Critical Question Parents Should Ask About Their Child's School Culture

Join us in this episode as Blain Watson, a seasoned educator, school leader, and parent, shares invaluable insights on how parents can actively support their children's academic and social-emotional development. Discover practical strategies rooted in research and personal experience to create a strong supportive environment for learning and growth.

Main Topics: 

• The importance of building a supportive village around children and the concept of a 'critical mass' of influential adults
• Key frameworks like the 40 Developmental Assets for nurturing well-rounded kids
• How to engage actively with school staff and systems to ensure your child's success 
• Practical questions parents should ask about curriculum, school culture, and social-emotional supports
• Strategies for advocating for your child, including understanding curriculum mastery and support systems

Resources & Links:

• Blain Watson on Twitter

• Blain Watson on Facebook

Join Our Live Wednesdays:

• Instagram Live, every Wednesday, 5:30 - 6:00 PM, to get your questions answered about fostering learning and success in your children.

Transcript

0:26

Welcome everyone. Thank you for joining us at the Falling for Learning podcast. Today we have an educational expert. Um, his name is Blain Watson. He'll tell you about his experience as both a parent and a career educator. Good morning. Good morning, everyone. Good morning, TD. Thank you so much for inviting me. it's an honor uh to see this work coming to fruition. And I'm here with you to support. I'm so excited about the conversation today. So first of all, my name is Blain, Blain Watson. Um, soon to be Dr. Watson, USC School of Rossier School of Education, fight on. so who's Blain? So 21 years in education. Um I've served as a teacher. I was a Spanish teacher for several years. I was an AP Spanish teacher, language and also literature. I've also served um as an English, uh as a second language teacher, both here and in Englewood and then also abroad. I'll talk about the little a little bit later. but speaking Spanish is a cultural thing for me. I'm bicultural and I wanna say bilingual. Uh I am first generation American. My mother is from Cuba, from La Habana, Cuba. My dad's from Central America, from Cologne, Panama. So uh Spanish was the first language at home. And I was so happy to formalize my understanding of the language in in college. Um after serving as a teacher, I've served as assistant principal, um, also as a principal uh at Dominguez High School in Compton Unified School District at Lock High School. Um in the middle of the community of Watts in South Los Angeles. um I've also most recently served as a principal coach and principal supervisor. That's where TD and I actually met each other. I serving as a as a principal coach working with several schools in South Los Angeles. um I've also served in in the district office in what we call pupil services or student services as a child wealth and attendance coordinator. And I will say that role as a child wealth and attendance quarter coordinator opened my eyes so much to what we need to do to better support the most at promise students across our district and our schools. and I always tell people working with principals, I believe that every principal should serve in people services before they step into the principal role because the you lead more with your heart thinking about the most at promise kids or the most at risk kids. I like the term at promise. and Sometimes we, you know, as an instructional leader, that's how that's how principals are trained, right? As an instructional leader. but working as a in pupil services, like I said, you're you lead with your heart. And it gives you so much more perspective that some people just don't have when they walk into the principalship. and most recently, as actually as of yesterday, I was appointed the new equity officer, equity director with ABC Unified School District. Here in Los Angeles County, which is an award-winning district. I'm really excited about the opportunity to serve that community and bring and bring again that love and support for students through an equity lens. Okay. absolutely. And some other roles I think that are important for us to understand. I've also served as an adjunct professor teaching aspiring uh principals at Cal State University, Dominguez Hills, and the School of Education. And uh I mentor aspiring principals as well. Uh I consult. I'm a consultant working with different districts and schools, uh training and then also working consulting uh capacity. And lastly, um I mentioned before I've been a coach. I've been a coach in high school, baseball coach, football coach. but my most important role, I would say, is that of a father and that of a husband. And I have two boys. my oldest is 10 years old, just turned 10, Blain Junior. He's heading to fifth grade in Torrance Unified School District. And my youngest BLOS is four and a half. Well, he he'll be five actually in December. And he's heading to kindergarten. And um, and another some other perspective in my father role, working with BLOSS. BLOS is as special needs. He has an IEP. So that gives me a lot more perspective in working with students with special needs and navigating the system. And I feel blessed that I understand right that system and how to navigate it. Yeah. And maybe we can talk about that today a little bit, but I'm here to serve parents in that capacity, understanding um those needs. Great. Um, thank you so much for really giving us um details about your experience and your expertise. Um, because our podcast is directed towards parents and to how how they can make sure that their kids get on track for