Leveraging Student Brilliance

Leveraging Student Brilliance

00:00
Daniel
M. 

00:02
Daniel
I’d like to offer a simple. 

00:04
Daniel
Question with a complex answer. 

00:07
Daniel
Is it possible you’re missing the brilliance of your students? 

00:11
Daniel
Right? 

00:12
Daniel
Are you capturing 100% of the strengths. 

00:16
Daniel
And gifts and brilliance that your students are bringing to the table? 

00:21
Daniel
And if you’re answering, no, I’m not capturing 100% of the students in my building and their brilliance. 

00:27
Daniel
But why not? 

00:28
Daniel
Are they coming to you in less. 

00:30
Daniel
Traditional packages, so to speak? 

00:33
Daniel
Or are we simplifying their human experience. 

00:36
Daniel
And not thinking they are as complex as we are? Whatever the case may be, it’s a missed opportunity. And with every opportunity, there’s a chance to create even more value for our community. And that’s what Ruckus makers do. So if you want to figure out. 

00:54
Daniel
An approach, a curiosity, an openness, an investigative way of finding and tapping into and leveraging our students’collective brilliance, then you’re going to love today’s episode where we. 

01:07
Daniel
Hear what some leaders are doing at Excelsior University. Hey, it’s Danny. 

01:15
Daniel
I’m a principal development and retention expert, a best selling author. I host two of the world’s most downloaded podcasts, and this show is for you, a ruckus maker, which means you’ve made three commitments. You’ve committed to investing in your continuous growth, challenging the status quo, and designing. 

01:32
Daniel
The future of school now. And we’ll be right back after some messages from our show sponsors. 

01:44
Speaker 4
Hey, Ruckus Maker, I’ll make this quick. If you’re listening to this message right now, you’re missing out. 

01:51
Daniel
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01:53
Speaker 4
Newsletter on Substack, you get access to microbooks focused on how to do school different tools and other resources that will help you make a ruckus and do school different stories and case studies of the world’s most legendary ruckus, makers of all time. Access to my calendar to schedule coaching sessions, and you’ll also get bonus podcast content that won’t be released on the main podcast feed and podcast episodes without any advertisements. So if you love this show, if it’s helped you grow and you want access to more tools and resources that will help you make a ruckus in do school different and become a paid subscriber at Ruckusmakers substack.com, that’s Ruckusmakers substack.com. 

02:46
Daniel
The truth is, most leaders weren’t taught. 

02:49
Speaker 4
A robust way to set their goals. 

02:51
Daniel
Everyone knows how to choose a goal. 

02:53
Speaker 4
Write the to do list, and pick. 

02:54
Daniel
A due date, and as a result. 

02:56
Speaker 4
They’Re not optimizing their potential. When you download the Ruckus maker eight step goal setting tool, I’ll send you the tool in a short eight minute coaching video that shows you how to work smarter, not harder, and create more value for your campus. 

03:12
Daniel
Are you ready to accomplish more with. 

03:14
Speaker 4
Less effort and in less time? 

03:16
Daniel
Download the Ruckus Maker eight step goal. 

03:19
Speaker 4
Setting tool by going to betterleadersbetterschools.com goals. 

03:26
Daniel
IXL is a go to support for. 

03:28
Speaker 5
Classroom teachers because its adaptive platform makes differentiated instruction easy. See for yourself and get started [email protected]. Leaders that’s ixl.com leaders. 

03:44
Daniel
How would you like to increase student. 

03:46
Speaker 5
Talk by an average of 40%? More student ownership, more student discourse? Check it out for yourself by trying out Teachfx. Go to teachfx.com betterleaders to pilot their program today one way to do school different is to shift students who need constant handholding and prodding to succeed to teaching them the skills to succeed independently. That’s where executive functions for every classroom comes in. Which you can get today when you go to organizebinder.com book. So head over to organizebinder.com book and pick up your copy of executive functions for every classroom. 

04:33
Dr Daniel
Right? 

04:33
Daniel
Hey there, ruckus makers. Excited to have Daniel Pasco Aguilar, PhD in mDiv, join me today. 

04:41
Daniel
And Daniel is a passionate leader. 

04:43
Daniel
And he’s passionate about problem solving, collaborating. 

04:46
Daniel
With students, alums, the university, community, and. 

04:50
Daniel
Community organizations on meaningful partnerships and innovative strategies for the development of a diverse. 

