Purposeful Educator Connections: Five Principles to Strengthen Relationships with Students

Speaker A 00:00:00

Should zip codes define destiny?

Speaker A 00:00:01

I'm like, no, they shouldn't.

Speaker A 00:00:04

Learning happens everywhere and with anyone.

Speaker A 00:00:06

And when we can really crystallize that, that fact, then we can all really start working together.

Speaker A 00:00:15

But at what point do we stop and pause?

Speaker A 00:00:17

Like, what are we doing this for?

Speaker A 00:00:19

Right?

Speaker A 00:00:19

Like, why are you studying?

Speaker A 00:00:21

What is the purpose of your study?

Speaker A 00:00:23

Not just to get the grade, not just to get, you know, the pat on the back or the high five or, you know, a certificate.

Speaker A 00:00:30

It is not linear.

Speaker A 00:00:31

I think if, you know, if there's students listening right now, education is definitely not linear.

Speaker A 00:00:37

Your career will definitely not be linear.

Speaker A 00:00:39

And every experience can just go into your.

Speaker A 00:00:42

Your backpack or your tool belt to build on that dream that you're working to.

Speaker A 00:00:46

Because each one of us was made for a purpose.

Speaker A 00:00:48

And all these experiences really help deliver on that.

Speaker A 00:00:53

Yeah, I love teachers.

Speaker A 00:00:54

They're just so amazing and they change lives.

Speaker A 00:00:57

And I just, you know, to any educator that's listening today, just thank you.

Speaker A 00:01:01

So, especially right now, it is probably one of the most difficult times to be an educator, but we're very grateful that you're there.

Speaker A 00:01:09

Sometimes you don't see the amazing person that you're going to become and all the things that you're going to have on your resume and your brilliance and an educators see that.

Speaker A 00:01:21

I would say educators are right.

Speaker A 00:01:22

Like, educators bring the fire they give of themselves to ensure that they light fire in our students so that they can be the best that they can be.

Speaker B 00:01:32

Hello, my name is Mark Taylor, and welcome to the Education on Fire podcast, the place for creative and inspiring learning from around the world.

Speaker B 00:01:46

Listen to teachers, parents, and mentors, share how they are supporting children to live their best, authentic life and are proving to be a guiding light to us all.

Speaker B 00:01:54

Hi, Marcelo.

Speaker B 00:01:55

Thank you so much for joining us here on the Education on Far podcast.

Speaker B 00:01:58

Great to chat from people around the world, and great to chat to people who've kind of been through the education world in many different facets.

Speaker B 00:02:05

I know you've been a teacher and, and being in control of educational organizations, and then I think when people have that opportunity to kind of format it into a book, into a way of sort of giving people some clear direction of how you can help through your experience.

Speaker B 00:02:18

I sort of love the way that that kind of works to everyone's benefit.

Speaker B 00:02:22

So.

Speaker B 00:02:22

So, yeah, thanks so much for being here today.

Speaker A 00:02:24

Thanks, Mark.

Speaker A 00:02:25

And thanks to the Education on Fire community.

Speaker A 00:02:27

I am so excited to be here with you today.

Speaker B 00:02:30

Amazing.

Speaker B 00:02:31

So why don't we start with the book itself?

Speaker B 00:02:33

Where did that come from what was the sort of the impetus to kind of go down that sort of author route to, like I said, to sort of combine all that wisdom to share with people?

Speaker A 00:02:42

Yeah, I mean, definitely.

Speaker A 00:02:44

I've always been like a creative writer and I don't know that I ever was like, oh, I'm going to write a book for teachers.

Speaker A 00:02:50

But when the pandemic hit, I think I was just really heavy hearted with everything that was happening and how teachers were directly being affected.

Speaker A 00:03:02

And I just felt like I have to tell the story.

Speaker A 00:03:04

I have to tell how teachers impacted my life.

Speaker A 00:03:08

And interestingly, I wrote the book in two weeks, the first draft, and then put it on my shelf.

Speaker A 00:03:14

And then my team about a year or so later was like, what?

Speaker A 00:03:19

You have a book sitting on a shelf for teachers, you gotta get it out there.

Speaker A 00:03:22

So it was just a beautiful experience to write it because I felt like this, these words needed to be said.

Speaker A 00:03:29

Hold it.

Speaker A 00:03:30

And then sharing it with my team and then getting that encouragement of like, yeah, you need to share this and finding a publisher and then getting it published.

Speaker B 00:03:40

And I think that's one of the things, isn't it, that Covid kind of brought to so many people.

Speaker B 00:03:45

We had a little bit of time, we had a little bit of focus.

Speaker B 00:03:48

Everyone's perspective of life and what they were doing kind of became front and center of what we were doing.

Speaker B 00:03:54

And then it was very easy just to go back to normal in adverted commas once everything started to open up again and we were going back to our more sort of familiar routines.

