I believe that the culture of a school and of each classroom within is shaped by our daily practices and that the most powerful practice of all is conversations. Schools and the students they serve succeed or fail one conversation at a time. But it’s the quality of the conversations that matters. Conversations provide clarity or confusion, invite collaboration and cooperation or add concertina wire to the walls between well-defended fiefdoms. Conversations inspire us to tackle our toughest challenges or stop us dead in our tracks wondering why we bothered to get out of bed this morning. 

     A leader’s job is to engineer conversations that produce epiphanies. Conversations that reveal we are capable of original thought. Intelligent, spirited conversations that are both intelligent and impassioned, providing clarity and impetus for action, for change when needed. And how wonderful it is to hear the hum of classroom conversations that nourish relationships and generate learning.

— Susan Scott