Guess who's back?

I guess I'm not done talking about schools and education

This is @edpsychprof's newsletter for those interested in transforming schools to become places where children (and teachers) can thrive.

Now, this looks like a job for me

So everybody, just follow me

'Cause we need a little controversy

'Cause it feels so empty without me

….

A visionary, vision is scary

Could start a revolution

-Eminem, from his website https://www.eminem.com/song/without-me/

….

It was a year and a half ago when I last posted to this Substack newsletter. I had recently pulled my son out of his high school, and to be honest, I had lost a lot of hope for changing the school system. I stopped posting about school transformation and focused on my day-to-day work as program coordinator of the education doctoral program at UCF and ed psych professor.

And then, two weeks ago, my brilliant doctoral student, the soon to be Dr. Amanda Reschke, defended her dissertation, and the fire to improve schools was relit in me. For her dissertation study, Amanda conducted an in-depth ethnographic analysis of a K-8 school I founded back in 2010 whose mission is based in key psychological principles of kindness, care, autonomy, challenge, interest, and service. And in her analysis, she found that focusing on providing autonomy and kindness—for both teachers and students—created a thriving school culture, and, most importantly, it didn’t take a lot of resources for this to happen. Her work reminded me that this vision I have for schooling is important and worth sharing. So, I am back here in Substack, freely sharing my knowledge, research, and expertise obtained from 30+ years of study and experience working in and for public schools to help move the needle and make schools places that are more humane for the people who live and work there.

I am going to start the conversation by sharing excerpts from my book, as it contains bite-sized information distilled from research and experience in a reader-friendly format. If you are interested in being a part of this conversation, please make sure to subscribe to get each installment delivered free to your inbox. And if you know of any colleagues or parents who would benefit from this discussion, would you consider sharing this newsletter with them?

From the book cover of my lay guide to K-12 education