Ep. 171: Is the Enneagram a Tool for Good or for Evil?!

EQ: How can understanding the cultural complexities of the Enneagram serve as a valuable lens to navigate race, class, and gender; offering insights into individual perspectives and fostering deeper understanding of societal challenges and opportunities?

In this episode we are joined by law-student and enneagram expert, Dayo Ajanuka, aka The Black Enneagram “Where the Enneagram Meets Black Culture”. She walks us through the various Enneagram types, why this is such a great tool for communication and behavior analysis, and how it might be weaponized in the workplace.

Additional Shouts:

Do Your Fudging Homework:

  • Hope: Go take an enneagram test! Follow Dayo @the blackennegram

  • Megan: Don’t be in a silo

  • Dayo: read about it don’t just do an online test

Ep. 153: The DEIJ Collaborative--Working Towards Justice In International Schools

EQ: What does social justice and education work look like in international spaces?

We jumped back overseas with today’s conversations, meeting with international educators Meredith Klein and Sherri Spelic. This is a very education centered conversation but we hope there’s a gem of thought for every listener. Throughout the episode we unpack various education acronyms such as CEESA and AEILOC. We hear the origin story of the Diversity Collaborative they started and the ways they hope it will impact teaching and learning across Europe. 

Lastly, if you are interested in reaching out you can connect with Meredith via LinkedIn, follow Sheri  @edifiedlistener, sign up for her newsletter Bending The Arc, or snag a copy of her book of essays  Care At The Core 

Champagne & Real Pain

🥂Action Aid International

🥂 AEILOC & Kevin Simpson

🥂Angeline Aow and her book Becoming a Totally Inclusive School

Do Your Fudging Homework:

  • Hope: Sign up for Bending The Arc

  • Megan: Connect to others that can help you be accountable to the work

  • Sherri: Worry less about knowing and get into learning (where can I learn about that? With whom can I learn about that?)

  • Meredith: DEI Deconstructed by Lily Zheng

Ep. 141: Developing Intercultural Intelligence Part I

Joining us today is Shelley Reinhart, an intercultural intelligence practitioner with Knowledge Workx, a company that certifies practitioners in intercultural  intelligence. 

In this episode we discuss why it’s important to change how we think about culture–that we can have active roles in shaping culture. Megan and Hope learn foundational elements about the three major worldviews present in society: innocence vs. guilt, honor vs. shame, and power vs. fear. We explore implications for how these worldviews can influence relationships and community building our classrooms and workplaces. Reach out to Shelley on Twitter or LinkedIn

Do Your Fudging Homework:

Ep. 120: The Scoop on International Schools Part I

EQ:  How are international schools uniquely situated to fight, perpetuate or contribute to educational inequities around the world?

Guest: Yvette Santos Cuenco a school counselor at the Edmund Burke Independent School in DC.

In this episode Hope and Megan are joined by Yvette, an experienced international educator and school counselor. We discuss the historical context which led to the establishment of these schools throughout the world.  Listeners will learn a little about who attends, how they are designed, how the culture of the country impacts the school community and much much more. We also dip our toes into the DEIJ/social justice landscape in these contexts, reviewing such things as disparities in these schools, problematic hiring practices and the way they operate as predominantly White institutions often perpetuating (intentionally or unintentionally) white/colonial culture. 

Related Sources: 

Ep. 61: Fighting for Equity in New Zealand Public Schools

Essential Question: How is fighting for equity in schools a universal struggle?

Sometimes you attend a conference and one of the most powerful takeaways is a connection with someone from another part of the world. When Hope was partnered with Naketa during a pair-share exercise, she knew this was a conversation that needed to be recorded and shared with a wider audience. This week’s episode is truly a GLOBAL conversation. On December 21, Annie braved floods to record in our Tacoma studio. Our amazing guest, Naketa Ikihele woke up bright and early to record with us on her summer vacation (from her car!). Hope tried not to laugh too loudly at 1 am as she recorded in her sister’s dining room in the Philippines.

Naketa Ikihele is a primary school educator, and coach/consultant with Kia Mahira in Auckland, NZ. To start the show, she introduces herself with a traditional opening common in Maori culture that honors her family, tribe, and land. Throughout the episode, we compare NZ and US education systems, specifically focusing on how teachers fight for diversity and equitable educational opportunities for all students. Naketa shares insight into governance and the effort to revitalize cultural pride in indigenous children. She also describes how NZ systems approach challenges such as the recruitment of teachers and supporting vulnerable students. One highlight is when Naketa shares that developing partnerships with parents is starting with a simple question “what do you dream for your child?”

For further study:

You can follow Naketa’s work by visiting her websiteKia Mahira  or on Twitter @Naketa_NZ

Champagne & Real Pain:

Do Your Fudging Homework:

  • Hope: read one of the links we posted & make room in your mind 

  • Annie: learn more about global poverty from the “We Day” website

    Follow us on Twitter @IWL_Podcast or Facebook: Interchangeable White Ladies Podcast