In this conversation with Blackfoot scholar Dr. Sidney Stone Brown, Alcine and Shane are gifted many stories and teachings. We learn about the Native Self-Actualization model that Dr. Stone created and how she was told by her elders, “We’ve been looking for you” before she wrote her book. We dig into her original research into Abraham Maslow’s archives and discover the truth that Maslow’s concept was not originally a hierarchy, but that the corporations utilizing his work asked him to convert it into a pyramid to “motivate their employees”. We also explore the deep layers of what it means to heal, to come back to our wholeness, to understand time as circular rather than linear, and to situate listening as the ultimate act of transformation. Your heart will sing as you listen to Dr. Sidney Stone Brown.

For Further Learning:

Visit Dr. Sidney Stone Brown’s website www.transformationbeyondgreed.com/ to learn more about her work Get your copy of Transformation Beyond Greed by Dr. Sidney Stone Brown, PsyD

In this delightful dialogue with the wizard behind Cult of Pedagogy, Jennifer Gonzalez, and middle school drama teacher Amanda Liebel, Shane and Alcine walk alongside two brilliant educators to think about service, street data, and pedagogy. You’ll learn the origin story of the magical blog and  podcast called Cult of Pedagogy. We’ll think about what it means to have a “heart of service”, as Amanda characterizes the deep work of teaching as always a reflective practice. We’ll also discuss how Shane, Jamila, and Jennifer came together to create a 9-hour free video series that tracks two teams of teachers as they move through the messiness and richness of the Street Data process! Finally, this episode offers vibrant one-inch windows into a pedagogy of student voice, including:

How to receive difficult street data from students with an open heart How to take deeper risks in the classroom (for example, to “indigenize our learning spaces”) Why being a perfectionist works against you as a teacher  And what it means to “walk alongside students” and listen to what they want

Enjoy this priceless conversation!

For Further Learning:

Listen to the original Cult of Pedagogy podcast episode with Shane and Jamila, “Street Data: A Path Toward Equitable, Anti-racist Schools” (October 5, 2021) Access 9 hours of free professional learning in Street Data Cult of Pedagogy video series Listen to the follow-up Cult of Pedagogy podcast episode about this learning series with Shane, Jamila, and Amanda (January 29, 2023)

Check out the mentioned Cult of Pedagogy podcast and blog on The Big List of Class Discussion Strategies

Shane and Alcine are back with this on-FIRE conversation with Cincinnati math educators Crystal Watson and Dr. Dawn Williams who remind us that “The sun does not ask permission to shine, and neither do I.” These Black women leaders take us on a journey to understanding the type of math pedagogy that will transform and empower future generations of learners. We learn from Dr. Dawn why it’s important for leaders to create a place called home for teachers and, in turn, for students. Crystal and Dawn model a culture of listening to students as they enter classrooms, always asking, “How will that one child feel…?”, engaging in learning alongside students, all in efforts to affirm to students that the classroom is “your space”. They also teach us how to have a student-centered Data Meeting, how to support teachers to practice active listening (even when it’s uncomfortable!. They explain how anxiety specifically with math triggers fight or flight, diminished executive function, and distracting behaviors in the classroom and how building authentic and trusting relationships can help teachers guide students through that anxiety. Finally, we celebrate the truth that Black educators are “everything” while acknowledging the emotional labor of being a Black woman educational leader.

For further learning:

Principles for the Design of Mathematics Curricula: Promoting Language and Content Development with specific Math Language routines classroom teachers can implement Books: The Memo and Right Within by Minda Harts on overcoming racial trauma and discrimination in the workplace

Book: Choosing to See by Dr. Pamela Seda and Kendall Brown

Public Learning, a model developed by the organization Lead by Learning, is a practice that builds awareness in educators in order to better serve their students. Public Learning is not a formula for professional development, but rather a stance and a way of being that activates everything strong educators know about teaching and learning–the need for curiosity around a learner’s experience, the role of uncertainty and complexity, and so much more. In this illuminating conversation, the founder and current leader of Lead by Learning, Jennifer Ahn and Carrie Wilson,  remind us of the power of public, reflective adult learning to create a path toward equity and antiracism in schools. These brilliant leaders help us think about what teachers need to genuinely learn and grow and how to infuse a pedagogy of voice at every level of the system.

