What if the biggest barrier to effective professional learning isn't lack of resources, but the assumptions we bring into the room?

In this episode, Nadira Singh—a district leader supporting professional learning across 142 schools—shares how her journey from research scientist to classroom teacher to coach shaped her belief that curiosity, not certainty, is the foundation of adult learning. She reveals why she treats stories as data rather than anecdotes, how her doctoral research uncovered what assistant principals actually need to become instructional leaders, and why minimizing power dynamics between districts and schools is essential for building partnerships that stick.

Nadira explains how empathy interviews surface what traditional post-session surveys miss, why "failing bravely" requires seeing adults as both masterpieces and works in progress, and how creating the right conditions—not just adding more time—makes professional learning transfer into practice.

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Key Insights

• Curiosity Over Assumptions: Why leading with questions instead of judgments creates space for honest learning conversations
• Stories Are Data: How empathy interviews reveal emotional barriers, learning gaps, and implementation challenges that surveys can't capture
• What Assistant Principals Actually Need: Research-backed insights on conditions, self-awareness, and clarity that leadership programs often miss
• Breaking the "Gotcha" Mentality: Why partnership approaches over top-down mandates change how schools receive district support
• Failing Bravely in Practice: Treating educators as masterpieces AND works in progress—and modeling that same vulnerability as leaders
• Conditions Trump Time: How strategic design of professional learning structures matters more than finding extra hours in the day

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