The Minimalist Educator Podcast
A podcast about paring down to focus on the purpose and priorities in our roles.
The Minimalist Educator Podcast
Episode 070: Rethinking Professional Development in K-12 Education with Fred Ende
In this episode of the Minimalist Educator Podcast, we connect with Fred Ende, the Director of Curriculum and Instructional Services at Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES. Fred shares his journey from a middle school science teacher to an educational leader, highlighting the importance of professional development tailored to meet the needs of teachers and students alike. Our conversation explores how minimalism can be a powerful tool in the classroom, addressing common challenges in K-12 education today and the importance of inclusivity and adaptability in teaching practices.
Fred emphasizes the need to prioritize listening and reflection, advocating for a thoughtful approach to educational challenges. He discusses exciting developments surrounding New York's graduation requirements, a much-needed shift towards more flexibility for student success. Fred's tasty pare down pointer reminds us that sometimes stepping back can lead to clearer paths forward.
If you're an educator looking to simplify your approach and enhance your students' learning experiences, this episode promises to be an enlightening listen! Be sure to subscribe and leave us your thoughts—in what ways do you find simplicity in your teaching?
Fred Ende is director of Curriculum and Instructional Services for the Putnam/Northern Westchester Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) where he is responsible for supporting and leading the development of curriculum, professional learning, and innovative educational initiatives, and is liaison to the New York State Education Department regarding curriculum and instruction requirements and regulations. He served in this same organization as the assistant director of Curriculum and Instructional Services as well as regional science coordinator and director of SCIENCE 21. Before that, he worked for 10 years as a middle school science teacher and department chair in Chappaqua, New York.
Contact Fred at http://www.fredende.com
Instragram: fred.ende
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredende/
Fred's books:
Buy The Minimalist Teacher book from ASCD+ISTE.
Follow on Instagram @PlanZEducation and @minimalist_ed_podcast.
The Minimalist Educator Podcast is a Plan Z Education Services adventure.
Welcome to the Minimalist Educator Podcast, a podcast about paring down to refocus on the purpose and priorities in our roles with co-hosts and co-authors of the Minimalist Teacher Book, Tammy Musiewski-Bornemann and Christine Arnold.
Speaker 2:On this week's episode we speak with Fred End about commonalities with professional development needs across different K-12 learning environments. His pare-down pointer is take time before reacting or responding. Fred End is Director of Curriculum and Instructional Services for the Partnum Northern Westchester Board of Cooperative Educational Services, where he is responsible for supporting and leading the development of curriculum, professional learning and innovative educational initiatives and is liaison to the New York State Education Department regarding curriculum and instruction requirements and regulations. He served in the same organization as the Assistant Director of Curriculum and Instructional Services, as well as Regional Science Coordinator and Director of Science 21. Before that, he worked for 10 years as a middle school science teacher and department chair in Chippewa, new York.
Speaker 3:Hello everyone and welcome to this week's episode of the Minimalist Educator podcast. Today, christine and I are talking with Fred Endy, who is the Director of Curriculum and Instruction at the Putnam-BCES in New York State. Welcome, fred.
Speaker 4:Thanks for having me. Great to see you both.
Speaker 3:I am super excited to have you on. We've been trying to schedule you for quite some time, but you are a busy fella, so we'll get into some of this nitty gritty. First, though, I think that it's important for our guests to know, kind of, where you've come from and how you got into your role.
Speaker 4:So thanks, yeah, and it's great to be here as well. I am busy, and so I would say that I have quite a bit to learn, I think, from the two of you in terms of drilling my life down to a more manageable space. So how did I get here? It's a loaded question, but I started my career teaching middle school science in a suburb of New York City. It was the perfect place for me. My wife regularly says that I act like a middle schooler, so it was a great age range for me to teach and have had a love of science since I was a child, and so I felt really connected to helping like tweens and teens kind of connect with the science in their lives. And so as I progressed in my career and took on a number of different in-school leadership roles, I found that I really enjoyed supporting the growth of adult learners too, and so moved into a regional role at our local BOCES.