04:57
Daniel
Purpose driven, interculturally sensitive, and systemic challenge. Ready next generation of leaders. 

05:05
Daniel
Currently, Daniel is Excelsior University’s CDO and. 

05:10
Daniel
Founding director of the center for Social justice. 

05:13
Daniel
Before this, Daniel served in career development, Dei crisis services, and spiritual development leadership roles at diverse universities, organizations in Mexico, and the US. Daniel has a phd and a master’s. 

05:29
Daniel
From Indiana University and an MDiV from. 

05:32
Daniel
Palmer Theological Seminary and a bachelor’s industrial design from Universidad Autonoma metropolitana in Mexico. 

05:42
Daniel
So Daniel, welcome to the show. 

05:45
Dr Daniel
Thank you for the opportunity. 

05:46
Speaker 7
I’m honored. 

05:48
Daniel
It’s brilliant to have you here, and I’m so excited to have somebody with. 

05:51
Daniel
Your credentials and expertise and vast experience, too. I’m going to withhold my curiosity. 

06:00
Daniel
Tell me about industrial design. Did all this in cris services, right? I didn’t know that about your bio, but let’s start with your story, right? You grew up as a student in. 

06:10
Daniel
Mexico and you’re dyslexic, so your school. 

06:14
Daniel
Experience, I’m sure, was quite interesting, maybe. 

06:17
Daniel
Challenging, but can you tell me about that school? 

06:22
Dr Daniel
Absolutely. 

06:23
Daniel
Yeah. 

06:24
Speaker 7
It was unique in that at that time, maybe I’m dating myself, and in Mexico, that was not something that institutions could diagnose. 

06:34
Daniel
Yeah. 

06:34
Speaker 7
So the assumption was that I was either lazy or not very smart. And unfortunately, at some point, I started to believe it. So it was a challenging journey, but it was an important one to realize the opportunity to survive. Challenge. 

07:02
Dr Daniel
What that meant is that the educational system was not designed for me, like, in the United States, for example, right. 

07:07
Speaker 7
Now, we have 20% of students who are dyslexic, according to research. And the learning process is different than the traditional one. 

07:18
Dr Daniel
So learning has to be circumvented. 

07:21
Speaker 7
And I was very lucky that during. 

07:26
Dr Daniel
My education, my elementary and middle and. 

07:30
Speaker 7
High school education, I was very involved. 

07:32
Dr Daniel
In a community, in a religious community, where I was able to explore leadership through art and through programming and leading groups. 

07:40
Speaker 7
And that really turned my life to the better. 

07:43
Dr Daniel
Right. And I was able to see the value that I could bring to organizations. 

07:48
Speaker 7
I was able to see even the strengths that dyslexia could bring to my functioning at my contributions. 

07:56
Dr Daniel
So it was a very interesting experience going through the challenge, identifying opportunities, and. 

08:02
Speaker 7
Getting really creative to use them so. 

08:05
Dr Daniel
That I could grow and so that I could. 

08:09
Daniel
Know. 

08:10
Daniel
I can think of many off the. 

08:12
Daniel
Top of my head. 

08:12
Daniel
I’ll just. 

08:13
Daniel
Richard Branson, I think, is one. But there’s plenty of entrepreneurs who have been incredibly successful and are dyslexic because. 

08:20
Daniel
They have to figure out ways know. 

08:23
Daniel
Navigate the world, right. Despite the challenges of the written word and text on a page. But you were getting these negative messages, and then it sounds like you were plugged into some powerful organizations that allowed. 

08:36
Daniel
You to figure it out. 

08:38
Daniel
Would you say that’s what helped you. 

08:40
Daniel
Pivot from some of these negative messages. 

08:42
Daniel
You were hearing in school? 

08:44
Daniel
Or was it something else? 

08:46
Dr Daniel
Absolutely. 

08:46
Daniel
Yeah. 

08:47
Dr Daniel
Because, really, at least me, as someone who experiences dyslexia, my intuition is off charts. And I learned through making connections and through seeing the big picture and through playing with things. 

09:01
Speaker 7
Right. 

09:01
Dr Daniel
Rather than sitting and reading a book. 

09:03
Speaker 7
Or looking at equations. So that ability that I had to. 

09:08
Dr Daniel
Go through growth and development through trial. 

09:10
Speaker 7
And error in an environment that was less academic, ended up being opportunity for. 

09:17
Dr Daniel
Me, which is a reminder, based on. 

