Courageous Conversations About Our Schools Podcast

Our podcast brings people together for respectful conversations about today’s most contentious issues affecting our schools.

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All, Student Voices Ken Futernick All, Student Voices Ken Futernick

Why These Students Are Rejecting Contempt and Embracing Dignity (Ep. 37)

In our previous episode (Ep. 36), Tim Shriver says America’s widening political and social divides are, surprisingly, not due to our differences. “We’ve always had differences,” he says, “Contempt is the problem.” Shriver explains why treating others with dignity is more likely to produce the results we want and why contempt usually does the opposite.

In the current episode, Futernick interviews four college students who are ambassadors for Students for Dignity, an organization with over 25 chapters on college campuses across the county. Preston Brightwell, the founder of this organization, also participates.

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All, Conflict Experts, Democracy & Politics Ken Futernick All, Conflict Experts, Democracy & Politics Ken Futernick

Getting Students (and Adults) to Respect One Another’s Dignity - A Conversation with Tim Shriver (Ep. 36)

Tim Shriver is a member of the Kennedy family, Chairman of Special Olympics International, co-founder of UNITE, and a former teacher. In this wide-ranging conversation with host Ken Futernick, Shriver describes a tool he co-created called the Dignity Index, and he describes how educators are using it to address our widening political and social divides. “We built it because there's an issue in our culture, in our families, in our homes, and in our schools that we haven't paid that much attention to. And the issue is how we treat each other when we disagree.” The Index is a framework that allows students (and politicians and educators) to examine their interactions, with the goal of reducing contempt and promoting a sense of dignity toward others. “Most people think the problem is that we have such [great] differences in our country. Our view is that's not a problem,” Shriver says. “We've always had differences…Difference is not the problem…Contempt is the problem.”

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All, DEI, Democracy & Politics Ken Futernick All, DEI, Democracy & Politics Ken Futernick

Schools Are Abandoning DEI. How a Different Approach Can Preserve It (Ep. 35)

School mission statements across the county commonly included language about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. DEI training for educators was also common. But that’s changed in recent years as school culture wars erupted around the books students have access to: how students learn about history, race, and gender identity, and anything that smacks of “woke” ideology.

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All, Free Speech, Democracy & Politics Ken Futernick All, Free Speech, Democracy & Politics Ken Futernick

Teachers Are Afraid to Talk About the 2024 Election (Ep. 34)

One would think that schools are the perfect place for students to learn about elections. What better opportunity to use the critical thinking skills they’ve learned in making sense of what the candidates are saying and to distinguish credible information from what they often encounter on social and mainstream media. These skills would certainly serve them well after the election when there are sure to be protests, claims, and counterclaims about election fraud and tampering.

However, many teachers said they wouldn’t be discussing the 2024 election …

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All, Conflict Experts Ken Futernick All, Conflict Experts Ken Futernick

Bold, Effective Leadership in Polarized Times - An Illuminating Conversation with Katy Anthes (Ep. 33)

This episode will interest anyone interested in what it takes to successfully lead a politically diverse school board (or any such organization) in these highly polarized times. My guest, Dr. Katy Anthes, did just that as Colorado’s Commissioner of Education from 2016 to 2023 by building trust, getting leaders to agree on norms about how they would disagree, and developing a common vision of education that members of her state board could embrace.

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All, SEL/Mental Health Ken Futernick All, SEL/Mental Health Ken Futernick

Meet Aaron Stark - Almost a School Shooter (Ep. 32)

Ever wonder what goes on in the mind of a school shooter? Or, why someone chooses to kill innocent people? My guest, Aaron Stark, was ready to commit mass murder but decided, at the last minute, not to follow through with his plan. He also chose not to kill himself. In this episode, you’ll hear Aaron’s harrowing story of abuse, neglect, and trauma, and you’ll find out what it took to prevent yet another tragedy that would have contributed to America’s epidemic of gun violence. There’s no doubt that mental health services are a vital part of the solution, but in Aaron’s case, it was a friend who extended kindness and compassion…

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All Ken Futernick All Ken Futernick

Better Mental Health Can Reduce Gun Violence in Schools. Do We Have the Will to Promote It? Part 2 (Ep. 31)

One day after interviewing clinical psychologist Hayley Watson for Part 1 of this two-part series about the need for better mental health support in schools, Colt Gray, a 14-year-old student at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia walked onto campus with a military-style rifle and killed two other students and two math teachers. He also injured at least 8 others before he was taken into custody. A number of important takeaways emerge.

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All Ken Futernick All Ken Futernick

Better Mental Health Can Reduce Gun Violence in Schools. Do We Have the Will to Promote It? Part 1 (Ep. 30)

My guest for this episode is Dr. Hayley Watson, a clinical psychologist with deep and personal knowledge of the mental health challenges students face. In this, the first of two episodes with Dr. Watson, she describes some of the factors, including bullying, that contribute to poor mental health, the effects it can have on student well-being and academic performance, and the skills that students can learn to better cope with emotionally challenging situations.

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All, Conflict Experts Ken Futernick All, Conflict Experts Ken Futernick

Rich Harwood Rocks My World! (Ep. 29)

Rich Harwood knows a thing or two about depolarizing communities. He’s been doing it—successfully—for over 30 years, which is why I wanted to probe his thinking about the widening divides and the worrisome rise of culture wars that are threatening our public schools.

Let me simply say, Rich rocked my world! Despite the extensive reading I’ve done on the subject and the interviews I’ve conducted with several conflict experts, I learned something new about the dynamics of conflict.

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Success Stories, All, School Leadership Ken Futernick Success Stories, All, School Leadership Ken Futernick

Middie Rising - A City Unites and Defuses a School Culture War (Ep. 1 of 3)

This is the first of three episodes about the unusual steps school leaders in Middletown, Ohio took to defuse tensions over race issues and health policies. These tensions could have led to a full-blown culture war - the kind of knock-down, drag out clashes that have pitted educators, parents, and even students against one another in a growing number of school districts across the country.

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All, Success Stories, School Leadership Ken Futernick All, Success Stories, School Leadership Ken Futernick

Middie Rising - A City Unites and Defuses a School Culture War (Ep. 3 of 3)

In the final episode of this series, several people reflect on the lessons learned from Middletown’s successful efforts to avoid a costly culture war and to unify around an inclusive vision of education that includes all of its students. In addition to Middletown’s community leaders who share their takeaways from this story,

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All, SEL/Mental Health Ken Futernick All, SEL/Mental Health Ken Futernick

Bridging Youth Divides Through Morning Classroom Conversations (Ep. 25)

This podcast usually focuses on how adults can have less contentious, more fruitful conversations about schools, but my two guests on this episode have plenty to say about the need to strengthen communication and relationships among young people. In fact, Nina Murphy and Kellie Dromboski (along with Maurice Elias) have written a book on the subject called, Morning Classroom Conversations.

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All, Democracy & Politics Ken Futernick All, Democracy & Politics Ken Futernick

Politics in the Classroom in these Divided Times? Now More Than Ever, says Educator Diana Hess (Ep. 24)

It’s April 2024. Polarization in America was at an all-time high, and another highly contentious election season is fast approaching. Fears about teacher bias and the undue influence they might have over their students has raised suspicions among parents and has led several states to restrict what teachers can discuss with their students — like “divisive concepts” or subject matter that might cause students to feel anguish or discomfort because of their race…

My guest, Dr. Diana Hess, an educator and researcher who has studied teacher-student interactions, opposes this trend.

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