KIC S3E7 "Meant for More: Embracing Authenticity and Strengths in Education" Featuring Angie Freese

 In this conversation, Toby and Angie explore themes of personal and professional growth, focusing on the importance of embracing authenticity, leveraging strengths, and fostering connections in educational environments. Guest Angie Freese discusses her book Meant for More, emphasizing creating inclusive spaces where individuals feel valued and capable. Key topics include system improvement, leadership, intentional design in schools, and nurturing resilience among educators and students. The conversation also highlights empathy, reflection, and self-care as essential practices for revitalizing teaching and learning. The hummingbird symbolizes these ideals, representing adaptability, strength, and inspiration in Freese's work and life.

Check out Angie's book:
Meant for More  https://www.solutiontree.com/meant-for-more.html

#TobyKarten  #Karten’sInclusionConversations #KIC #Inclusion #AngieFreese #MeantForMore #EducationLeadership #StrengthsBasedEducation #InclusiveClassrooms #TeacherWellbeing #NurturingResilience #AuthenticLeadership #FosteringConnection #EducationalEquity #GraceInEducation #RedesignEducation #StrengthsCoach #HummingbirdSymbolism #GrowthInEducation #DignityInClassrooms 

For more information please visit https://inclusionworkshops.com/

Transcript

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Hi, everybody. I have the pleasure today to be with an educator, an author, and a speaker who is an expert in assessment, leadership, system improvement, and strategic planning. Angie Freese is my guest today, and she has over two decades in education. And Angie brings a unique blend of experiences, and that includes being a classroom teacher, building administrator, curriculum specialist, district leader, and author of a book that just came out from Solution Tree entitled Meant for More. And I didn't even know this till recently. She's also a Gallup Strengths Coach. Angie, would you mind telling us a little bit more about that? Because I find that also very intriguing. Sure. Well, thanks so much for having me on today. I've been looking forward to our conversation for a long time. Yes. In addition to the things you mentioned, I also received a certification as a Strengths Coach through Gallup. Some of the listeners might be familiar with CliftonStrengths. Really, my opportunity now is simply to teach people how to identify and understand and appreciate their own unique talents. I like to reconnect individuals and teams to what they already do well, and then coach them on how to maximize those innate talents and those natural assets into strengths for both their personal and professional excellence. So whether it's working with the individual or working with the team, we can get a lot farther if we focus on the things that are inherently good, right, instead of constantly just trying to focus on everything that's wrong or not going well. And I think that goes, connects to your book Meant for More, because that's one of the objectives that helps K through 12 teachers and administrators and to capitalize on their strengths and assets and to use those strengths and assets to then bring across students' strengths as well. Do you want to speak a little bit more about that? Sure. Yes. This book was certainly a manifestation of my experiences at all levels within the school organization. Also this idea that as I, you know, immersed myself in district level leadership, I could see very clearly how the infrastructure and the way the infrastructure was designed was either helping us meet our results or get the results that we want, or it was blocking our progress. And one of the things that I feel is very valuable to improvement in an organization is to first start with what we're already doing well. Where are the practices or policies or even behaviors, you know, ways of being that we want to sustain? Because if we don't first acknowledge those pieces that are working, we run the risk of accidentally reallocating resources, whether that be people or time or money away from the things that we're actually working with good intention, right? Like we want to perhaps reallocate resources over here to get different results in this area. But if we first don't understand why we're being effective and how that practice has been sustainable and how we can leverage the strengths of that, we oftentimes see districts find themselves in a little bit of a situation where they don't understand now why they're not getting results in any area, let alone the ones that they were successful in the past. Yeah, that rings true because when we talk about strengths and positives first, begin with the positives. Don't focus on the negativity, which the things that are not, because that will start you with that pessimistic viewpoint. There's too much to do. How do we do that? And you're an author and a speaker with expertise in assessment, leadership, system improvement. And what you just mentioned has to do with kind of systematic planning. And that happens by, I think also your rationale, what you just said, like knowing your why, right? Well, and, and it happens by design, you know, not by chance. There is this intentionality with which we have to remember when we're working in any system, let alone schools, that there are human beings at the center of all of that. And in the book, I also have some conversation with the reader about maintaining or embracing a spirit of dignity, thinking about how authenticity and authentic relationships can emerge as the pathway for how we learn more, how we can listen to what's already working to listen to even the stories that describe the history of our organization so that we can learn from those narratives and then we can lead effectively forward. And that's important because there are always barriers in any profession, including education. And I love when you just said it happens by design. It happens by design. And I also like what you said about having a conversation with the reader and that's important as an author to not tell. And the same thing with administrators, we're not going to tell you what to do, right? Because from your experience, that's not