09:19
Speaker 7
What we’re discussing today, of how any. 

09:22
Dr Daniel
Education we facilitate should always make sure. 

09:26
Speaker 7
To include both ways or a diversity of ways of learning, things like universal design for learning. 

09:32
Dr Daniel
And then assuming that you have a. 

09:34
Speaker 7
Number of learners that need a unique. 

09:37
Dr Daniel
Way in which they can understand, they can apply, they can even become engaged in their learning. 

09:44
Daniel
Right. 

09:45
Speaker 5
Talk to me a bit about intuition. 

09:46
Daniel
Because I think that obviously it’s a skill that serves you well, but it serves ruckus makers, leaders well when they. 

09:53
Daniel
Learn to trust their gut. 

09:54
Daniel
But for whatever reason, folks might be uncomfortable, they don’t trust themselves or whatever. 

09:59
Daniel
But tell me a bit about your process of learning to trust your intuition. 

10:04
Dr Daniel
Oh, it’s definitely been a very important. 

10:06
Speaker 7
Part of my life. 

10:08
Dr Daniel
Like, I have done music, for example, for a long time, I have written music. I record music. 

10:14
Speaker 7
Now I’m singing classical music and recording it. I mean, a lot of it is based on those connections that my mind makes automatically. 

10:23
Dr Daniel
I think what’s very important, at least in the work that I have, and as I think of how to improve education, is to use that intuition and to elicit and leverage that intuition in. 

10:36
Speaker 7
Our students to help them grow there. 

10:39
Dr Daniel
How many times have we heard students saying, I hate math, right? 

10:44
Speaker 7
But then they go out the next five minutes, and they’re, like, having the. 

10:48
Dr Daniel
Best time of their life playing a sport, and they don’t realize it’s all. 

10:51
Speaker 7
Physics and math, right? 

10:53
Dr Daniel
And we have the opportunity to connect. 

10:55
Speaker 7
The dots for them, and we elicit. 

10:57
Dr Daniel
That energy and that intrinsic motivation through the intuition that they have themselves. And it’s such an important way of understanding how to facilitate their. 

11:09
Daniel
Yeah. 

11:10
Daniel
And I’m taking on my wife, too. And honestly, it was the quality of. 

11:14
Daniel
Teachers she saw earlier in her academic. 

11:17
Daniel
Career where she didn’t think she was. 

11:18
Daniel
Good at math, right? 

11:20
Daniel
But then she arrived at a university. 

11:22
Daniel
Campus, started taking these courses and exploring. 

11:25
Daniel
And this kind of thing. She’s now a phd, right? She’s in public health. 

11:28
Daniel
She’s an epidemiologist, and she runs all. 

11:32
Daniel
These numbers and different models and is. 

11:34
Daniel
Looking at stats all the time and. 

11:36
Daniel
Making meaning from the data that she sees. 

11:38
Daniel
And she’s a math whiz. 

11:40
Daniel
But if she never had that experience. 

11:42
Daniel
Right, in the postsecondary experience, she would have thought, I’m bad at math. 

11:47
Daniel
Right? 

11:47
Daniel
So, man, we really have to be careful about folks that sometimes don’t come. 

11:53
Daniel
To our school in, like, a traditional package, right? And maybe you could speak a bit. 

11:59
Daniel
About the challenge of missing the brilliance. 

12:02
Daniel
Of our students when they might show. 

12:04
Daniel
Up in a less traditional package, so to speak. 

12:08
Speaker 7
Yeah. 

12:08
Dr Daniel
Excellent wording. 

12:09
Speaker 7
I think to me, the major challenge. 

12:12
Dr Daniel
In the story you were telling, the story that I experienced in the story. 

12:15
Speaker 7
Of many of our students, whether in. 

12:19
Dr Daniel
Their earlier years or in postsecondary education. 

12:23
Speaker 7
Is the risk of missing their brilliance. Now, here’s the bottom line, and you mentioned it earlier, we need a next generation of haters that is diverse, that. 

12:36
Dr Daniel
Is authentic, that is engaged, and that is ready. 

12:39
Speaker 7
And we know that our strength as a human race comes from our diversity. 

12:44
Daniel
Right? 

12:45
Speaker 7
Like, you want to put the best. 

12:46
Dr Daniel
Team to solve a problem or to innovate. You want to bring them from different. 

12:50
Speaker 7
Disciplines and different backgrounds. 