You can follow Jennifer Ahn at Lead by Learning’s Instagram @leadbylearning_, Facebook @weleadbylearning, Twitter @Lead_byLearning, and LinkedIn at Lead by Learning.

For further learning:

Please link to any resources you would like to include in the show notes:

Learn more about public learning and other adult learning practices in Lead by Learning’s free playbook.  Read stories from educators on the ground who are engaging in public learning to better support students.

Watch a webinar on how teachers are using public learning and street data to challenge dominant data narratives

In this reflective conversation, Shane and Alcine wrap up Season 2 by sharing some of their own stories, lenses, and learning around the work. You’ll hear what’s emerging on the ground as Shane and Dr. Dugan try to bring the Street Data model to life through communities of practice. You’ll consider the difference between cultural appropriation and appreciation, tapping into the brilliance of Jo Chrona’s book Wayi Wah! Indigenous Pedagogies: An Act for Reconciliation and Anti-Racist Education. We also learn more about how Alcine’s mother influenced her student-centered pedagogy and how her experiences as a good test taker during desegregation efforts in the 1980’s shaped her views on standardized testing. And we say goodbye to our original producer, the incomparable Maya Cueva, who is off to work on a new film and other projects! 

For Further Learning: 

Podcasts Cheaper Than Therapy: Avoiding Resentment The Cult of Pedagogy with Jennifer Gonzalez 

BooksTomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin Wayi Wah! Indigenous Pedagogies by Jo Chrona 

Articles Cultivating a Pedagogy of Student Voice by Shane Safir  Metacognition in the Classroom: Benefits & Strategies 

Films   Watch Maya’s film On The Divide ( https://vimeo.com/ondemand/onthedivide )

In this episode, you’ll listen at the feet of the incomparable scholar Dr. Lisa Delpit, whose books Other People’s Children and Multiplication Is for White People deeply impacted Shane and Alcine, alongside her brilliant mentee and Street Data co-author Dr. Jamila Dugan. We get a one-inch window into Dr. Delpit’s early experiences in “white teacher education” and the Open Classroom model where Black teachers’ wisdom and skill was often undervalued. We witness a beautiful exchange between Dr. Delpit and Dr. Dugan about the intergenerational work they are involved in and what it means for all of us to step into being elders in training. If you’re as confused as we are about the Science of Reading “debates”, this episode will help you shift and lift the discourse about literacy, as Dr. Delpit brings complexity and nuance, helping us all remember that while phonics is necessary, successful teachers of Black students do so much more: affirm their humanity, create relationships, make them feel a part of the literacy “club”, and elevate heir intellectual history and legacy. These leading thinkers help us envision classrooms where children have a voice and leadership roles, and schools where students begin to enter adult spaces in order to influence education. Finally, we end with a deep discussion of the Warm Demander concept and why demanding is not the same as diminishing because the love and belief in the kids has to be there first. Join us!

For Further Learning:

The Silenced Dialogue:Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People's Children by Lisa Delpit

Other People’s Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom by Lisa Delpit

“Multiplication is for White People”: Raising Expectations for Other People’s Children by Lisa Delpit

Teaching When the World Is on Fire: Authentic Classroom Advice, from Climate Justice to Black Lives Matter by Lisa Delpit Radical Dreaming for Education Now by Dr. Jamila Dugan

Pod Squad, this episode just might make you cry. Join us as we walk through rural British Columbia and urban Baltimore, moving through the ancestral realm to Harvard board rooms to one guest’s grandma’s living room. We’ll talk about Indigenous fusion food (ever heard of Bannock French Toast?) and the pork chop dilemma of project-based learning: How do we neither undercook nor overcook the project? Also, what are the limitations of big studies and meta-research to help us understand the nuances and lasting impact of deep learning experiences. You’ll learn about Little Gail Higginbottom and what drove her to be the writer and fierce, heart-forward, equity-centered leader of Indigenous education she is today, and Little Jal Mehta’s pathway from an inquiry-based school (that his mom led!) to founding a community of 12 districts across North America that are blazing new trails for equity and deeper learning. 

