Listen to the Podcast Here

This month we invited our good friend, Dr. Salome Thomas-EL, to join us to discuss his journey as an educator and how the education industry can attract more teachers of color.

Dr. Salome Thomas-EL​ has been a teacher and principal in Philadelphia, PA and Wilmington, DE since 1987. He is currently the Head of School at Thomas Edison Public Charter School in Wilmington, DE. Thomas-EL received national acclaim as a teacher and chess coach at Vaux Middle School, where his students have gone on to win world recognition as Eight-Time National Chess Champions. Principal EL was a regular contributor on “The Dr. Oz Show” and the author of the best-selling books, ​I Choose to Stay ​and ​The Immortality of Influence (Foreword by Will Smith). ​The Walt Disney Company optioned the movie rights to ​I Choose to Stay. ​Thomas-EL speaks to groups across the country and frequently appears on C-SPAN, CNN, and NPR Radio. 

He has received the Marcus A. Foster Award as the outstanding School District Administrator in Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania’s distinguished Martin Luther King Award. Reader’s Digest Magazine recognized Principal EL as an “Inspiring American Icon” and he has appeared on Oprah Radio! And, with Joseph Jones and T.J. Vari, he co-authored Passionate Leadership: Creating a Culture of Success in Every School as well as Building a Winning Team: The Power of a Magnetic Reputation and the Need to Recruit Top Talent in Every School. His new book, again written with the two of us, is available for pre-order, Retention for a Change: Motivate, Inspire, and Energize Your School Culture.

What you’ll hear and learn in this segment:

Principal EL’s journey into the classroom is nothing short of a calling from above. While working for Prism sports and talking to various athletes, EL realized the tremendous impact that educators had on the lives of the athletes, and he wanted to do the same for others.

• Listen to why Principal EL decided to teach at the K-8 grade levels and not at the high school level.
• EL’s explanation of why he decided to introduce students to chess is profound and poses the critical question: in what other ways can we engage students to think critically and have fun simultaneously in schools?
• The conversation takes a nice turn to how schools must have a culture that supports teachers and attracts future educators into the profession.
• EL gets very practical on how to recruit teachers of color.
• Lastly, listen to EL rap and promote the power of an education.

This 302 Thoughts was a wonderful follow-up to our latest blogpost, Principal Leadership at TheSchoolHouse302.com: 

Every School Leader Should Know These 6 Incredible Black Educators–Celebrating Black History Month “Then” and “Now”.

We hope to hear from you about your favorite parts of both the blog and the interview. 

Please follow, like, and comment. Use #onethingseries and #SH302 so that we can find you. For more great leadership content, follow dereka206.sg-host.com. 

Joe & T.J.

Richard Elmore Brings Tons of School Leadership Wisdom to the Podcast 

Richard Elmore is currently a Research Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education where he has been on the faculty since 1990. He was the founding faculty director of the  Doctorate in Educational Leadership (EdLD) at Harvard, an innovative interdisciplinary  residential, cohort-based leadership program for the learning sector, now in its eleventh year.

His on-line HarvardX course, Leaders of Learning, has been taken by more than 100,000 learners internationally since its inception in 2014. From 1995 to 2014, his research and consulting practice focused on building instructional improvement capabilities of teachers and  administrators through direct observation and analysis of classroom practice. 

He has worked with schools in large urban districts in the U.S., and with government and private schools in Australia, Canada, Mexico, Chile, and China. His current work focuses on the relationship between research on the neuroscience of learning and the physical, cultural, and social design of new learning environments for adults, adolescents, and young children. He consults with architectural design firms working with international clients on the design and construction of innovative learning environments. He is a painter, working in watercolor and oil media, and a writer of Tanka poetry.

