Season 9 Episode #7 Brain Science, Human Systems, and Helping People Reach Their Potential with Lisa Riegel

In this powerful episode of The Cultural Curriculum Chat Podcast™, Jebeh Edmunds sits down with Lisa Riegel—educator, researcher, author, and expert in brain science and human systems.

Together, they explore how understanding the brain can transform leadership, education, and the way we support people in reaching their full potential.

This conversation dives into neuroscience, systems thinking, culture, and the connection between human behavior and organizational success.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How brain science shapes behavior, motivation, and growth
• Why systems—not just individuals—determine success
• What happens when people feel disconnected or unsupported
• Practical ways to align environments with how people actually function

If you want to stay connected with Lisa, you can find her at:
🌐 lisariegel.com

Transcript

Jebeh Edmunds 0:00

Hello and welcome back to the Cultural Curriculum Chat podcast, the show where we explore culture, leadership, education, and the systems that shape how we thrive. I'm your host, Jebeh Edmunds, educator, author, and equity strategists. If someone that you know. Who believes that education, leadership, and culture should help people become their best selves? Well, you're going to love today's conversation. Our guest today is Lisa Riegel. And Lisa began her career in education with a simple but powerful goal, helping people reach their potential. But over time, she realized something important. Success. Isn't just about effort or intention, it's also about understanding how the brain drives behavior and how those systems around us shape our ability to grow. Lisa is an educator, researcher, and author who has spent more than two decades helping schools leaders. Parents and organizations align brain science with human systems. She holds dual bachelor degrees in English and secondary education from Kent State University, a master's degree from Otterbein University, and a PhD in education policy and leadership from the Ohio State University, my mom's an alma mater as well, and she's also the author of several books, including Neural and Aspirations to Operations, which explore how brain science can help individuals and organizations create cultures where people feel connected, capable, and in control of their growth. And Lisa, welcome to the show. We're so happy you're here today.

Lisa Riegel 1:53

Thank you so much for having me. I'm looking forward to our conversation.

Jebeh Edmunds 1:57

Great. Me too. So let's get started. Lisa, you started your career in education, focus on helping people reach their full potential. What led you to start exploring brain science as part of that mission?

Lisa Riegel 2:13

So I worked quite a bit with the at-risk students and, you know, students who came from really difficult backgrounds, students who were way behind. Um, and I started to recognize patterns and, and really understanding that behavior serves a purpose. So that was kind of where I started was behavior serves a purpose and so. If we feed the need proactively, then we don't have behavior problems. So if somebody has a need for attention, you proactively give them the attention, you feed that need, then it doesn't blow up into a behavior. And so I started there and then, um, I had kids and my kids ended up with ADHD, so I was like, huh. This is interesting. Like they think very differently than I do. They're having some, so I started diving more into the brain science of ADHD and of stress and um, and it just kind of snowballed from there. I started and, and my work at Ohio State was around leadership, but I was really interested in the human system. So even with that work, it was mostly like social science theories, like engagement theories, learning theories, and. I started thinking, well, you know, really real change starts in the brain and we really don't understand how the, the brain functions. And then we kind of went into this era of education around the science of reading, where we were finally aligning the way that we teach, reading to the way that the brain learns to read. That's not new. Like it's learned to read that way the whole way through. So I started thinking, man, this is really a huge knowledge gap for educators and for leaders, not even just in education, but across the board. Like how do you leverage the human system? And make people feel happy and fulfilled and support, change, and support challenging, you know, productive struggles by understanding better the actual brain.

Jebeh Edmunds 4:02

I love that. And again, with the science of reading and other research that we're starting to learn, it's more than just a, a PD, you know, one hour, two hour course that you need to fulfill and, and recognizing that in your own children. Students that you worked with of, you know, fulfilling the need, um, before it escalates to something, you know, with more behavior because they do need to, you know, maybe stim or, walk or, be active or, you know, while they're learning the, the curriculum that you have in front of. Them. So I love that, that you, you've seen that in your own mission and work and, and diving more into the systems of the brain and the systems that we have, you know, in the classroom. So many of us is like, oh, here's your new crop of students. Here's your new roster, good luck. And you're like, okay, I am learning some of my classroom management skills, but I'm also trying to figure out. How this student learns is different from this other student. So how do I scaffold, you know, my education tools for all of my students and, and I love that. Can you also kind of dive into a little bit more about explaining what that means, you know, with our classrooms and our organizations of how do we scaffold and, and get our students all together in, in exactly what they need to to move forward.