Equity is vulnerable work. We have to create cultural emotional spiritual safety for students, families and communities.

For Further Learning:

To learn more about the Deeper Learning Dozen, click here.

Get Jal and Sarah Fine’s book In Search of Deeper Learning here.

Gail’s reflection questions, inspired by the DLD teaching that “equity is structural”: 

How do we ensure student voice is leading this work?

How do we decide who to include? How do we decide who to invite?

How do we do that work safely?  

How do we ensure that students who share their stories are honoured, nurtured, and empowered?

How do we ensure students are heard and their voices are amplified?

How do we ensure these voices are listened to?

What do we need to do to show those students that we care, that they matter, and we believe in them?  

In Episode 12, Shane and Alcine dream with colleagues Matt Alexander and Jessica Huang, surfacing shared learning from a combined 80 plus years in education. Matt and Shane reminisce about the early years of teaching in San Francisco pre-No Child Left Behind and how they aspired toward a pedagogy of student voice. Jessica shares her experience working in international education in Asia where the West is “exporting stereotypes into neocolonial schools” and ways she is disrupting the Model Minority myth. These four leaders explore how the American Dream is a facade, lessons in democracy from the world of community organizing, and why leaders need a power analysis of their school communities. Finally, they consider what authentic accountability looks like and what it means to walk toward becoming elders in the movement for educational justice, and preview a project they are working on to “radically dream” together with educators across US + Canada.

For Further Learning:

Dive deeper into the 6 Key Aspects of Social Justice Pedagogy developed by June Jordan School for Social Justice educators. Learn more about Faith in Action Bay Area and the work that they do to uphold the dignity of all people. Read up on AB 540 which expanded in-state tuition eligibility in california and check out whether you may qualify.

In Episode 11, Alcine and Shane get real with their dear friend and collaborator Joe Truss. Joe talks about what it was like growing up in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district in the 80’s and wondering, “Why am I finding success while my friends are not?” This experience eventually led him into the classroom where Joe illuminates the gap between the teacher he thought he was going to be versus the teacher he was in real life. Through student voice and feedback, he shifted many of his mindsets and practices, cultivating a way of being that he brought into his 6-year principalship in southeast San Francisco. Joe helps us unpack the difference between bringing a vision and co-constructing a vision with staff, the need to slow it all down, and the nefarious trap of power-hoarding that he continues to see in his work across North America. We conclude with the power of racial affinity as a space for differentiation learning and a vehicle for healing, leveraging our differences as our strengths, and understanding the need to co-conspire around shared goals.

For Further Learning:

Visit Joe’s website https://trussleadership.com/ to learn about his services and read his many publications. Read Leading a District Antiracism Journey in the March 2023 issue of Educational Leadership magazine by Shane, Joe and Julie Kempkey Racial Affinity Groups Aren’t Racist – They are the Secret Sauce in Antiracist Schools by Joe Truss and Jenn Berkowitz What Happened When My School Started to Dismantle White Supremacy Culture by Joe Truss

In Episode 10, Alcine and Shane talk with thought leaders, and mother-daughter dynamic duo, Drs. Linda and Kia Darling-Hammond about their new book The Civil Rights Road to Deeper Learning: Five Essentials for Equity (Teachers College Press, 2022). Drawing on their intersections across 25 years in the field of public education, these four educators begin with a retrospective on the seminal Williams v. California lawsuit in which Shane and Linda both served as witnesses, pivoting to explore the next historic fight for equitable access. They dig into the legacy of the test-and-punish era and how testing has served as a barrier to deeper learning, and Linda drops some mind-blowing knowledge about the double discrimination baked into test questions. Finally, they dream together about equitable and just schools that elevate student voice and center performance-based assessments rather than tests.