Speaker B 00:04:02

But actually, I thought in some ways it just gave us the opportunity to kind of be very authentic about what we were, who we are, and what we were able to share and our skill sets as well.

Speaker A 00:04:12

Yes, absolutely.

Speaker A 00:04:13

I think Covid really gave us the opportunity to connect with ourselves and with one another.

Speaker A 00:04:20

And I think it's.

Speaker A 00:04:21

So that's.

Speaker A 00:04:21

That's probably a silver lining there.

Speaker B 00:04:25

So you said you, you managed to write it in two weeks, the first draft, Because I would imagine when she gets the publishing stage, there's a little bit more to it than that.

Speaker A 00:04:32

Yeah, for sure.

Speaker B 00:04:33

Was that just because it was kind of front of mind and like I said, we had that sort of crystal clear kind of thought about what was needed.

Speaker A 00:04:41

Yes.

Speaker A 00:04:42

Well, when I first started thinking about it, I wanted to write a book that was just inclusive for everyone.

Speaker A 00:04:52

And it really became clear that it needed to be just for teachers.

Speaker A 00:04:59

And if I was talking to principals and if I was talking to school counselors and I was talking to other people in the schoolhouse, which are very important roles.

Speaker A 00:05:07

I was not going to be able to convey that message to teachers and how important they are.

Speaker A 00:05:13

Once I was able to really hyper focus on the message for teachers, then it was just like, oh, yeah, this is what I want to say.

Speaker A 00:05:20

And then really frame it in like, this is how teachers really change my life.

Speaker A 00:05:25

This is actually my.

Speaker A 00:05:26

My lived experience, my.

Speaker A 00:05:27

My practice, my research.

Speaker A 00:05:29

And this is what I want to share with you in the book Teachers.

Speaker A 00:05:32

And then I poured my heart into it.

Speaker B 00:05:35

So you've got it around.

Speaker B 00:05:36

Sort of five principles.

Speaker B 00:05:37

Take us through sort of the way the book's put together and what people can expect from it.

Speaker A 00:05:42

Yeah, one of my favorite chapters for sure is the first one, because I rewrote that at 3am right after my mom had this big surgery.

Speaker A 00:05:55

And I was just stream of consciousness and I was like, oh, I got to tell this story about this educator who just dramatically impacted my life.

Speaker A 00:06:04

And so there's this very tender, vulnerable story.

Speaker A 00:06:07

It starts with to talk about the positionality of who an educator is.

Speaker A 00:06:13

It moves into the five principles that I share around how educators can deepen relationships with students.

Speaker A 00:06:22

And then I close by talking about, and especially right on the heels of COVID none of these principles matter if you're not taking care of yourself.

Speaker A 00:06:31

And so I'm not going to spoil them because I want folks to read them.

Speaker A 00:06:34

But definitely, I think I framed it in a way where it just, it opens and closes really nicely.

Speaker B 00:06:45

And it's interesting that you.

Speaker B 00:06:47

That you say that because one of the big things we hear a lot here on the show is how teachers impacted them.

Speaker B 00:06:53

And it was never the fact that they taught me to do this particular spelling really well or this particular piece of a subject really well.

Speaker B 00:06:59

It was very much about the.

Speaker B 00:07:01

The human connection and the being seen and the relationships.

Speaker B 00:07:05

And so I think, like, say that relationship is so incredibly important in that way.

Speaker B 00:07:09

And like you say, unless you're looking after yourself and you're showing up in a way that's very supportive for you, it's very hard to be able to give and to sort of set that environment for the people that you're supporting.

Speaker A 00:07:20

Isn'T it, oh, 100%.

Speaker A 00:07:22

This is true as an educator, this is true as a CEO, this is true as an author.

Speaker A 00:07:28

Any role that you play as human beings.

Speaker A 00:07:30

If we are not pouring into ourselves and then overflowing, then it's going to be very difficult to give to people.

Speaker B 00:07:39

So let's sort of dive into sort of how you got to this particular stage.

Speaker B 00:07:43

Like we said earlier on, you've been a teacher, you've been your president, CEO of designed engagement.

Speaker B 00:07:50

So tell us a little bit about how that journey came about.

Speaker A 00:07:54

Yeah, it's quite the beautiful journey.

Speaker A 00:07:56

And I share a little bit more in the book, but really my first career is in corporate insurance.

Speaker A 00:08:03

I did insurance of everything, like car insurance, health insurance, life insurance.

Speaker A 00:08:08

But it wasn't until I moved into my mom's home country, which is Mexico, that I really had this life moment of I need to be in education.

Speaker A 00:08:21

And as a matter of fact, while I was taking this life sabbatical, I became first a tutor, and then I was recruited to become a classroom teacher.

Speaker A 00:08:28

And inside the classroom, and day after day, just seeing how my students would react to how I would be prepared or not prepared and what I brought to the space really gave me this meta of, okay, this is about how I'm showing up, but it's also about how teachers showed up for me and made me the person that I was.

