Pearls Of Wisdom

Imperfection Is Not Failure, It’s Growth

By Teresa Araujo
10-Dec-25

Embracing imperfection is essential for authentic growth, for ourselves and for the learning communities we lead... ..more

Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze?

By Andrew Dutton
19-Nov-25

Thoughtful reflection helps weigh the potential benefits against the inevitable ripple effects of each choice… ..more

Embrace the Chaos

By Nausheen Siddiqi
18-Jun-25

In this Pearl, Nausheen shares two powerful analogies to define leadership, highlighting the importance of vision, empathy, and adaptability… ..more

People Don't Care What You Know Until...

By Clinton Olson
23-Apr-25

In this Pearl, Clinton shares how a tough teaching assignment early in his career taught him one of the most powerful lessons in education... ..more

Authentic Leadership

By Ira Ghosh
12-Mar-25

Effective leadership is not defined by age, but by confidence, inclusivity, and the ability to empower those around you… ..more

Find Your Board of Directors

By Ema Alatini
12-Feb-25

In this Pearl, Ema shares the importance of building a "board of directors" to support and guide you throughout your leadership journey... ..more

Know Yourself, Believe in Yourself, Acknowledge your Limits

By Oliver Chua
20-Nov-24

We need to take care of ourselves, be kind to ourselves, and set realistic yet impactful decisions that will make a significant change… ..more

You Are a Leader If...

By Loretta Fernando Smith
06-Nov-24

In this Pearl, Loretta says, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, to do more, to be more, and to do better, then you are a leader…” ..more

Reflect, Rest, and Reset

By Claire Febrey
09-Oct-24

In this Pearl, Claire shares her insights on the importance of self-reflection and rejuvenation and shares practical strategies for implementation... ..more

The Value of Navigating Blind Spots

By Jenny-Lee Moore
25-Sep-24

We need to invest in seeing each other as we truly are. As diamonds hide in the dark, the true value in our teams may not be visible until we look for it… ..more

Leading by Example

By Stacey Frallicciardi
11-Sep-24

In this Pearl, Stacey reminds us of “the transformative power of leading by example”… ..more

Norms

By Pete Goodman
14-Aug-24

In this Pearl, Pete shares that it’s important to create norms that acknowledge experience while also considering the context we’re in now… ..more

Bring Your Authentic Selves to School

By Jacqueline Manuel
17-Jul-24

In this Pearl, Jacqueline says, “encourage people in your community to bring their authentic self to school without being judged..” ..more

Lessons From Being Queer in Leadership: Bring Your Authentic Self to the Table

By Ange Molony
05-Jun-24

In this Pearl, Ange shares her leadership journey and what it looks like for her to show up authentically with her colleagues and students… ..more

Reframe Complaints as Requests

By Ligia Diniz
19-Jun-24

To improve relationships and morale, instead of looking at somebody and assuming they were complaining, transform the complaints into requests… ..more

Give Your Students Space to be Young and Stupid

By Chris Holmquist
22-May-24

In this Pearl, Chris shares that through adventures and failure, we can learn from our mistakes. Let students fall and then help them get back up… ..more

Be Intentionally Caring and Present in Relationships

By Kustave Heino
08-May-24

In this Pearl, Kustave shares his journey and three aspects that he tries to intentionally work on to build relationships… ..more

The Plop, the Pink, the Possibilities

By Kathryn Rymarz
10-Apr-24

In this Pearl, Kathryn shares a personal experience where she discovered that there are lots of good things to learn from making mistakes… ..more

Through Preparedness and Trust-Based Relationships Leaders Can Do Anything

By Cindy Beals
27-Mar-24

In this Pearl, Cindy shares how the team at Percherk School International (Kyiv, Ukraine) handled the many crises they’ve faced over the past few years… ..more

Take a Deep Breath

By Joe Cloutier
13-Mar-24

In this Pearl, Joe encouragingly reminds us that “you can handle any crisis that happens at your school…” ..more

Value of Positive Narratives of Students

By Richelle Pearce
14-Feb-24

The power of the narrative not only drives vision and curriculum implementation but has the power to inspire, enthuse, and move people to action… ..more

Clarify the Purpose of Discussion

By Sally Wen
28-Feb-24

In this Pearl, Sally shares that there two ways of having dialogue: conversation to increase understanding and discussion for making the decisions... ..more

