Nina and her co-teacher are always happy to work with organizations around social justice education through their website, teachpluralism.squarespace.com.
Nina loves to travel, cook, and read, and at one point was a teacher on the historic Marshall Islands, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean (2:08)
Nina used to “play school” when she was a little girl, and really fell in love with teaching after working with immigrant and refugee children in her hometown of Chicago (4:35)
Teaching first and second graders for two years in Berlin, and then moving to New Delhi, India, working with Project Why, teaching English, and training native teachers to teach English more effectively (6:30)
After earning her master’s at Columbia, Nina taught third grade in the Bronx for a year, where many of the students were ELLs (English-language learners) from all over the world (10:00)
Nina then moved to Chicago, where she had a wide variety of experiences in education (11:30)
Moving to the Sheridan School in Washington, DC, and why she loves teaching there (14:45)
Co-teaching and what it’s all about, and some great benefits it provides (16:40)
Why Nina and her co-teacher Gabby created their Teach Pluralism website (18:15)
Some tips for creating a culture of pluralism in your school (22:50)
Some of the benefits of traveling a lot and not staying long in one school (28:00)
How Nina started presenting at conferences (31:46)
What principals can do to inspire teachers to step out and lead (34:47)
Some of Nina’s best moments in teaching involved students from other cultures, for whom she was their first teacher in America (37:00)
You can’t control your feeling, but you can control how you act on your feelings. (40:30)
Some of Jacqueline Woodson’s novels are Nina’s favorite books (42:20)
Make sure you’re celebrating things your students are doing, even if you have to do some reframing (44:03)
Teachers who are resistant to change are often overwhelmed (46:29)
If Nina 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 (47:35)
Books mentioned in this episode
Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson
Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson and E. B. Lewis (Illustrator)
Connect with Nina Sethi
About EducatorsLead:
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.
