving forward.  Fourteen school district teams of teachers and administrators attended the six-session series, with Oakland University School of Education and Human Services faculty and Intermediate School District leadership staff serving as thought partners. Utilizing the topics of rebuilding trusting relationships, quality instruction, equity, technology, and systems thinking, teams assessed what would be helpful to their educational systems, their schools, their classrooms and most importantly, for their students and their families during the workshops and in the follow up conversations back in the districts.

Rebuilding Relationships and Trust - Relationship building was an underlying theme in the design of the series.  Trust is at the center of quality relationships; consequently, relationships among teachers, students, parents, administration and community were focal points of the discussions resulting in the collaborative development of strategies to address and strengthen these relationships. Participants worked to develop a sense of community and supportive networks beyond their current district or county.  Series facilitator Larry Thomas, introduced the use of noteworthy cards to promote acknowledgement and affirmation among participants for contributions that sparked new thinking or further reflection. 

Learning v. Schooling - Session two challenged teams to examine current pedagogy, offering the opportunity to make some changes to the system to increase student motivation and ownership of their learning. The guest facilitator, teacher Grayson McKinney, brought a broad spectrum of instructional practices which underscored the importance of deep learning, relevancy and application through project based learning to build students’ skill sets for the future.

Attending to Equity for All Students - While working on rebuilding relationships, and improving instruction, “our theory of action was to ensure that all students, families and teachers were getting what they needed in order to provide the best education for all of our kids.”  Guest facilitator Dr. Robyne Thompson‘s extensive knowledge in the area of equity grounded her presentation which shared videos, personal perspective, and informational resources. 

Technology to Support and Extend Learning - The digital divide and the challenges of remote learning quickly became evident during the pandemic.  Teacher Jen McCollum, as guest facilitator, honed in on the evolving use of digital platforms and the role of districts in supporting students, teachers and parents by assessing and then building the skills necessary to support and extend teaching and learning. Her three-tiered approach to harnessing technology for digital communication and learning validated the importance of technology not as a driver, but as a support to learning for students and adults.

Structures, Systems and Leading from the Middle - Co-guest facilitators, Michelle Black and Principal Catherine Russel, introduced leading from the middle as a high leverage strategy to drive systems change.   In leading from middle, teacher leaders help support other classroom teachers, bringing feedback information back to the central office, while superintendents work at the regional and state levels to affect policies to support education.  Districts on the Move:  Leading a Coherent System of Continuous Improvement by Jay Westover was a resource utilized in this workshop.

Systems Thinking – The final session facilitated by Mr. Thomas focused on systems thinking using tools and protocols that participants could employ when working with others. District teams had been given time to organize their thinking and to develop comprehensive strategic action plans. Each district team was then matched with another team to present an overview of their plan and receive feedback using specific protocols to question and clarify components of the plans as well as encourage and lift up important ideas.

Survey feedback from participants about the workshop series was extremely positive:   participants wanted additional time to collaborate across the three counties and with their district teams to create systems and protocols to drive and sustain continuous improvement in their district.

Larry reflected further on the importance of time as districts approach the reset.  “We never have enough time to do the kinds of things to really get at good solid core instruction with kids, that’s meaningful and equitable, that has built rapport for kids; all the pieces that we had as our titles for the sessions. Learning comes best when we have good protocols and systems to have time spent with educators in meaningful ways, and so we tried to practice in this series using a lot of different protocols and then also talking about the value of them, so that people could think about how that would fit in their classrooms first and foremost, in their grade level meetings, in their district meetings and so forth. We were trying to take the time to model and give them resources that would take not just the content of learning but make that time effectively used in order to make the system better than it currently is.”

He passionately challenges educators to be cognizant of all kids’ needs first and foremost, whether you are an individual, a grade level team, a school, a district or across districts. “Finding the vision and finding polite ways to say ‘no’ to things that are not going to have the impact for kids that you want to have or allow you the time and space to get better than you are with your practice is core."  Other thoughts were to attend more to the social emotional learning and trust. "Finally, lead effectively and more from the middle and be strategic with the ways leadership takes place.”

Link to an overview of the workshop series: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/13HSiB7WNwTmmq76dnWuXpX1VIUjIwV0auia7fO4yLyk/edit?usp=sharing