Speaker 4:For listeners outside of New York states, boces operates basically as kind of like county offices and in that capacity we help local districts in like surrounding towns and cities with any aspect of educational support they need right, so that can be special education services, career or polytechnic support, and the area within our organization that I lead is around providing support to teachers and leaders, other educators, with curriculum, instruction and assessment needs, and that's everything from like helping them build like homegrown programs to like sussing out curricular resources that they might want to use, to working with consultants and with districts and schools to build teacher capacity around differentiation, like you name it.
Speaker 4:If it's a teaching and learning element, I'm somehow, if not involved like, have the potential to be a part of that work, and so it's a great, it's a great place for me to be. I've had the fortune of spending like the 25 years of my career in education in the teaching and learning space, so first as a teacher for 10 years, then doing science work at a regional level, and then over the last 10 years being in more of a kind of like overarching umbrella role around curriculum, instruction and assessment, and so during that time I have also been fortunate enough to do some writing to provide support to districts through my BOCES and then other regional service centers, because while we work with districts we're not the same as a school district, right, and really have enjoyed all that work like within kind of the education space.
Speaker 2:Awesome.
Speaker 4:I always think it takes a very special kind of teacher to work in middle school everybody, everybody says that, but it's actually such a fantastic uh age range because I think you're, you're at the inflection point between, like um, learners accepting like your word as what must be, and then then also like from a teacher standpoint, needing to continually grow an approach to like help students understand kind of like their own, growing like independence as learners leaders. So it's a super cool age range.
Speaker 2:You should try it, I would say yeah, that's it so, with your background in in middle school and and science as well, but then you're finding yourself working with teachers all different age ranges, all different subject areas, whether they're generalists or specialists. So what are some of the through lines that are helpful when you're working with this sort of thing, no matter what kind of field of education they're in?
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's such a good question. So I'd say, regardless of your age range you're working with, you know, young learner, old learner or older learner, whatever your discipline background is, you know, specialized, more generalist the key that I found is how do you, how do you put the learning in the hands of that learner? Right, and that's. That's everything, from providing students with the voice and choice to make some of those learning decisions, to making sure that you're in tune with who students are as individuals and they can see themselves right and feel themselves in the teaching and learning that's taking place. To understanding, like the history of given communities right. Schools and districts, the culture that exists within a given school system right.
Speaker 4:And both being aware of that as well as constantly trying to change it to be as inclusive as possible right. And that it doesn't matter whether you're working with five-year-olds or 50-year-olds right. Those needs still exist. They may present themselves differently, but I think those connective practices are huge right. And if in education, yes, but any people facing profession like so medicine, certainly, profession like so medicine, certainly right is another great example If you don't have those connective and relational skills in place, then it doesn't matter what your discipline experience is right. It's going to be really, really hard for students to successfully benefit from your work right, or what you bring as an educator or person.
Speaker 3:You bring a lot to the people that you work with, freddie. You are like a master at reflection, I think, and building relationships. I know those are two of your biggest strengths. How do you bring that, or what does that look like when you are trying to meet the needs of teachers in districts? Or you know a district's needs. What does that look like for you?
Speaker 4:I think there are a couple moves I tend to try and make in working with people. One is to be as active and intentional a listener as possible and to try and quiet the voice in my head. That instinct like makes me want to respond with right, just because I I'm curious about so many things and I love engaging with people and I have to like quiet it down. A? Um, an amazing um mentor who I um, who I still uh see frequently, she had taught me once that one of the best things that you can do, right if you feel yourself getting into that space where your mind is too active and you're not really listening to people you're speaking with, was to write down on, like a little piece of paper, something that you can visit visually, connect with like the words don't talk right and like force yourself to pay attention to that so that you're you're really focusing in on what the other person or people are uh are saying and that uh. That can be hard for me, because when I think of um like a, a tool like Myers-Briggs right To determine uh some of like the elements that are important to you, I tend to be uh on like the ends of that um, be on like the ends of that, extroverted and also judging, right? I'm an ENTJ, right so extroverted and judging, and for those EJs it's really tough to not speak Like it is so hard to do right. So but listening with intent and really actively engaging in what people are saying is one key component.
Speaker 4:The other piece that I would say I'm a huge fan of, kim Scott's Radical Candor, you know. The idea is simply that we gain more from being open and honest with, like love and care for people than we do with playing like nicey, nice all the time, right Like you can still build cultures of care and also be open and upfront with people in a way that feels good for them, right so that tends to build trust, it tends to encourage people to let things go a little bit easier, and I think relationships have to be built on mutual trust as well as this belief that you can be open and honest with the other person to help each other grow. So those are like two things I try to keep in mind. Sometimes I do both of them much better than others, but I'd say they're two foundational elements that I try to employ and use.
