Professor of Leadership at Harvard Business School, Amy C. Edmondson - a scholar of leadership, teaming, and organizational learning - coaches that through an intentional shift in the nature and quality of conversations - an organization can consequently create high-performing teams and resilience in an organization.

Through a concept defined as psychological safety, Edmondson’s research underscores its benefits in exponentially improving organizational outcomes. Her research shows some incredible benefits when psychological safety is embraced and colleagues feel confident to ask for help, admit mistakes, raise concerns, and suggest ideas, including:

• Fewer mistakes and incidents
• More freedom to explore and improve ideas
• Reduction in burnout and lower employee turnover
• Increased inclusion and diversity
• Greater sharing of learning across group members
• Improved ability to carry out experiments and risk “intelligent failures”
• Improved ability to attract and recruit the best people

Director of Faculty Support and Head of English at the International School of Denver, Jenny Nealon, knows something about psychological safety. Through Nealon’s initiatives and collaborations, she creates safe spaces for people to speak up, make mistakes, and bring their full selves to work. While a Director, Nealon sees herself more as a Faculty Advocate, a Facilitator, a Collaborator, and a Bridge to Teachers. 

Through her guidance, professional development at ISDenver is rooted in these three premises:

1. People care about me.
2. I have a voice. I belong.
3. I can learn and grow.

Nealon’s full school vision sweeps from Early Childhood through our burgeoning High School, and seeks to bring equity across Divisions and Language Programs. She also grasps the extraordinary talent and expertise of an international faculty at the school and works to cultivate meaningful professional development experiences that can leverage this internal talent. Through this understanding, Nealon modified a strategy that once centered around external consultants, to one that utilizes the robust repository of expertise and talent within ISDenver, empowering faculty with voices to guide in their subject matter expertise but also equipping teachers with practical tools and insights they can immediately incorporate into their classrooms.

Two recent examples, Teachers Teaching Teachers Workshops and Learning Walks, demonstrate a commitment to building a culture that fully leans into both growth mindset and reflection, both core to our guiding educational framework, the International Baccalaureate.

Teachers Teaching Teachers Workshops

This PD day was all about sharing great ideas, learning from each other, and building community through fun, practical sessions led by your amazing colleagues!

- Jenny Nealon, Director of Faculty Support and Head of English at the International School of Denver

Teachers Teaching Teachers sought to align areas faculty members identified as growth opportunities with the subject matter expertise others faculty voiced they wanted to help lead. At the most recent Teachers Teaching Teachers workshop in February, faculty members could select three from almost twenty breakouts on topics from Differentiation to Mindfulness to the Classroom Management to the Black Experience to Tough Conversations to Motivation and Pedagogy.

Teachers Teaching Teachers seeks to:

1. Build Professional Trust: Sharing strategies fosters a culture of collaboration, mutual respect, and professional trust among educators.
2. Leverages Internal Expertise:Teachers have firsthand knowledge of what works in their classrooms, making their insights relevant and practical for colleagues. Teachers and teacher leaders can learn from each other’s experiences, gaining fresh ideas to use in their own practice.

The February workshop mixed Primary and Middle School Divisions, creating a real sense of community and dynamic conversations.

The Teachers Teaching Teachers Workshops were truly inspiring. It was a great opportunity to learn from colleagues and get to know them on a deeper level. The exchange of ideas and experiences was enriching, and I walked away with new practices that I'm already implementing after the course. For example, using mindfulness to help transitions such as after recess, just as Jordan taught me.

-Javier San José, G3 Spanish Teacher

Learning Walks

Nealon, together with Primary Years Programme Coordinator Riane Anderson, piloted something called Learning Walks in Primary School - known for its strong culture of collaboration and trust. Learning walks are an opportunity for faculty to observe their colleagues in the classroom, both what teachers are doing and what students are learning. Unlike an old-school model where this type of exercise might have been done to critique, judge, or provide feedback, the Learning Walk was an opportunity meant to:

• Spark inspiration
• Provoke thought
• Boost collegiality 

What’s more, these non-evaluative sessions were instrumental in:

• Experiencing shared school vision
• Learning from peers and discovering opportunities for continuous learning
• Building school community (trust, collaboration)
• Exploring scope of student experience 
• Identifying how students are learning
• Enhancing student learning and support growth as a whole school 

Everyone who was observed received a shout out card, further fostering a culture of growth, gratitude, and reflection.The Early Childhood Education team followed in Primary’s footsteps, kicking off their own Learning Walks. Middle School is excited to kick them off next year.

Future Forward

As she looks forward, Nelon reflects on her gratitude to be a part of a school that “takes care of the person as well as the educator.” She is excited to have a hand in some additional concepts that allow the school to be both thoughtful and responsive, value someone’s time, and foster a thriving, inclusive, and high-performing workplace:

• Mini PD sessions
• Cultural Training
• New Hire Training
• Mentor/Buddy Program to help new faculty get integrated into the school

Curious about a career at the International School of Denver? 

Learn more about available career opportunities!