12:52
Dr Daniel
You want them to bring different perspectives and ideas and skills. 

12:56
Daniel
Right? 

12:57
Dr Daniel
The collection is the one that develops. 

13:00
Speaker 7
The richness of our capacity. So the risk of us losing brilliance because of a misunderstanding, life, right, is very scary. 

13:09
Dr Daniel
It’s actually upsetting to think that it. 

13:11
Speaker 7
Might have happened so many times. 

13:13
Dr Daniel
And it is an opportunity for us. 

13:16
Speaker 7
To rethink education altogether, rethink how we facilitate learning. Because I think that our job is to finding that spark, right? That approach that allows someone to thrive and to see the power of learning and then take it to the nth level. Right. The nth potential. There are many who have. 

13:37
Dr Daniel
Unfortunately, I know that there are many. 

13:38
Speaker 7
Who haven’t, and it’s never too late. We need to figure out ways of focusing. 

13:45
Daniel
In my leadership community, which I call the ruckus maker mastermind, we actually don’t teach anything content wise related to education. It’s because we want to leverage the diversity of awesome mental models and different ways of leading from industries all around. 

14:04
Daniel
And then bridge the gap. 

14:06
Daniel
Right. What does it mean to do this in education? So that our leaders are built a little more robustly. So you were talking about leadership development. And I know Excelsior University is doing. 

14:17
Daniel
Some pretty cool, you know, how are you helping facilitate that next generation of leaders? 

14:23
Speaker 7
Well, Excelsior has a very interesting history. 

14:27
Dr Daniel
In that it became an institution as. 

14:31
Speaker 7
An opportunity to offer those in the. 

14:34
Dr Daniel
Community who hadn’t had a chance to. 

14:36
Speaker 7
Complete their education with credit aggregation. 

14:39
Daniel
Right? 

14:40
Speaker 7
So it was a solution to a gap. 

14:42
Dr Daniel
And that has developed now that Excelsior is a nonprofit higher education institution, has a very powerful mission of focusing on. 

14:51
Speaker 7
Supporting the historically underrepresented in the community. 

14:55
Dr Daniel
And keep in mind, Excelsior university, by. 

14:57
Speaker 7
Design, is an online institution. 

15:00
Dr Daniel
It allows students to learn at their. 

15:02
Speaker 7
Own time, place and pace, right? So picture you have a single parent. 

15:11
Dr Daniel
Who might only be able to engage in their coursework at 11:00 after their. 

15:16
Speaker 7
Kids are asleep on a Thursday. 

15:20
Dr Daniel
And the ability to do that, to. 

15:22
Speaker 7
Go through their education even asynchronously, and. 

15:26
Dr Daniel
Taking advantage of the access they have to space and to time and to. 

15:31
Speaker 7
Do it at their place. 

15:32
Dr Daniel
And then, of course, to wrap around support mechanisms that understand the realities that our students face. That, to me, is a very powerful aspect of Excelsior. That’s one of the reasons for which. 

15:44
Speaker 7
I decided to join Excelsior, and I’m. 

15:46
Dr Daniel
Honored that they saw value in me. 

15:48
Speaker 7
Bringing what I offer to the institution. But I think to think of the. 

15:54
Dr Daniel
Bigger picture, I think it’s also a. 

15:56
Speaker 7
Reminder of how part of our responsibility as leaders of educational systems is to find ways to make education accessible to everyone. 

16:08
Daniel
Yeah, right. 

16:10
Daniel
And whether it’s developing the next generation of leaders, meeting them where they’re at and having an asynchronous model or flexibility within the schedule, that kind of thing. To me, it sounds like seeing the. 

16:23
Daniel
Humanity in others, and I don’t know why. Maybe it’s stress or just time in. 

16:33
Daniel
The classroom or whatever, but sometimes we forget these students, these are humans, and they do have brilliance in this kind. 

16:39
Daniel
Of stuff, but we forget that special quality that they bring. 

16:45
Daniel
How can we have that paradigm shift. 

16:47
Daniel
And remind ourselves, like, there’s humanity here. 

16:50
Daniel
There’S dignity, you know what I mean? 

16:51
Daniel
What do you have to say about that? 

16:53
Dr Daniel
Such an important question. Thank you, Danny. 

16:55
Speaker 7
So a couple of things. 

16:57
Dr Daniel
Many authors have really stressed, in a. 

17:00
Speaker 7
Very eloquent way the need for us. 

