Courageous Conversations about our Schools

What if the most urgent work in education isn’t fixing systems—but rebuilding trust between the people inside them?

In this latest episode, we explore what it takes to create schools and communities where people feel seen, heard, and connected. The conversation features Mike Walsh, a longtime education leader and widely respected “human connector,” reflecting on how trust, belonging, and relationship-building sit at the center of lasting change.

Drawing on decades of experience as a school board leader, facilitator, and student advocate, Walsh shares how meaningful change doesn’t begin with answers, but with better questions—and with the courage to step out of the conversation so others can connect with each other.

The conversation focuses on three powerful themes:

- Strengthening relationships among adults in the schoolhouse (starting at 1:40), including how curiosity, shared purpose, and intentional facilitation can help educators and staff reconnect during times of crisis and burnout.

- How school boards can better connect with their constituents (starting at 12:25), moving beyond performative public comment toward authentic engagement that invites parents and community members to help solve real problems together.

- Breaking down walls among students (starting at 22:52) as Walsh explains how Breaking Down the Walls workshops help young people overcome loneliness, fear of judgment, and disconnection by sharing stories, playing together, and discovering their shared humanity.

The emotional high point of the episode comes at 33:29, when Walsh recounts a deeply moving story about an angry student whose hidden trauma reshapes how the entire room understands resilience, compassion, and the urgent need for hope in schools.

This episode is a powerful reminder that connection—not compliance, not lectures, not politics—is what allows schools and communities to heal, grow, and move forward together.

Why Connection—not Control—Is What Schools Need Now (Ep. 50) — Courageous Conversations About Our Schools In this episode, Ken Futernick sits down with Mike Walsh—widely known across California education circles as a master human connector —to explore how schools can build trust, strengthen relationships, and create communities where both adults and students truly belong. Drawing on decades of exper...

Ken Futernick's latest article published by Education Week

Students Aren't Being Indoctrinated. The Real Problem Is Mistrust of Teachers (Opinion) Teachers are avoiding important, complex topics because they fear backlash.

Communities don’t change because of a new program or the next big initiative. They change when people decide to stop talking past one another and start listening with intention.

That’s the story at the center of our new two-part collaboration with The Harwood Institute: The Extraordinary Transformation of a City and Its Schools

The series takes you inside Reading, Pennsylvania—a community facing deep poverty, fractured trust, and schools under enormous pressure. What shifted things wasn’t a silver bullet. It was a simple, human commitment shared across educators, nonprofits, families, and faith leaders: turn outward, listen first, and act together.

Across two episodes, you’ll hear directly from the people who lived this work—and from those who once felt stuck and unheard but found hope in a different kind of leadership.

If you care about schools, communities, or the possibility of public life feeling better than it does right now, these conversations matter.

🎧 Listen to the full series:

The Extraordinary Transformation of a City and Its Schools — Courageous Conversations About Our Schools The Extraordinary Transformation of a City and Its Schools A two-part podcast series about community, education, and the power of Turning Outward Co-produced by Courageous Conversations About Our Schools & The Harwood Institute In the wake of the pandemic, Reading, Pennsylvania was facing a daunting...

Are students, like the rest of us, from time to time, operating on false assumptions about "the other side?" What if much of what we all believe about those with different views is simply wrong? In this episode, Ken speaks with James Coan, founder of More Like Us, and two high school students about the danger of "perception gaps." Coan shares powerful survey data revealing that Americans are far more alike than they realize. He explains how distorted assumptions fuel distrust and polarization.

Most importantly, he offers practical steps and strategies teachers can use to help students recognize their own biases and create vital opportunities for cross-divide interaction. As high schooler Landon put it: "I can’t just go into something thinking I’m always going to be right. I need to listen to what other people think.”

Listen to Episode 45:
Crossing Divides: How Schools Can Help Close America's Perception Gaps
🎧 Available on Apple Podcasts and wherever you get your podcasts.
🔗: www.schoolconversations.org/episodes/perception-gaps

Imagine your students arriving at school to discover their parents were detained overnight. What happens next? Attorney Léo Tucker, executive director of Aiding Survivors of Trafficking and Child Abuse (AID), explains what schools can do to prepare for immigration enforcement actions, protect children, and reduce anxiety.

Tucker clarifies the difference between “undocumented” and “illegal” status, provides examples of raids that are unlawful, and explains how the Plyler v. Doe Supreme Court decision guarantees education for all children regardless of immigration status.

Tucker offers a resource guide for schools to develop rapid-response plans and to inform educators, parents, and students of their rights.

https://www.schoolconversations.org/episodes/ice-raids

"When we launched the Courageous Conversations About Our Schools podcast three years ago, the education culture wars were raging across the country. Teachers were being accused of everything from enforcing mask mandates to promoting Critical Race Theory or “gender ideology.” Our very first episode tackled the claim that students were being indoctrinated—told what to think rather than how to think. My guests and I had what I felt was a thoughtful, nuanced conversation about what indoctrination really is, whether it’s always wrong, and how widespread it actually is.

Since then, these questions have only become more urgent. Regardless of where one lands in the debate, there is no doubt that the charge of indoctrination has had a profound effect on educators. New policies and growing fears of complaints—from parents, politicians, or watchdog groups—have led many teachers to avoid certain topics altogether. Some have even left the profession or moved to schools where they feel safer teaching as they always have.

After thinking deeply about these issues and with a clearer sense of what I believe is a constructive path forward, I decided to write about it. Friday, Education Week published my new essay, “Students Aren’t Being Indoctrinated. The Real Problem Is Mistrust of Teachers.”

You can read it here: www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-students-arent-being-indoctrinated-the-real-problem-is-mistrust-of-teachers/2025/11

I would welcome your comments. And if you believe others in your network would benefit from the piece, I hope you will pass it along."

- Ken Futernick, Founder & Host of Courageous Conversations About Our Schools

Students Aren't Being Indoctrinated. The Real Problem Is Mistrust of Teachers (Opinion) Teachers are avoiding important, complex topics because they fear backlash.