Value of Relationships, Listening, and Applying Intercultural Skills

By Erika Egawa
17-Jan-24

Listening as a leader is different than listening as a friend or colleague. In this Pearl, Erika offers advice for those new to leadership… ..more

Prioritize What Will Most Impact Learning

By David Gates
06-Dec-23

In struggling with prioritizing, “We have to prioritize the outcomes that are going to have an actual effect on student learning and teacher performance"... ..more

Leaders Don’t Always Need To Be Fixers

By Abenaa Uttenthal
22-Nov-23

What we need to do is create space for other people to step in and rise to the occasion… ..more

Pursue Your Passion

By Shanez Cabraal
08-Nov-23

In this Pearl, Shanez shares her journey following her passions, determined to become the teacher she herself had needed... ..more

Managing Change

By Flor Portocarrero
25-Oct-23

Whenever we need to drive change, consider ways to shrink the challenge, show the path, and boost the motivation narratives… ..more

Creating Belonging

By Heena Vaswani
11-Oct-23

To create an intentional sense of belonging we require creativity, strong leadership, and hard work. It’s all about working together for a common purpose… ..more

Leadership is a Practice

By Ellen King
27-Sep-23

In this pearl, Ellen shares that “growth doesn’t happen when you’re in your comfort zone”... ..more

Build Others Up

By James Howard
13-Sep-23

In this pearl, James shares his experience with a positive leader who helped reinvigorate his energy, focus, and belief that educators can change lives… ..more

Empowering Others to Succeed

By Ana Leticia Daza
16-Aug-23

In this pearl, Ana shares the importance of having and being a strong, empowering leadership example… ..more

I'm Seen, I Matter, I Belong

By Helen Sharrock
19-Jul-23

In this Pearl, Helen shares that it’s important to “give everyone a sense of being appreciated and belonging to your school family” … ..more

Focus on the Students

By Leigh Anne Toler
21-Jun-23

In this Pearl, Leigh Anne reminds us that “we don’t work for adults. We work for kids…” ..more

Remembering Why We Teach

By Elinor Osborne
07-Jun-23

Sometimes we don’t realize how a simple interaction with a student can have such a profound effect on them… ..more

The Ratio of Empathy

By Nico Rivas
24-May-23

Nico shares a story of a student experiencing the power of empathy when a school community was willing to embrace inclusion and move toward positive change... ..more

The Stay Interview

By Tim Rogers
10-May-23

In this pearl, Tim shares practical advice for creating a culture of trust and increasing teacher retention… ..more

Efficiency and Micro Impacts

By Luiz Mello
26-Apr-23

In this pearl, Luiz offers an invitation to school leaders to “refine their systems so they become more effective but also more efficient”... ..more

I Decide, You Decide, We Decide

By Guillermo Machado
26-Apr-23

In this pearl, leaders are encouraged to ask themselves, “How much of myself is necessary in this process…and how much can I delegate and give away”… ..more

Voice of the Counselor

By Dan Chaney
15-Feb-23

In this Pearl, Dan discusses the power of voice and advocates for the role of the school counselor… ..more

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice

By Ryan Persaud
01-Feb-23

In this Pearl, Ryan encourages educators “not to be performative in your DEIJ work but to be authentic, strategic, and purposeful.”... ..more

Community Building

By Kristen Dickhaut
18-Jan-23

If you build up the people, the programs will be successful… ..more

Be Present, Happiness Is Now

By Katherine Clemmens
07-Dec-22

Living to get through everything stops you from seeing how valuable that moment really is… ..more

Never Assume

By Clara Swinehart
23-Nov-22

Never assuming applies to our own experiences, interactions, and exchanges with our students, parents, and teachers… ..more

Creating Joy and Practicing Gratitude

By Celeste Krochak
26-Oct-22

A small mental shift can make a big impact on your ability to view life from a solid foundation of gratitude… ..more

Mental Health and Wellbeing

By Aleksandra Golder
12-Oct-22

A short reflection activity reminds us that simple moments can have a great impact on our students’ wellbeing... ..more

Looking at the Bigger Picture

By Clara Williams
14-Sep-22

We need to actively promote and demonstrate conflict solving and working with the whole community… ..more

Teaching Through Living

By Koray Öztoprak
17-Aug-22

In this Pearl, Koray encourages us to “live” what we teach, to model and practice all that we teach... ..more

Diversity, Equity, Inclusions, and Justice

By Abenaa Uttenthal
13-Jul-22

In this Pearl, Abenaa Uttenthal reflects on the Ghanian term sankofa that asks us to “go back and fetch” so that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past... ..more

Amplifying Students' Voices

By Traci Rapp
22-Jun-22

In this Pearl, Traci offers an explicit strategy for amplifying student voice... ..more

What Does Kindness Look Like?