Speaker 2:I was going to ask you a question next about how you juggle all of the different things that you're doing, but now you've got me thinking about this radical candor. You know, if you are in this position where you're working with lots of different participants in the system and sometimes you know, people know information, other people don't know, or there's lots of things to juggle in that way. So what is the role of candor and trust when you're juggling those different voices and the different needs of what people need to know and hear?
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's such a good question. I think when I started my career, both as a teacher and then also in the regional space, I was really focused on being the pathway to an answer right. So, whether it was a student or an adult, right, wanting to know something I didn't want to say I don't know, right, or live in a space where I couldn't be the answer provider, right, you know, I, which was also like a really, on some level, like selfish approach in terms of thinking that I had to be the one to to like, be that person, like how dare I even think that? Right, it's just so right. But at that point in my career, that's where I was, and so one key piece that I think helps a lot with that is not just the openness and honesty of like not knowing which is important and making it clear, but also being the person who then can use some of my relational skills to make those connections so people can find the answer right, because we do more damage pretending to know and sharing what might be erroneous information than we do in not having the answer, but helping people find the pathway to getting at it Right, and so that's, that's one piece.
Speaker 4:On the other side, um there's. There's the value of um people knowing that they can also come to me for a really honest assessment of approaches, planning or some work they want to do with their teams. They know that the response I will give will be one that is as balanced and thoughtful as possible and won't necessarily be about me benefiting from the answer. When you asked Christine about how do you balance it, part of it is not inserting yourself into whatever the work is right. So I've gotten very good at providing an assessment of things and then connecting people and stepping back right, because it is very hard and were it not for my comfort with saying no and being able to walk away from things, I would struggle even more with like executive functioning than I do.
Speaker 3:So I'm thinking now kind of some specifics now in your region. What are some needs that are, or have been at the surface of the support that you're giving districts and schools? So what seems to be kind of are there some trends popping up or is it like just different in different areas? What's happening?
Speaker 4:Yeah, there's definitely some. So one continued area of focus has been helping schools and districts really think about how they are structuring their systems to be as inclusive as possible for all students. And that's inclusivity from all areas, right. So race, gender, ethnicity, language, spoken, whether students are, you know. Whether students are, you know SIFE students, right. So students with interrupted formal education, right. All of the being a place for all students to be successful, which is, of course, such hard work and probably the most foundational thing that a school system can do, because everything else kind of hinges on that.
Speaker 4:Also, work around, how do you design support structures, right? That you know build off of work from response to intervention and other approaches that are truly multi-tiered. So MTSS work, multi-tiered systems of support are on the minds of all schools and districts because, as you become more inclusive in your practices, your approach to meeting needs has to be much more focused and targeted. And so creating these umbrella structures where you can really design interventions that happen in the classroom, where everyone feels the positive accountability for doing that, creating more targeted student level groups and then building out as needed, like one to one support, right. And how do you, how do you create those, those models and then, as wonderful as it is to teach and lead in New York state, um, you know, new York is not a perfect state by any means, uh, in its educational uh landscape, and so one of the big initiatives for our state over the next five to six years will be like a total evolution of what the graduation process looks like for students, right, and so, tammy and Christine, there is like this at this point, centuries old kind of like structure in New York State where, in order to graduate, you have to receive a certain score on a certain number of assessments and if you don't, like, none shall pass.
Speaker 4:Right, you are like, just right, you, you don't, you don't graduate with like some small exceptions. Right, and these exams have been present for like ever since, like the world was created on some level. So it's a really large shift for our state to be thinking outside the box, and so states looking to adopt, yeah, portrait of a graduate, rethink credit like, rethink what it means to show proficiency, to be a graduate, and so it's amazing, really student focused work and uh like policies that I'm really supportive of and want to help our larger region move towards a little bit of a crystal ball question for you.
Speaker 2:Do you, who do you, who do you feel like is going to have the biggest challenge with that shift? Is it going to be like the teachers? Is it going to be the colleges? Is it going to be parents? Yeah, I'm wondering who's going to battle the most with a huge shift, a huge change like that.