17:02
Dr Daniel
To focus on seeing the humanity knowledge have. 

17:05
Speaker 7
John Powell, Albert McKee, Nelson Bennett. 

17:08
Dr Daniel
I actually had the opportunity to work with Dr. Bennett. He developed this very powerful model, the. 

17:13
Speaker 7
Developmental model of intercultural sensitivity. 

17:16
Dr Daniel
And his model is really interesting. It helps you map where you are in your intercultural development and how you. 

17:21
Speaker 7
Can grow, be more inclusive and equitable or more intercultural sensitive when experiencing difference. 

17:30
Dr Daniel
But one day I had the opportunity to ask him about the premise of. 

17:33
Speaker 7
His model, and he said, it’s actually quite simple. 

17:36
Dr Daniel
It’s based on the observation that as. 

17:38
Speaker 7
Human beings, we have the tendency to think of ourselves as highly complex individuals. 

17:44
Dr Daniel
Okay, if you ask me who I am, I’m going to tell you about my family and about our health and. 

17:48
Speaker 7
Our finances and our education and our. 

17:52
Dr Daniel
Careers, and everything that makes me happy. 

17:55
Speaker 7
And keeps me up at night becomes this cloud of complexity, he said. 

18:00
Dr Daniel
The observation, unfortunately, continues in identifying that as human beings, we also have the. 

18:05
Speaker 7
Tendency to see others as less complex than us, and that the more different they are, particularly we’re afraid or have a challenge understanding the difference, the less we have the tendency to see complexity in them. So in other words, we simplify others. 

18:27
Dr Daniel
I’ve tried this since I learned that, and it’s been a very interesting realization to see that even with the people I love, right? 

18:34
Speaker 7
I often tend to do that. So to me it is about being able to approach others assuming the same level of complexity in their experiences and in their perspective. 

18:47
Dr Daniel
And here’s where the rubber meets the rope, regardless of my ability to understand. 

18:51
Speaker 7
That sweetness, because if I haven’t walked those footsteps, how will I ever understand that experience? 

18:58
Dr Daniel
However, that doesn’t mean that I cannot. 

18:59
Speaker 7
Learn, grow, and do everything I can. 

19:02
Dr Daniel
To level the plane for those who. 

19:03
Speaker 7
Have a limitation of privilege in whatever area. 

19:06
Dr Daniel
So to me, I think you’re completely right. 

19:09
Speaker 7
Education should be an endeavor of us. 

19:13
Dr Daniel
Figuring out how to see the humanity. 

19:15
Speaker 7
In others, how often it is that. 

19:17
Dr Daniel
We think of our students as people. 

19:20
Speaker 7
Need to learn from us. 

19:21
Dr Daniel
How much can we think of us learning from them? Right? 

19:25
Daniel
Yes. 

19:25
Dr Daniel
How important it is to see that. 

19:27
Speaker 7
As a two way street. 

19:28
Dr Daniel
And that can only happen if I. 

19:30
Speaker 7
Am assuming that level of complexity. 

19:32
Dr Daniel
And therefore I become curious and interested. 

19:34
Speaker 7
And inquisitive and I enter every space assuming that I am also going to learn. 

19:40
Daniel
Brilliant. 

19:41
Daniel
Yeah, that reminds me of Frery’s work and pedagogy of the press and teaching as a banking model versus meeting those brilliant humans where they’re at and seeing what they bring to the table as just a tremendous strength. Know building the curriculum around those this is awesome. Well, Daniel, I’m loving our conversation. We’re going to break here just for. 

20:05
Daniel
A second to get some messages in from our sponsors. 

20:08
Daniel
And when we get back, I’d love to ask you about the communities that. 

20:12
Daniel
You’Re building at Excelsior. 

20:16
Daniel
Teachers love the support that IXL provides. 

20:19
Speaker 4
In the classroom, and Ruckus makers love. 

20:21
Speaker 5
It as well because IXL also gives school leaders meaningful insights into every level. Put your finger on the pulse of student performance via the IXL dashboard or drill down to see progress and growth for individual students. You can even customize reports to hone in on the information that matters most to you. IXL helps Ruckus makers make data informed decisions that will benefit their student growth goals. Get started [email protected]. Leaders that’s ixl.com leaders. In post pandemic classrooms, student talk is crucial. And when classrooms come alive with conversation, teachers and students both thrive. TeachFX helps teachers make it happen the TeachFX instructional coaching app provides insights into student talk, effective questions, and classroom conversation quality. TeachFX professional development complements the app and empowers teachers with best practices for generating meaningful student discourse. Teachers using TeachfX increase their student talk by an average of 40%. Imagine that. 