By Jacqui Patrick
08-Jun-22

In this Pearl, Jacqui bravely shares her journey with the notion of kindness and the role of difficult conversations... ..more

Focusing on Integrated Skills with an Assets Based Approach

By Kathy Patton
25-May-22

In this Pearl, Kathy suggests moving from an individual skill-based model to a broader model to determine next step strategies for learners... ..more

Pearls of Wisdom: The Importance of Trust in Leadership

By Rasha Saadeldin
11-May-22

Rasha examines the quote "If you want to be trusted, be honest. If you want to be honest, be true. And if you want to be true, be who you are..." ..more

Pearls of Wisdom: Positive Intent

By Stefanie Bell
27-Apr-22

Stefanie reminds us that the idea of presuming positive intent, although we have been talking about in for years, is STILL an essential ingredient for effective, productive teamwork. ..more

Pearls of Wisdom: Having Empathy for Those in Your School Community

By Philip Cogbill
13-Apr-22

In this Pearl, Philip reminds us of the Maya Angelou quote, “People will forget what you said, and people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ..more

Pearls of Wisdom: Identity is Important

By Marjorana Karathanasis
30-Mar-22

In this Pearl, Marjorana shares a practical example of a strategy her school used to help teachers and leaders get focused on the importance of identity. ..more

Pearls of Wisdom: Bravery and Leadership

By Lural Ramirez
02-Feb-22

Lural challenges us to lead more than we manage, to be brave in the face of challenges, and particularly when it comes to the challenge of social justice. ..more

Pearls of Wisdom: Showing Appreciation

By Jessica Applewhite
19-Jan-22

In this Pearl, Jessica shares a practical strategy a team leader can use to help build a culture of appreciation and awareness of each others’ strengths within our team. ..more

Pearls of Wisdom: Be the Well

By Margaret Stuhan
08-Dec-21

Margaret helps us understand that, in your role as principal, your teachers need you. She offers five strategies for being the “well” and at the same time taking care of yourself. ..more

Pearls of Wisdom: Owning Success and Being Vulnerable

By Sylvia Johnston
24-Nov-21

In her Pearl, Sylvia says it’s important to “own your successes, share your problems, never be afraid to expose yourself in front of the staff and be vulnerable.” ..more

Pearls of Wisdom: Don’t Venerate the Past, and It is OK to Not Be OK

By Heath E. Capello
10-Nov-21

Heath challenges us to be critical with our past in order to “harness lessons for the future.” He reminds us that mental health and well-being are a part of our personal and professional success. ..more

Pearls of Wisdom: Communicating and Avoiding Assumptions

By Nicole Ifi
27-Oct-21

In this Pearl of Wisdom, Nicole reflects on lessons learned about delegation and communication. Don’t make assumptions and always communicate thoroughly. ..more

Pearls of Wisdom: Being a Resilient and Purposeful Leader

By Proserpina Dhlamini-Fisher
13-Oct-21

“As leaders we need to know that the journey is not easy. We need to be resilient, hopeful, and be very clear on what our personal purpose is" ..more

Pearls of Wisdom: Being Deliberately Conscious

By David Miles
29-Sep-21

We must be “conscious and deliberate in all that we do... we either reinforce old narratives or contribute to the creation of newer stories.” ..more

Pearls of Wisdom: Handling Overwhelming Emotions

By Sajitha Chacko
15-Sep-21

A practicing international school counselor offers a helpful, practical strategy for helping students struggling with difficult emotions. ..more

Pearls of Wisdom: Problem Solving

By Nancy Fairburn
01-Sep-21

When a problem presents itself, and it seems to be an ongoing problem, go upstream to consider what’s the bigger issue up there. ..more

Pearls of Wisdom: A Call for Champions

By Leda Cedo
04-Aug-21

"Pearl of Wisdom" shared during the PTC summer training session by educator and leader, Leda Cedo addresses personal reflections around diversity, equity and inclusion. ..more

Always Assume Positive Intent

By Jennifer Wiegman
01-Apr-15

In this Pearl, Jennifer shares a personal story about how adopting the mindset of "always assume positive intent" transformed her professional relationships... ..more