accepted well, correct? No, no. And, you know, I think in general, you know, people are done with directives, particularly directives that are coming from a single mind or a single perspective. So as we think about this pathway forward, right, how do we renew these opportunities to create inclusive spaces, to create places that allow people to be their authentic selves, that nurture a spirit of dignity and embrace this idea of connection moving forward, right? How do we renew that? Well, you know, in my mind, I think it's just as simple as making sure that there's a seat at the table for the people who are being impacted by decisions so that we have this opportunity to ideate and implement the right moves at the right time from the right people so that we can truly see the impact we desire. And again, none of that happens by chance. That happens because we've been intentional in the design. We've intentionally sought perspectives. We've intentionally invited people into the space. And sometimes that can also be scary for people who've not had experiences like that, who, especially if I'm a leader and I've always been asked to simply tell other people or in the spirit of leveraging my expertise, like you're the expert, Ang, just tell us what to do and we'll do it. And that's not a very sustainable pathway moving forward because there's a lot of other people in an organization besides me. And I love one of the things in one of your chapter two, embracing authenticity, when you talk about self-assessment and then even connecting to one of my faults and spontaneous connection and sharing. Yes. Yeah. That was one of my favorite parts of that chapter to write. I mean, it's pretty normal for the people who know me to just appreciate that I have some sort of alliteration or an acronym or something to help us, you know, just kind of embrace these opportunities. And so FALTS really is an acronym to help us embrace our limitations, our tendencies, our shortcomings, because we all have them. And so if I'm first though acknowledging what I do offer and I feel the value, or rather I understand and recognize the value that I bring to my team or that I bring to an organization, I can be less afraid to then acknowledge the things that might be blind spots for me or that I might still be working on because I already know that this is what I can bring to my team. This is what I can bring to the system. And here's why I'm a valuable person in this conversation. So when we think about this idea of FALTS, I gave up about, it was one of those 3 a.m. post-it note things by the side of my bed. As an author, I find little jots on napkins, you know, and they're gems. I don't throw them out and keep them in a pile. But I will tell you, these are the moments that people want to talk about. Yeah. Helping people celebrate their strengths and really name their strengths is one thing. And also helping people navigate their limitations or navigate some of their challenges with humility and with dignity and with grace. People really aren't taught how to do that, particularly as in a professional setting. And so the more that we can create this necessary space for people to just be in connection with one another, be in relation with each other, recognize that each other brings value to this space, but also is going to have some limitations. How did that help us be able to make better decisions because we've made sure that everybody has a seat at the table? Yes. And that goes with pause and reflect to better connect, I think. Yes. And I think that that's sometimes scary for people to do. You know, you won't look at me as a level of being competent, but nobody has a halo. Nobody has all the answers, but together, maybe we could figure it out. And if I accept the fact that maybe I say one thing and as a coach, I do the same thing. I could tell you what the research says, but what does it look like for you when you're teaching blank, when you're directing a staff of, and how we get together and make that connection? And I love three questions that you have. How do I get myself ready? How do I get my team ready? And how do I get my students ready? And that's, that's not easy, but you mentioned also two important things and empathy, growing empathy and fostering connection. How do we do that? I don't presume to offer the keys or all of the answers to this, but what I will say is that the research that I had the good fortune to pour through as I was writing this manuscript really helped me think about this idea that number one, revitalizing our profession is absolutely essential, dignifying the profession of teaching, recognizing the value of these interpersonal relationships, not just between people who are blessed to serve students, but between the students themselves. And so as we revitalize the profession and we revitalize the people within it, there became six clear attributes, if you will, of what it meant to be a meant for more classroom. And that, that idea, that concept of what it truly means to have these inclusive learning spaces where all people, adults and students can feel like they're meant for more is something that just is incredibly important to me. And so those six elements that emerged from this research and my experiences, and to be fair, most importantly, anecdotes from teachers and principals and superintendents that I was working with all across the country, those six attributes that emerged were first authenticity and this idea that when we think about authenticity, we honor how that happens when our words and our actions and our behaviors consistently match who we are at our core. And one of the things that is important for the colleagues that I work with and even my readers in the text and listeners today is that it's difficult to be authentic if you don't believe in yourself and you don't believe in your ability to shape your life the way you want it. And that had to be the first element because I think that there is such an opportunity for us to reclaim our identities in the classroom. Why did I get into this profession in the first place? What is it that I believe I contribute to the students that I'm blessed to serve and the adults that I'm fortunate to work with? Why am I doing this and how