Hacking School Culture - (Hack Learning) by Angela Stockman & Ellen Feig Gray (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

If you could teach all kids empathy, tolerance, and compassion, wouldn't teaching all things be easier? Bullying prevention and character building programs are deepening our awareness of how today's kids struggle and how we might help, but many agree: They aren't enough to create school cultures where students and staff flourish. This inspired Angela Stockman and Ellen Feig Gray to begin seeking out systems and educators who were getting things right.

Read it today--fix it tomorrow

Their experiences taught them that the real game changers are using a human-centered approach. Inspired by other design thinkers, many teachers are creating learning environments where seeking a greater understanding of themselves and others is the highest standard. They're also realizing that compassion is best cultivated in the classroom, not the boardroom or the auditorium. It's here that we learn how to pull one another close. It's here that we begin to negotiate the distances between us, too.

Ready to begin but uncertain how? Here's what you'll find inside:

• Protocols that inspire strengths-focused teaching and learning


• Tools for starting hard conversations, coaching critical questioning, and sustaining respectful communication


• Experiential learning models that improve school culture


• Approaches that encourage activism while enabling people to resolve conflicts peacefully


• Design thinking strategies that empower human-centered decision-making

Compassionate classrooms are built one learner at a time. Be that learner. It's time.

Review Quotes

"This book is chock-full of easy-to-implement actions that are kind to you, your students, and the environment you're creating in your classroom." --Megan McDonough, CEO and Co-Founder, Wholebeing Institute

"The Hacking School Culture co-authors guide us on a journey of 10 connected themes to create and sustain compassionate classrooms that are motivational and educational for each student. Each theme provides a comprehensive description and alignment with positive student development, strategies based on evidence, and immediate and long-term actions and strategies to overcome challenges. The themes are augmented with quotes and personal stories bringing to life the need for compassion as both a personal attribute and a characteristic of the school's environment." --Terry Pickeral, President, Cascade Educational Consultants

"This book provides useful 'how-to's' that aid in reframing how and why we think about our roles as educators to build more meaningful and impactful relationships with students. To this day, I remember those teachers who not only taught me the curriculum, but who took the time to understand me and shaped who I am today." --Terry L. Jackson, Ed.D., The George Washington University, Office of Special Education Programs/U.S.DOE

"Ellen and Angela lead the reader to practiced and doable strategic events that go beyond the 'hope for an osmotic transformation' and into the realm of viable and responsible action. The skill sets and values presented within this book, when practiced with fidelity, positively change school culture, advance understanding, cultivate a sense of validation and self-worth, leading to an empowerment that is often missing in today's world." --Lawrence Feldman, Ph.D., School Board of Miami-Dade County

"Hacking School Culture: Designing Compassionate Classrooms is a valuable addition to the HACK Learning Series. It provides concrete support and suggestions for teachers to improve their interactions with their students at the same time they enrich their own professional experiences. Although primarily aimed at K-12 classrooms, the authors' insightful suggestions have given me, a veteran college professor, new insights into positive classroom dynamics which I have already begun to incorporate into my classes." --Louise Hainline, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Brooklyn College of CUNY

"'What if practicing empathy was the first step to designing education?' Thus begins Ellen Feig Gray and Angela Stockman's brilliant new book, Hacking School Culture. This courageous and heartfelt guide for parents and educators presents a blueprint for implementing compassion within any classroom. Their expertise and extensive research are evident in every page of this clear and concise book. This book is destined to become an important resource for anyone involved in the education of children in today's culture." --Stephen Scott Cowan, M.D., Author of Fire Child, Water Child: How Understanding the Five Types of ADHD Can Help You Improve Your Child's Self-Esteem and Attention