The Dock School Leader Podcast

How do children develop? How do we give them the best chance of healthy development? The fact of the ocean of ink spilled on this question has not lessened the actual wonder of this process or the reality of its mystery.

In a presentation filled with stories and examples, Brandon Mullet explores the basic needs of children. Brandon speaks as an administrator, teacher, and parent.

He discusses themes such as:

• Laboring for w...

How are your teachers’ root systems? If you have the opportunity, ask an arborist talk about root systems and about the tree planting and care process. From root hairs to mycorrhizae, it’s a fascinating world. But one that is mostly invisible to us and that tends to fall prey to our drive to control and manipulate what is visible to us. Melvin Lehman employs the metaphor of roots as he reflects on nearly four decades of teaching.

Does your school have mission, vision, and values statements? Who knows about them?

We’re probably all familiar with these three terms and in this episode, Merle Burkholder offers simple definitions and provides clear examples of each one to refresh our usage. He also suggests a variety of means to communicate these guiding statements so that they can become second nature for you and your people.

Merle brings many years of experien...

How do you know when you have a good year at school? When the people around you talk about having a good year or a bad year, what do they have in mind? As an administrator, it matters that you feel a sense of satisfaction or concern when things are actually going well or going poorly as the case may be. You play a key role in setting the tone for celebrating success and learning from failure. But you need to know what success looks...

What were we created for and how does that inform our relationships? In this final episode in our segment on relationships, Jeff Swanson describes four fundamentals that become especially potent when relationships turn problematic:

1. Love
2. Listening
3. Structure
4. Direct communication

If you know Jeff, you may catch the humor of his title and of his proposition to offer groundbreaking thoughts about relating to children and mill...

Why have an administrator? What can an administrator do in terms of the relationships around the school? Steve Brubaker makes the case that administrators inhabit and manage the complex meeting place of all the people involved in a school. It’s a position of influence to be used not to lord it over others but to serve them. “Administrators exist to serve the servants,” says Steven. And schools that lack these people are hampered in...

If parents are responsible to train their children, what are the children doing in schools? Matt Peachy lays out a case for education that places schools squarely in a position of service to the church and to families. He then outlines some of the ways that this shapes a school, particularly in its relationships with parents and the church.

Matt teaches at the secondary level and has administrative and pastoral experience. Notably,...

What’s your greatest advantage as a teacher or leader in a Christian school? Stephen submits that it is the immeasurable gift of most of our children having parents that love them. What are you doing to know and care for those parents and your students, especially the average ones?

Stephen Gingerich speaks with year of experience teaching and administrating in a school in Guatemala that serves both mission and native families. This...

Just investing in a culture of growth as Gerald described in the last episode won’t solve all problems. Here he is again with a sequel episode exploring redemptive solutions to difficult people problems.

Few people enjoy wading into these situations. Gerald won’t tell you how to begin liking it, but he does outline a number of excellent methods for how to lead responsibly and honorably.

This episode describes how to break down a pr...

Schools are places for growth and learning.

• Growth is essential for teachers.
• Teachers must be learners.
• This is not something that school leaders can force, but it very is definitely something that leaders can and should nurture.

Gerald Miller, long-time teacher and administrator makes a compelling case for those propositions which will shape how you think about what you look for in a teacher. He also shares straightfor...

What does it look like to shepherd your school?

This episode presents a passionate challenge by a board member to school leaders and to board members in particular to take full ownership of their responsibility for the people under their care. Ernie Weaver brings school board and business leadership experience to this talk as well as perspective from within the classroom through his own time as a teacher and as son and brother of l...

Is an incompetent teacher better than not having a one?

We are beginning a new segment focused on staff development and care.

In this opening episode, Ken Kauffman speaks from his experience as a teacher, principle, and educational representative for Christian Light. He leads the way in thinking about the following three issues:

1. How we prepare new teachers
2. How we identify and nurture the next generation of teachers
3. How we buil...

Our rationale, resources, and methodology matter.

But what about the students who come to us with such deep brokenness and dysfunction that our best efforts to help them go nowhere unless backwards or in circles? The subject of disorders is huge. Here in this bonus episode we’re going to look at just one of them: Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD).

 Wesley King is a father of a RAD child and has experience as a principle. He speaks...

A common theme in academic discussions is the curriculum. For our final episode in this segment on academics, we’re looking at this common theme, but with an important distinction.

Gerald Miller, teacher and current administrator at Faith Builders Christian School differentiates between the formal curriculum (what you pay money for every year) and the hidden curriculum, which is everything else. He’s casting vision here for schools...

We are continuing our segment of episodes addressing particular subject areas.

Building a strong reading program is more than helping students with dyslexia. How well is your school doing overall at shaping your students into adults who love reading, who can do it well, and who can enter deeply into their reading?

Drawing inspiration from Nehemiah where the law was rediscovered through distinct reading that gave the sense and cause...

Description

Singing has been an important part of our Anabaptist heritage. But what are the trends of music literacy and quality in your community? Does your school delight in music making? And what is at stake if music education is off track?

Lyle Stutzman approaches this topic with many years of experience in music teaching and directing. He's taught at the elementary, high school, and secondary levels including places like Shena...

We’re beginning a segment of episodes exploring specific topics in the domain of academics. In today’s episode, history teacher Michael Martin explores the foundations of why we include history in our curriculum. We rely on history, which for Michael includes divine revelation, to answer the following questions: 

• Who are we? 

• Where we are going? 

• What we are doing? 

• What we could become? 

Our...

If there is no such thing as a culture-less school, then the question becomes: what is my school’s culture? Is it what you want? And just as importantly, what are you doing to either build it or change it? In this episode, Anthony Hurst brings several decades of experience as a teacher and administrator to the question about how to cultivate the kind of culture that produces the fruit for which we hope. You will be challenged to be...

In this episode, Gary Miller asks us to take a careful look at our target. We are all aiming at something. Our schools have a target in focus and so does each one of our students. At best, functional and ideal targets are misaligned. At worst, careful targeting is ignored in the press of responding to whatever is most urgent. 

Gary Miller brings deep experience in finance and education. In 2011 he authored the book Charting a Cours...