TODOS Podcast · TODOS Mathematics for ALL

S5E4: How Administrators Make a Difference with John Staley & Denise Thornton

·54 min·3 clips

John says administrators shape schedules, pathways, and student access more than most people realize.

The episode opens with a reminder about the TOTOS Book Club meeting and the Administrators section of The Anti-Racist Mathematics Education. Sherry Kaku and Shakia Bland bring in John Staley and Denise Thornton to talk through what leadership looks like when it stays connected to community, family, and students' lived experience. The conversation keeps its footing in relationships. John makes the case that administrators do their best work when they build trust in the places families already use, instead of waiting for every conversation to happen inside the school building. That matters. Schools can carry old hurt for parents, especially when their own memories of schooling are complicated, and leaders need to notice that before asking for trust. Denise adds her family history. She talks about relatives who felt uneasy walking into school because English was not their strength and the system itself could feel hard to enter. The discussion grows from there. Both guests keep returning to the idea that useful learning often starts when educators step outside the spaces that feel familiar and pay attention to the communities they serve. That changes how schools feel. Shakia puts a name to the larger picture by suggesting that school is part of a wider network of learning spaces and experiences, not the whole map. The group comes back again and again to small gestures. A library event, a neighborhood gathering, or another informal moment can matter because it gives families room to meet educators without the pressure of a formal school meeting. The episode is also honest about math trauma. The guests connect that trauma to broader educational harm, then to the practical work of showing up in ways that feel human, respectful, and useful. Even the lighter moments pull in the same direction. Food, community, and a little teasing about tacos and cornbread keep the conversation grounded in ordinary relationship building, not theory alone. The episode never tries to overstate the point. It settles on a simple, sturdy idea: leaders make a difference when they treat family engagement as part of the learning system, not as an extra.

As heard by us

Administrators matter most when they help school feel like part of a wider community, not a gate.

The episode frames a book-study conversation around a clear question: how administrators can help families feel welcome. John Staley and Denise keep the focus on relationships, community spaces, and the idea that school is only one part of a wider network of learning spaces.

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Why you'd press play

For a thoughtful look at administrators building trust beyond the schoolhouse door.

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