Lisa Riegel 5:29

Yeah, so I, I think one of the things that I really try to push is that. We need to be thinking about brain aligned classroom practices as tier one. This is what we do. This is how we set up routines. It's how we teach and learn. Um, and, and what happens then is you, you make a classroom where more people feel a sense of belonging, more people feel intellectually and emotionally safe, and you reduce the problems and you reduce the achievement gaps by setting this kind of culture of, I call it a neuro-well culture for the whole class. So, when I work with teachers I talk about, you know, the first thing being, um, the routines that we have. So setting up routines. Our brain is like a highway with on and off ramps. And to develop a new on and off ramp, it takes a lot of repetition and energy and reinforcement. And so we need to have routines. So when I see like social emotional learning curriculum. Somebody pushes in once a week and does a half hour lesson on some type of emotional skill or social skill, and then they leave and then nothing happens and it's not embedded into the routines and the culture of the school, then it doesn't land. I mean, they might be exposed to the idea, but they're not developing that skill because it takes that repetition. So there's lots of different routines that I promote with teachers and, and one of them is. Positivity, having positive routines in your class, having, you know, opportunities for kids to tell me two good things that happen today. Tell me one thing you love about yourself. Tell me, you know, just infusing with that positivity and, and there's a actual neuroscience reason for that. And that is that we have, um, in our thalamus, which is kind of like the data manager of our brain, that's the part of our brain that, that creates our perceptions of what's going on in the world around us. And what the thalamus does is it looks out into the environment and it says, okay, here's all the sensory stimulus and data that I'm getting. I'm gonna go make associations between what's happening now and what has happened in the past. And so, because if everything we experienced was brand new, we would, our brain would explode. So we look for patterns so that we can figure out how to respond and, and that limbic part of our brain's First question is, are we safe? Right? So, so that thalamus looks in the environment and says, well, this is like that. So you should be stressed or you should be calm, or you should feel, you know, loved or whatever it is. We have a lot of students that go to school and it's not a happy place. And so that context is already going to, it's going to escalate, it's gonna disregulate them, right? And when our brain is in a dysregulated state, then the thinking part of our brain kind of shuts down and it goes into, okay, we're gonna take care of you because the brain's purpose is to keep us alive. So that limbic system, your data manager and your security guard and your brain are like, okay, you know, CEO of the brain. Go grab a snack and we'll take care of this. And when we're, when we're safe again, we'll let you back in. And so we, that's why sometimes we end up, you know, having an explosion and then afterwards we're like, why did I even say that? Like, I don't even believe that. Why would I have even done that? Right. And it's because you didn't, it's the limbic part of your brain that was doing whatever it could to keep you safe. Yeah. And so some of it is understanding the brain science and helping kids understand their brains. Um. Because I see a lot of kids getting punished for their biology. They are having stress related issues in the classroom. They escalate, they act out. It's their data manager and their security monitor that are dictating the behavior. And then when we talk to them about the behavior, we say things like, well, why did you choose to do that? They didn't, they were out having lunch somewhere. So teaching kids, you know, they, they still have to be held to account for consequence for what they did, but helping them to learn self-awareness, self-regulation, and ultimately self-control. And you can't have self-control if you don't have awareness and regulation. So setting up some of those kinds of routines in the classroom, setting up some teaching strategies that help kids to understand where they are. So like one that's super simple on the way in the door. Do fizzy or flat. So I, I take a can of pop, shake it up, open it up, it explodes. And I tell kids, you know, pop tastes disgusting if it's too fizzy or if it's too flat. And in the same way you're carbonated, but I can't see inside you. So when you walk in the classroom, if you're feeling kind of flat or you're feeling sort of fizzy and agitated, just say fizzy or flat. And what I'm gonna do is give you some grace and space to regulate, to calm your body down, you know? And then when you're ready to join us, you can join us as opposed to me not doing that. Not giving them agency or a voice to have a bad day. And then I start with the, you know, where are your, where's your homework? Why don't you have your pencil? What are you do? And then it explodes from there. So sometimes even just having somebody to recognize like, I'm not okay in the moment, and just having a teacher that gives you an empathetic pat on the back. Okay. I'm sorry you're not feeling good. Go. You know. Let me know if I can help. And in the meantime, giving that grace and space, just, just that can have such a huge impact on a kid's relationship building with the teacher and sense of agency.

