Dr. Leena Bakshi McLean is the founder of STEM4Real, a nonprofit professional learning organization committed to combining STEM and standards-based content learning and leadership with principles of justice-centered pedagogy. She currently serves as the Director of Multicultural Education and Equity for the National Science Teaching Association. Leena has worked with pre-service teachers at UC Berkeley and Claremont Graduate University teaching STEM methods and Universal Design for Learning. She is a former county and state level administrator and mathematics, science and anatomy teacher. She is also the author of the children’s book, “There’s Something in the Water”, a story that highlights the real life of Dr. Tyrone B. Hayes, an endocrinologist from UC Berkeley. As a woman of color and a mom of two girls, access and opportunity in STEM are personal for her. She believes that in order for us to increase our representation in STEM, we must create an identity in STEM. Her doctoral dissertation was on "The Successful Implementation of STEM Initiatives in Lower Income Schools". Leena travels the world as a keynote speaker, inspiring audiences in education, leadership, and technology to think about equitable STEM education and how to ensure access for all. Her next book, Teaching and Learning in STEM, #4Real will be coming soon in October of 2024.
Show Highlights
Investigate the hesitancy of teachers towards discussing justice and anti bias topics.
Provide support, coaching, and mentorship for teachers that focuses on building strong relationships with students.
Tips to unbind yourself from the system, to lead within the system to implement changes.
Don’t attach yourself to results by experimenting, observing and pivoting where the results take. you.
Create a transparent budget aligned with the priorities of your community.
Pull leaders out of the weeds with a candid assessment of school priorities.
The challenges created by neglecting science and history curriculum.
“The system is not set up to disrupt itself, to innovate, to redesign, but we need that because just looking at the results that kids experience we know that they're inequitable. If you're okay with that, keep doing what we're doing and maintain the system. If that bothers you. Our kids deserve better and equity is something we should all be fighting for, then how are we changing the system to produce a better result?”
-Chief Ruckus Maker Danny Bauer
“There's a program called the Anti Bias and Education Grant that came out of California, and this word anti bias has so much energy where some leaders are saying, you know what, I think we should just call it something else or let's kind of tippy toe around the word or let's not say the word. I don't want to dissuade people from coming. And there's part of me that's like, no, there is bias. We're going to address it, we're going to go head on. And then another part of me that's like, well, yeah, maybe we can change the word and invite people in and call them in and see what way we can handle it. And that's just with one word, anti bias.”
- Dr. Leena Bakshi McLean
Get the episode transcript here!
Dr Leena’s Resources & Contact Info:
What Does a STEM4Real Partnership Look Like?
Teaching STEM #4Real Podcast – Listen Now | STEM4Real
Webinar: Creating An Anti-Racist STEM Classroom | STEM4Real
Better Leaders Better Schools Resource Hub
Read my latest book!Learn why the ABCs of powerful professional development™ work – Grow your skills by integrating more Authenticity, Belonging, and Challenge into your life and leadership.
Read Mastermind: Unlocking Talent Within Every School Leader today!
Apply to the MastermindThe mastermind is changing the landscape of professional development for school leaders.
100% of our members agree that the mastermind is the #1 way they grow their leadership skills.
Apply to the mastermind today!
How We Serve Leaders
The School Leadership Scorecard™
Identify your highest leverage areas for growth this year in 10 -minutes or less.
https://betterleadersbetterschools.com/scorecard
Month-to-Month Principal Checklist
As a principal with so much to do, you might be thinking, where do I even start?
When you download The Principal Checklist you’ll get
12-months of general tasks that every campus need to do
Space to write your campus specific items.
Space to reflect and not what worked as well as a space of what didn’t work
Go to https://betterleadersbetterschools.com/principal-checklist to download now.
Ruckus Maker Mindset Tool™
The “secret” to peak performance is ot complicated. It’s a plan on how to optimize the five fundamentals found in The Ruckus Maker Mindset Tool™.
https://betterleadersbetterschools.com/mindset
The Positive Spotlight Tool™
Energy flows to where attention goes!
If you want to get more of what you want, when you want it as a school leader I have a tool for you…
Download The Positive Spotlight Tool™ for free here:
https://betterleadersbetterschools.com/positive
The Ruckus Maker 8-Step Goal Setting Tool™
Are you ready to accomplish more?
With less effort and in less time?
When you download The Ruckus Maker 8-Step Goal Setting Tool™ I’ll send you the tool and a short 8-minute coaching video that shows you how to work smarter, not harder…and create more value for your school campus.
Download The Ruckus Maker 8-Step Goal Setting Tool™ for free at
https://betterleadersbetterschools.com/goals
SHOW SPONSORS:
How much student talk happened today?
When classrooms come alive with conversation, learning improves, students feel a sense of belonging, and teachers feel inspired.
The TeachFX instructional coaching app gives teachers powerful insights into their student talk, student engagement, and classroom conversation.
With TeachFX, teachers see how much student talk happened, the moments of students sharing their brilliance, and the questions that got students talking.Learn how to pilot TeachFX with your teachers. Visit: teachfx.com/betterleaders
Why do students struggle? I'd argue that they lack access to quality instruction, but think about it. That's totally out of their control. What if there was something we could teach kids there was something within their control that would help them be successful in every class? It's not a magic pill or a figment of your imagination.
When students internalize Executive Functioning Skills they succeed.
Check out the new self-paced online course brought to you by OB that shows teachers how to equip their students with executive functioning skills.
Learn more at organizedbinder.com/go
Copyright © 2024 Twelve Practices LLC