am I also able to have an identity outside of the classroom space as well as within? The second element featured in the manuscript was this idea that you brought up of fostering connection. And there are many, many ways to do this and not a single educator listening to this podcast would argue that connection is an essential part of what makes classrooms and schools and districts work at high levels. And yet because it's so prevalent in terms of the need for it, we forget to be intentional about designing those opportunities. And so then when we leave that idea of connection to chance, we're either intentionally developing relationships or we are doing that maybe just the first week or two or three of school and then we abandon that practice in lieu of or in service to the standards and the expectations that we have in our classroom. And really this idea of connection would be something that is married all throughout our experiences in the school and constant opportunities for us to be in relation with one another. That doesn't mean that all of my students have to be friends. It doesn't mean that I have to be friends with all of my colleagues, but it does mean that we appreciate each other and we recognize the role that each of us plays in the success of the classroom or the school or the district infrastructure. Again, for something that's so simple to understand, it truly is complex to embed and to sustain. So we've got to be real intentional about that. Yeah, I totally agree with you there. Now, the other ones that you felt of those six. Yes. So the third one, as we were, as I was exploring this idea of connection, it led me to, well, why aren't we more curious about this? Why are we more curious about why our schools are not authentic places for every person to feel like they have the necessary space to be themselves? Why are we missing connections? And so curiosity just naturally emerged. It actually started as passion. Pursuing passion was the chapter title, but I didn't feel as though that really captured the element of staying hungry for information, being curious about what's next and also fostering this idea of inquiry in the classrooms and how teachers and students can co-design these learning spaces together and being hungry for more information, even if that means that I have to deviate from page 73 today. And especially that's what it means, having the confidence to do that. The fourth element in meant for more was this idea of empowering voice. And this one was incredibly meaningful to me as I have a daughter who, Oh my goodness, will now be a freshman in high school. But as I watched her engage in her middle school experience, I found that it was absolutely essential for her to learn how to advocate for her needs, how to find agency in her choices and her experiences in the classroom. And really that led to the fifth element, which is this idea of nurturing resilience. And what is it about this chapter that just speaks to me? I can't even tell you this one here, nurturing resilience, what may have been my favorite chapter to explore simply because we think that resilience is, let me pause there for a second. I want to, I want to really think about what I want to say here for resilience. Fine. But I think what you also said, Angie, was resilience for adults and children. You know, it's not exclusive, just, you know, we always focus on the kids. Right. But what about us? Absolutely. And I think that is why I chose to structure every chapter in the way that I did is that we have to start with ourselves first. So there's no possible way as a mom or a teacher or an administrator that I can nurture resilience within my staff and students if I don't know what that means for me. And I haven't determined ways in which I've had to show resiliency, what that means for me and how my experiences where I've had to be resilient might be similar to or different from someone else's. One is not one experience is not better than another. There are moments in our life that help us develop this ability to discover more about who we are and truly what we're capable of, because we've had these moments where we've had to take risks or we've had to face an adversity. You have one of the things in chapters that you spoke about with the resiliency is talking a little bit, and I love the way you phrase this scaffolding planks, scaffolding planks. Yes. Yes. That actually is some of the research that I found about this idea from Ginsburg. And I think that those moments of scaffolding are essential to a classroom experience, but also even in sometimes we think about scaffolds simply as what we need to do in a lesson to support the learning. And really the scaffolding is in all six of these elements, right? Where, how am I taking that first step? How am I understanding where my colleague or my student, or even myself is in this process and just taking one step at a time, you know, by my late grandma used to say, if you throw all the spaghetti at the wall, Ang, like none of it's going to stick. So it's this idea that this idea that we have to normalize taking one moment at a time and being patient with the people we might be urgent with the work, right? But we're going to be patient with ourselves and patients with the people as we continue to move forward. And when, when things don't go right, we're also resilient. We also have avenues to go down and coping mechanisms for ourself and our students. And, and that's, I love that part that you emphasize that what you, you know, have been seeing here about revitalizing our profession. And I think that this goes, goes part of it. And I think that the respect, the support and trust and integrity, all of those are essential for us to have not only for our students, but we model it for them. And we model it for other adults as leaders too, and coaches and, and coworkers. And it's kind of like dominoes. If somebody is experiencing that type of it's not working, I don't know what to do. And it's frustrating and you shut down and anxiety it's normal emotions. We all experience it depending upon certain personal and professional situations, but it's okay to be human. I think that's part of what you're speaking about too. Yeah. And I think one of the ways