Book Review: Failure to Disrupt by Justin Reich

Not two weeks ago, I was presenting to the faculty on Digital Transformation, and my comment that I hope my colleagues took from it was that a Digital Transformation is, at its core, a very human endeavor. This book supports this whole-heartedly by reviewing the history of big claims and myths about the saviour-syndrome of…
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Language to Guide Us…

Trying to make sense of our fluid circumstances is one thing; however, leading schools through change is a complete other endeavour. It requires empathy as we depart from the roles, habits and ways of being in our lived experiences of the past and chart a new direction. It requires asking challenging questions about the role…
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Book Review: The Power of Us (David Price)

The US leadership expert Warren G. Bennis once said: “There are two ways of being creative. One can sing and dance. Or one can create an environment in which singers and dancers flourish.” Pg. 239 David Price has written a book that synthesizes mindsets and approaches and contextualizes them in the here and now. It…
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Book Review: “The Yes Brain” (Seigel & Bryson)

This book has strong resonance with “Reframed” by Stuart Shanker (Which I reviewed HERE), but it is written with families in mind. In “Reframed” the big takeaway is “See a child differently and you see a different child.” In “The Yes Brain” they write: When we see our children’s behaviour as communication that’s letting us know…
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Book Review: Deep Diversity by Shakil Choudhury

This book offers an outstanding approach to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. It tackles the issue of racism at the neuro-psychology level, and offers strategies and a practice for how to breakdown and rebuild our unconscious, implicit biases. Shakil Choudhury began his consulting career focussing on anti-indigenous racism, and this echoes throughout the book, and the…
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Book Review: The Second Mountain by David Brooks

From the author or “The Road to Character” this is his follow up non-fiction book about the Quest for a Moral Life. This book was recommended to me by a professional colleague, and as I was reading it, I kept wondering about the connections to the role of an educator. This is not a book…
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3 Resources for the Summer (and Aussie Winter!)…

To many of my readers, there is a long break ahead for the summer, while for others below the equator, schools are just getting started. This will be my last of my “3 Resources…” posts for while (I hope!), so I’ve decided on three compelling resources that offer compelling reasons and hope that education will…
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3 Resources I’ve Loved this Week…

As school’s wrap up the student experiences of their Remote Learning Plans, there is much to reflect upon. How have students survived, thrived or not? How have students learned more about themselves as learners, and how do we know? The same can be asked of our organizations. This week, during the CIS Ontario Remote Learning…
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