Ep. 84: Leading Schools With Heart

About this episode

Dr. Rachel Edoho-Eket discusses essential leadership lessons for aspiring principals and the role of relationships and AI in education.

Nick and Marc sit down with Dr. Rachel Edoho-Eket, elementary school principal, adjunct professor at McDaniel College, TEDx speaker, president of the Maryland Association of Elementary School Principals, and one of the top 100 influencers in education. She is also the author of two bestselling books, The Principal's Journey and Relational Intelligence. Dr. Edoho-Eket shares the leadership lesson she wishes every aspiring principal understood before stepping into the role, why relationships are the engine of every great school, and how consistency, communication, and presence build the kind of trust that makes the hardest parts of the job possible. She also opens up about navigating imposter syndrome as a new principal, the surprising challenges of moving from assistant principal to principal, and why you don't need all the answers - you just need to know who to ask. The conversation also tackles one of education's most pressing topics: AI in the classroom. Dr. Edoho-Eket shares her district's pragmatic approach to ethical AI implementation, why "guidance" beats "policy" in a fast-moving landscape, and how schools can build a strong foundation in digital citizenship starting at…

People in this episode

Hosts: Dr. Marc Isseks, Dr. Nick Simone

Guest: Dr. Rachel Edoho-Eket

Topics covered

• educational leadership
• relationships in schools
• AI in education
• imposter syndrome
• trust building

Keywords

• educational leadership
• AI in the classroom
• trust
• imposter syndrome
• digital citizenship

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Maryland Association of Elementary School Principals

Books & works: The Principal's Journey, Relational Intelligence

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