Jebeh Edmunds 10:46

Yes. I love that. And, and even how you said too, Lisa, is. The fizzy or flat. I love that because you already embedded the language so that student can just say one or the other and they can under, you have that language with that student to say, okay, I'm gonna give them that grace and space. Maybe have a calming corner. Maybe you do some stretches or yoga movement. To help them recenter. Um, there's all kinds of ways, like you said, and if you're feeling flat, yeah. Some of us have flat days too and we're just like, ah, I'm here. I showed up. You know, and when I feel comfortable and ready to share, I will. But just to kind of show you where I am walking into your, your classroom community, that is really important. Oh, I love that.

Lisa Riegel 11:33

If you're, that, if you've got a bunch of students that come in and say flat for a day, or if you're feeling flat, you could be like, you know what? I'm feeling kind of flat. And do you know what makes flat beverages carbonated is positivity. So I'm having a moment. So if you guys would help me out, we're gonna do just a little bit of positivity, popcorn, and I want everybody to just bounce around you, say something and point to the person over there. And our topic is, tell me one thing that's really cool about you that other people don't know. Go. Oh, I love that. And they just pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. And then before you know it, you're smiling. The kids are smiling and you thank you so much. 'Cause I was really feeling flat and now I'm feeling ready to roll. And you're modeling for them that this is how you do things. And it, it doesn't take any time at all. You know, it's just a minute, two minutes.

Jebeh Edmunds 12:23

Yeah.

Lisa Riegel 12:23

And the other thing that I talk a lot about is. The intellectual safety piece because there's a lot of kids that are not intellectually safe. They, they come in, they can't, you know, we know that they're behind, but we're not really addressing it in a way that helps them. So one thing that, um, that I talk about with intellectual safety is to break your class into learning sprints. This is the easiest thing you can do, and I'm telling you what. I promise you it has had the biggest impact. So I had one teacher that did this who was in kind of a computer class where the kids are on the computer. She broke into these learning sprints and, and did what I'm about to explain. Their productivity increased by 30% in two and a half weeks. Wow, so it worked. Wow. Yeah. So what it is, is that if you think about when you go to the gym and you're like, okay, I'm gonna run on a treadmill for a half hour, and you get on and you're running and you're running and you're like, man, I gotta be close. And you look down and it's been like seven minutes and you're like, oh my God, I have 23 minutes left. I'm never gonna make it. Right.

Jebeh Edmunds 13:24

Yeah, yeah.

