Leading and Learning, with Systems

This past week my co-author, Sarah Henry, and I had the pleasure of joining two specialists with the Indiana Department of Education on their Leading and Learning Podcast. School Improvement Specialist Scott Jaworski and Curriculum Specialist, Matt Walsh, welcomed us into a lively conversation about beans, prancercize, school improvement plans, and of course, professional learning communities.

Matt, Sarah, and I spent five years together as Secondary Department Heads for our respective curricular areas in the Brownsburg Community School Corporation in Brownsburg, Indiana. And on long Friday afternoons, when the hope of furthering work had left the building right along with Elvis, the three of us (and often our other SDHs) would laugh and joke about the week's shenanigans and the ups and downs of middle-leadership in schools. One day, we figured, we might be in different roles--perhaps leading in schools around the state--perhaps as specialists, or principals; as consultants or as authors. Always as trusted friends.

So when Matt and Scott asked us to join them on an episode of their podcast, we jumped at the opportunity to connect. In this episode entitled, "Systems," we open up about many of our lessons in leadership through our years as curriculum administrators. We emphasize the importance, now more than ever, of equipping teachers with systems of support that foster growth. Listen in to our conversation with our good friend, Matt, and our new friend, Scott, as we talk all about systems-based approaches to school leadership.