Speaker A 00:08:53

And I think that seed was planted.

Speaker A 00:08:55

And as I started, as I continued in that educational pathway while I was in Mexico, I just fell in love, Fell in love with teaching, with the students, the joy of just being an educator.

Speaker A 00:09:09

That when I came back to the us Even though my intention was to go back into insurance and corporate insurance, as a matter of fact, to open up my own insurance agency, this feeling, this experience that I had just had in the classroom as an educator was so profound that I submitted an application to a school, to an organization that was opening up schools that said, should zip codes define destiny?

Speaker A 00:09:36

I'm like, no, they shouldn't.

Speaker A 00:09:37

And anyways, that's where my career just took a complete, complete pivot.

Speaker A 00:09:43

I think it went from that experience of the classroom teacher.

Speaker A 00:09:47

But then when I moved back to the U.S.

Speaker A 00:09:49

i was like, okay, this is my calling.

Speaker A 00:09:51

I'm doing education for life.

Speaker A 00:09:53

Forget all the corporate insurance.

Speaker A 00:09:55

It was only preparing me for another type of underwriting.

Speaker B 00:09:59

Yeah, amazing.

Speaker B 00:10:00

And I'm curious because we don't get to speak to a lot of people who've got educational experience in different countries.

Speaker B 00:10:07

How is that from your experience?

Speaker B 00:10:08

Both, sort of.

Speaker B 00:10:09

Practically from an environmental point of view, from a social point of view.

Speaker B 00:10:13

What have you sort of learned in that, in that way?

Speaker A 00:10:16

Oh, that's a deep question mark.

Speaker A 00:10:18

Because, you know, I'm a daughter of immigrants, and my parents came to the US because of poverty and because of political asylum.

Speaker A 00:10:27

So my father came from Cuba, my mom from Mexico, and living in Mexico to see in some instances like really extreme poverty, but then also really extreme wealth.

Speaker A 00:10:39

And then being inside of a classroom to see how regardless of a child's demographic or circumstance, that was independent of how I showed up in the classroom.

Speaker A 00:10:54

Like I needed to be the best teacher to deliver curriculum.

Speaker A 00:10:58

And for me, I think that it was eye opening around educational systems that take place all around the world.

Speaker A 00:11:09

And I think at some point I actually got curious because a lot of my co teachers were from the US and they had teachers also from Mexico.

Speaker A 00:11:20

But I just found it fascinating that there was a similar structure but then there indeed was a difference in the educational structures.

Speaker A 00:11:30

One thing I will point out is in Mexico I felt like the relationship with families was just very strong.

Speaker A 00:11:37

Like I would have families at my door right after class ended.

Speaker A 00:11:41

And Maesta, like teacher, how is, you know, Maria?

Speaker A 00:11:46

I made up a name, but how was Maria today?

Speaker A 00:11:48

And I would be like, oh, Maria was great and da da, da.

Speaker A 00:11:51

And that's not something that when I moved back to the US I saw often, but I know that we should be seeing that.

Speaker A 00:12:00

So I would summarize it just to say, like, education has its like core components, but it is delivered differently across the world.

Speaker A 00:12:08

And I, I would love to, you know, take a world trip and see how it plays out in other places.

Speaker B 00:12:14

Yeah.

Speaker B 00:12:15

And I think one of the things I've spoken about recently is this idea, the difference between schooling, the difference between schooling and learning and learning and education.

Speaker B 00:12:24

And.

Speaker B 00:12:24

And I think the key thing, like I said there about families being so interactive and sort of wanting to have that conversation is the fact that when you have the, the story, the child at the center of their learning, then we all have a role to play, don't we?

Speaker B 00:12:36

Whether it's within the classroom, if it's an external club, if it's the family.

Speaker B 00:12:40

You know, children are learning all the time in so many different ways.

Speaker B 00:12:43

And I think the more there's a community around them, then the more chance they've got to feel like they can thrive in anything is possible.

Speaker A 00:12:52

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker A 00:12:53

And I was listening to one of your prior podcasts when you were talking about how it's not just about those grades, it's actually about that learning.

Speaker A 00:13:02

And that's true.

Speaker A 00:13:03

And I think that's why family and community engagement is so important.

Speaker A 00:13:06

Because learning is not contained to the four walls that we send our children to.

Speaker A 00:13:11

Learning happens everywhere and with anyone.

Speaker A 00:13:13

And when we can really crystallize that, that fact, then we can all really start working together.

Speaker A 00:13:20

So we ensure that there's continuity of uplifting the learning experience throughout any setting.

Speaker B 00:13:29

And it's interesting for us, our youngest is just going through A levels here in the UK, which is sort of 17, 18 years old, pre going to university.

Speaker B 00:13:38

And it's interesting within what you hear with her group of friends and that kind of thing, because there are some people who are like, there's never enough work they can do in terms of studying.