Lisa Riegel 13:25

That's what school is all day long for kids. It's an eight hour treadmill ride. So if we break it up and if we're on the treadmill and say, okay, for the next five minutes, I'm gonna run at this speed and then I'm gonna evaluate, and maybe I'm gonna walk for a couple seconds and then I'm gonna run again. You'll make it to the 30 minutes, right? So all you have to do for a learning sprint is put a 10 minute timer. On your board or on whiteboard, or you can use a Google timer, whatever, and you, you introduce the sprint and you say, okay, we're gonna do a 10 minute learning sprint. Here are the expectations during the sprint. You know, I'm gonna talk a little, you're gonna, this, I, you know, I, you have to be quiet or you can talk quietly with friends, whatever the expectation is. Then you say, go and you hit the timer, and the kids focus for that 10 minutes. When the 10 minutes is over. No matter where you are, even if you're in the middle of explaining something, you go, oh, time's up. Okay, let's take a brain break, two minutes. You guys can get up, you can stretch, you can walk around, you can talk to your neighbor, you can, whatever. Sometimes you can have a five minute, sometimes you can have a one minute, you know, you just kind of break it up and then you say, okay, now it's time to go back to the learning sprint. So when a student comes into the class, you can say, okay, today we're gonna do three learning sprints. We've got a 10 minute one, a 12 minute one, and a 15 minute one. We're gonna do these breaks. And then you've got a list on the board, the kids can see you checking it off, and they start to learn to check off their tasks as they go. They learn, how long is 10 minutes? What can I accomplish if I actually focus for 10 minutes? And so, and I, and the first thing teachers always say is, I don't have time to get through what I'm doing. I don't have time for. For breaks, but here's my challenge question. How much of that 20 minutes or 30 minutes of teaching are they listening? So you're talking but they're not listening. And if you're talking and they're not listening, you're not teaching. You're just talking. So the learning sprints, and I've had teachers kindergarten all the way through high school. I've even used this in a correctional facility, with students, um, all the way through what I hear is like even the kindergarten teacher. It only took like three days. And then the kids were like, I'd say there's a learning sprint. And they're like, they'd snap to attention. Like, okay, we're ready. And they would all focus. And she said, it's insane. It's incredible. And they, and they learn how to focus on something, transition their focus, focus back. And those are life skills that are really, really important. And so, that's the idea of aligning your class to a neuro-well culture. And so it's not one more thing to do, it's just a pair of glasses. That you look at, your operations, your routines, the way you teach and learn, and you go, huh, this works really well because it's aligned with how our brains need it to work. This isn't working. No wonder it's not working. And even like teachers will talk about wiggle time, you know, and they'll say, oh, I do wiggle time. But a lot of you are doing it reactively. Oh, these kids are crazy. We've gotta do a wiggle time to get them calmed down. But if you're building it in as part of the learning sprints, then that need is that need is anticipated and taken care of, so it's healthier and happier for everybody. You're not waiting for the hole in the boat before you. Plug it right,

Jebeh Edmunds 16:34

Plug it in. Going, oh, no, we're sinking. You're so right, Lisa.

Lisa Riegel 16:37

Yeah.

Jebeh Edmunds 16:38

And, and I've also noticed too, with some folks with their wiggle breaks, it is reactive or it's the last thing before recess or the last thing you do before you, you know, transition to another, uh, class period. But you're right, if you have 'em in chunks, you know, you can have. Three sprints, you know, within, uh, a learning, you know, focused learning time for them to get up and move. 'Cause you're right, it is a life skill that even as adults, we, we, we drone on, we have the glossy eyes after 45 minutes listening to a lecture straight. So think about the young ones that just are, are wiggling in their seat or, you know, have to use the bathroom or all this stuff. They're, they just, they can't focus. Yes. So, why do people struggle in these broken systems? You've had some great examples. How long it is, the expectations, um, you know, even the transition time, oh, I don't have time. Well, you can, you can, you know, carve out three days. That's a good transitional period to kinda get the, the verbiage and the language up. You know, what do leaders still need to understand about that when they're still struggling with these little tweaks?

Lisa Riegel 17:46

So I think that the first issue that we run into is that the way that schools lead transformation is like, they'll have me come in and do PD and I'll come in and I'll do a day, maybe I do a full day and we go real deep and we come up with all these ideas. Sometimes the leaders are there, sometimes they're not even there. And so how can you lead change if you don't even know what the change is?

Jebeh Edmunds 18:10

Yeah. Absolutely Lisa.

Lisa Riegel 18:10

So I have, I have a second book that's for leaders called Aspirations to Operations. And I see a lot of leaders have aspirational and inspirational vision for what they wanna see, but they don't have an operational view of what it looks like or how to get there. And so they wear their people out and it's just one initiative after another. And then they're like, well, we trained them so I don't know why they're not doing it. And I'm like, well what is it? What does it look like? What does it sound like? So like I was working with the school 'cause I'll work with probably. Four or five schools that really want to do transformative work. And I'll go deep. I'm there all the time. I'm there to support the leaders, the teachers, everybody, and like the one school I'm working with, we built in the neuro-well framework as one of their priorities and everything we do goes back to that. And so like, then we had the, the principals, like, the learning sprints. So the principals in, um, kindergarten through eighth grade said, we want learning sprints happening in every class. Right. It doesn't have to be every second of the day, but through especially the, the core classes that aren't as, um, you know, collaborative and, and have movement or projects or things. So we, you know, that became a clear directive from the principal. Then the principal is going around and observing it. Reinforcing it and celebrating it. And teachers during teacher-based team times are talking about how they're doing it and what they're learning and they're, you know, and they're being given the chance to explore and experiment without, you know, repercussions. If it doesn't go well, like we're celebrating the growth. But then at the key too is that leaders have to measure adult behavior and not just outcomes. Because if you're only measuring student test scores. And I think that's the worst thing that ever happened in education is when we start, start linking student test scores to teacher quality.