21:37
Speaker 5
40% more ownership over the class by students. Ruckus makers can pilot teachfx with their teachers. Visit teachfx.com slash betterleaders to learn how. That’s teachfx.com forward slash betterleaders. Here’s the truth. Many teachers and leaders are facing challenges that leave them overwhelmed and discouraged. That’s why I want to introduce you to a powerful resource that can help you turn things around. Executive functions for every classroom is a must read book that equips teachers with the strategies and tools to support their students in developing essential executive functioning skills. With these skills, your students will become better planners, more focused, and better equipped to meet the high expectations you have for them. This book is more than theory. It shows teachers how to implement a predictable learning routine that models these skills in real life situations. Every student on your campus will benefit. 

22:41
Speaker 5
So head over to organizebinder.com book to get executive functions for every classroom, for yourself and all your teachers. That’s organizedbinder.com slash book. 

22:55
Daniel
All right, and we’re back with Daniel Pasco Aguilar. This has been a fantastic conversation, and. 

23:02
Daniel
I’d like to invite you to talk. 

23:04
Daniel
About these communities you’re developing at Excelsior University. 

23:08
Speaker 7
Thank you, Danny. Yeah. You know, based on what we have. 

23:13
Dr Daniel
Been discussing, one of what I think is an obvious need or observation responsibility. 

23:19
Speaker 7
For us in which to engage is that the development of next generation of leaders that is diverse, authentic, engaged, and ready is critical. 

23:32
Dr Daniel
We have systemic challenges that we’re not. 

23:35
Speaker 7
Solving and are beginning to change our reality. They’re beginning to change life, as we know. And there are many global warming and international relations and social justice. There are like so many, and they’re so systemic, they’re affecting all of us. 

23:55
Dr Daniel
So when we think of preparing our. 

23:58
Speaker 7
Next generation, we cannot delegate that to any. 

24:02
Dr Daniel
It cannot be that, oh, aggregation takes. 

24:04
Speaker 7
Care of that, or it’s that particular department that does that, or it is the student themselves that need to work on that. How ready, how engaged, how diverse, how authentic they are will determine our future and the future of our children. 

24:21
Dr Daniel
No question about it. Right? 

24:22
Speaker 7
And I’m afraid that in many instances, a level of change necessary for us. 

24:28
Dr Daniel
To begin to turn things around and. 

24:30
Speaker 7
Reach the tipping point for the better might be too much for our current generations. 

24:37
Dr Daniel
We’re waiting on a next generation that will have a different paradigm that will approach things differently. So to me, our job is involving every member, every stakeholder group of our. 

24:49
Speaker 7
Communities to do this work. We cannot do it alone. 

24:52
Dr Daniel
Everybody has to get involved. 

24:54
Speaker 7
It matters to everyone. It will determine how our future looks like. So what we have done, I have. 

25:00
Dr Daniel
Done this at the last three institutions. 

25:02
Speaker 7
Where I have been, is build what we call communities. Communities are pretty much support villages that we build around our students, and we build them focused on what matters to them. So we have industry focused communities, like. 

25:17
Dr Daniel
Business management and leadership, or like health. 

25:20
Speaker 7
Sciences, or like nursing, or like sustainability or criminal justice. 

25:28
Dr Daniel
But we also have what we call identity allyship communities. At accessor, we call them rope teams, because we love the concept of being a rope team. 

25:36
Speaker 7
You support others who might fall because. 

25:38
Dr Daniel
You’Re connected with a rope, but if. 

25:40
Speaker 7
You fall, your team will catch it. 

25:42
Dr Daniel
And we have identity allyship rope teams, like race and ethnicity, or gender and. 

25:47
Speaker 7
Sexuality, or different abilities, or military and veterans or. We have nine of each. 

25:53
Dr Daniel
And what we do is three things. The rope teams are a web space, so you can go to communities, excelsior.edu. 

26:03
Speaker 7
And what you’ll be able to see is the 18. 

26:06
Dr Daniel
And in each of them, there’s curation. 

26:08
Speaker 7
Of content and there’s feeding of content from multiple sources. 

26:11
Dr Daniel
So we centralize content, we integrate content. 

