The conversation highlights the importance of creating environments where every individual’s gifts are recognized—especially those who don't see their own potential. Hazard shares how small moments of encouragement can spark confidence in both students and colleagues
The Just Schools Podcast is brought to you by the Baylor Center for School Leadership.
Be encouraged.
Mentioned:
Student Leadership Challenge by James M. Kouzes and Barry Posner
Baylor MA in School Leadership
EdD in K-12 Educational Leadership
Jon Eckert LinkedIn
X: @eckertjon
Center for School Leadership at Baylor University: @baylorcsl
Jon Eckert:
Joel, it's great to have you in the podcast studio today. We just finished a great conference yesterday where you facilitated a panel. But you got to this point in your career through some interesting ways, because you're a great athlete... Weren't sure you were going to be an educator.
Joel:
Correct.
Jon Eckert:
I don't even know if that was ever on your radar. But talk to us about how you got where you're at today.
Joel:
Yeah. Well, first, thanks for having me. Greatly appreciate the time to sit and talk about these things. Well, in a nutshell, I did not see myself in education at all. I thought I was going to be a firefighter. I did not like school. I was a kid who stayed back in elementary school; very academically defeated. Didn't feel I had anything to give to education. But my parents being who they are, I was heavy in sports, they said, "Hey, you got to be in school if you're going to play sports. And if you're not going to do well in school, you're not playing sports." Long story short, I tolerated school for as long as I could because I really wanted to play sports.
And so long story short, by God's grace, was blessed enough to go earn a scholarship, play at Boston College where my dad went, my older brother went as well, and really sitting back and saying, "Hey, if I don't go pro, I'll go ahead and be a firefighter. It's one thing I don't really have to do additional school for, and I can serve my community." Always wanted to serve people in some capacity. Just leave my thumbprint on the world, somehow, some way.
As it were, it was one of those things I was thinking heavily about. The professional realms, that didn't work, and so I had to get a job quick. I was freshly married to my wife, and the only thing that made sense to me was education. It was either sports or education. I get into education at a Christian school early on and fell in love with the kids. I love kids. You ask me to this day, I love kids. I love just little kids that are just fresh, innocent, and just so full of life. Love that.
Jon Eckert:
What level did you get a job at?
Joel:
I was ninth grade.
Jon Eckert:
Okay. All right. Very good.
Joel:
Ninth graders are a different breed. They're knuckleheads, but funny kids. I learned so much about myself just interacting with them. And so next thing you know, my mentor at the time said, "Hey, listen, I just want to let you know most educators leave in three years. They're going to leave in three years, and I don't want that to be for you." And so my competitiveness kicked in and say, "I will not be that. I'll stay at least three years." Three years turned into five, five, 10, 10 to 14. And I was at that school for 14 years. And in that time, being surrounded by sports, I coached three sports, being around athletes, being around coaches, and being around teachers, that just poured into me, it was just something I was like, "Okay, I can do this long-term." And so here I am in leadership. I'm finishing up on my 20th year in education.
Jon Eckert:
Wow. Wow. Well, we're grateful that you have. You've been a great partner to the Center for School Leadership. I think I heard correctly too. Did you get invited to an NFL combine after your time at Boston College?
Joel:
I did. Long story short-
Jon Eckert:
It was a bit of a side note, but-
Joel:
Long story short, I was in the master's program at BC, Education department. And I was going through, and I'm like, "I don't know if I want to be a teacher. I want to go out," right?
Jon Eckert:
Yeah.
Joel:
Make millions. And so long story short, agent comes back and says, "Listen, you're about 5'9 3/4s". The smaller you are, the faster you have to be." And so I said, "All right." I left grad school, left and trained for three months, trained for three months. And I did my pro day at BC and by God's grace hit the 44, 41-invert, the whole thing.
And so during that time, I was planning a wedding throughout that whole time. And so long story short, what ended up happening is a Canadian football league came down and said, "Hey, we're going to be trying out people too." And so I tried out for them. And they come back after the draft happens. I don't get drafted, whatever. And they said, "We want exclusive rights on him. We want him to come to Canada." My agent says, "Hey, you can go to the Patriots, try out with them, Seattle, Cincinnati, try out for them, or you can go the CFL route. They have exclusive rights on you." And so I'm about to get married. "I'm like, I need money now." I went the CFL route, and within a day, day and a half, I was like, "This is not what I want to do. This is not what I thought." And decided to step away, came back home, got into education. That's how it all happened.
