Do You Believe All Children Can Learn? Show Me Your Urgency

What’s the moment that you remember, from early in your career, when a lightbulb went off for you and you were changed?

For me, one of the most pivotal experiences in my 25-year career in education was from the community where I  started teaching -Thurgood Marshall Academic High School in San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunter’s Point neighborhood. It was a school infused with a crystal clear vision to remedy how the school system so sorely underserved Black and Latino/a students. The remedy was to elevate the studies at the school, to embrace the histories and identities of the students, and to dive all into rigor side-by-side with our students so that they achieved.

The school alone was formative for me - saturated in asset-based language, focused on mastery learning and collaboration across the whole school on differentiation before that was a term in wide use. These were the educators who most shaped what I saw to be possible and helped me to unravel the beliefs I held about what education looked like and why.

My neighbor in the classroom next door on the third-floor hallway taught Modern World History. His was a class that radiated energy. He brought the stories and themes of centuries past and worlds away to his classroom in a fresh way that hooked the sophomores on his roster. He was vibrant, prepared, and deeply knowledgeable, and he supported students to name their own critical lens on the histories we’ve been told. 

He gave every teacher new to the school a photocopy of a quote. It’s always been an anchor to me about mindset and if I’m aligned or moving away from a commitment to this premise. I have mine still to this day, over 25 years later. 

Do you believe this as a leader?

Here’s an exercise for us all to do that will help us make inroads into the spaces where we believe this but we don’t live and lead with this.

• List out five conversations you’ve had this week (individual, large group, email exchange, etc.) something like this:
• Call to maintenance to get heaters fixed in C wing
• Set up observation with Ms. Wiggins for Thursday
• District administrator meeting - sidebar on partnership with community college / dual enrollment
• Review first D/F lists with counselors
• Met with Mrs. Bateman about feedback to students (parent complaint)

• Consider what those conversations were and what beliefs YOU projected through what you said and didn’t say  (i.e. “what would be evidence you were explicitly promoting the work of adults to reach all students effectively)?

• Consider what you could do in your subsequent 5 conversations to be explicit & jot down some ideas for yourself.

Here are some ideas for how to inject this concept into your conversations with adults on your faculty:

(Student behavior)  - We want this behavior to change and we understand that (student) is capable of excellence in your class. What are changes we can make to support his decision-making and to engage his mind differently?

(Grades / Requests for Intervention)  We have an opportunity here to think about what we can do differently to get (students) to learn and demonstrate mastery of your content. Given that we know and believe students are capable of excellence, what changes can we make to get them there?

(Program Planning ) - I heard you mention students would need a recommendation for the program. How can we rethink that to be more inclusive since we know and believe all students are capable of learning at high levels?

Wordy? Yes.

Can you picture some shocked faces? Yes.

Would it make a difference? Yes. 

If you find  YOUR  words and phrases for your context and you are explicitly and consistent in naming this, you will start to shape how others engage in the conversations. 

You will get the unspoken out into the air for discussion. You can work with a coach to plan your next moves in mindset work and change management. 

Mindset work doesn’t happen in a moment, a meeting, or even a month. It’s the consistent and persistent act of showing up consciously and shaping conversations to help those around you see your vision and find how they share it with a full commitment. 

 How will you step into a new realm of leadership this week?