Highlights from the Interview with Richard Elmore

• Dr. Elmore plainly describes the power of learning through the beginner’s mindset. In a sobering way, Richard takes us on a journey that uncovers the limitations that the institution of education has and what must be done about it.
• Richard describes how simple, granular conversations during medical rounds is the premise behind educational rounds.
• Hear how he clearly distinguishes between education and learning.
• Listen to what he describes as one of the most powerful practices a leader can do to improve student learning.
• This interview was steeped in neuroscience and how much has been learned over the last few decades. Richard touted the work of Alison Gopnick and Sarah Blakemore and encouraged us to read their work with a beginner’s mind.
• Richard’s philosophy on learning is profound and challenging. Learn more about ground zero.
• Find out what Richard would still like to learn and his unique insight into China. He also recommended Tom Vanderbilt’s book called Beginners as the perfect read for lifelong learning.
• Richard describes how we can write our biography as a learner, something we should all do.
• Finally, don’t miss how his mindset toward learning and schooling has changed significantly over the years. He shares a life-changing experience that led him to revamp his teaching style as a professor.

Dr. Elmore’s interview is truly a call-to-action. He challenges the educational system from architectural design to the application of neuroscience. It was a wonderful follow-up to our latest blogpost on the four often overlooked learning strategies for leaders. We hope to hear from you about your favorite parts of both the blog and the interview. 

Please follow, like, and comment. Use #onethingseries and #SH302 so that we can find you. For more great leadership content, follow dereka206.sg-host.com. 

Joe & T.J.

Mindfulness is the capacity to have compassion for ourselves as leaders and to carry that compassion into the world for others. ~ Valerie Brown & Kirsten Olson

Valerie Brown transformed her high-pressure, high-stakes twenty-year career as a lawyer-lobbyist, representing educational institutions and nonprofits, to human-scale work with diverse leaders and teams to foster trustworthy, compassionate, and authentic connections. 

She holds a Juris Doctorate, she’s an accredited leadership coach at the Professional Certified Coach level (PCC), international retreat leader, writer, and Chief Mindfulness Officer and Professional Pilgrim of Lead Smart Coaching, specializing in the application and integration of mindfulness and leadership, and she is a Co-Director of Georgetown’s Institute for Transformational Leadership in Washington, D.C.

Kirsten Olson works with leaders engaged in transformational change, sector-shift, and the new demands of leadership in the learning sector, nationally and internationally. She is an ICF-certified leadership coach and an adjunct instructor at Georgetown University’s Institute for Transformational Leadership. She holds a doctorate from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, where she focused on the systemic demands of large scale educational improvement, and is the author of The Mindful School Leader (Corwin, 2014), Wounded By School (Teachers College Press, 2009) and Schools As Colonizers (Verlag, 2008). 

Also a retreat leader focused on mindfulness for leaders, self-compassion, and permissioning in leadership and social action, Kirsten was a founding board member of the Institute for Democratic Education in America (IDEA), a national not-for-profit organizing educational leaders, teachers, students, and parents around a vision for education founded in greater equity, social justice, compassion and passionate learning. 

Major Takeaways from the Interview:

• Valerie and Kirsten vividly describe the issues that many educators are facing and how mindfulness is more important than ever. Full of wisdom, they provide practical steps to achieve mindfulness within the human experience.
  They remind us that although mindfulness takes time, everything that we need to achieve it already exists within us. Using a story about an urban school leader, they discuss ways to become more self-aware and reduce anxiety. Hear what they have to say about microbursts and how cortisol is a killer.
  Quick Tip: As you’re reading this–Pause, put your feet on the floor, take a deep breath, and slowly exhale. Take notice of what you are feeling.
• Valerie described the power of connection and being a part of a wonderful community, like the Plum Village, which was founded by Thich Nhat Hanh. Don’t miss everything else they reveal about who they value for knowledge and inspiration.
• Both Valerie and Kirsten describe the “gift of empty time” and the need “to do less” and how “contentment is knowledge of enough.” Taking something out of your day or life is what leads to excellence, not the other way around.
• Don’t miss what they would love to learn, but more importantly, pay attention to why.
• Listen to what they say about how leadership is an x-ray of the self and why you shouldn’t live one more day without a community of support.
• You don’t want to miss what they don’t think anymore and how they challenge contemporary service leadership as misunderstood.

This interview courageously confronts the concept of leading with excellence in a totally different way than our culture might expect from its leaders. The raw humanness exposed in this interview will make you think about how you are living each day and what you can do to be a mindful leader. It was a wonderful follow-up to our latest blogpost on excellence hacks every educator needs. And for more about adult SEL, check out this podcast as well.