Jon Eckert:
Okay. That's a great side story. Again, we've been talking before we jumped on about untapped talent and untapped potential, and so I'm so grateful that education has tapped some of your potential. Talk a little bit about some of the people that were integral in doing that, because as leaders, we want to help other people be that for kids. Can you talk a little bit about some of the people that were impactful for you that way?
Joel:
Oh, absolutely. First woman that comes to mind is Ms. Astrella, my resource teacher at the time. If you're a kid in the '80s, you know resource teachers, you get pulled out of the class. You got to take that walk of shame to the door. You can't really stay in the reading groups. You can't really stay in any of the other groups; you have to be sent out to a special room. And it was really at that time, I'm getting pulled out, I'm just academically defeated. I'm stupid, I'm worthless. I don't know what's going on. This is why I can't stand school. But Ms. Astrella, yeah, she's at my foundation. She brought me in. She loved on me. She believed in me outside of your parents, right?
Jon Eckert:
Mm-hmm.
Joel:
And there's a bit of you that says, "Hey, your parents got to love you. Your parents got to do this." And so when you're in that mindset, of discount what they say, how they love on you. My parents loved on me, supported me, but at the time you're thinking they have to. But Ms. Astrella was that foundation that came in, worked with me, held me accountable. She was not playing around. Held me accountable, believed in me. Made me do it over if I did it wrong. And so really helped me to get some of that academic confidence back. And then next thing you know, she becomes my second grade teacher.
And it was like I was back in resource class. She would hold me in from recess if I did it wrong. She would love on me. She would communicate with my parents. Oh man, my parents and her work on a constant communication thread at the time. And she was at my foundation, absolutely. And then as I started to become more academically confident, I had coaches that would pour into me. And those were the people, believe it or not, that were at my wedding. I had coaches and teachers at my wedding. Yes. And so those are the people that have meant the world to me because they believed in me at a time I didn't believe in myself.
Jon Eckert:
Well, and it's interesting that you didn't see yourself as an educator-
Joel:
No.
Jon Eckert:
... and that you had these people, these coaches and teachers pouring into you and it just took time. And going up to the CFL and saying, "Hey, this isn't for me, and then, no, firefighting for whatever reason isn't for me." And then you get in with the kids, and the kids are always what's sell-
Joel:
[inaudible 00:07:42] education.
Jon Eckert:
Yes. That's it. There's a lot of other interesting things about education, being a constant lifelong learner and being able to go deep into content and some other thing. There are things that are appealing, but if the kids don't sell you on education, you're in the wrong profession.
Joel:
Absolutely.
Jon Eckert:
The paycheck's not going to do it, so it's got to be the kids. I love that. You got to ninth grade. And as a former middle school teacher, in my mind, those ninth graders are super mature kids. And we all know that your knucklehead characterization might be more accurate most of the time. But you went from there, ninth grade teacher, you moved up the ranks. I'm assuming, did you coach at all as well?
Joel:
Coach three sports. Football, basketball, track all the way up.
Jon Eckert:
Okay. You're living life with these kids, and you're doing this-
Joel:
Absolutely.
Jon Eckert:
And now you're in the center working with us building out networks of leaders. Talk a little bit about how that's helped you and some of the other work you've done tap the potential of educators in the field, because I think there is a lot of talent in our field that goes unrecognized. Talk a little bit about how you've done that.
Joel:
Absolutely. It really comes from me having to live it out. I believe I was on tap talent and there were people that surrounded me and said, "Hey, you would be good at this. You'd be good at this." And I'm like, "Yeah." But you hear it multiple times. When you interact with those people, you start to believe it. And so by God's grace, I've been able to put in a lot of leadership roles is because I believe, trusted people and friends and other leaders that say, "I'm going to put you in this so you can lead."
And so what I've done is ever since getting into leadership, I have felt it's had to be my obligation to look at that untapped potential. And there's a lot. I believe in every school there's untapped potential. I've usually found it not in the obvious cases of those that are working on their degrees, it's mostly those are your quiet leaders, your working bees that are out there and are just wanting to do their best for the kids. That's the talent that I've been able to shine a light on and say, "Hey, you can do more in this."
