#28 | Compassion and Dignity for Educators: The key to changing school communities - w/ Dr. Bill Penuel episode artwork

EPISODE · May 13, 2025 · 54 MIN

#28 | Compassion and Dignity for Educators: The key to changing school communities - w/ Dr. Bill Penuel

from unMASKing with Male Educators: Creating Emotionally Safe Classrooms & Schools for Male Students · host Ashanti Branch - Taking Off The Mask

“If I want to be effective in this, I got to know what it feels like to be a body in pain - really - and wrestle with whatever pain is arising from me. Because if I’m not in touch with that, how can I be really anything but a fake for somebody else as they’re going through it?”Sitting with pain. Getting close to your resentment. All with the goal of helping others. This is the crux of Dr. Bill Penuel’s work, an educator at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and the co-author of a new book, “Creating Compassionate Change in School Communities: Leading Together to Address Everyday Suffering in Schools”. Today, we discuss:How to shift your relationship to pain in order to best serve yourself and your studentsHow educators can put self-compassion into actionWhat does skillful care look like for children who are systemically marginalized?What is an “inside-out” approach to school change?(0:00) Class in session(2:00) Bill introduces himself(3:40) Bill and Ashanti share their teacher personas(11:20) Applying “contemplative practice” and “meditation” to teaching and education(12:30) Getting close to your resentment(17:20) Sitting with your pain and suffering in order to help others(22:00) Working as a bouncer and what it teaches you about servicing others(29:00) Finding common humanity, and how it helps navigating difficult situations(34:50) Critical Care - an important subject in the field of education(39:00) Deservingness gets in the way of compassion(41:30) Bill’s approach to helping boys in schools and confirming dignity(51:00) Bill’s book and where to find it---Connect with Bill Penuel:Bill’s book: https://www.colorado.edu/crowninstitute/compassionate-change-schools-book LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-penuel-8069b5/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crowninstitutecu Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CrownInstituteCU ---Contribute to our Dance-a-thon fundraiser: https://charity.pledgeit.org/EFC-DanceAThon Join our Skool Community: https://www.skool.com/efc-young-mens-advocates-2345 Email us questions and comments at [email protected] Create your own mask anonymously at https://millionmask.org/ ---Connect with Ashanti Branch:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/branchspeaks/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BranchSpeaksTwitter: https://twitter.com/BranchSpeaksLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashantibranch/Website: https://www.branchspeaks.com/---Support the podcast and the work of the Ever Forward Club: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/branch-speaks/support ---Connect with Ever Forward Club:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everforwardclubFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/everforwardclubTwitter: https://twitter.com/everforwardclubLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-ever-forward-club/

“If I want to be effective in this, I got to know what it feels like to be a body in pain - really - and wrestle with whatever pain is arising from me. Because if I’m not in touch with that, how can I be really anything but a fake for somebody else as they’re going through it?”Sitting with pain. Getting close to your resentment. All with the goal of helping others. This is the crux of Dr. Bill Penuel’s work, an educator at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and the co-author of a new book, “Creating Compassionate Change in School Communities: Leading Together to Address Everyday Suffering in Schools”. Today, we discuss:How to shift your relationship to pain in order to best serve yourself and your studentsHow educators can put self-compassion into actionWhat does skillful care look like for children who are systemically marginalized?What is an “inside-out” approach to school change?(0:00) Class in session(2:00) Bill introduces himself(3:40) Bill and Ashanti share their teacher personas(11:20) Applying “contemplative practice” and “meditation” to teaching and education(12:30) Getting close to your resentment(17:20) Sitting with your pain and suffering in order to help others(22:00) Working as a bouncer and what it teaches you about servicing others(29:00) Finding common humanity, and how it helps navigating difficult situations(34:50) Critical Care - an important subject in the field of education(39:00) Deservingness gets in the way of compassion(41:30) Bill’s approach to helping boys in schools and confirming dignity(51:00) Bill’s book and where to find it---Connect with Bill Penuel:Bill’s book: https://www.colorado.edu/crowninstitute/compassionate-change-schools-book LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-penuel-8069b5/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crowninstitutecu Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CrownInstituteCU ---Contribute to our Dance-a-thon fundraiser: https://charity.pledgeit.org/EFC-DanceAThon Join our Skool Community: https://www.skool.com/efc-young-mens-advocates-2345 Email us questions and comments at [email protected] Create your own mask anonymously at https://millionmask.org/ ---Connect with Ashanti Branch:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/branchspeaks/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BranchSpeaksTwitter: https://twitter.com/BranchSpeaksLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashantibranch/Website: https://www.branchspeaks.com/---Support the podcast and the work of the Ever Forward Club: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/branch-speaks/support ---Connect with Ever Forward Club:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everforwardclubFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/everforwardclubTwitter: https://twitter.com/everforwardclubLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-ever-forward-club/

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#28 | Compassion and Dignity for Educators: The key to changing school communities - w/ Dr. Bill Penuel

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This episode is 54 minutes long.

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This episode was published on May 13, 2025.

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“If I want to be effective in this, I got to know what it feels like to be a body in pain - really - and wrestle with whatever pain is arising from me. Because if I’m not in touch with that, how can I be really anything but a fake for somebody else...

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