26:14
Speaker 7
We make content interactive. And then what we facilitate is this. 

26:20
Dr Daniel
365, 24/7 ability for students to connect. 

26:24
Speaker 7
With mentors in the community that matters. 

26:28
Dr Daniel
To them, or see internships and jobs related to that, or resources, or blogs, or connect with folks, or tell their story or see stories, or see spotlights. 

26:38
Speaker 7
Or find courses that are relevant to them, et cetera. I can tell you stories of instances. 

26:47
Dr Daniel
Where students have come and said, I have no idea that my institution cared. 

26:51
Speaker 7
So much about who I am. And I can see how, when I was going through my education, if I. 

27:00
Dr Daniel
Had those right, and I could find a mentor who I knew had gone through my similar experience and who was. 

27:08
Speaker 7
Ready to connect with me. 

27:09
Dr Daniel
And if I could do it Sunday night. 

27:12
Speaker 7
Right, and find them and connect and reach out. 

27:15
Daniel
Powerful. 

27:16
Speaker 7
Yeah. 

27:16
Dr Daniel
So what we’re trying to do is to develop these rope teams. The two other things that we do, of course, is involve every stakeholder of. 

27:22
Speaker 7
The community in the process. And then the third one is we do programming. 

27:26
Dr Daniel
So every community has events and conversations. 

27:29
Speaker 7
And communication that we make available to. 

27:33
Dr Daniel
Make sure that we are engaging everyone. 

27:35
Speaker 7
Based on what is important to them. 

27:38
Daniel
Right. 

27:39
Daniel
And I know you’re experimenting with a program you’re calling Adolante. 

27:42
Daniel
So can you tell us about that program? 

27:45
Speaker 7
Yes. 

27:45
Dr Daniel
We’re very excited about right now. It’s in development, so it’s in the design phase. But we’re hoping to implement it in the near future. 

27:55
Speaker 7
It’s a program specifically designed to support. 

27:58
Dr Daniel
The education of Spanish as a first language students. 

28:03
Speaker 7
It is a bridge program that hopefully. 

28:07
Dr Daniel
Will give access to students who potentially. 

28:09
Speaker 7
Might think higher education is not for me. 

28:12
Dr Daniel
Or if they want higher education, they are struggling with not having enough English. 

28:16
Speaker 7
In order to engage in it. 

28:19
Dr Daniel
So the opportunity here is to provide. 

28:21
Speaker 7
Them with a combined English learning curriculum. 

28:26
Dr Daniel
To prepare them for education in English at Excelsior in the United States, simultaneously. 

28:33
Speaker 7
Beginning to take courses in Spanish in. 

28:36
Dr Daniel
Their field of interest. Right now, we’re working on health services. 

28:40
Speaker 7
And business management to two pathways, but it might expand to more than that in the future. 

28:47
Dr Daniel
But the idea is then to help those who might not think that education is for them or who might not be ready for it, to have access. 

28:54
Speaker 7
To it so that we don’t miss that brilliance. 

28:57
Dr Daniel
Right. 

28:57
Speaker 7
So that we engage them in the leadership that we need in order to succeed. 

29:02
Daniel
Brilliant. 

29:03
Daniel
So, Daniel, if you could put a. 

29:05
Daniel
Message on all school marquees around the. 

29:08
Daniel
World for a single day, what would your message be? 

29:11
Speaker 7
Probably that success is collective, that I think we have engaged a little too much in competition without realizing that the stakes are very high, and that our need, and therefore our responsibility, is to. 

29:31
Dr Daniel
Figure out how to diversify our next. 

29:33
Speaker 7
Generation of leaders, and therefore, to facilitate education that is accessible to all and that allows for everyone to succeed. 

29:44
Dr Daniel
That success is not a zero sum. 

29:46
Speaker 7
Process, but it is the sum of all, as Heather McGee calls it. 

29:51
Dr Daniel
And that when others succeed, we succeed. 

29:54
Speaker 7
When we succeed, others succeed. 

29:56
Dr Daniel
And that we need to lift everyone in our communities in order to do. 

30:00
Speaker 7
Better as organizations, as society, as countries, and as a planet. 

30:05
Daniel
As you can see back there, it’s a little small, but ruckus maker, listening or watching always hears me say this, but basically, when you get better, everybody wins, right? I’m super aligned with your marquee message. 

30:18
Daniel
So thanks for sharing that. 

