Episode Description: In this episode, Patience LeBlanc, Sarah Lane and Kobi Nelson discuss ways that school leaders can be set up for success by approaching conversations with positive intent and having a goal of listening to learn. We explore how leaders shape school communities that foster civil discourse and viewpoint diversity, and how that work happens when they intentionally show up every day to support the teachers they work with.

Guest: Patience LeBlanc

Timestamps:

04:37 - The importance of building relationships as a foundation for safe dialogue

09:21 - Small moments that build trust

12:02 - Keeping professional spaces free from evaluation pressures

13:24 - Leaders as lead learners: modeling and engaging alongside teachers

18:58 - Building authentic relationships with teachers over time

20:26 - Using hallway conversations to establish approachability

24:07 - Preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist

26:02 - Practical steps for leaders to get started with fostering civil discourse

28:15 - Future hopes for civil discourse in education and ongoing organizational efforts

Resources Mentioned:

• https://www.sphere-ed.org/
• https://www.sphere-ed.org/leadership-toolkit-civil-discourse

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Summary: This episode explores the power that comes from teaching economics as a reflection of human action and the ways that this lens can help teachers empower their students to understand that their choices and actions matter. During the conversation, Kobi and Colman also discuss what it takes to have honest, complex conversations about economics and why content knowledge matters just as much as pedagogy.

Timestamps:

4:44 — The Sphere Summit experience and how it reinvigorated teacher passion

8:25 — Connecting students to the bigger picture through economics as human action

12:25 — Challenging conversations around economic systems and trade-offs

16:31 — Pedagogical strategies including news culture, and real-time charting

22:18 — Teaching predictions through the concept of consumer anticipation

28:18 — The content knowledge gap facing economics educators

32:57 — What all educators should know about the value of economics

Resources Mentioned:

• "Spotlighting the World Factbook as We Bid a Fond Farewell"
• The World Factbook Archives (from UPenn)
• Financial Times
• The Wall Street Journal
• Bloomberg
• The Journal of Economic Education
• Sphere Education Initiatives
• Sphere's Real World Economics Lessons
• Sphere's Economics in One Virus Lessons

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In this episode, Kobi Nelson sits down with Lory Warren and Christina LaRose from the Prohuman Foundation to discuss the collaborative lesson series they created about five women from the Revolutionary era whose contributions shaped history but who have largely been left out of the historical record. Together, they explore what it really means to have influence, why students benefit from encountering diverse and complex historical figures, and how focusing on our shared humanity can shift the way we think about courage and impact.

Main Topics:

• What Is the Prohuman Foundation?
• Redefining What It Means to Be an Influencer
• Elizabeth Freeman: Curiosity, Courage, and the Law
• Anna Smith Strong: Influence Hidden in Plain Sight
• Nanyehi: Community, Peace, and Complex Legacies
• Deborah Sampson: Fighting Where There Was No Path
• Esther de Berdt Reed: Writing, Persuasion, and Fundraising for the War Effort
• What Do We Hope Students and Teachers Take Away?

Resources Mentioned:

• The Prohuman Foundation
• Women in the American Revolution
• Sentiments of an American Woman by Esther de Berdt Reed (1780)
• Sphere Education Initiatives

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.