Dr Flavius Akerele III's The E Team Education blog

  Current issues in educational leadership according to what is being discussed in this space this year: 1.      Equity and Inclusion : Promoting equity and inclusion remains a significant challenge in educational leadership. Disparities in access to resources, opportunities, and quality education persist across various demographics, including race, socioeconomic status, gender, and ability. Educational leaders must address these inequities and work toward creating more inclusive learning environments. 2.      Digital Transformation : The rapid advancement of technology has transformed the landscape of education, requiring educational leaders to navigate digital tools, online learning platforms, and data-driven decision-making processes. This includes ensuring access to technology for all students, training educators in digital pedagogy, and addressing concerns about privacy and digital citizenship. 3.      Teacher R...

  Let us assume you did everything correctly as far as interview protocol, let us assume you were a very strong candidate for the position; in other words, you did nothing wrong. Something we must recognize in these phenomena of employers “ghosting” qualified candidates after an interview, is that a lot of the hiring managers are not professional recruiters, and sometimes professional recruiters are bad at their job. If you think about it, there really is no consequence to them for doing that, especially when so many people might be vying for that one position. We are a in a different age where the golden and platinum rules of courtesy are not always applied, and the advice candidates must understand is that this will happens sometimes so just move on . Sometimes it is not that easy to move on. This is an interesting article I am sharing on “ghosting”: https://www.vault.com/blogs/interviewing/3-things-to-do-when-you-re-ghosted-post-job-interview , and the last sentence is im...

I will preface by saying I will be using the term “black”, “black people”, etc., for reference purposes only. Are you aware that there are more black people outside of the United States than within? Are you aware of the fact that there is no “black race” nor such thing as “black culture? Some of you are puzzled at this point, so let me break down a few things for you: ·          United States culture does have a huge impact on how black people around the world are perceived, but it is not representative of all black people around the world; not even close ·          Contrary to popular beliefs, skin color does not make a culture ·          Identifying oneself as “black’ is a western concept and popularized and solidified into western culture ·          Most people with black skin around the worl...

There was a time at the local level, that all elections were non-partisan, political parties were not included at all, and quite frankly not needed. We have seen that creep away quickly over the last 15 years, and we need to go back to that. Let’s take it a step further and suggest that we do that at more national levels of politics as well because party affiliations have simply divided people into three tribe, with two of the tribes on the verge of civil war and the third (really mixed smaller tribes) wondering what the heck is going?! Between 1861 to 1865 we have had tribes fighting, and it led to a huge number of deaths, and we still have not reconciled that fight it seems.   There are still actual children of soldiers from that fight still alive today, collecting VA benefits. Anyway, I digress, so let me put it in simple terms. I am tired of political parties going at each other in the way we are seeing now, nothing is getting accomplished, and remember the par...

Corinthians, ITT, and now Coleman. All oldish alternative institutions (same accreditor ironically), and the thing they also have in common is they are all closed. But guess who suffers? The student. The money the students spent they will never get back, and the time they spent was wasted. Promises made, but not kept. This is a failing of educators and administrators for not paying attention to what they teach in their own schools. There are case studies being taught on what has happened to these schools, by these very schools teachers!!! I have said it before and I will say it again: there needs to be a certification or training for those taking leadership potions in higher educational institutions. Seniority is no longer a valid reason to promote someone in today's educational environment. What is your institution doing to make sure your administrators are job ready? Dr Flavius A B Akerele III The ETeam https://www.nbcnews.com/news/education/corinthian-colleges-shu...

Sociopath: “ a person with a personality disorder manifesting itself in extreme antisocial attitudes and behavior and a lack of conscience”. How to Spot a Sociopath: https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201305/how-spot-sociopath Sometimes the simplest explanation is the one that is real, and too often we human beings are good at making excuses for other peoples’ bad behavior. Sociopaths are real, they might not even recognize (or care) what they are, and in this day of social media, we seem to be letting them into our lives all the more rapidly. Do not give up on people, but it is ok to take your time before letting someone into your life. Slow down! Thoughts from an educator Dr Flavius A B Akerele III The ETeam

Jut a reminder that the U.S. is still a very young country, and we all know young people make mistakes. If you don't believe me, may I remind you that there are still some children whose parents fought in the civil war 150 years ago, STILL ALIVE! https://news.nationalgeographic.com/…/141111-veterans-day-…/ There are still children whose PARENTS were slaves still walking this country! https://www.currentaffairs.org/20…/…/slavery-was-very-recent Food for thought.... Dr Flavius A B Akerele III The ETeam

“Social media is the collective of online communications channels dedicated to community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration” Social: “ living and breeding in more or less organized communities especially for the purposes of cooperation and mutual benefit ” The purpose of social media was help us get more connected, to share, collaborate, etc.; especially with people who lived far away. There is nothing social about the way we see it being used today: ·          Cyber bullying ·          Hate Speech ·          Shaming These are just some of the daily things that happen on social media, and it seems like we are at the point where this kind of negativity is overtaking the positive aspect of what it was created for. What is interesting is that people feel safe behind their computer screen, they say things to people vir...

