• How can principals do better than superficial gestures of teacher appreciation?
• How can we address teaching colleagues who seem caught in a martyr mindset?
• How can school leaders work efficiently without building a toxic culture of rushing?

About This Guest, Ruth Poulsen

Ruth is an international school leader who has spent her career building cultures of care—from China to Colorado, and next up, Jordan. She’s currently on sabbatical and writing Regenerative Schools, a newsletter exploring the mindset shifts and systems changes needed to prevent the crisis of educator burnout and ultimately, to support student wellbeing.

Connect with Ruth

• on LinkedIn, 
• on Substack at regenerativeschools.substack.com

In This Conversation

• 0:00:00 – Ruth Poulsen is a school principal and education writer.
• 1:31 – Stepping from an industrial paradigm to a regenerative mindset
• 4:56 – Distinguishing between efficiency and frantic rushing
• 9:19 – The “fertilizer” in our schools: toxic element or asset?
• 11:48 – How can teachers show appreciation beyond superficial efforts?
• 14:52 – Surveys: How to take the pulse of teachers effectively
• 20:13 – How to set up tree lines in our schools: boundaries that preserve and protect
• 29:04 – Managing parent complaints
• 30:25 – How to coach colleagues caught in a martyr mindset
• 35:01 – Creating intentional moments in schools that connect with mission
• 36:53 – Ruth talks about Regenerative Schools, her Substack
• 38:58 – How and where to connect With Ruth Poulsen online

Song Track Credit: Tropic Fuse by French Fuse – retrieved from the YouTube Audio Library at https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/.