While Adina Sullivan-Marlow may not have worked at every possible job in education, she's certainly done a lot. Currently a Coordinator in the Teacher Effectiveness and Preparation unit under the Human Resource Services Division of San Diego County Office of Education, Adina sits down for an instructive chat that includes what EdTech companies could be doing better, the career possibilities and pathways in education that few know about, and how districts and administrators could better serve the diverse workforce that our students need.
EdTech Must Keep Meeting Teacher And Student Needs.
Adina shares three concise thoughts about what EdTech is doing well and what it could do better. Top of mind is effectiveness.
"The best tools, and the tools that I still use and still invite teachers to use and try to help them use, are the ones that are really focused on supporting the teachers' understanding of their students, effective teaching strategies, and content, in that order."
Developing the best tools means developing them for everyone.
"Make sure you're including all students. This includes my English learners; this includes my students with learning differences. Spanish isn't the only other language in schools. Accessibility is a big deal. Make sure you're including them."
Then there's the way those tools are marketed.
"Sales teams need to understand effective teaching strategies. Show me how it connects to good pedagogy. I think companies should focus on not just hiring good salespeople, but training them along with your product development team and leadership into what those good teaching strategies are and how they work."
Explore Career Opportunities In Education.
Adina notes that many people working in education aren't aware of the employment paths open to them.
"Go back to what is it that brings you to this work in the first place? What really propels you forward and makes you want to try harder and do more? And when you're not getting that anymore, it's time to look around, 'OK, what is it that I can do?'"
She describes a way into education for people working in completely different careers.
"Maybe someone is coming from industry, maybe they've got a marketing background, technology, agriculture. There are the positions that are CTE, career technical education, where you're coming in with your experience, you are applying for a job to teach the kinds of things you're an expert in, and you're getting the CTE credential."
Additionally, those in need of a change might want to work differently rather than doing different work.
"Sometimes you need to run into different brick walls. You need the issues to be different and know that sometimes that's the change you're making. You're not escaping difficulty, but you need to change what it looks like."
All Teachers Need Respect And Support From School Leadership.
Adina believes that any discussion about opportunities must include the extra barriers that teachers of color all too often face, such as being assigned responsibility for "those kids" who present classroom management issues and just happen to share the teacher's background. She'd rather flip this enforcement situation into a positive model for diversity.
"We want students to say, 'Look, there are people that come from the kinds of background I come from that look like me, that sound like me, and they're doing really good work, and they like what they're doing, and they care.' It helps kids to see that's a possibility for them."
Adina adds that for teachers of color to feel included, they need to be equal contributors to the team.
"We have to look at who gets access to promotion, whose voice is heard when it comes to what kind of PD do we need, what's going to be important, what's going to be valuable."
In this challenging time for education, Adina wants school leaders to support all of their teachers.
"We talk a lot right now about culturally responsive teaching and equity and critical race theory. Are we having conversations about what those actually mean versus what's being said about them? Not just 'here's a memo' but really, really standing beside teachers and supporting them. We have to do that."
Here's the full transcript of Adina’s podcast episode.
What We Talked About
Use this to jump to parts of the conversation you want to listen to more closely.
[00:01] Introducing Adina Sullivan-Marlow
[07:45] Adina’s journey in education
[12:22] There are many possible pathways in education
[17:58] Some of those possible pathways, and why educators want to move on
[22:34] Extra barriers for teachers of color
"There's a lot of extra things thrown on the shoulders for educators of color. They're often put in the role to be responsible for quote-unquote those kids. Whether that be kids that are the same race or ethnicity or language background, what have you. It's like, 'Oh, you understand those kids, those are going to be your kids. You're going to deal with them and now you're responsible for speaking up for all of them.'"
[27:00] Benefits of a diverse workforce in public schools
[31:44] What does (and should) school and district leadership look like?
"Are new teachers getting the classes nobody wants? Are they getting the most challenging situations? Are they getting good mentorship? Are they getting good supports? Are they getting a chance to reflect and learn with others or are we just throwing them in and good luck?"
[39:34] What EdTech is doing right and what they could do better
[46:15] Elana sums up her conversation with Adina
[49:05] How Adina recharges herself for the next day
[51:17] How people can get in touch with Adina
Resources Mentioned in this Episode:
Educator Pathways, the SDCOE (San Diego County Office of Education) website focused on career guidance for educators of color
A Back-to-School Pep Talk: A Conversation With William "Coach" Jeffery, Elana mentions this previous LCG podcast as an example of a guest who followed a non-traditional path to teaching and education leadership
Get in touch with Adina: personal Twitter | professional Twitter
Elana Leoni, Host
Elana Leoni has dedicated the majority of her career to improving K-12 education. Prior to founding LCG, she spent eight years leading the marketing and community strategy for the George Lucas Educational Foundation where she grew Edutopia’s social media presence exponentially to reach over 20 million education change-makers every month.
Adina Sullivan-Marlow, Guest
Adina is a Coordinator in the Teacher Effectiveness and Preparation unit under the Human Resource Services Division of the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE). In this role, she co-developed and now manages the Educator Pathways efforts, part of a strategic plan to diversify the educator workforce. She also coordinates the Added Authorizations for Special Education program, serving educators across California, and is an instructor in the single-subject intern credential program. Previous to joining SDCOE, Adina worked as a teacher and later became a K-12 educational technology coordinator for a 20,000-student K-12 district. She has been a long-time volunteer for CUE (Computer-Using Educators), formerly serving as the Board of Directors Vice-President. Adina’s career also includes working as a former adult-literacy tutor and trainer for the San Diego Council on Literacy, as well as a professional developer for an international fraternal insurance organization focused on children's charities. Adina is a Google Certified Innovator and Trainer and a Leading Edge Certification Instructor. In 2016, she founded and is the former President of EquityEDU, which is dedicated to helping educators create more equitable learning opportunities for all students.
About All Things Marketing and Education
What if marketing was judged solely by the level of value it brings to its audience? Welcome to All Things Marketing and Education, a podcast that lives at the intersection of marketing and you guessed it, education. Each week, Elana Leoni, CEO of Leoni Consulting Group, highlights innovative social media marketing, community-building, and content marketing strategies that can significantly increase reach, relationships, and revenue.
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