Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity

This week we reintroduced you to Jamahl Hines, an Assistant Principal and the founder of the Future Educators of Diversity, a program that creates a pipeline for developing teachers of color. Jamahl's story inspired us to look for other educators who are trying to reshape schools. Here we found Emily Pilloton-Lam, the Executive Director of the nonprofit Girls Garage where she teaches young girls how to put power tools together with science and math principles to build projects for their communities.

We first aired this interview with Jamahl Hines last November. His story continues to inspire us as an example of an effective change catalyst. It starts with him realizing a need – in this case that students of color need to see someone like themselves standing in front of the classroom – and then by taking action to develop future educators of diversity. A lot has happened since, so we decided to share Jamahl's good news in a brief update chat.

Sometimes circumstances are the catalyst for driving a change that you never anticipated. Assistant Principal, Jamahl Hines relates his experience in this story of transformation.

In this week's "Worth a Listen, Look or Read," we enrich the theme of external partnerships through a story that recently aired on NPR's "Morning Edition." The story details how five school districts on Long Island, New York confronted a growing mental health problem among their students. The solution that the district leaders and parents came up with relied on an external partnership and the innovation principle of "Near, Far, Sweet" – finding a solution that is desirable, feasible and viable.

What can we learn about leading transformational changes from someone outside of K12 education? In this episode we talk with Rich Razgaitis, co-founder and CEO of FloWater to learn: • the importance of having a succinct mission statement. • how to change behavior by first understanding human behavior. • why you should look outside of your space for inspiration. • the importance of agreeing on what problem you're trying to solve. • the need to be as dispassionate as possible when overcoming obstacles.

In this weekly mini-feature of Getting Unstuck, we provide you with a new way of thinking, some unique content, or a critical skill that speaks to our mission of helping leaders wherever they are get unstuck and achieve their desired outcomes. I this week's episode, we introduce the concept of "resistance" as it potentially relates to students developing their agency — their choice and voice in what they want to learn, and how they want to learn and demonstrate their knowledge.

One of the most fundamental shifts we're seeing is a move toward greater student agency. When educators and educational systems focus on students as active navigators of their own learning and development, great things happen. And while we want to support student agency, we may not have a clear picture of how to develop it, or have the day-to-day habits and structure in place to make it happen in our schools. Our conversation with 11th grade literature teacher, Kerry Graham, provides some answers.

We know that writing as a life skill is made even more necessary as the business world increasingly demands workers who are critical thinkers who can articulate points of view and make persuasive arguments. As we think about the deeper purpose of school, we'll also discuss how writing can engage kids and help them develop agency. Aaron Pribble, a high school social studies teacher and author of Writing in the Social Studies: A Practical Guide for Teaching an Essential Skill, explains.

When is the right time to make changes to K-12 education? Now? Later? Today's guest, Dr. Kim Fleming, President of Core Education, a consulting firm specializing in teacher effectiveness initiatives argues that the best time is now. Kim then reviews changes that are already taking place in four critical areas of schooling: professional development, social and emotional learning, teacher roles, and student agency.

In this episode, Jeff takes a nostalgic trip, and social studies educators Larry Cuban and Phil Roden discuss the state of social studies education today, wrestling with both the purpose of social studies education: Is it to develop patriotism, citizenship, or critical thinking? And the best instructional method: Chronological? Thematic? Skills? Experiential?