Speaker 4:It's such a good question. I think that it's going to be a productive challenge for everyone, maybe for different reasons, right? So I think the and everyone will stand to benefit. Of course, the people who will stand to benefit most will be the students, right, because so much greater flexibility will be provided and that flexibility is also it's like a't move out of and say like, oh, I wish there was much more flexibility and all that. But, as we know, when people are given flexibility right, sometimes they want to like go back into their boxes and, just like you know, we want to like complain about being in the box, but we don't want to leave the box Right. So I think it will be hard for teachers and leaders like myself, included.
Speaker 4:Certainly, I think Parents won't find it particularly difficult in this state so long as two things happen. Difficult in this state, so long as two things happen. The vast majority of parents feel that New York state assessments do not do what they should do, right. So that, I think, is a pretty and the continuum of like how activated people get about that is very different. But I think most parents would be like yeah, there are test kids need to take, but not sure what value they provide. The other thing that I think parents will need to hear will be that this is a move that will support their children's growth in college and career.
Speaker 4:Right, I think it will be tough for institutes of higher education because the structure for most college level courses continues to be sometimes more boxy than what's happening in K-12 education not all and not everywhere, but you know, post-secondary education will have to shift too, so I think it's. I totally did not answer the question the way you wanted me to. I think it's going to be a problem for everybody, but I think it's a productive challenge and the good thing is that it's a challenge that will ultimately really benefit New York students. So we can bemoan the process, but not what the outcome should be right, because that's why everybody's in this profession you want to make sure that students have better opportunities than we had when we were going through our respective systems.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and let's hope that. You know this is a long process. You said five to six years. This is kind of the focus with this shift and so hopefully, new york state becomes, you know, maybe the catalyst or the model for awesome yeah, to make this shift. So that would. It'll be great to hear the updates you know over time from you, just to see, see and hear how this unravels, and I just Unravels is a good word too, I would.
Speaker 4:I would say, and and Christine Tammy knows this because you know she, she taught in in the system in New York for for a while right, but New York and maybe most states in the U? S are like this but New York really does believe, right, and I I say this as New Yorker, so I own it too New York really does believe it is like the best thing in all of existence, right? So wouldn't it be nice if the education system right like continue to shift where, like people could believe that and where there was actually some evidence, at least on the education side, to like support that happening? So to your point, tammy, yes, that would be amazing, right, because as a native New Yorker, I could say like yeah, we are the best, and actually point to something that was like trending in that direction.
Speaker 3:Exactly, and it's like not just a two year initiative and then it's kicked out the door to try the next one, Like you need the five to six years to see this real change. So, yeah, this is going to be interesting. So we're going to wrap up our episode with you, Freddie. Time flies when we're having good conversations and we always ask our guests at the end of an episode to offer a pare down pointer. Always ask our guests at the end of an episode to offer a pare down pointer. So just a quick tip or strategy from our conversation or something else unrelated to what we talked about today, but just something that our listeners can take with them after the episode.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so I? Um, when you said a pare down pointer, I thought of what has been really helpful in me collecting thoughts, being more concise, sometimes be more balanced in my approach, and so one of the most helpful things that I've done, anytime I'm faced with something that seems like really big or really complicated, or if it's like an email that I can't process because of all of the potential challenges in it, is just give myself I know it's so simple, right, and yet we don't always do it Just give myself 24 hours, step away from whatever it is and come back to it with a fresh pair of eyes, and not always, but the vast majority of time the problem seems significantly smaller and much simpler when I've done that. So, for what it's worth, a simple strategy that has saved me a lot of time and overthinking.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, that's perfect, I can attest to that. Yeah, no, that's perfect, that I can attest to that. Just stepping away, clearing your mind, not thinking about it, can just make things so much clearer and simpler. Thank you so much, fred, for being with us today, my pleasure.
Speaker 2:Today's episode was brought to you by Plan Z Professional Learning Services forward-thinking educator support. Find out more at planzplservicescom.
Speaker 1:Be sure to join Tammy and Christine and guests for more episodes of the Minimalist Educator Podcast. They would love to hear about your journey with minimalism. Connect with them at planzpls on Twitter or Instagram. The music for the podcast has been written and performed by Gaia Moretti. Thank you.
