NJSBA Workshop - I'm the co-presenter!

Last year, I presented at NJSBA Virtual Workshop 2021 on "A Board Member's Personal Responsibility" where I tried to answer the question of how an individual board member can better understand the importance of their role through a lens of curiosity, connection and self-reflection. One of the audience heard the invitation to connect, and asked if I'd be interested in expanding on the topic to use empathy and curiosity to look at the board's role in equity and policy. I said yes, and today Paul Breda of Wharton BOE and I presented "Empathy, Equity and Policy" at NJSBA Workshop.

We encouraged the audience to ask questions to seek to understand the student experience, for example, what must it be like for a student who comes home while parents are working two or more jobs to make ends meet? Or, the student who experiences school only through the lens of people with whom they share little in common? By being curious, and by asking questions, the board can affect the student experience through policy.

Also, we emphasized that empathy is needed to respect and understand other board members' viewpoints.  Remember, the board member with whom you disagree believes they are doing what is best for kids, same as you. So how can we discuss a topic / policy with the intent of understanding where each person is coming from? This sense of curiosity and empathy is so important for board members to develop.