this has gone sideways is that we just expect the adults to already know how to manage these things. Like you talked about hoping. Well, not everyone knows how to do that or what that means in a new situation. And so how do we just create space for that? Like how do we create these moments where, well, and to be quite fair, or actually to be quite frank, why are we putting our adults and our kids in so many places in school where they have to hope and demonstrate resilience in the first place? I mean, truly, if these are spaces of learning spaces of community, yes, there will be adversities. Yes, there will be challenges. Yes, there will be moments, but school shouldn't be this right of passage where we have to experience all of these things and we have to hope and demonstrate resiliency in the first place. And I think our system isn't designed to carry the weight of that. But most importantly, I think we can't expect our adults or our students to be able to demonstrate resiliency if we don't give them the opportunity to. So when resiliency shows up or the need for resiliency shows up in schools, how do we use those as teachable moments to recognize what's happening? Talk to a learner about, okay, this is what's happening. This is how you're feeling. And here are some strategies maybe for supporting us to get through it. Yeah. And a lot of us teachers deal with students with exceptionalities. And in my opinion, we all have exceptionalities. You know, whether we have an IDEA classification or a 504 plan or whatever, it's embracing who we are. And a lot of students are dealt cards that aren't always wonderful socially, economically, having certain labels put on them and people perceive them as limited by a label instead of focusing, like you say, on strengths. And you're a strengths coach and going through that trans mediation to highlight what students are good at, what they feel good at, and creating those safe environments and spaces for them to succeed. Right, Angie? I think that's- Yes. Well, and here's my curiosity about that. I mean, I think I proposed in the manuscript that in meant for more classrooms, both staff and students can reveal their individual strengths and focus then on just intentionally creating these spaces and well, and even policies and instructional design and feedback loops, right, that empower the needs of the group. And so this idea or this belief that all students are capable learners might be in the words, inscripted in our school mission and vision statements, but oftentimes the behaviors required to bring those beliefs into reality are inconsistent. And we have evidence of that from global achievement and growth data, because it reveals that we still have cohorts and mind you, predictable cohorts of students for which school is not working. And the degree to which that continues to be acceptable to us is something that we really need to notice. Thank you. Thank you. Because that's something that's not easy for us to look at. And like you said, what's your fault? What do you feel? What's your Achilles heel? And a lot of people don't want to bring that forefront. And when we do, I think we can talk about classrooms, like you say, built on dignity, authenticity, and connection. And that's not always one, two, three. And you have another chapter giving grace. What's involved with that? The giving grace chapter in the same way that embracing authenticity had to be the first element that I explored, giving grace had to be the last, because I really wanted the reader to leave on this note of acceptance and permission and belief, this idea of self-efficacy and self-worth. So when we think about the elements of a meant for more classroom as they connect to giving grace, one of the most important opportunities is being able to show gratitude. So naming things that we are grateful for and not in a superficial way, but just noticing things that really have honored who we are as people who have created space for us to be our authentic self and being able to show gratitude for that, and then continuing to notice these moments and nurture them so that they can become normalized in our classrooms. I think that's a really huge component for me. I also think in the giving grace chapter, I shared a story about myself where I literally had to hard to stop one day and look in the mirror and say, Ang, you are not talking to yourself in the same way that you're teaching your daughter to, and you have to stop. So I had to be explicit in my pivot to really practicing how to speak to myself with kindness. And that was no easy task, to be fair, because I think the world around us is trying to remind us that there's always something better around the corner, or there's something else that we could be doing, or we're not jumping as high as the person next to us. And so keep working hard when really the truth is that if we start from a place of strength, if we can embrace what value we bring into a space, then it allows me to truly understand and be able to name that I am enough as I am. And that grace that we give ourselves is absolutely essential so that when kids raise their hand, and they don't have the right answer, we have a classroom that shows respect and makes that learner feel dignified, rather than the classroom environment unravels. And now we have different voices in the space that are dehumanizing or debilitating that learner. We also, when we think about our own permissions, one of the permissions I gave myself was to schedule time for self-care on my calendar. I mean, it literally is self-care. It's a different color. My calendar, I know it sticks out and it's the first thing I do every day. I know that if I go downstairs and start making a cup of coffee or something, I'll start looking and finding other things for me to do. So self-care, it looks different for me, it's different for everyone. But this idea that I was taking time for me to grow me and to nurture me and what I needed. And some days, I mean, in fairness, self-care looks like hitting snooze and getting just a little bit more sleep, because that's what I need some days. But really this idea of scheduling myself time on the calendar to step away from the noise and the hurry of what the day might bring