For Further Learning

Read Linda and Kia’s book The Civil Rights Road to Deeper Learning: Five Essentials for Equity Review Chapter 6 of Street Data, which profiles performance assessment

In this brief retrospective episode, Shane, Alcine and their 'Magic Millennial' producer, Maya Cueva look back at Season 1, reflecting on the moments that nested deepest in their hearts. You’ll get to hear or revisit impactful clips from guests in Season 1 and hear about what our producer Maya Cueva is up to on her other projects. The hosts also talk about current innovations from outside of education, including sobriety “quit lit” and Dr. Gabor Maté’s incredible work on childhood development, trauma and the potential lifelong impacts on physical and mental health conditions that show up daily in our schools and classrooms. As we prepare to launch Season 2 in February, Alcine invokes Dr. Jamila Dugan’s invitation in Episode 4: “How do I dream bigger and in community? Who do I need to be in community with so that my dreams become bigger?” Join us and dream with us about next-generation schools that affirm love and value every child!

For Further Learning:

Learn about Producer Maya Cueva’s PBS project On the Divide Host a screening of On The Divide vía GOOD Docs! https://gooddocs.net/products/on-the-divide  Episodes mentioned and excerpted include: https://www.onthedividemovie.com 

Episode 4: “What Does it Mean to Freedom Dream?”: Disrupting Traps and Tropes with Dr. Jamila Dugan

Episode 6: “We Need to Marginalize Standardized Testing” with Young Whan Choi

Episode 8: “Connecting Present to Past”: The Impact of Critical Pedagogy with Rocky Rivera and Norma Gallegos

If you’re interested in listening to Tales of The Town, the podcast about Oakland — listen here. You can also get tickets to the Tales of The Town film: https://www.talesofthetown.info Tales of the Town Podcast : https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/introducing-tales-of-the-town-a-podcast-about-black-oakland/id1235932328?i=1000579592977  Get Dr. Gholdy Mohammed’s Cultivating Genius

In Episode 8, Alcine and Shane reminisce and dream with two of Shane’s former students, alumni of the BALMA Project featured in Chapter 5 of Street Data. Hip hop artist and journalist Rocky Rivera and auto technician/former paraprofessional Norma Gallegos share tales of growing up in San Francisco’s Excelsior District that are equal parts heartbreaking and heartwarming. Looking at their own trajectories as learners, Norma and Rocky help us explore what success really means when we view education as a long game rather than a test-driven shell game. With tears and joy, the conversation explores the features of what Rocky calls “intentional pedagogy”: the kinds of assignments that cultivate deeper learning, the types of instructional experiences that cultivate student agency, and the impact of access to critical literacy and a community where you feel you belong. Don’t sleep on this episode.

For Further Learning

To follow Rocky’s work, subscribe to her Patreon, and/or get a copy of Snakeskin: Essays by Rocky Rivera, click here. If you’re interested in watching a 15-minute retrospective video on the BALMA Project in Chapter 5 of Street Data, click here. Visit Norma at Pat’s Garage in SF to get your car fixed. (or help her get a job at SFMTA if you got a hook-up!) 

In Episode 7, Alcine and Shane lean in to listen and learn from Dr. Kevin Godden and Perry Smith, Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent of the Abbotsford School District near Vancouver. Through story and one-inch windows into an evolving system, the conversation distills the role of deep listening in school transformation. We talk about Kevin’s first day of school in Canada as a Jamaican immigrant, confronting the ugliness of racism, and his mom’s message. We learn Perry’s story of wanting to wear moccasins to school as a young Indigenous student, in Abbotsford himself, with virtually no representation around him. And we think about what it means to carry the heart of a teacher and lead like a teacher. Join us.

For Further Learning

Learn more about the Deeper Learning Dozen, a community of practice that supports superintendents to transform their school districts in ways that create equitable access to deeper learning experiences and outcomes. Get a copy of Perry’s beautiful children’s book, Powwow Dancing with Family.

In an emotional Episode 6, Alcine and Shane get real with author and educator Young Whan Choi, witnessing his personal story of marginalization in school and how it took another Asian man–during college orientation–to help him see himself for the first time in American history. Together, they explore ways of being and leading in education that truly center students. Young Whan implores us to “marginalize” standardized testing, or at least push it to the periphery, as he offers a vision of authentic, community-based, performance assessments that demonstrate what students know and are able to do. He exposes the irony that, while many new leaders evoke the principle of being “student-centered”, students themselves are often painfully absent from professional learning agendas, except perhaps as an aggregated data point. And finally, Young Whan helps us rethink where knowledge lives and where power exists within the system.