Jebeh Edmunds 20:01

Yes.

Lisa Riegel 20:02

It moved the system from, I teach kids to, I teach content, and now if I have a kid who's not just plugging along at the right pace, they're not a puzzle to be solved, they're a problem to be managed. Right? Because it's gonna impact my data. Yeah. So when you've got school leaders that, that say they want. All these wonderful student engaging things, but all they measure is that test, and that's all they wanna look at. And they don't have clarity around what can we do? What's our theory of change that's gonna make those outcomes better? Right? What are the adult behaviors, like a learning sprint? If we're not measuring that, if we're not watching for that, if we're not celebrating that. Then all of those, all of those different kinds of, um, improvements and initiatives they spark and then they tucker out.

Jebeh Edmunds 20:46

Yes, and it does. You, you get into like a full day PD with you. You're all energized. You got the book and you're just like, okay. But you're right. You need to have both in tandem, you need to have your administrator also being in those rooms with you, learning the verbiage and, and I love how you. Said, we're not punishing or giving you repercussion. We're celebrating the growth. 'cause it takes time. You know, you, you can get so motivated. But all of a sudden it peters out because, well, you know, the, the leader in my building decided they're gonna do another initiative, or we're just focusing on this for April, or, you know, right. And it just, you know, it starts and stops. And then the students are also seeing, well, the adults aren't following through. What makes it feel like I should do this exercise or this, this new concept? So I really, really love that, you know? So, yes. Your, your book, neuro-well, what inspired you to write this book, you know, besides the children and the kids that you worked with?

Lisa Riegel 21:46

Yes. So I actually was inspired to write it by one of the schools I worked with because the, the principal kept saying to me, why don't you have this in a book? And I was like, well, I don't know, because I'd been doing sort of my theory of change, which was this neuro, well, like here's routines, here's the way we can truly differentiate and, and you know, it's all aligned to that neuroscience. Here's how we deal with discipline problems, here's how we make behavior plans. So I had all these little chunks of things and um, and so finally I was like, well, maybe I should actually write this down. So I did. And that's where that

Jebeh Edmunds 22:19

I love that.

Lisa Riegel 22:20

Came from. And then the other, the aspirations to operations, which is the leadership book is the same thing. It's the framework that has emerged over almost 20 years of my work in coaching leaders and tools that I've created and things we've tried. And so everything in both books, is not theory, it's actual stuff people have done that has worked.

Jebeh Edmunds 22:42

Oh, and I love a good best practice, you know, especially as a teacher to teacher's, like, give me the goods. How can I apply it like tomorrow in my class? And still keep it moving. I just love that. Lisa, now we've been talking really well about, you know, you educators and our administrators. How about parenting? You know, your work also connects with families and parenting. How can parents use brain science to better support their children?

