Building relationships one question at a time

Creating Positive Cultures in K12 Education

A K12 education guidebook prevents teacher burnout, improves family community engagement, and supports student success for better educational environments to learn, teach, and lead.

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The T.R.A.I.L. Framework

Tapping into our strengths generates momentum

The more people look for something good – like what’s going well and what they’re grateful for – the more they will find it, get a rush of pleasure, and want to seek it out even more- thus, gaining momentum. So let’s get out of fight or flight mode and get wired to discover the “good stuff” to build our capacities to seek and identify what’s working well.

Reframing the past supports future solutions

Examining the successes supports designing a future of what we most desire. We must break the pattern of identifying problems, reacting, and then trying to solve them. First, there will ALWAYS be problems. Second, at best, this focus at best gets us to a neutral state. Rather, we need to be analyzing our school’s best moments to dream ways to invite more of what we want moving forward.

Asking positive questions yields positive outcomes

It’s deceptively simple- groups are composed of individuals, and everyone will thrive if we focus on what we want, rather than what we want to eliminate. Investigating around affirmative topics builds more energy than focusing on the bad stuff. Positive framing scaffolds conversations that elevate and inspire people to get curious and contribute to a shared road map for ultimate buy-in..

Inviting multiple perspectives inspires progress

Inviting a variety of collective experiences enriches our school systems, and curating artifacts is essential to getting results. Conversations are ephemeral- lovely, but fleeting. It is only when everyone can go back and reflect on the physical products of the conversation that we can shift from awareness to action and strategize a plan for meaningful change.

Leading to empower others promotes sustainable change

A collaborative leader establishes and maintains a process that includes everyone in the school community. The first step in garnering enthusiasm around any initiative involves asking the right question to the right people at the right time. Leading to validate and seeking to understand is the second step to improve school communication and communities. When we open minds and open hearts through collaborative leadership, we unlock possibilities for sustainable change.

Who can benefit from T.R.A.I.L.?

All Roles in K12 Education

Teachers

Rediscover the joys of teaching by designing student-centered learning experiences and implementing dynamic positive engagement. These techniques are proven to build meaningful connections with your scholars and their families.

Paraprofessionals

Support your students and your colleagues through the power of positive questions. Once you adopt a lens of appreciation, notice how you discover ways to tap into your leadership potential and shine through example.

Guidance Counselors

Your unique position and perspective allows you to apply conversation techniques to serve the behavioral and mental health needs of your caseload. Help students move beyond trauma to foster resilience and a growth mindset.

Building Administrators

You have the opportunity to solicit the opinions of your school community to build enthusiasm around your initiatives. Facilitate collective buy-in through a variety of collaborative, strengths-based engagement strategies.

Board Members

If you are looking to increase trust among your educational community, then engaging the various roles in transparent, authentic, and organic discussions around shared values will elevate your school systems’ operations.

Parents and Families

Partnering with schools to educate your children can be an extremely rewarding experience when the focus is on the desired outcomes for our future graduates. Your words have the power to create a world of possibilities.

District-Level Leadership

At this higher-level leadership role, you can assemble a diverse group of individuals. Create an alignment of programming with purposeful implementation and organic data collection for sustainable results.

Education Advocates

Whether you are a local resident, business owner, nonprofit organization or play another role in your neighborhood, your voice is an important contribution to the vision of your community so youth may flourish.

Why T.R.A.I.L. Now?

Post-pandemic, schools need to build resilience, repair relationships, and create feelings of psychological safety and well-being for their students and all who work tirelessly to serve them. As a result,many new roles are being created and professionals need support, yet research shows that 70% of change initiatives fail. A T.R.A.I.L. of Conversations is a way to navigate these shifts through inviting those most affected into generative conversations.

Teachers are leaving in droves, and 40% of those who are still in the classroom say they are burnt out.Additionally, teachers do not feel supported and up to 55% are considering leaving the profession early. The easy remedy is to facilitate A T.R.A.I.L. of Conversations to boost school culture and climate.

Why is T.R.A.I.L. Unique?

In education, the ones doing the talking are the ones learning, and since all learning is navigating change, T.R.A.I.L. provides a way to integrate new information into one’s current operating system. The T.R.A.I.L. framework combines many well-known approaches – appreciative inquiry, positive psychology, brain-based and trauma-responsive practices, targeted universalism, and group dynamics to name a few – and effortlessly applies them to the varied elements of a school or district. The result is improved relationships and an inspiring place to learn, teach, and lead.

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