connected: Recent Episodes
Scott Benzenberg
Beyond ideas, connected is about sharing the stories, wisdom, and experiences of educators as a resource and inspiration for others. The goal of the podcast is to connect the stories of leadership actions with educators around the world.
Each guest brings perspective on an important issue in education and shares the stories of why these matter. This podcast combines insight and wisdom (from the guests!) with curiosity, good conversation and a spirit of humour. I look forward to welcoming the educators and leaders who have inspired me and will undoubtedly offer the same for you.
What is the role of curiosity in developing leadership competence? Anna Liebel, leadership coach and entrepreneur, speaks about her work to create the space and time needed to foster curiosity in professional development. She highlights how curiosity is an essential ingredient for learning about people in the organisation, developing better decision-making skills and growing effective self-leadership habits. This conversation takes us from big ideas to practical tools -and from the world of business to the emerging needs in the world of education. A warm and genuine conversation and a lot of fun. Thanks to Anna for sharing her expertise.
Find Anna Liebel at https://annaliebel.com/
The conversation this week is all about leadership and all about people. My guest, Dr. Carita Prokki, is the Director of Continuous Education at Tampere University of Applied Sciences and she speaks about her own leadership journey and experiences in leading teams. Dr. Prokki speaks about leadership not as a position or role, but as a profession in itself. She highlights the need for curiosity and a willingness to learn about what it takes to lead a team. Throughout the conversation, we speak about how leadership - both formal and informal roles -means recognising people and helping to empower them. We speak about shared visions, the role of trust and some concrete strategies for change management in the educational setting. I want to extend a sincere thank you to Dr. Prokki for her time, energy and insights.
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My guest this week, Nicky Millar, joins me in conversation about the impacts of datafication in education. Nicky highlights key considerations for educators and educational leaders who are faced with decisions about how to incorporate online platforms and educational technology tools in the wake of the current crisis. We talk about data leaks, privacy laws and the role of the teacher in the use of localised data.
I also reflect on my own experiences in the previous weeks as we move toward resuming face-to-face instruction here in Norway. While I am grateful, I also wonder how the learning and insights gained during these weeks can be maintained in the conventional environments - surely something has shifted, right?
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How can educational organisations identify, energise and incentivise changemakers working inside the institution? My guest this week, Anna Frerker, discusses her experience as a primary school teacher currently taking on additional responsibilities and informal leadership roles.
Anna identifies key motivating factors as an emerging leader and offers strategies for early-career teachers looking to build leadership capacity. Anna also discusses how senior leadership can create organisational structures to help foster new initiatives and align them with the organisation’s wider goals.
We also explore how teachers often feel forced to make a choice between remaining in the classroom - often with limited influence on the wider community - or choosing roles in administration or senior leadership. The choice is a flawed one. Effective middle leadership can energise teaching practice and influence learning philosophy in a way that senior leaders don’t always have access to - critical to a learning organisation.
As always, a great conversation. Please like, subscribe and share!
The sudden shift to virtual instruction in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has meant a steep learning curve for educators who are moving classes online. My guest this week, Mira Perämäki, is an e learning professional who shares her wisdom and support for teachers and educational leaders who are wondering how to best facilitate virtual instruction. Throughout the episode, Mira reminds us how effective teaching practices - well-articulated and well-aligned objectives, consistent feedback and authentic tasks - are cornerstones in the virtual learning environment as well. She highlights ways that teachers can showcase personality and human connections in the virtual space and offers insight into some common mistakes and strategies to overcome them. Finally, Mira offers words of encouragement. Give it a chance. Keep an open mind and take baby steps!
What is required to make the leap into a formal leadership position? My guest, Miek Kemel, describes her ongoing leadership journey as a secondary school principal in Belgium and the experiences that encouraged her to take on that role. Miek describes how deep honesty - both with others and especially with herself - has been a foundation for resilience and leadership action. At the end of the episode, Miek shares great advice for anyone who is considering whether to take on a formal role in educational leadership. There are plenty of gems in this episode.
A very brief preview of connected - a podcast featuring inspiring stories from educational leaders from around the world. In this introduction I share my own inspiration for the podcast and how I hope it can add value as a platform to understand the issues, contexts and personal stories that are shaping the field and future of education.
This podcast combines insight and wisdom (from the guests!) with curiosity, good conversation and a spirit of humour. I look forward to welcoming the educators and leaders who have inspired me and will undoubtedly offer the same for you.