Lisa Riegel 23:12

So, um, one thing I would say is understand the brain science, right? So we have these departments in our brain, so I actually name them. So the data center that thalamus, that's deciding how we perceive things. I call him Harold, and I call my security monitor Bob. And so, oh, I love it if you teach your kids that, you know, that's how your memory and, and like even the idea that. Our memories don't like, the memories that Harold's looking at to make associations don't tell a story and can't tell time. He is just looking for when conditions were similar, your body was calm, or your body was stressed, or we were in danger, right? So it's not logical. And so teaching kids that, and then, you know, if you name the brain, so then I could be like, you know what? Tell me what Harold's telling you right now because you seem like you're really agitated and I'm wondering if my Harold's telling me the same thing yours is. 'Cause it seems like it's not. Now all of a sudden instead of what's wrong with you, that's a different message. Or I can go and say, Hey Bob seems really agitated today. Can I help? Can I help you like tell Bob that we're good, we're okay, or is there something going on that I can help you with? That conversation aligns me as an ally instead of an adversary. And so I think as a parent, if you're able to kind of take that step back, explain that brain, it reduces some of the shame and guilt that kids feel when they're not doing. Well, right, and so understanding, so all behavior is biology and context. It's that intersection, right? So understanding the biology helps us to, to create some empathy and as a parent as well, if your kid's outta control, or having a really rough time, or not succeeding at school, or being in, you know, involved in risky things, you are stressed out. And so you escalate the situation where if your kid you know, comes home and is yelling at you and freaking out and mad about the world, if you can recognize and look at them like their Herald is currently completely dysregulating my child and is sending the child I love and know out to lunch, right? So right now I'm not even speaking to my child. I'm speaking to the unconscious part of his brain. So just even understanding that. Now all of a sudden, I'm gonna look at my kid as a project. How do I calm you down so I can talk to you? Because I don't wanna talk to Harold. And it's not, I don't escalate. Why would you say that? What are you saying that, you know, and just up you go. And so I think that understanding that biology is huge. The second piece is context. How do we create a safe home that's about positivity? And there's some things that I talk about with parents. One is, um, you know, some of the stuff's like simple and like at dinner. Tell me two good things that happened today, and I guarantee you your kids won't be able to do it. And it's really sad when you're like, wow, they're not noticing all these beautiful things. And I, do you remember the, there was that study that was done with, uh. You had to count. There were teams playing basketball and you had to count how many baskets the team got, and then the researcher would say, how many? And you'd say it. And then they'd say, did you see the giant gorilla walk across the basketball court? And most people don't see the gorilla. Wow. Because their brain is primed to be watching the baskets and the teams, right?

Jebeh Edmunds 26:33

Oh yeah.

Lisa Riegel 26:33

We have so many beautiful gorillas and kind gorillas and generous gorillas walking around in our lives, but we don't even notice them. And so as a parent, if you can train your child's brain to be primed, to look for beauty, prime to look for joy, then their little herald. We'll confirm that we'll look for those things in the environment, but if we're primed to believe that the world's dangerous and people are unkind, and there's a lot of context in our world between media and social media and all kinds of things that kids experience that pre prime them with negative, you know, negative information for Harold to, to look at. So, you know, having like a, you know, some morning routines, what are you looking forward to today? Just priming the brain that way, or you know, what's one thing that you can do to be super, you know, to pay a compliment to somebody today? Or Okay, we're, and like we used to give our kids challenges. We'd be like, okay, we challenge you to, um, you know, integrate this one word into conversation today, or we challenge you to try to pay a compliment to your teacher when you noticed that she looked stressed and, and then they'd come home and they'd have to report on it. And it became like a game. And it was fun, but it was like forcing them to. See the world a little bit more optimistically. So I think there's a lot of little things you can do just to make the climate of your home one that's very safe, and very calm and calming. Um, the other thing for parents that we learn a lot through family dinners and conversations with our parents, and we just don't do that anymore. Like even if you go out and see people on a date. They're not even talking to each other, but what's happened for our kids, because we don't have long periods of time of boredom, right? We in the car they have games now on a road trip, at family dinners they're looking at their phone. So forcing your kids to have a convers to sit and listen and to talk, because they learn the rhythm of conversation. They learn nonverbal signatures, they learn all of those kinds of things that can help them not be afraid. Of social engagement, because anxiety is the product of not knowing. So if I don't know how to do this, I don't know how to engage, I don't know how to ask a question, then I'm gonna be anxious about being involved in that. So, those are the kinds of things that I think you can do at home. Um, that can be really helpful.