Speaker B 00:13:46

There's obviously some people who will think they haven't done maybe enough.

Speaker B 00:13:50

But the sorts of conversations that we were having is around, you know, once you've got the structure and you want to be revising and you want to give yourself the best opportunity to get the grades that you want in order for you to take that next step.

Speaker B 00:14:02

But it's like, well, what's the point?

Speaker B 00:14:03

There's always another exam.

Speaker B 00:14:04

There's always another thing you've got to do within that.

Speaker B 00:14:07

It's kind of, well, how do you want to spend your time during the time that you're learning, during the exam period, during how you want to look after yourself so that you can, you know, show up as your best person to be the best person on that day, not just because you spent X number of hours revising or studying really hard, which may well be a good skill to have, but it's only part of the puzzle.

Speaker B 00:14:27

And in terms of setting yourself up for how you want to show up for the rest of your life, like I said, there's always another job to go for, another this to happen or that to happen or a big meeting or whatever.

Speaker B 00:14:37

So understanding how all these things fit into the world at large and how you communicate that with your friends and your family and your colleagues, like I say, as you get a little bit older, it's a really key thing.

Speaker B 00:14:46

And I think it's really hard to understand that for students when they're in school, because they've certainly here in the UK, from four years old to 18, that's all, you know, it's what you spend most of your time doing, you sort of leave before you kind of realize, oh, it's not just about that now you're having to spend all those years going through.

Speaker B 00:15:01

So it's quite hard to get that across sometimes.

Speaker A 00:15:05

Yeah.

Speaker A 00:15:05

Oh, my gosh.

Speaker A 00:15:06

As you were describing that, I think about how we show up to do our work every day and how we're setting deadlines and how we're selling projects and how we're going about the way of work, and it's very much a mirror to the way we Went about the day in school and just doing, doing, doing, doing.

Speaker A 00:15:29

But at what point do we stop and pause?

Speaker A 00:15:31

Like, what are we doing this for?

Speaker A 00:15:33

Right, like, why are you studying?

Speaker A 00:15:34

What is the purpose of your study?

Speaker A 00:15:37

Not just to get the grade, not just to get the pat on the back or the high five or a certificate.

Speaker A 00:15:43

The point of study, of learning, is to really expand your thinking so that you can have this way forward of whatever your interest is and the same thing in your career.

Speaker A 00:15:55

The point of going to work every day is not just to do the task, it's to, I believe, create something that you're working towards.

Speaker A 00:16:05

And yeah, I could definitely see that, that parallel.

Speaker B 00:16:08

Yeah, it's such an important thing.

Speaker B 00:16:10

I think you put it so beautifully there.

Speaker B 00:16:12

Understanding that changes the way that you are in that environment too.

Speaker B 00:16:16

Because, you know, we all know that exams are stressful and especially within schools, they're quite focused certainly here in the UK about it, looking a certain way.

Speaker B 00:16:24

But like I say, when you've got that bigger picture, you know, when, when this is just a tool to enable you to then learn more, to engage more, to show up as somebody who's being educated and lear around those subjects, then you think, this is only a win, win, win.

Speaker B 00:16:39

No matter what the grades eventually are or where I eventually study, it's just another path and understanding.

Speaker B 00:16:44

The other thing we know is that it's not very linear, you know, as you've experienced today, you know, where your career and your life and your education and your learning goes is all over the place.

Speaker B 00:16:52

So I think being okay with that as well is it's a really important thing to understand.

Speaker A 00:16:57

Oh, a hundred percent it is not linear.

Speaker A 00:16:59

I think if, if, you know, if there's students listening right now, education is definitely not linear.

Speaker A 00:17:05

Your career will definitely not be linear.

Speaker A 00:17:07

And every experience can just go into your, your backpack or your tool belt to build on that dream that you're working to.

Speaker A 00:17:15

Because each one of us was made for a purpose and all these experiences really help deliver on that.

Speaker B 00:17:22

So just talk a little bit about design engagement, just so we've got an understanding of what that is and sort of how that sort of, sort of was part of that journey as well.

Speaker A 00:17:32

Yeah.

Speaker A 00:17:33

So, you know, going back to the time when I was an educator in Mexico and then when I moved back to the US I definitely saw that family engagement piece firsthand and I was just like, yeah, we, we really need that.

Speaker A 00:17:47

And so when I moved back to the U.S.

Speaker A 00:17:51

and I helped open four schools and, and I had amazing school leaders that I worked alongside with, who valued family and community engagement.

Speaker A 00:18:02

I just really saw that when we were intentional about creating the systems, it would help foster the relationships that really ultimately impacted student outcomes.

Speaker A 00:18:12

And that's our theory of change at design engagement Systems, relationships, outcome.

Speaker A 00:18:17

It takes human beings to intentionally design systems that really help build relationships.

Speaker A 00:18:23

From educator to student, student to student, educated, a family, there's a relationship everywhere to be made.