Jon Eckert:
Well, in our master's program, we have a number of people that'll enter the program, it's a master's in school leadership, and they'll say, "I don't know if I'm really going to be a principal," or, "I don't know if I'm really a leader. I try to do really good work, and I have great colleagues." I'm like, "You're the exact person we want in this program." And so we've seen so much of that going on. And could you just share briefly the example you had on your panel that you were facilitating yesterday with the participant in the front who was a little reluctant?
Joel:
Yes.
Jon Eckert:
Can you take that away?
Joel:
Yes. She was actually the highlight of my panel. And so the panel, you're in there with leaders all throughout Texas. And you have the panel up front that is sharing their wisdom, their experience. And you can just tell, leaders, when they go to conferences, I believe they're the most vulnerable simply because they're there, and it's one of the most comfortable spaces to where any leader can say, "I don't know. And I'm just trying to connect with other people."
And so how I like to run panels is I don't like to give to get model. They're there to give, you're there to get, and then you move about your way. We're going to participate, we're going to support one another. And one of the ways in which I do that is I create a very uncomfortable environment in regards of I'm just going to call on you and you're meant to contribute. People don't like that.
And so there was a woman in the very front row. And I said, "All right, guys, here's your Q&A for the panel. If you don't ask questions, I'm just going to call on you and you're going to have to have a question." And so everyone has a heightened sense of I better have something ready. And so we had a couple of participants, and I saw this woman sitting in the front row all by herself. And I said, "Hey, I'm coming to you next." And she says, "Oh, gosh." And she just had this look of he's going to call on me; I got to have something ready. And you could tell she was nervous. I said, "Hey, don't worry about it. I'm not going to call on you now, but you're going to end our session with the last question." And you could tell she was sitting there, she was processing because all the pressure was on her.
And as the Lord would have it, she asked one of the most profound questions that the panel actually had to really sit back and really think and say, "That was a great question." That is untapped potential right there is because now that individual who didn't want to do it, at least somebody like me who, I didn't know her from Adam, but for me to say, "You're going to end our panel with your question," and for her to be validated in the question she asked, she left the conference with a smile. I was able to give her a hug afterwards. And hopefully she left more confident than what she came in.
Jon Eckert:
Well, and wasn't your panel on engagement?
Joel:
Engagement, yes.
Jon Eckert:
Again, future leaders.
Joel:
Yes.
Jon Eckert:
And so it's engagement over comfort. And sometimes comfort is the enemy of engagement. If you feel like, oh, I'm not going to get called on. I can just be back here and blend into the woodwork. And you didn't let her be that comfortable. And the whole group benefited from that engagement. And again, that's the point.
And so you do a lot of work with Black male educators through the center. And that's one of the things, we are trying to get more voices into the work we do because when you don't engage the body of Christ, you don't engage the world of students that you serve and you don't have a wide range of perspectives in there, it's not about representation so much, it's a we are impoverished when we miss those voices of that educator in the front who doesn't come in or we miss a whole population of people who don't have a voice because we're not in conversation, and we're not in community with them. How have you had some successes with bringing some different voices into conversations and spaces where they might not have typically been?
Joel:
Right. Well, when you look at the group Black male Christian educators, and it can be Christian educators or public educators as well, I really wanted to help create the group. I don't want anyone thinking that I spearheaded. I wanted to help create the group is because when you look across the demographics, Black males make up 2% out of those two-
Jon Eckert:
Of the teaching population.
Joel:
Of the teaching population. 2%. And me being a Black male, I'm saying, "Yeah, I have a heart for this. I need to keep more in." And so we create a space to where we can come to the table and we can talk about some of our general realities and then also be an encouragement to one another and really push ourselves to really think outside of our current position.
And so the group has been very great. We come together and we're extremely vulnerable. And we're saying, "Hey, how can we better our environments for all students?" But before we can do that, we have to feel encouraged like any teacher. We have to feel encouraged, we have to feel we can do the work, and we just have to feel we have a space and opportunity to go somewhere and just be unfiltered and just say what we got to say within its rawest state to really brainstorm what other people who we feel understand some of our general realities. And we all do that. We do it on a woman's level, men's level, principal level, head of school level. We all have these groups. The group is not to silo our thought process or silo our experience, but sometimes we just need to break away from the group to regroup and then come back in the group and participate.
