I’m excited to share that my first book, School the System: How Public Education Can Learn from the Students It Serves, is now available in paperback and ebook! After years of research, writing, and conversations in schools, there’s something very special about holding these ideas in a book and finally being able to share it with you.
Much of the thinking behind it grew through conversations in classrooms, hallways, staff rooms, and the principal’s office. I’m grateful to the students, teachers, families, and colleagues who challenged my assumptions and helped me ask better questions. Those conversations have shaped both this book and the way I understand my work as an educator.
I believe in public education and the people who show up every day to make it work. I also believe we have a responsibility to examine the structures we’ve inherited and be willing to change them when they aren’t serving students well. School the System gave me space to explore that thinking more fully, from the systems that shape school life to the everyday work of building community with students.
If you’ve followed my writing here, you’ll recognize ideas about student rights, voice, dignity, and shared responsibility. I’m excited for you to see how they connect across the book, and just as interested in what you’ll bring to the pages: the rule you’ve reconsidered, the conversation that stayed with you, or the school routine you’re still trying to make work for students.
Where to Find the Book
You can find the paperback and ebook purchase options on the School the System book page. If you prefer to read digitally, you can also visit the ebook retailer page.
The People Behind the Book
Thank you to Laura Meyer for the care you brought to editing.
I want to thank Pamela Scharbach, who painted the original artwork that became the cover of School the System. There’s a person and a painting behind that cover, and I’m grateful to Pam for her creativity and contribution to this book.
Thank you also to Rachel Long of Saros Creative, who took my author photographs and the photographs used throughout this website. Her work has helped me share the person behind the writing, and I’m grateful for the care she brought to it.
And to my wife, Abby: thank you for your love, your support, and the work you’ve put into helping this book reach readers. I’m grateful to be sharing this moment with you.
To everyone who chooses to read School the System, thank you. I’d love to hear what feels familiar, what you’d question, and what you’d want to discuss with a colleague. I’m looking forward to those conversations and so pleased to be able to share this book with you.
After a school conflict, did students understand why a boundary was needed? Did they have a chance to be heard and learn how to take responsibility?
These questions are at the heart of my recent episode of the Ontario Principals’ Council’s Leadership Talks podcast, “From Compliance to Community: Student Voice with Structure in Ontario Schools.” I’m grateful to OPC for the opportunity to explore them with fellow school leaders.
Three ideas to take into your school
Set clear boundaries while protecting students’ dignity.
Make space for student voice when responding to conflict.
Connect participation with responsibility to others.
What is our structure helping students learn?
As a principal, I care about whether our expectations help people learn and work together. Schools need clear boundaries. Teachers need support when those boundaries are crossed. Students need adults who will respond when someone is hurt or learning is interrupted.
Within those responsibilities, there is room to look closely at how we use our authority.
Consider a student who interrupts another child repeatedly during a discussion. The adult needs to intervene. A response might sound like: “I want to hear your thinking. Right now, someone else is speaking, and they need the same opportunity. Hold that thought until they’re finished.”
The boundary is clear, and the reason for it is connected to another person. The student is being asked to practise the responsibility that comes with having a voice.
This is the kind of everyday connection I want to make through the Web of Rights: helping students understand how their safety, dignity, and participation sit alongside the same needs in others.
Student voice needs a place in the process
For me, meaningful student voice requires adults to be clear about where participation can happen and what will happen with what students tell us.
After a conflict, that might mean giving each student time to explain, checking our understanding before making a decision, and explaining the next steps. The adult still carries responsibility for safety and follow-through. Students have a place in the process, including when their actions need to change.
I would bring that same lens to leadership conversations with staff. When we review a recurring behaviour concern, we can ask about the process students experience: When are they heard? How are decisions explained? What support helps them take responsibility and rejoin learning?
Those questions give us something concrete to examine together.
Bring one question back to your school
Think of one familiar school routine: an office referral, a classroom agreement, or the conversation after a difficult recess.
Where, within that routine, does a student have a clear opportunity to be heard and understand their responsibility to others?
