Person |
Big Idea |
Deborah Ball |
“Teaching can have very powerful amazing effects. It can also do incredible damage. Even in a moment.” |
Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan |
“The smallest unit of work in organizations is dialogue.” |
Anthony Bryk |
“Your theory of change is definitely incomplete and possibly wrong.” |
Sherrill Curtis |
Take pride in your practice. The moral importance of education demands we bring a seriousness to the work. |
W. Edwards Deming |
“Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.” |
Amy Edmondson |
“Psychological safety isn’t about being nice. It’s about giving candid feedback, openly admitting mistakes, and learning from each other.” |
Richard Elmore |
“Ours is the profession without a practice.” |
Paulo Freire |
“There’s no such thing as neutral education. Education either functions as an instrument to bring about conformity or freedom.” |
Michael Fullan |
A good turn of phrase can help people hold onto a complex idea. |
Ron Heifetz and Marty Linsky |
“Leadership is disappointing your own people at a rate they can absorb.” |
Deborah Helsing |
No, the presence of a clearly-stated objective on the chalkboard is not evidence of good teaching. |
Robert Henry |
See and hear the people around you. REALLY see and hear them, as human beings with wants, needs, hopes, and challenges. |
Joey Hill |
You shouldn’t dim your light because people are used to sitting in the dark. |
Susan Moore Johnson |
In your teaching, the details matter. Be prepared. |
Robert Kegan |
Well-spun tales and extended metaphors are powerful vehicles for developing understanding and sometimes shifting perspectives. |
Ibram X. Kendi |
“The opposite of racist isn’t ‘not racist.’ It is anti-racist.” |
Ralph B. Lassiter, Sr. |
Recognize the power of a good dirty joke. |
Richard Lemons, Sr. |
Lower your head, bear your load, and keep grinding. |
Steven Leonard |
The purpose of discipline is to correct the behavior, not punish the student. |
Lynwood Leverette |
Find your passion. Educate yourself. Keep hustling. |
Milbrey McLaughlin |
“Policy-directed change ultimately is a problem of the smallest unit.” |
Jal Mehta |
“The consequence is that equity has become, more often than not, a conservative force in American public education. The effort to close achievement gaps has in practice doubled down on the century-old industrial model of schooling, leaving in place all of the essential elements of its grammar: teaching as transmission, batch processing of students, conventional assessments, tracking and leveling, and all of the rest.” |
Richard Milner |
“Young people need educators. They need adults. They need people in their lives. From my view, based on what I’ve come to understand from about 20 years of studying these interactions and these practices, they need adults in their lives who they believe will walk through a wall. So it’s not only about how do I get through the day, a cordial interaction with my students. It is not, I’m going to get to know you because I’m going to advocate for you. I’m going to get to know you because I’m going to knock down walls for you on your behalf to make sure you get the education that you deserve.” |
Teresa Weatherall Neal |
Lead with unapologetic passion and don’t be afraid to minister. |
Pedro Noguera |
The quality of a child’s education in America should not be determined by the zip code of that child’s crib. |
Barry Sheckley |
“Learning is a byproduct of reasoning.” |
Peter Senge |
“The gap between vision and current reality is also a source of energy. If there were no gap, there would be no need for any action to move towards the vision. We call this gap creative tension.” |
Theodore “Ted” Sizer |
“Things remain the same because it is impossible to change very much without changing most of everything.” |
Gary “Smitty” Smith |
Build a team culture that is about performance and joy, not control and order. |
James Stigler and James Hiebert |
“Teaching, in our view, is a cultural activity.” “Although most people have not studied to be teachers, most people have been students. People within a culture share a mental picture of what teaching is like. We call this mental picture a script” |
Margaret Wheatley |
“In organizations, real power and energy is generated through relationships. The patterns of relationships and the capacities to form them are more important than tasks, functions, roles, and positions.” |
Dudley Williams |
Show up and give, give and give. Then, give some more. |
Charles V. Willie |
The subdominants in a given society will always know the culture of the dominants much more than the opposite. They may even understand the culture of the dominants much more than the dominants themselves. |