ACSI: Moving Forward with Lynn Swaner

About Today’s Show

Today’s podcast features Rex Miller, founder of MindShift and author of WHOLE: What Teachers Need to Help Students Thrive. Rex talks with Lynn Swaner about the Flourishing Schools construct of Resilience, applied to Christian school leaders and teachers, where they “handle stress effectively and respond well to/bounce back from difficult situations.” Rex unpacks the dangers of the “caregiver’s dilemma” and shares...

About Today’s Show

Today’s podcast features Marianne Vangoor, Director of Leadership at Edvance in Ontario, Canada. Marianne talks with Lynn Swaner about the Flourishing Schools construct of God’s Story, where “students believe they are a part of God’s bigger plan and can be used by Him to ‘make a difference’.” Marianne shares insights on how schools can ask “what does love require?” as a guiding question for students and staff as ...

About Today’s Show

Today’s podcast features Sean Schat, Assistant Professor of Education at Redeemer University in Ancaster, Ontario (Canada).  Sean talks with Lynn Swaner about the Flourishing Schools construct of Caring Environment, where alumni report that “teachers were kind, students felt included in class, and students were protected from bullying.” Sean unpacks the idea of educational care and shares his research on how it t...

In this podcast, Dr. Lynn Swaner interviews Dr. David Kinnaman, President of the Barna Group, on a new research project on today’s teens. As a partner in the research, ACSI is working with Barna to apply this research in the Christian education context and deliver insights to Christian school educators all over the world. Called “The Open Generation,” the research reveals how today’s teens are open to Jesus and the Bible, and how C...

About Today’s Show

Today’s podcast features Tia Gaines, director for Educational Strategies for UnifiEd, A Center for Hope and Unity. Tia talks with Lynn Swaner about the Flourishing Schools construct of Insular Culture, where “the school shields students from the world’s brokenness, the school is independent from the surrounding community, and/or the student body lacks diversity.” The conversation focuses on creating communities o...

Today’s podcast features Andrew Neumann, Executive Chair and CEO of Open Sky Education. Andrew talks with Lynn Swaner about the Flourishing Schools construct of Resource Constraints, where leaders believe “we could be more effective as a school if not for fiscal constraints, and we lack the resources we need to make changes in our school.” Andrew discusses the ways in which the Christian school sector can move from a scarcity to ab...

Today’s podcast features Elizabeth Lucas Dombrowski, Director of All Belong Center for Inclusive Education. Elizabeth talks with Lynn Swaner about the Flourishing Schools construct of Responsiveness to Special Needs, where “teaching staff works together to serve students with special needs, aided by processes and resources for identifying and responding to those needs.” 

To go further in learning about this construct, check out t...

About Today’s Show

Today’s podcast features Justin Smith, Head of the Upper School and Vice President of Little Rock Christian Academy. Justin talks with Lynn Swaner about the Flourishing Schools construct of Questioning, where “students have doubts about their faith, lack time to pray or study the Bible, and feel that most Christians are too judgmental.” Justin share how questions can actually be harnessed in the classroom as tool...

About Today’s Show

Today’s podcast features Tyler Amidon, Director of Student Life and Middle School at Denver Christian School. Tyler talks with Lynn Swaner about the Flourishing Schools construct of Mentoring Students, where “staff point out talent in each student, help students see how they fit in God’s bigger plan, and are aware of students’ struggles at school or home.” Tyler shares foundational approaches for mentoring and ho...

Today’s podcast features Ginger Hill, Founder of Good Health for Good Works. Ginger talks with Lynn Swaner about the Flourishing Schools construct of Stress, where “constant feelings of stress and being overwhelmed accompany a lack of time to prepare for instruction (Teachers) or to focus on physical health (Leaders).” Ginger shares practical strategy for staff and schoolwide well-being during this time of increased stress and burn...

Today’s podcast features Darren Iselin, Director of Research and Innovation with Christian Schools Australia (CSA). Darren talks with Lynn Swaner about the Flourishing Schools construct of Qualified Staff, where “new teacher hires are credentialed (educationally and licensed/certified) and have classroom experience,” and which emerged as a strength for CSA schools through the Australia pilot of the Flourishing School Culture Instru...

Today’s podcast features Dave Hill, Founder of HeartSmart. Dave talks with Lynn Swaner about the Flourishing Schools construct of Resilience, where “students handle stress effectively and respond well to/bounce back from difficult situations.” Dave shares insights about developing resilience, character development, and social emotional learning (SEL) in schools.

To go further in learning about this construct, check out these resour...

Today’s podcast features Joel Gaines, Head of School at The City School in Philadelphia. Joel talks with Lynn Swaner about the Flourishing Schools construct of Community Engagement, where “the school engages with the surrounding community and local churches, and regularly taps into community resources, including networking and resource- sharing with other schools.” Joel shares insights on how schools can be a light and a bringer of...

This month’s podcast features Becki Rust, ACSI Thought Leadership Project Coordinator, who interviews Dr. Maria Varlet, Head of Research and Innovation at Crest Education in Melbourne, Australia, about the importance of women's leadership in Christian education. They discuss ways to develop women’s leadership through mentoring, building a leadership network, and taking a strengths-based approach, as well as Maria's recent blog post...

This month’s podcast features Betsy Winkle, Director of Evaluation Services at All Belong. Guest host Dr. Charlotte Marshall Powell speaks with Betsy about ways that trauma-informed perspectives can help both students and teachers adjust back to school life during COVID-19. This podcast provides a helpful follow up to Betsy’s earlier blog post on the same topic of trauma-informed instruction for students and support for educators.

This podcast features Phil Puleo, Superintendent of the Christian School Association of Greater Harrisburg (CSAGH), an organization that oversees both Harrisburg Christian School (HCS) and West Shore Christian Academy (WSCA) in the Pennsylvania capital.  I talk with Phil about the process of bringing these two schools together, the promise that mergers and acquisitions have for Christian school sustainability, and lessons he’s lear...

This month’s podcast features Dan Beerens and Erik Ellefsen, who are co-editors of the new book MindShift: Catalyzing Change in Christian Education, along with podcast host Lynn Swaner. The editors discuss their two-year journey with over 60 leading educators through a Christian education “mindshift,” which is a transformational process of dialogue and exploration pioneered by futurist Rex Miller. With nearly 11,000 copies of the b...

This month’s podcast features Tom Rudmik, who is the CEO and Founder of Master’s Academy and College, an award-winning R&D Christian school located in Calgary, Canada. I interview Tom about Master’s Future Ready Model of Education and the innovative methods that Master’s uses to prepare students to “learn from the future.” Tom also shares insights for Christian school leaders as they work to inspire their staff and teachers toward ...