Speaker A 00:18:30

And when we're intentional about those systems, then we can expect that student outcomes will benefit.

Speaker A 00:18:38

Now, on the opposite side, when you don't design systems of engagement, then we see the status quo and we see what already happens there.

Speaker A 00:18:50

The starting of my company was a whole journey in itself, but really, I think I could summarize it to it being this recognition, reckoning of this is really my life purpose.

Speaker A 00:19:00

Like, I want to work in.

Speaker A 00:19:03

In a space where every day I work, I wake up and I am yelling on the top, at the top of my lungs of like, humanity matters.

Speaker A 00:19:12

The way you treat people matters.

Speaker A 00:19:14

And we need to work together so our students can live out their wildest dreams.

Speaker A 00:19:19

Because that's what happened in my life.

Speaker B 00:19:22

I really love that.

Speaker B 00:19:23

And I think this is where I get excited about where education can and probably will develop going forward, is that, you know, we have those traditional institutions, but the learning that you need and to be aware of comes from people outside that, because we know that schools and staff are so time poor, just literally delivering statutory what they have to do and all those things as well.

Speaker B 00:19:48

So when you can see it very clearly laid out with people who've got a clear understanding of why and how that works and how you can help people and then implement that into those existing systems, then even if the systems do change, which hopefully they will in some way to give, like you say, an opportunity for children to kind of breathe out a little bit, I think we could all appreciate that.

Speaker B 00:20:11

But it means you're making a big impact, like you say, in a way that, you know is heartfelt from your personal experience.

Speaker B 00:20:17

And I think I would imagine everyone you speak to about that has that sense of a kindred spirit, because essentially that's what we're all here trying to do.

Speaker A 00:20:25

Absolutely.

Speaker A 00:20:26

And education is changing.

Speaker A 00:20:28

I mean, AI right.

Speaker A 00:20:29

Like it came to exponentially change our world.

Speaker A 00:20:34

And now more than ever, do we need human connection?

Speaker A 00:20:38

Because, yes, we have this new technology, but it really comes down to that human connection and how to leverage that technology to foster those relationships with the learning, with others that you're engaged, engaging with.

Speaker B 00:20:55

And I think one of the Topics that we, we do sometimes cover is the fact that critical thinking, how you work with others, how you kind of engage with others outside of school is sometimes very different than when you do, how you're doing it within school.

Speaker B 00:21:10

And I think so many people know this is a very positive thing.

Speaker B 00:21:14

They know it's a positive thing because businesses are asking for it.

Speaker B 00:21:16

It's the way they're working, you know, can be a very social, relaxed way, as well as having that focus of what you're trying to achieve.

Speaker B 00:21:23

And I wonder whether, you know, we don't want to go down the AI rabbit hole too much, but actually, because it's going to make personalized learning so obvious, because you'll just be learning in a way that you can, like you say how that is then brought back into that human connection and how it can, that's going to increase it, however many fold because you've done the, the individual personalized learning, because the tools are there already to help you learn X, Y and Z, whatever ever part of the curriculum it might be.

Speaker B 00:21:49

But how you then frame that, how you talk about that, how you bring that together to solve a problem or set up a project or create something is going to be how everybody's version of that comes together.

Speaker B 00:22:00

And that's really exciting.

Speaker B 00:22:01

And I don't quite see how education can't change because of that.

Speaker B 00:22:04

Because how long can we go?

Speaker B 00:22:06

Just having 30 or 40 students all learning the same thing at the same sort of time is kind of what we've had historically.

Speaker A 00:22:13

Oh, absolutely, absolutely.

Speaker A 00:22:15

And I have shared this phrase many times with school leaders and with folks that I have the privilege of working with around.

Speaker A 00:22:25

One of the key responsibilities of education is helping individuals become chess players and not chess pieces.

Speaker A 00:22:35

And I think that's the tee up to what AI is doing.

Speaker A 00:22:38

Right.

Speaker A 00:22:39

And the way we go about leveraging AI in that context is, you know, I think this popular word around prompt engineering is one example.

Speaker A 00:22:48

But how do you invest the time and resources and human connection in students and families and educators and everyone in the educational ecosystem so that they can believe their ability to become those prompt engineers.

Speaker A 00:23:04

I think it's super critical that we keep insight that AI is just a tool, just like the computer was just a tool back in the day.

Speaker A 00:23:12

But it's really the human beings behind the tool that are making the ideas that are creating these moves.

Speaker A 00:23:20

And it, it, you know, there's no way that AI can replace that human connection.

Speaker A 00:23:24

And we still have to really, really thoughtfully invest in relationships.

Speaker B 00:23:28

Yeah, and you mentioned the computer There, it just, it just reminds me, and certainly the search engines as well, I remember people talking way back when about how this is going to be terrible and this is going to happen and that's going to happen.

Speaker B 00:23:41

And it's just like, you can't imagine now someone just not using a search engine to look up something any more than.