learning and stay on track for success, what kind of insight can you give to parents as both a parent and an educator? Um that will best help them as they're learning and growing. Yeah. So the first thing I I would like to share with parents is that I'm going to drop a nugget, something that I think is a strong tool for any parent. I talk to parent friends and parents that I serve in in schools. There's a framework that I was introduced to several years ago called the 40 Developmental Assets, a research-based framework that was developed by the Search Institute. A longitudinal study that was done to really study what would make students kids as they grow up. At different developmental stages, uh responsible, caring, and healthy adults. And so this longitudinal study, if I'm not mistaken, took place over maybe 12 years or close to 15 years. And what they found was that they're they divided uh these 40 assets, developmental assets, into 20 internal assets that that students possess or may not possess, and then 20 external assets. And the internal things are things that you have influence over as a parent. And the external assets are things that kids are exposed to in the environment or the communities that they're engaging with. Um, and so you know, I would ask parents to look at that framework, the 40 developmental assets, uh, and look at the different developmental stages of those assets. Um, because I think that provides a framework. Kids aren't born with instructions on their back, right? And it's really difficult to figure out how to raise your child. Everyone does it differently. Um, but if you have a common understanding that's research based in terms of what students need, for example, something that um this framework talks about in terms of what you can do as a parent is what I like to call developing a critical mask for your uh of adults and influencers for your child who is crazy about your kid, right? Make sure you have a very clear group of adults who you know. are going to influence your child. And your job as a parent is to make sure you are very, I want to say very intentional about that work. Exactly. A village, right? And I call it a critical mass, but it's a village. And and you want to make sure you're very conscientious of who conscientious of who you're allowing around your child and who those the their their ethics and their moral compass, their modeling. All that is important because we know kids are sponges. And if they're not around the right people, that and obviously we influence our children, but we know that every time they're away from us, they're soaking up so much from other adults and other people, especially at very critical developmental stages. And so it's important for us to consider these developmental stages or sorry, these assets and the stages that kids are in uh to make sure we're growing them. Um, I would also recommend that parents think about um. And have strong relationships with the teachers and leaders in the schools that they work that their kids are attending. Oftentimes I see, right? I see too often parents who just send their kids to school. And trusting that the adults at school, number one, have all the values that you want your son or daughter to to to respond to and emulate as they grow. And then also, you know, just kind of trusting. I think it has a lot to do with uh a cult, it's a cultural I think it's a cultural challenge. A lot of families grew up in environments where, you know, they trusted the schools 100%. I know their their parents did, right? You go to school, teachers do their thing, and you know, we'll trust that teachers and and and leaders and and counselors have their best interest, right, in mind. Right. What we know and what I know working in schools is schools are schools are they're they're microcosms of society. Right. And they're and we know society isn't always well organized. And you need really strong leadership in order for everybody to be yoked moving toward a common mission or a North Star. And sometimes if you as a parent don't know what the core values are of that leader who's running that school, and trust that leader and all the teachers uh to guide your child, um, you may be really in the dark because you don't know what their real focus is, right? And something can, you know, a website can tell you one thing, but if you don't spend time observing classrooms, if you don't spend time talking to counselors, if you don't spend time, I would say interviewing your principal and your system principals, and I say that very intentional about that. You have to interview, you need to know who the people are that are guiding your child. Um, and you ultimately as a parent. So I think it's about value alignment. Do your values as a parent align with that of those of the school. And what does that look like? What is what do those conversations sound like? And what are you doing to make sure that alignment is clear? Yes, all right. Well, thank you. Um really helping our parents think about um what we can do to be have that in-depth analysis and really protecting the, you know, setting up a village and then making sure that we are really um analyzing the people and the school environments that we have our children in. Um so that takes me to my next question. Um as you were growing up, what drew you into education and into uh pursuing the career that you have and um you know what are implications for that as we're thinking as parents are thinking about their own children. Absolutely. thank you for asking that question. I will tell you the first thing that comes to mind is a person. Geneva Peterson, Miss Geneva Peterson. Uh so Geneva Peterson was an African American woman. Uh so I was a I went to Kearney High School in San