Jon Eckert:
Yeah. George Yancey is a sociologist on campus, and he comes in and speaks to my classes. And he tells our students of color, "Hey, if you just need to step away from these conversations that you're constantly having to represent your entire race or ethnicity, give yourself permission to step away because that conversation's going to be there." And so so many students can feel this, and certainly educators can where every time there's another committee on inclusion or mattering or belonging, it's like, "Oh, well, we got to make sure we get Joel on that committee." It can be exhausting.
Now, the impulse is right. We want to get the wisdom from Joel as an educator who's had this unique experience of coming through with a... I have to say you're the only person we've ever had on the podcast that runs a 44 40 and had a 41-inch vertical, so that's the real claim to fame. But we want Joel's perspective because of what he brings to it. And so that's a good impulse, but it can also be exhausting. How have you found a balance between retreating into community and then stepping out into places where it's going to be uncomfortable? But you have to be engaged because you care about each kid? How have you balanced that?
Joel:
You just said it. It's really thinking about the kids who will benefit from this. And so it's one of those things, you feed the teachers, they don't eat the kids when you think about it.
Jon Eckert:
That's good.
Joel:
And so I sit back and I say, "Hey, my voice is as equally important as everyone else's voice at the table." Can it be exhausting? I know it can be exhausting from a position level. I know principals are fatigued in their role, in their experience. I know heads of school are fatigued in their role. I know teachers are fatigued. I know women are fatigued. And so we're all fatigued. But given our experiences, it sets a unique fatigue, if that makes sense, for each group.
And so for me, what keeps me going is knowing that there is real fatigue, absolutely, but my voice is as equally important at that table. And it's one of the things of letting people know, especially as you look within the world we're in today, I'm not saying my voice and my experience needs to dominate the conversation, by no means. I'm an ingredient to this whole thing just like everyone else is. My experience is not meant to be worshiped or idolized, nor is it meant to be ignored. And so I just want that part of the conversation, not to dominate it, but it's a part of it so we can get a collective understanding of who's in the room. What are the unique experiences? And then how do we navigate those experiences as we move forward together to make sure all of our students are understood, heard, and valued. For me, I sponsor kids in my head. Sponsor kids are what kid out there or kids out there or groups out there would benefit from my experience at the table?
Jon Eckert:
Well, I would also say, because I totally agree with the unique levels of fatigue based on positionality, whatever that is, I also would say there's also a unique opportunity for joy and energy from that because as you bring that voice and you represent each kid in your mind, there's a different level of... It animates you differently. And so while I always want to acknowledge the hard work that educators do, it's also really meaningful. And our work is so much more interesting than so many other people who do work that earns more money, that adds value to society, that is... I don't ever want to prioritize one profession over another, but being in the profession that makes all others possible, we, as educators as a group, have this unique opportunity for energy and fatigue that are imbalanced. And so I'm willing to endure a little more fatigue because of the opportunity and the energy that comes when we get to do meaningful work together. Would you agree with that or am I being a little too-
Joel:
No, no, no.
Jon Eckert:
... toxically positive?
Joel:
I would agree. I think everyone knows nobody stays in education for the money. They don't. There has to be a high element of joy that you get, satisfaction that you get that you're imparting wisdom. And to be honest with you, that these kids are gracious enough to invite us in their journey. And so I think we stay for the relationship. I think we stay because we have something to impart to the next generation. Those that don't like kids or don't like that will fizzle out. They'll self-select out eventually. No, that joy is an important component of what we do.
Jon Eckert:
Yeah. Well, and you pointed fatigue out, and the other night we were talking at dinner and you mentioned how, as educators, we should follow a kid through the day to understand how exhausting it is. And I was recounting an administrator in Illinois who had done that. She got to third or fourth period, and she was just exhausted from the day. I do think we have to remember our students are also uniquely fatigued and also have unique opportunities for joy and energy, we just need to tap into that more. And sometimes it takes us stepping into their shoes to see, oh, yeah, I forgot what this was like. Yeah, I appreciated your point about that.
