Mind the Gap, Episode 13 — Leadership Mindsets & ‘In Action’ Strategies to Know

In this “Tom & Emma” episode of Mind the Gap, the hosts begin by reflecting on their recent interview with Jethro Jones (0:51). In particular, they respond to Jethro’s stories about creative ways he and his staff developed a strong school culture. They also discuss some of the strategies Jethro shares in his book, SchoolX: How principals can design a transformative school experience for students, teachers, parents – and themselves.

Next, Tom explains how Jethro’s design thinking approach to leadership reminded him of the “builder’s” mindset shared by Robyn Jackson in a previous episode (7:54). He furthers the thought by discussing the concept of “broccoli fractals” that provides another illustration of leadership. In a school, you can’t control every interaction, but you can define the ethos of the school; and if you do that, the stakeholders in the school will understand and the positive elements will “reproduce.”

Then Tom and Emma then check in on the state of exams in the UK (14:45). There are fast-moving changes to what students and educators can expect, making it even more important for students to understand what they’re aiming for.

For the final topic of the discussion, the hosts discuss the “In Action” book series (26:40). Tom discusses some of the contributing authors and how this highly practical series of titles came together.

To find all video episodes, featuring additional segments from Tom and Emma, subscribe to Mind the Gap with Tom & Emma on YouTube.

To listen to the audio version, subscribe here on your preferred podcast app: https://anchor.fm/mindthegap-edu 

About the participants:

Tom Sherrington is a co-host of Mind the Gap: Making Education Work Across the Globe. He has worked in schools as a teacher and leader for 30 years and is now a consultant specializing in teacher development and curriculum & assessment planning. Through his consultancy – teacherhead consulting – he is interested in working with educators to explore and implement contemporary educational ideas that deliver an excellent all-round education for young people. His books include Teaching WalkThrus, Rosenshine’s Principles in Action and The Learning Rainforest Fieldbook.  Tom is a regular contributor to ResearchEd events and other conferences for teachers and policymakers. He regularly contributes to conferences and CPD sessions locally and nationally and is busy working in schools and colleges across the UK and around the world. Follow Tom on Twitter @teacherhead

Emma Turner is a co-host of Mind the Gap: Making Education Work Across the Globe. After 20 years in primary teaching, Emma joined Discovery Schools Academy Trust where she is currently the Research and CPD lead, devising and writing training for staff at all career stages, but specializing in continuous professional development (CPD) for early career teachers. She is the founder of ‘NewEd – Joyful CPD for early career teachers’, a not-for-profit approach to CPD to encourage positivity amongst the profession and help to retain teachers in post. Turner is author of Be More Toddler: A Leadership Education From Our Little Learners. She is an advocate of balance in leadership and family life and regularly speaks at events across the UK on how part-time leadership and flexible working can be a hugely successful model in organizations. Follow Emma on Twitter @emma_turner75