Dr. Beth Russell has been in education for 28 years. Prior to entering the field of education, Beth was a social worker working with children on emotional and behavioral challenges in treatment foster care. Beth is the former principal of South View Middle School in a suburb of Minneapolis. She holds a BS in child development and family relations from Colorado State University, a master’s degree in social work from the University of Minnesota, and a doctorate in educational policy and administration from the University of Minnesota. Beth has worked in both urban and suburban school systems introducing type. Coauthor of Differentiated School Leadership and several articles for education publications, she views type theory as a vehicle for helping students self-advocate for how they learn best and helping teachers identify new strategies so that all students can learn. She has presented at NSDC, World Futures, ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development), and National Urban Alliance conferences. She has participated in the National Institute for School Leadership, trained at the Institute for Learning at the University of Pittsburgh, and directed the Minneapolis Public Schools in implementing a comprehensive framework for teaching and learning. Beth volunteers as an assessor for the University of St. Thomas Principal Assessment Center and provides peer reviews for educational books for Free Spirit Publishing.

 

Beth has two kids and, three grandchildren – one of her kids live in New York City, and the other lives in San Francisco. She loves art quilting, traveling, reading, and being outdoors, especially hiking. She has just returned from Australia and New Zealand, where she was able to connect with some second cousins. (1:50)

Beth’s path to education began when she was working on a Colorado dude ranch after college graduation, and then took her to Paris to work with kids in Young Life. After returning to Illinois and working with youth through law enforcement agencies, she went back to school and got a master’s degree in social work, and her first job in education was working on IEP’s.  (3:20)

How the licensing process has changed in Minnesota since Beth got her license (11:05)

One or her biggest challenges in those early days was the “us vs. them” mentality (12:40)

Having a collegial group as a support network made a huge difference for Beth back then (16:40)

The huge cultural shock of moving from a rural school to an urban educational system, and the difficult task of winning the trust of parents in an urban school (22:41)

Why Beth finds her current role of working with teachers and coaches who want to become principals one of the most satisfying of her career (29:57)

Every new idea has to be weighed against your vision, direction and structures (34:00)

Walking the tightrope between learning from others while being true to yourself (37:30)

Beth discusses the two books she has co-authored, which use the framework of Type to consider learning styles (40:18)

An interesting experience Beth had working with an administrator who was a completely different type on the Myers- Briggs scale (44:00)

“Find your true north” is the best leadership advice Beth ever received (53:54)

Beth’s favorite books are about understanding equity in education (54:43)

The importance of taking time regularly to hear the viewpoints of actual students (56:09)

Offer teachers lots of professional development opportunities and let them know how much you value them and their work (57:52)

If Beth had a time machine, here’s the advice she would go back and give her younger self when she was just starting out in administration (59:19)

 

Books mentioned in this episode

Creating a Coaching Culture for Professional Learning Communities by Jane A. G. Kise and Beth Russell

Differentiated School Leadership: Effective Collaboration, Communication, and Change Through Personality Type by Jane A. G. Kise and Beth Russell

The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter by Michael D. Watkins

The Light in Their Eyes: Creating Multicultural Learning Communities by Sonia Nieto

Courageous Conversations About Race: A Field Guide for Achieving Equity in Schools by Glenn E. Singleton

 

Connect with Beth Russell

bethrsrussell (AT) gmail.com

 

 

About Educators Lead:

Educators Lead is a podcast created to help launch educators into the next level of leadership. This show is for you if you are interested in educational leadership as an assistant principal, principal, superintendent, teacher or someone who hopes to be a school leader one day. Educators Lead offers inspiration and practical advice to help you lead more effectively. Jay Willis interviews school leaders weekly to discuss why and when these educators made the decision to move into school leadership, challenges along the journey, and stories that made it all worthwhile. Educators Lead is a great resource for any educator looking to make a greater impact.

Educate. Inspire. Lead.

http://www.educatorslead.com