Diego, San Diego Unified School District. And Miss Peterson, I I still don't know what a role was. I never would knew what a role was, but Miss Peterson was this this Elder elderly black woman. I think she worked in the career services or counseling center. I don't know what her role was. But every day. And I I don't remember meeting her, how I met her, but I remember my high school counselor didn't do much for me. My co and I and and I'm not I'm not being biased, but I do know my high school counselor was a white woman who didn't necessarily give me a lot of guidance. And I don't remember her having conversations with me about ex high clear expectations about attending college. I never had those conversations, and I was a decent student. I graduated, I did well in the SAT. I graduated over 3.5 GPA. But I did that because I had a lot of, you know, focus and I want to say high expectations at home from my parents. But Miss Geneva Peterson, um, every day I would get off the bus and she'd be waiting for me at the flagpole, close by the flagpole when I would have got off school. So, you know, going to school. And, you know, Geneva Peterson, I I would think I you know, I knew she was an old elderly woman, but you know, when you're 15, 16, 17 years old, you think anybody over 40 is like 80. Absolutely. She was this older woman. Um, but would greet me every morning with a huge kiss on my cheek. Oftentimes I'd go to class and have big red big red lipstick or lips on my on my cheek. Um, seriously. And um those memories are very clear. Miss Peterson was the individual who told me, this is what you're going to do. You're going to apply for this scholarship. You're gonna apply for this uh for for this opportunity. I remember I became I was the I was appointed the Martin Luther King Day uh parade king in San Diego County. And I sat in the convertible um and went in a parade and was waving my hand. And and then, but that was that was a culmination of all the activities that this honor bestowed on me. What I did that I applied. For the scholarship, but then also I had to write um an essay and a poem. And I had to present this essay and poem to an audience full of people uh somewhere in San Diego County. I forgot where it was, but I know the superintendent was there, San Diego Unified District Superintendent. She put me in positions like that. She said, You're going to do this, you're going to apply for this, you're going to go here, you're going to join this leadership group, you're going to be part of ASB. And I was a football team captain, baseball team captain. I was a I was an athlete. But I never thought and I and I was an AP student. She took she told me I need to take AP English. She told me I need to take AP US history, then AP uh government, obviously. when I was a senior, she was the person who had high and clear expectations for me in school. And I I I I'm eternally grateful to her for just giving me that guidance and that love every single day. Nothing short of love. And and just greeting me every day. And no, and I think. Thinking about it now, the reason she was there every day ready to greet me, T D was because she knew the company I kept. My buddies, my buddies were doing the wrong thing. We get off the bus and go across the street and maybe ditch school. And yeah, you know, but she she didn't let me do that. She would she literally waited for me, pointed at me, and come here. And that was it. And I would go to class and I would have to be accountable to her throughout the day. So those relationships are important and that's what I that's why I talked earlier about, you know, that critical mass and making sure that you build that critical mass to that village at school and you know who those influential people are um at at this in the school community over your child. Well, I really that really resonates with me, right? Because a lot of our parents, we do uh maybe make sure our kids have that, you know, they get their homework done or they have certain um academic needs met, but helping kids go to college and get those scholarships and uh develop leadership skills really requires more, like getting into certain um programs, applying, sometimes just not applying, right? You might have all of the skills and requirements, but you didn't apply. And letting kids know about that. um And also taking in certain leadership roles in different clubs or programs. It's really critical. Sometimes parents don't think about that or don't even know. Right. And making those connections um at school is really important. And there's lots of people besides teachers at school, right, that have an influence. Important for you as a parent to think about who is at the school besides the teachers to help support the kids. and uh because teachers of course have a really critical role in the classroom, which means they can't be there for other parts all the time, right? That's a can I can I add to that point? Yes. I think that's a that's a critical point. You made you made a comment around there are other people who are influential in the school community outside of the teacher. The teacher only has a certain, you know, reach, right? Because a teacher, especially in a high school setting or middle school, kids are going period to period to period. In elementary, they're with the same teacher all day long. But as they transition to middle school and then to high school, you know, they can have anywhere from six to eight periods in a day. And Transitioning from person to person, you have different expectations, person to person, classroom to classroom, classroom. You have different relationships, period to period, classroom to classroom, right? Different uh, I want to say learning environments in that classroom, right? So all