For Further Learning

Get a copy of Street Data on Amazon, Corwin Press, or from a BIPOC-owned local bookstore. Get a copy of Young Whan’s book, Sparks Into Fire: Revitalizing Teacher Practice Through Collective Learning at Teachers’ College Press. Read Shane’s recent Ed Week article on standardized testing.

Watch Awo Okaikor Aryee-Price, Wayne Au, Denisha Jones and Jesse Hagopian discuss the racist history of standardized testing and its impacts today in The Racist History of Standardized Testing

In Episode 5, Alcine and Shane talk to rural Kentucky district leader Melissa Biggerstaff. They hear her story about growing up in a district where your zip code and last name determined your opportunities. Lean in to hear about a conversation with a high school counselor that Melissa will never forget and that continues to fuel her moral imperative to this day. Finally, Melissa unpacks what it means to show up fully as a leader–to learn from and really listen to community members–and why we need to meet people where they are- especially physically- if we want to create radically inclusive institutions.

For Further Learning:

Get a copy of Street Data on Amazon, Corwin Press, or from a BIPOC-owned local bookstore.

In Episode 4, co-author Jamila Dugan is back and giving us the inside scope on equity traps and tropes. First, we dig into how this chapter came to be (spoiler alert: from a rant!) and the conversation shifts to the luminous landscape of radical dreaming, exploring, in Jamila’s words: “What does it actively mean to freedom dream and who am I dreaming with?” Shane, Jamila, and Alcine think about how to live a life of big dreams and abundance, and the ways that hustle and grind culture often dims our dreams. Jamila shares some brilliant tips, like reverse calendaring and–drum roll–taking the email app off your phone!

For Further Learning:

Get a copy of Street Data on Amazon, Corwin Press, or from a BIPOC-owned local bookstore. Read Jamila's recent EL Magazine article on Radical Dreaming here. Work with the Equity Traps and Tropes Inquiry Tool Jamila mentions. Check out Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination by Robin D.G. Kelley.

In this episode, Shane and Alcine get to talk with co-author Jamila Dugan and Denise Augustine, whose work leading Indigenous education in British Columbia (BC) forms the central storyline of Chapter 1. Together, they explore what folx believe we should be teaching and measure, other epistemologies (ways of knowing and being), and ways to heal and transform our schools in challenging times. Listen to Denise’s story of how her mom supported her to find her voice with a teacher when a science assignment pushed against Denise’s cultural values. Hear Jamila reflect on what it means to start owning her experience growing up in East Oakland and being shaped by “grittiness, real talk, hip hop, and hustle”. You’ll also learn about Truth and Reconciliation in BC, Jamila’s core beliefs around teaching and learning, and the educational experiences that have shaped these two incredible leaders. If you didn’t believe it before, you’ll walk away internalizing the idea that there are many “right” answers, many right ways, and many right paths along the journey to school transformation.

For Further Learning:

BC Competency-Based Curriculum BC First Peoples' Principles of Learning Teaching Each Other, Goulet and Goulet (referenced by Denise) Wayi Wah! Indigenous Pedagogies: An Act for Reconciliation and Anti-racist Education, Jo Chrona (referenced by Denise)

Join hosts Shane Safir and Alcine Mumby as they dig deep with Dr. Christopher Emdin around how to be a good ancestor, biomimicry as a guide to school transformation, burning the pedagogical sage, and so much more. This episode will change you. A must-listen for all new administrators and teachers finding their way in complex times.

For Further Learning:

Order Chris’s book Rathedemic at http://www.beacon.org/Ratchetdemic-P1703.aspx Read Chris’s foreword in Street Data to make connections to the pod conversation Order adrienne marie brown’s Emergent Strategy at https://www.akpress.org/emergentstrategy.html

Join Shane Safir and Alcine Mumby as they launch Street Data Pod: Imagining the Next Generation of Education. They each share their “why” for this project and name some ways of being that help them navigate working across differences. You’ll also hear what people get wrong about the work they do and what kind of data they think educators must collect in these complex times to be alive and human.