30:20
Daniel
Daniel, what about your dream school? If you were building your dream school, you were not limited by any sort of resources. 

30:26
Daniel
Your only constraint was your ability to dream and imagine. 

30:32
Daniel
How would you build this dream school? 

30:34
Daniel
What would be the three guiding principles? 

30:36
Speaker 7
Okay, so the three guiding principles, I think, would be access, integration, and customization. 

30:44
Dr Daniel
I think we need to figure out. 

30:46
Speaker 7
A way to make adaptation more accessible. Right. 

30:50
Dr Daniel
Many institutions, I think, have fallen into. 

30:54
Speaker 7
The assumption that the more prestige we build and the more competition we make as part of the engagement process, the. 

31:04
Dr Daniel
Better the quality of our location. 

31:06
Speaker 7
And I think we miss brilliance through that process. 

31:10
Dr Daniel
And finding ways of helping the privileged support the ones who lack privilege. Figuring out ways in which we diversify education so that we can engage everyone. 

31:20
Speaker 7
So that everyone can thrive through educational. 

31:23
Dr Daniel
Experience, and so that everyone can apply. 

31:26
Speaker 7
That education in a way that allows them to lead, I think is very important. 

31:31
Dr Daniel
I would also focus on integration of the experience of our students. I think we fragment the student experience significantly. Often it seems like a scavenger hunt for them. 

31:43
Speaker 7
And who loses? Who misses out the ones first generation. 

31:47
Dr Daniel
Students, right, the students who don’t come. 

31:49
Speaker 7
With the capital or with the awareness, but also integrating the community. As I was mentioning, this matters to everyone. So involving everyone on campus and off campus. And then very importantly, Danny, integrating everyone’s perspective. We do better if we elicit and. 

32:10
Dr Daniel
We leverage the diversity of perspectives and ideas and experiences and skills that everybody brings students and every single community member we can engage. 

32:20
Speaker 7
And then at the end of the day, experience in education is the strongest. 

32:26
Dr Daniel
If it is customizable, if I can. 

32:28
Speaker 7
See the value, what I’m doing, if. 

32:30
Dr Daniel
I can do it in the way. 

32:33
Speaker 7
That works for me, if I can. 

32:36
Dr Daniel
Facilitate education that responds to the intrinsic. 

32:40
Speaker 7
Motivation and the values and the goals. 

32:43
Dr Daniel
And the objectives and the dreams of. 

32:45
Speaker 7
The people who are learning, the stronger it’s going to be. 

32:48
Dr Daniel
So customizing the experience and customizing the. 

32:51
Speaker 7
Outcomes of our students. 

32:52
Dr Daniel
This concept of standardized testing, I think. 

32:54
Speaker 7
Is a significant problem. 

32:56
Dr Daniel
As someone who grew up with dyslexia, I can tell you that’s never. 

32:59
Speaker 7
Measured how much I know or how. 

33:02
Dr Daniel
Well I can perform, right? I think that we need to figure. 

33:06
Speaker 7
Out a way to customize not only learning, but also assessment to make it count for everything. 

33:12
Daniel
We covered a lot of ground today, Daniel, of everything we discussed, what’s the one thing you want a ruckus maker to remember? 

33:20
Speaker 7
Remember, everyone else lives with as much complexity as we do. Approach others assuming the same level of. 

33:30
Dr Daniel
Complexity, and therefore approach others to learn. 

33:33
Speaker 7
To grow, approach others to open conversations. 

33:38
Dr Daniel
And if you notice that the conversation is not deep enough, as a panelist in one of the conferences I attended recently said, complicated, complicate the conversation so you can get to the depth that we need in order to learn about each other’s complexity. Grow and do better. 

33:55
Speaker 4
Thanks for listening to the better leaders Better Schools podcast Ruckus maker how would you like to lead with confidence, swap exhaustion for energy, turn your critics into cheerleaders and so much more? The Ruckus Maker Mastermind is a world class leadership program designed for growth minded school leaders just like you go to betterleadersbetterschools.com slash Mastermind. Learn more about our program and fill out the application. We’ll be in touch within 48 hours to talk how we can help you be even more effective. And by the way, we have cohorts that are diverse and mixed up. We also have cohorts just for women in leadership ship and a BIPOC only cohort as well. When you’re ready to level up, go to betterleadersbeterschools.com mastermind and fill out the application. Thanks again for listening to the show. Bye for now and go make a ruckus.