has been quite effective for me personally. And it also is something that I get excited to coach individuals and teams on, particularly in schools. I think that when you give yourself grace, it allows for reflection. And sometimes that is an overlooked experience in our teams and in the meeting structures that we have. I kind of liken reflection to stretching after a workout. You know you should stretch after whatever you just did, but you're like, I'm in a hurry, I got to get in the shower. The line at Starbucks is going to be really long, so I got to get going. And instead of stretching, you forgo that for something else. And it's not until the next day when you realize, ooh, gosh, I'm a little bit sore, maybe I should have stretched. And so when we think about looping that practice back into classrooms and teams, we want our adults to be reflective and to pause and say, what went well about today's lesson? Where did I make sure that every perspective was represented? How did I plan in advance of instruction to make sure that every kid was able to access the instruction that I offered today? And in the same way, we do that for students. So how do we teach students to be reflective and say, gosh, what do I know I was really good at today? Or like, where can I feel like my proficiency is really high? Where's the next step for me? And what evidence do I have that this is what I need? And how can I partner with my teacher to be able to move forward? So these moments of reflection are also embedded in that last chapter under the element of a meant for more classroom around giving grace. I love that. Thank you. So just thinking that I should stretch won't work. You mean I have to actually do it? Huh? Okay. We know the good things. Now the practices come alive. But we mentioned something before the podcast when we were briefly speaking. And I said to you spread the word hummingbird. And that kind of like hit a chord with you. Do you mind sharing with our listeners? Why? Sure, sure I can. So I am in the middle of this. Well, I'm in the next chapter, of my personal and professional career. And after the publication of my book meant for more, December 22nd, by the way, which was maybe perhaps not the best timing over a winter. 2023? 2023. So yeah, just a few months ago. Right. Perhaps not the best time to elevate, right, a book into anyway. But now that the manuscript was done, I thought, gosh, my brain actually has time and space to think about what's next. And here I wrote this book titled meant for more. And it got me reflecting on, well, I too have meant for more and so and, you know, what's next? And so I started doing some reflection on how I could better align the work that I was doing in various pockets and merge that all together to be able to provide a different level of service to schools and organizations and districts. And so that led to this idea of the meant for more collaborative being born. And for the last few months, I've been really stuck on a logo. And I know this seems silly and perhaps to our listeners are like, girl, just go on Canva and just find something or whatever. But but the logo meant something to me, because the words meant for more are, they mean something to me. And it, I wanted to have a logo that represented the dignity, the integrity, the worthiness, and the bravery of this experience of trying something new. And so after many, many, many embarrassing amount of iterations, and weeks of going back and forth playing around with different things, I emerged just yesterday, with such clarity about my logo being the hummingbird. And she has been right there in front of me the whole time. And I just hadn't noticed that she was the imagery that I wanted to capture as I thought about the meant for more collaborative. And the reason that this is so meaningful to me is because of actually a few fun facts about the hummingbird and how they connect to my relation with my late grandmother. So perhaps here's a little fun fact session for our listeners today. The hummingbird first is often known as the flying jewel because their iridescent feathers appear to change color while they're in flight. The hummingbird is also the only word that can fly backwards, which I didn't know until recently. And the third thing is that during migration, hummingbirds use the sun as their guide during the day, but then they navigate by the stars at night. And even just thinking about this connection to the hummingbird and also, nevermind the fact that my grandmother had a hummingbird feeder at her house. And it was like such a poor memory unleashed, just thinking about all these times, going back to my grandmother's house and birdwatching with her and my grandfather. You know, the hummingbird really is a tribute to her because she was this amazing woman who taught me to find my true north, keep my chin up when things were going the wrong direction and to shine big and bold and bright, because there was only one of me and I had work to do. And it just, the noise of like what my logo should be and how this projection should appear to everybody else. Like I had to, it took me weeks to get through that and to get back to, no, what do I want to represent for me? And how is that connection important to me? And the story of what that means for me is just another way for people to get to know who I am, what my core values are, what's important to me and how to connect with me as well. So I think that the power of story and the power of imagery, these are important things in our profession, but I took them to the next level of thinking about my own opportunity here as I launched the collaborative as well. I love that, Angie. Thank you so much for sharing that story. And I appreciate you and our listeners appreciate you taking the time to share and spreading the word hummingbird. Angie, please thank you so much for being on our podcast. Appreciate you. You're welcome. Thanks for having me. Not so unaware of a world that thinks he's broken and who never even knew the kid with the different point of view No, they never really knew the kid with the different point of view Copyright 2024. Karten's Inclusive Conversations. Thank you for listening. Check out other episodes on all major platforms.