Speaker B 00:23:48

Can you just go to the library down the street to find the answer to this question that you could find on your phone in half a second?

Speaker B 00:23:53

You know, I mean, it's just, it's obvious that the world is changing again in that way, but you would think that a lot of that computing power has actually made our life better and easier.

Speaker B 00:24:03

As long as, like you said, you've got that human connection to give you that kind of reference point of why you're doing it, how you're doing it, how it's useful for you, how it's useful for others and what you're trying to get from it, because that's the thing, information for information's sake, especially having it just at your fingertips, but why you're using it, what it is, and actually being able to think about it critically enough to say, actually, is this true?

Speaker B 00:24:24

Is it welcome and is it something we want to spend our time with?

Speaker A 00:24:28

Yes, 100%.

Speaker A 00:24:29

We, we have to, you know, really understand why we want to know something, what we want to do with that knowledge and where that knowledge comes from, and then how we can leverage it for whatever we're, you know, trying to move forward.

Speaker A 00:24:42

And it's, it's so important, so important.

Speaker B 00:24:45

So, so I'm always fascinated generally about whether there's an educational experience or a teacher which has had an impact on you, especially as an educator.

Speaker B 00:24:54

No more, but so than today, bearing in mind what we talked about with the book in the whole reason that you're sort of sharing all this wonderful experience that you've had.

Speaker B 00:25:02

So, so, yeah, what, what is your sort of your thoughts on that in terms of a teacher or the education experience that you think people would be interested to get that insight from?

Speaker A 00:25:11

Yeah, I, I love teachers.

Speaker A 00:25:14

They're just so amazing and they change lives.

Speaker A 00:25:17

And I just, you know, to any educator that's listening today, just.

Speaker A 00:25:21

Thank you so much.

Speaker A 00:25:21

Especially right now.

Speaker A 00:25:23

It is probably one of the most difficult times to be an educator, but we're very grateful that you're there for me.

Speaker A 00:25:30

I think one of the educators that just made a life impact on me and my very small community is Mrs.

Speaker A 00:25:40

Tabasoli, Mrs.

Speaker A 00:25:41

Nora Tavasoli.

Speaker A 00:25:43

And she, I mean, she Went beyond, above and beyond of teaching curriculum.

Speaker A 00:25:49

Like, she really touched my humanity.

Speaker A 00:25:52

She touched the humanity of my, My.

Speaker A 00:25:55

My neighbors and was someone who would show up in our actual community to demonstrate like, hey, you matter.

Speaker A 00:26:04

And every interaction that I ever had with her was always uplifting.

Speaker A 00:26:08

I mean, to this day, we keep a really personal.

Speaker A 00:26:12

And that just goes to show you, like, when she was out there teaching curriculum, she was intentional about building relationships because she knew the power of it.

Speaker A 00:26:22

And for me, I think one very specific moment that I just want to lift up is, you know, I think as a child growing up in poverty, sometimes you don't see the amazing person that you're going to become and all the things that you're going to have on your resume and your brilliance.

Speaker A 00:26:42

And an educators see that.

Speaker A 00:26:44

And Mrs.

Speaker A 00:26:44

Tavasoli saw that in me, and she told me before I could see it in myself.

Speaker A 00:26:49

And so I think that would be the moment that I feel very grateful for.

Speaker B 00:26:54

I love that.

Speaker B 00:26:54

Because it's a unique gift, isn't it, that perspective that you have as an educator?

Speaker B 00:26:58

I see it sometimes as a musician.

Speaker B 00:27:01

You know, I teach in a couple of schools specifically doing sort of percussion and drum teaching.

Speaker B 00:27:07

And you just have some people coming in and you just go, almost.

Speaker B 00:27:11

The world is your oyster as a musician.

Speaker B 00:27:13

You know, you might not make it in.

Speaker B 00:27:14

You know, it might not become your career or whatever, but what you are able to produce, what you're able to give, what you're able to share with fellow people that you're.

Speaker B 00:27:22

You're being a musician with is a real gift.

Speaker B 00:27:25

And they're just coming in just.

Speaker B 00:27:26

It's just another thing they're doing at school to begin with before they really get involved and you have a parents evening and you sort of mention these things and I oh, yeah, okay.

Speaker B 00:27:34

But you kind of, you know, all of those skills as they come in from the people who are highly talented and are really able to sort of take that forward to the people who've met, made a massive difference in their own lives by learning something which they may not have had the opportunity to do before.

Speaker B 00:27:47

And I just think the way you put that is, you know, that bird's eye view and that perspective and understanding of what just some of those small things are, they can make a really big difference.

Speaker B 00:27:56

And let's say to be able to share that and to have that human connection, like say, so that you actually understand it and can take that forward as a positive, I guess that's the real gift of any educator.

Speaker A 00:28:06

Oh, absolutely.

