Note from Dave: This article is written by our colleague, the excellent Lindsay Veitch. The text message read something this: Hey Linds. I am writing an essay for Psych 201 and I’m wondering if you could review my intro and make sure I’ve written a fully developed essay? It was my sister-in-law, Taylor, a high […]
How to Improve School Cultures, Part 6: Think Like a Gardener, Work Like a Carpenter
Culture transcends strategy. –Ryan Holiday, Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue There are no quick fixes for better school cultures. You don’t bring in a consultant or a training program and then there we go, all better. School cultures emerge constantly from the complex interplay of skills, leadership, meetings, arguments, and PD. We […]
How to Improve School Cultures, Part 5: Simple, In-House PD
In an article for HaYidion, a principal at a Jewish day school in Houston describes his recent experiment in shadowing a student for a whole day. Among other benefits, he explains that this “day in the life” exercise gave him greater empathy for students, credibility with students, and insight into effective instruction. It got me […]
How to Improve School Cultures, Part 4b: A Case Study in Earnest and Amicable Argument as PD
Last time, I laid out the case for argument as a means to radically enriching school cultures. You’ll want to read that post before this one. So: arguments make for rich school cultures — not just arguments in our classrooms, but arguments in our meetings. But what does this actually look like? Thankfully, there’s a […]
How to Improve School Cultures, Part 4: More and Better Arguments
Here’s a counterintuitive idea in our present age of toxic disagreement: the best school cultures are riddled with arguments. To be clear: culture-enriching arguments aren’t the same things as the radioactive Twitter ranting, name-calling, outrage-mongering, or Facebook flame-warring that we’re exposed to these days. No. Those kinds of things kill culture; like cesspools, they breed […]