of that, I think about the kids, a kid's daily struggle in high school, middle school. You have to condition yourself. So I'm in this person's space right now. I have to go to this person's space next. I'm going to period three, I'm doing this, and then period four, I'm doing that. So the responsibility of a strong leadership core in a school is making sure that everyone is aligned in terms of that approach to making sure we're guiding kids. Those expectations are similar, but different, but similar to make sure that their kids, kids can feed off of that repetition. And that I want to say that consistent expectation for excellence. And yes, the people, there are other people like Miss Peterson, I don't know what her role was. She wasn't a teacher. Uh But I know now she was a classified staff member, she was a non-certificated staff member who had a role of supporting kids in in a in a particular center. So kids would go there or she'd pull kids out and meet with them. Um, but oftentimes kids don't take care, don't take advantage of those additional individuals or spaces that are afforded to them in the school. So, you know, you know, Ms. Peterson was a great influence over my life. And then to finish the question you asked me earlier, how did I get into this? I ended up going to the University of San Diego. You know, I graduated, I was a double major in journalism and Spanish language and literature. I thought I wanted to be a journalist um until volunteering at the YMCA down the street from the university. In my senior year, I was doing campus interviewing, interviewing for different jobs, like with, you know, Julio Gallo Wine Company and the FBI of all things. And, you know, I was just practicing, you know, what it meant to be a professional. And then I found my calling. There is a scholarship offer at in the School of Education at University of San Diego for African American males seeking their single subject teaching credential. And almost seemed like it was, it was, it was, it was God sent, right? This opportunity for me to get my teaching credential and start my master's degree and you know uh really learn how to learn how to teach and learn better how to connect with students and learn curriculum. So that's where it started. That's where it started. Those relationships and those expectations and those opportunities because people put me in those positions. Yeah, so important. Okay. So as you're thinking about yourself as a leader, what is your ultimate goal as a leader? For example, in five years, where do you see yourself and what do you want to have to have accomplished? Well it's it's well, it's hard for me to imagine where I'm gonna be in five years because I definitely am starting a new role and I see myself in this role serving the district that I'm gonna be working in for the next five years for sure. you know, my role as an equity officer, uh, my job is to be an advocate and a champion for the most at promise and underserved kids across the school district and across the community. I do that now in my work as a consultant as well, and I've always been an equity champion. in my leadership as whether it's a principal, system principal, working in people services, uh, that's what I do. So I would definitely say over the next five years, I want to continue leaving a legacy of service around love, uh, around oh access to opportunities for students, um, helping empower parents and to better serve the needs of their kids and understand the needs of their kids and understand how to navigate the systems that unfortunately that they're they have to follow. Um, but also how to disrupt some of the systems. because we understand that a lot of the systems that our students and parents are engaged in um are part of an overall, overall, I want to say mechanism, right? That either intentional or unintentionally were built to suppress opportunities for people of color ah and other disadvantaged groups. So I think it's important for us to think about what is working and what's not working in the systems and and and help. To serve that guidance. That's and that's where I see myself just continue to work through this vision of love, of leadership, and also making sure that the kids and the adults that I'm influencing, my role isn't directly, I'm not directly impacting kids. I'm building capacity in adults to serve kids. So I want to make sure that kids, after working with adults that I've been working with, have strong learning identities. Their self-efficacy as as learners and as individuals is high. And when I say self-efficacy, I mean I'm talking about their belief in themselves, right? And their opportunity to set goals, see themselves setting goals and attaining those goals. Um, and becoming strong independent learners, building the learning and thinking routines that they need to be highly effective, not just in college, but in life. Right. And so those habits and those routines are important. And it's a teacher's job and a school's job to build a learning environment where those routines are practiced, they're codified, and they're practiced. And that's part of the question that you ask as a parent. I believe, you know, as my son matriculates into middle school in the next year, uh, that's one of the questions I'm gonna ask is, you know, what are what's the expectation? Uh what's the vision, right? And expectation for the skills. The soft skills and also the strong learning skills that my my son should be mastering by the time he he finishes this middle school program. The same thing at the high school, right? You know, I want to ask those questions and make sure that we are aligned. Like I'm that's the vision I have for my son because I know him best. And I want to make sure the school leader