Jebeh Edmunds 28:54

I love that. Oh, and it's like you said, simple, just connecting with your child. And another thing I really loved what you said was giving 'em little games and challenges. Like, okay, pay somebody a compliment. Say this one word into your. You know, into your conversation that kind of challenges them to say, okay, when am I gonna interact this word? When am I gonna share a compliment? And then I can't wait to report back home to mom that, Hey, I did it. You know? And like you said, to find those beautiful, you know, gorillas out there that are You know, to find those glimmers of hope that is so, so important and profound. I mean, and. I could talk to you all day, especially about brain science. I'm just fascinated by you naming 'em, Harold and Bob. Some of them, like, how is Harold? You know, like, Harold feels unsafe. Harold wants to run. Instead of going, what's wrong with you? So many of us, you know, would say that that first kneejerk response, what's wrong? What happened? And then the child just, you know, crumples and it's like, oh, something is wrong with me if I have this feeling. You know? But just to talk about that behavior versus them as the individual. Oh, Lisa, Lisa, this is just amazing. So. Before we go, 'cause I want all of my listeners to get your books and you know, especially educators, they are the leaders of their classroom as well. What do you believe leaders must understand about human development in the systems?

Lisa Riegel 30:25

I think that understanding that our brains are actually wired for inertia. We are not wired for change because change is scary. And what I see is I see a lot of systems that are focused on the structure. The org theory, the policy and policies shape change, but people make change. And so we need an entire system, especially in education, which is such a people-driven system. We need a human focused system. And so leaders, I think understanding themselves, self-awareness, self-regulation, self-control. Same for teachers. If they can't know themselves and control their Harold and Bob and be more informed, then they struggle to model that with kids. But once they understand that it, it becomes so natural. Like, these things are not difficult. They just become sort of the way that you, you position yourself in your life. And what's amazing is watching, as you start to make this transition, people are happier, they're healthier, they're more successful. You, you know, leaders need to create that climate in the school. And I see schools spend thousands of dollars on posters, but climate is action, right? It's, it's what we do, not what we say.

Jebeh Edmunds 31:46

Yeah.

Lisa Riegel 31:47

So you mentioned it earlier, I don't see the adults doing this. Why would I do it? Right? Yeah. So it starts, it starts at the leader level, and it is not a teacher's responsibility to create the culture of the school. That's the leader's responsibility. And then it's the teacher's responsibility to be a good shepherd of that culture and to continue to bring that into their classroom and to, you know, do their part. But, um, but that's what I think, and you know, the books are really designed to help them understand the why. But also to give them the what, so what do we do about it?

Jebeh Edmunds 32:19

Oh my gosh, this is amazing. I just, I'm such a huge admirer of your work. From one educator to another, just having the, like I said, the language, the skills, the, the scaffolding, all the things that are. Teachers and leaders can use. And like you said, you know, it starts from the top all the way around for culture. You have to be active, you know, in, in moving forward. So Lisa, where can my viewers and listeners get all things? Lisa Riegel, get your books and how can they follow you along this brain science journey?

Lisa Riegel 32:57

Yeah. So, um, I'm on LinkedIn and I encourage people to link up with me on LinkedIn, send me a message. Uh, I have a website called lisariegel.com. Um, I also have my website education partnerships. It's epinstitute.net and I can give you those to put in the show notes. But yes, um, that one has links to lots of different web programs and podcasts that I've been on. So if people are interested in what we're talking about, there's lots more that they can hear. Um, and then my books are available on Amazon and, I do individual life coaching, so I'm not a therapist, but, but I can help people think about how the brain science. Can help them individually. I work with schools, I can work with teachers, I can do keynotes, I can do workshops, I can do leadership boot camps, um, to really help schools start to understand, and gain the knowledge. And then, like I mentioned before, some schools that are like, okay, we're really ready for some transformative change. I can go deep and really help them usher in, you know, all the supports that we need, to move the system itself.

Jebeh Edmunds 34:00

I love that. And again, having an expert who has been in the classroom, that's just something that is so important. Another ally who's been there and understands students and how to communicate with them, those are the best experts that we could have in experts like you in this field. So, thank you Lisa, so much for being a guest on the show today. And listeners, if you could do me a favor and share this episode with an educator, a parent, a school leader who wants to learn more about brain science and how those systems that we have around us can work in our best interest for all of our students to reach their full potential. This episode is for you, so thanks again, Lisa and I will see you all here same time, same place next week. Bye-bye.