Sharing today: Curious about his haters, Theo E.J. Wilson did the only reasonable thing – he went undercover and joined their ranks. In this insightful and downright hilarious talk, Theo shares some surprising discoveries about both sides of the aisle. Slam poet Theo E.J. Wilson, a.k.a Lucifury, is a founding member of Denver’s SlamNUBA team, which won the National Poetry Slam in 2011. He began his speaking career with the NAACP at the age of 15 and has always been passionate about social justice. Theo is currently the Executive Director of Shop Talk Live, an organization that uses the barbershop as a staging ground for community dialogue and healing. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdHJw0veVNY Dr Flavius A B Akerele III The ETeam

Do you know why Americans died in ww2? An education question and statement In regard to Charleville, VA this week http://abcnews.go.com/US/unite-rally-virginia-sparks-counterprotests-state-emergency/story?id=49176243 “World War II  fatality statistics vary, with estimates of total deaths ranging from 50 million to more than 80 million. The higher figure of over 80 million includes deaths from war-related disease and famine. World War II  fatality statistics vary, with estimates of total  deaths  ranging from 50 million to more than 80 million”  “World War II  (1939-1945) ... The roots of  World War II , which eventually pitted Germany, Japan, and Italy (the Axis) against the United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Union (the Allies), lay in the militaristic ideologies and expansionist policies of Nazi Germany, Italy, and Japan”. We were fighting fascism. That is a lot of people. Americans died fighting so they would not ha...

I learned something deep today: have you ever heard of “Collateral Consequences” in regard to the justice system? We all think we know how it affects people, but we mostly only know just the surface. “Collateral consequences are legal and regulatory sanctions and restrictions that limit or prohibit people with criminal records from accessing employment, occupational licensing, housing, voting, education, and other opportunities. Collateral consequences most frequently affect people who have been convicted of a crime, though in some states an arrest alone—even an arrest that doesn't result in a conviction—may trigger a collateral consequence”. “Some collateral consequences serve a legitimate public safety or regulatory function, such as keeping firearms out of the hands of people convicted of domestic violence offenses, prohibiting people convicted of abuse from working with children or the elderly, or barring people convicted of fraud from positions of public trust. Ot...

Education is one of the most regulated industries in the United States, but I have always said that educators are big gossips, no matter what the level. People get judged on popularity, seniority, and by whispers. I recently attended what I thought was a professional conversation about teaching, and one of the opening statements was “well I heard …about you”. You heard?! We are supposed to be objective with our students, use rubrics, have learning goals, etc. How can we truly claim this if we cannot be objective with each other? Do you realize so many performance evaluations in education are based upon how the supervisor is feeling about you at that time, not about your performance for the year? Unfortunately, we often treat our students this way as well. We judge them based upon student records, but we do not look closely at the records, just the juicy gossip. The teachers lounge in K12 is often full of negative student gossip. Educators, we must do better if we a...

What is a for profit company? “ A business or other organization whose primary goal is making money (a profit), as opposed to a non profit organization which focuses a goal such as helping the community and is concerned with money only as much as necessary to keep the organization operating” So, if this company is not selling its services or product, it goes out of business. But what if it product is prisoners? That means in order to make money it would need its jails to be full; all the time. Remember, the number one goal of a company is to maximize profits for its owners. “The Corrections Corporation of America launched  the era of private prisons in 1983, when it opened an immigration detention center in an former motel in Houston, Texas. Today the Nashville-based company houses more than 66,000 inmates, making it the country’s second-largest private prison company. In 2015, it reported $1.9 billion in revenue and made more than $221 million in net income—more th...

The 4 th of July has just passed. So, the lingering of fireworks, flags, and people shouting “freedom” is still in the air. The 4 th of July is a day when people’s patriotism comes out full force, but like Mother’s Day, it soon fades back into the closet until the next year. Why do you say that? I am glad you asked. True patriotism does not take a day off, true patriotism is also not just loving “your” version of America but embracing everyone’s America. It means acknowledging the diversities of religion, culture, skin color, etc. It means accepting the fact that the country is far from perfect but you are going to try and make it better. There are people who struggle on daily basis just trying to make it, so perhaps they might not feel like celebrating. Does this make them less American? Absolutely not! The beauty of the freedom the country is supposed to have means one size does not fit all, but we are all in the same big box. So as you sing your patriotic songs,...

'I don't know how to lead for equity, that was not part of my program' Equity took center stage in the day two conversations at the Education Commission of the States National Forum on Education Policy Thursday. One resonant statement reflected how principal preparation programs didn't include equity components, meaning that now leaders are struggling to approach their work through an equity lens. Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education President Joe Garcia — who shared with the audience that his school counselors never once mentioned to him the idea of his going to college— said working harder to close achievement gaps from early education on through to higher ed is everyone’s work. Read the rest here: http://www.educationdive.com/news/i-dont-know-how-to-lead-for-equity-that-was-not-part-of-my-program/446094/ Dr Flavius A B Akerele III The ETeam

Truth: ·          Most crime happens between people familiar with each other. So, FYI, the so called “black on black crime’ is bullshit. If black people committed more crimes outside of their segregated zone they would be extinct. We know this because it is near impossible to convict LE or anyone for killing black folks. ·          “White on white crime’ is almost as high as any crime ·          Skin color is not a race or culture ·          Most crime happens in poor neighborhoods ·          Most black neighborhoods are poor ·          The United States is still a segregated society. There are black, white, Asian, Latino, and, etc. neighborhoods, true fact. ·          The crime ra...