Speaker A 00:28:07

And it's interesting that you mention music because in the book I do mention a scene where I had the opportunity to go to, I believe it was the Boston Symphony and there was a conductor who was teaching a student how to play this instrument.

Speaker A 00:28:22

And you could see that the, the teacher could see something bigger and kept pushing him and kept pushing him.

Speaker A 00:28:29

And at the end, I think it was like three or four rounds.

Speaker A 00:28:32

The music was just totally different.

Speaker A 00:28:34

You could hear it, but you could also see it in the child's disposition of like how they were playing the instrument.

Speaker A 00:28:40

It was so powerful.

Speaker A 00:28:42

And I think that's exactly true across the magic of an educator, a teacher, regardless of the discipline, that they can see something in someone before they can see it in themselves and can pull it out of them.

Speaker B 00:28:57

I absolutely think that's amazing because I think it really demonstrates as well that it's also something that you can't quantify, but it is something that you can experience.

Speaker B 00:29:06

Which probably goes into why so many things are assessment based with a, you know, a particular grade and that kind of thing.

Speaker B 00:29:11

Like I said, that difference between that student is chalk and cheese.

Speaker B 00:29:15

When you see the whole framework of how that was, could you mark it as a grade?

Speaker B 00:29:20

Could you give it a number, all that sort of thing?

Speaker B 00:29:21

Of course not.

Speaker B 00:29:22

Because it's, it's the, the difference between who they are as a person.

Speaker B 00:29:25

And I think like, say you can do it across any discipline, any subject, but I think not getting bogged down in what that is other than the human growth and transformation.

Speaker B 00:29:35

And I think the more we could have that as part of our education, education world, it's just that we know, I know as an educator, this child is so much more today than they were yesterday and there isn't much more than we need to do because if everyone's doing that, then the world's going to be a better place.

Speaker B 00:29:49

One feels.

Speaker A 00:29:50

Yes, a hundred percent.

Speaker A 00:29:51

And you know, it's for children and it's for adults too.

Speaker A 00:29:55

Right.

Speaker A 00:29:55

Because we have, you know, I think about principals and the role that they play in supporting teachers.

Speaker A 00:30:02

They have a very educator role there to play as well.

Speaker A 00:30:05

And pull out the best educator and a teacher and it, so on and so forth all the way to the career level.

Speaker A 00:30:12

But yeah, it's such a, it's such a skill that one can have when you can take out, pull out the best in people.

Speaker B 00:30:21

Yeah.

Speaker B 00:30:22

Is there a piece of advice that you've ever been given that you'd like to share or even a piece of advice you might give your younger self now Looking back, and I always slightly caveat this with the fact that when we're younger, we not necessarily take these things on board, but still important to acknowledge them and share them.

Speaker A 00:30:36

Anyway, anyway, yeah, I mean, I.

Speaker A 00:30:41

I would say it.

Speaker A 00:30:43

My dad's the one that comes to mind.

Speaker A 00:30:45

You know, picture a Cuban man smoking a cigar and telling you stories and story after story.

Speaker A 00:30:52

And there's one story that he tells about, you know, stepping in because somebody was, like, mistreating another individual, and he was like, marcela, I want you to always remember that.

Speaker A 00:31:04

That you know better than me, and I know better than you.

Speaker A 00:31:07

And for me, my dad was a hospitality worker, and then he became a truck driver.

Speaker A 00:31:14

And what he was really trying to uplift there is that we're all human beings, whether, you know, you are cleaning toilets at a hospital or you're the CEO of a company, none of us are better than one another.

Speaker A 00:31:29

And I just really love.

Speaker A 00:31:32

And I will always carry that story with me of how my dad was one of the most instrumental people to show me that power of humanity, that none of us are better than the other.

Speaker A 00:31:44

And we really just have to treat each other with love and respect.

Speaker B 00:31:47

Yeah.

Speaker B 00:31:47

How wonderful.

Speaker B 00:31:48

Thank you for sharing that.

Speaker B 00:31:50

Is there a resource you'd like to share?

Speaker B 00:31:53

And this can be professional or personal.

Speaker B 00:31:54

Anything from a song, video, podcast, book, film.

Speaker B 00:31:57

But, yeah, something that's had an impact.

Speaker A 00:32:00

Yeah.

Speaker A 00:32:01

I think one of the books that I came across when I was in Mexico and also just like, reflecting on life and what was happening in my life was this book, the Alchemist by Pablo Coelho, and it was about dreaming.

Speaker A 00:32:16

And one of the quotes I believe he talks about is, when you want something, the whole world conspires to make it happen, or something to that effect.

Speaker A 00:32:28

I really love Coelho's writing, and especially in the Alchemist, of how we all have something in us and the universe is working to support us.

Speaker A 00:32:40

Us, and within the universe are people and humanity.

Speaker A 00:32:44

And I just.

Speaker A 00:32:45

Yeah, I think that's one of the ones that I really love.