Joel:
And it was told to me early on, "A great administrator never forgets what it's like to be a teacher." You ever say that in front of a teacher, they will stand up, they will applaud, encore, whatever. The second part of that is, "A great teacher never forgets what it's like to be a student."
Jon Eckert:
That's right. That's right. In the good and the bad, the fatigue and the joy.
Joel:
Absolutely.
Jon Eckert:
Lightning round. We always do a few questions at the end where we just get a sentence or two answer. I'm terrible at keeping my answers concise, but we'll see how well you do. You're fast, so let's see how well you can manage this. What's the worst piece of advice you've ever received as an educator or just in general? And then the best piece of advice. We'll take those in whatever order you want to take them.
Joel:
Yeah, the worst case, the worst advice, just get by. That's the worst. Just get by. Hey, I'm trying to really do this, or I'm trying to bring this to the classroom, something a little different. I'm still racking my brain over it. "Hey, just get by. Just do what you got to do."
Jon Eckert:
Yeah. That's what's exhausting.
Joel:
Worst advice.
Jon Eckert:
Yeah. All right.
Joel:
Best advice, listen to the kids. As you're customizing things, as you're thinking about the kids, when was the last time you listened to the kids on what they want, how they listen, how they process? Best advice.
Jon Eckert:
Well, and we tried yesterday at our conference to bring in... And I think we did. We said we had expert consultants coming in at lunch. And then 15 minutes before lunch, 20 students come in and they're going to be expert consultants for people as they work on their problems of practice, how they're going to increase their gritty optimism and tell their leadership story. I really wanted to debrief with the students, but they had to go back to class before... I really wanted to get their take on what they were doing because I think about 10 of them had no idea what they were walking into, and they're standing at the back of the room being described as expert consultants on something that they don't know about. But that was our attempt, to listen and get leaders to listen. And I think we need to treat them in that way because they are, in fact, the partners in the learning process that so often get left out of the conversation when they're the whole focus of what we do.
Joel:
The whole focus. Absolutely. One of the things I've asked teachers over the years is, "Give me your hardest math problem. Give me the hardest concept in, whatever, science or whatever class. And I ask you, 'Can I find it on Google? ChatGPT. Can I look it up on ChatGPT?'" And chances are you can. And so what does that say? Is we've seen a shift in education, especially in the instruction. Now these kids are equipped with all the information they could possibly want, but they need guides. They need someone to help them sift through that information. And so as you look, it's like education has always been this. I'm here to be a reliable and trustable guide to get these kids through some of the obstacle courses and help jump these hurdles so that they'll be fully functioning, successful individuals in the world and impact the world for a greater good.
Jon Eckert:
Yeah, that's good. They need wisdom is what they need. And that's what they need us for. And that's what I think greater educators do. Speaking of wisdom, best book you've read in the last year? It doesn't have to be education, but what's the best book you've read?
Joel:
I've read. Well, I would have to say The Student Leadership Challenge. I teach a leadership class, Go Lead. Shout out to Jason Beard over at Mount Paran Christian who designed the course. But The Student Leadership Challenge is a great book. It's able to put leadership on a student level. Things to think about: What is your commitment level? Why do you want to lead? How do you lead? And that student leadership challenge allows us to go deeper into why somebody would want to lead. But not only that, why would someone want to follow you?
Jon Eckert:
Yeah. Love that. We'll wrap up with this. What gives you the most hope as you look forward to the time ahead we have in education?
Joel:
The most hope I see is people keep coming to conferences, number one. Students keep showing up. Parents. Despite where you are at in your education journey, but parents keep dropping their kids off to our schools.
And here's something we have to acknowledge. Parents drop them off at our schools, and we have seven hours with them. If they play sports, that's an additional two, two and a half, depending on their level, so they're with us for nine, nine and a half hours. Most active parts of the day. Parents continue to drop them off because there is some level of trust they have with us. That gives me some hope that parents are still looking to partner with educators. And we're looking to get that trifecta to where it's the parent, it's the teacher and the student involved in this process. That continues to give me hope.
Jon Eckert:
No, that's a great place to end. Joel, thanks for your time, thanks for your leadership. Appreciate all you do.
Joel:
Thank you for having me.