has that has a clear vision of how to support what I know is good for my kid. Well, I wanna be that, I wanna be that uh person for adults who need that guidance. And I want to make sure I'm building those systems and those structures in in the high school, the middle school and elementary settings in the in the district I'm serving in to make sure that parents know how to guide their kids and our educators are doing right by their children, by the children they're serving. Right. em So you're what you're saying is, you know, you would ask the schools, you know, as your child goes into middle school or to high school in the coming years, some questions about you know their vision. What other questions might you ask uh parents to ask, or what may they need to ask for that they don't usually ask for and they need to they should have in place? So what are some of those insights that maybe parents aren't asking for enough or need to ask. Yeah. I would definitely say the first thing that parents should be asking is what is the curriculum? What was so what are in English and in math specifically? Uh what how are students expected to learn and master concepts? And if they're not mastering concepts in in math specifically, what does a what does a mastery approach look like? Or how are they making sure that before a student moves on to the next to or teacher moves on to to to the subsequent or next unit, right? How are how are we how are you supporting that student's mastery of the learning? And if they're not, if they're not mastering that learning, what interventions are in place? And how are, and what, what I'm gonna say, what systems are in place to and checks and balances are in place to make sure if my student is not there, how what support is in place to get them there? Okay. And that, and that's week to week, you know month to month. And because every in every getting in in any given lesson or week, a student can or cannot capture certain things. So what is the teacher doing? And then what systems are in place with the counselors, right? And administrators to make sure that my child is not falling through the cracks. So that's a question I would ask is understanding the curriculum, what what how is the curriculum designed? And then what systems are in place to make sure that my student is not falling through the cracks. Another thing I would ask is. Um, I'm using my own language here. How are the adults in the school asset building and hall-friendly? What I mean by that is when my child walks through, and hopefully you as a parent, do your due diligence and walk the campus yourself. Don't just send your kid to school and be like, all right, he's there, but ask for an opportunity to observe classrooms and walk the hallways yourself so you can interact with and observe the interactions that you see uh or that your child would see on a daily basis, m right? So it's your job, you know, you're scoping out the school just like a just like you're purchasing a home. We do our due diligence when we're purchasing a home, but that's a huge investment. You're sending your child to school for the next four to five years. You know, you have to be very clear about that investment you're making because that investment will leave an imprint on your child's life, right? Positively or not so positively. So you taking time, you know, asking what is again, how were adults in the camp in this campus or this school. building the assets in my child? What's how are they speaking to my child? What type of language are they intentional about in terms of building his or her capacity as a learner? Secondly, call friendly. You know, are the adults and the in the professionals who work in the campus, are they in love with your child? Are they crazy about your child? You know, what does that look like? What do the behaviors look like and sound like? Have they talked about that? Are they very intentional as a school community, right? In terms of what it looks like and sounds like to To to bring students and elevate students up emotionally, that social emotional piece is very important. Right. Because kids, if kids aren't don't have a strong social emotional foundation, obviously at home, but it's do they spend more time at school than do at home. So if the adults at school aren't focused on that social emotional development and that support, then the learning doesn't matter. Um, and I think those are some things that I would definitely want parents to consider, just you know. really interrogating the system and the the values and the culture of the school. Um, and not just sending your child every day and say, oh, and trusting that everybody's has your best child best interest in mind or has your child's best interest in mind. Right. Well, thank you so much. So that's you know, so so um so much insight about what we can be doing as parents. Um so if parents want to get in contact with you or they want you, you know, to follow you on your socials or like what is a way that they could get in contact with you or um reach out to you. Absolutely, you can follow me on Twitter. Um, Twitter, it's real simple, at capital B L A I N. So my first name at capital B, then lowercase L-A-I-N, Capital W A T S O N. So Blain Watson, just on Twitter, real simple. and on Facebook, Blain Watson, looking me up, Blain Watson. Um, really simple. fortunately there there there aren't there aren't many two Blain Watsons in the world. Okay. Uh yeah, that's a place where you can find me. Well, we thank you so much for uh taking time to share your insight and your wisdom as both a parent and a veteran educator. And thank again, thank you all again for joining Falling for Learning podcast. been it's been an honor. Thank you so much and good luck, everyone.