Speaker B 00:32:47

I think that's amazing.

Speaker B 00:32:48

And I.

Speaker B 00:32:48

I completely agree.

Speaker B 00:32:50

It's one of my favorites as well.

Speaker B 00:32:51

And.

Speaker B 00:32:52

And I think it just has.

Speaker B 00:32:53

It just puts a whole new perspective on how you think your day, your week, your month, your year, your whole life is progressing between, oh, it's.

Speaker B 00:33:01

Nothing's ever going to happen because of this, as opposed to, like, say, everything is possible.

Speaker B 00:33:05

It's all working forward.

Speaker B 00:33:06

Put it out there, allowing the world to do what it does in its way, and that then your day from the moment you wake up is going to be very different from your own experience and then how that starts to manifest itself as well.

Speaker A 00:33:18

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker A 00:33:19

I think the mindset and the way you think and.

Speaker A 00:33:23

And start your day really has an impact.

Speaker A 00:33:26

And GOEL does a great job of helping us remember the power of the mind.

Speaker B 00:33:31

So the acronym FIRE is obviously important to us here.

Speaker B 00:33:34

And by that we mean feedback, inspiration, resilience, resilience and empowerment.

Speaker B 00:33:39

What is it that strikes you when you.

Speaker B 00:33:40

When you see that?

Speaker B 00:33:41

And it could be one particular word or if combination.

Speaker A 00:33:48

I think, you know, all of it.

Speaker A 00:33:50

I love.

Speaker A 00:33:51

I love fire.

Speaker A 00:33:52

I consider myself a fiery person, not because I'm Latina, but because I'm just, like, so passionate.

Speaker A 00:33:58

And maybe it is because I'm Latina, but I think, you know, when I see educators, and there's one in particular that I had the honor of seeing year after year, like, decorate her classroom.

Speaker A 00:34:14

Her name is Ms.

Speaker A 00:34:15

Frankie Aman.

Speaker A 00:34:16

There was just such fire in her.

Speaker A 00:34:18

And all of these phrases, feedback, inspiration, resilience, empowerment, were part of her practice.

Speaker A 00:34:23

Like the way she would set up her classroom even before her students came in, year after year with intentionality to create a space of learning and then every day ensure that you.

Speaker A 00:34:33

She curated the space so that there could be this, you know, critical learning, inspiration, feedback.

Speaker A 00:34:41

And then resilience and empower students was just so palpable.

Speaker A 00:34:45

And I just feel privileged that I got to see it as a colleague and I just, you know, sent her my regards.

Speaker A 00:34:53

But, yeah, she is the embodiment of fire.

Speaker A 00:34:56

And I would say educators are right.

Speaker A 00:34:58

Like, educators bring the fire and they give.

Speaker A 00:35:02

They give of themselves to ensure that they light a fire in our students so that they can be the best that they can be.

Speaker B 00:35:10

Absolutely.

Speaker B 00:35:10

I couldn't agree more for everything that we do here on the show.

Speaker B 00:35:13

So, Marzana, thank you so much indeed for sharing all that wisdom.

Speaker B 00:35:17

It's been.

Speaker B 00:35:17

I mean, I think we could chat all day, but.

Speaker B 00:35:19

But just for people who.

Speaker B 00:35:21

Who want to find out more, where would you like them to go and click and.

Speaker B 00:35:25

And the reason I love the podcast so much is because we get to hear the voice and the personality and the people behind the written text and that kind of thing.

Speaker B 00:35:33

So, yeah, I absolutely, really appreciate it.

Speaker A 00:35:35

Yeah, definitely.

Speaker A 00:35:37

And thank you all so much for having me.

Speaker A 00:35:38

It's been a joy.

Speaker A 00:35:39

I mean, I could talk about relationships all day, every day.

Speaker A 00:35:42

And as a matter of fact, I kind of do because I get to live out my purpose thanks to educators.

Speaker A 00:35:47

But if anyone wants to connect with me.

Speaker A 00:35:49

I have a personal website, marcelandres.com and you could see anything from my most recent and only TED Talk that I've done on relationships to, you know, podcasts that I've been on or thought pieces that I've written around the power of relationships.

Speaker A 00:36:05

And I and then also, you know, with all the technology they could just Google me and surely they'll find me.

Speaker B 00:36:12

Absolutely.

Speaker B 00:36:12

And we'll make sure we've got links on the description to all of those things as well so people can click through very easily.

Speaker B 00:36:18

Thank you so much indeed.

Speaker B 00:36:19

Enjoy the work that you're doing, which you obviously do because you're obviously making such a difference.

Speaker B 00:36:23

And yeah, look forward to seeing where that takes you.

Speaker A 00:36:26

Thank you so much, Mark, and thank you for the work that you do.

Speaker A 00:36:28

This is very powerful.

Speaker A 00:36:29

And may education stay on fire.

Speaker B 00:36:34

Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire.