Rethinking Education: An Interview with Dr. Whitney Hegseth, Author of Just Talk to Us Normally
Education shapes the future, but the way we think about schools, students, and learning continues to evolve. Across the world, educators are exploring new ways to support students—not only academically, but socially, emotionally, and personally.
Dr. Whitney Hegseth is joining that important conversation with her forthcoming book, Just Talk to Us Normally: A Leader’s Guide to Organizing Schools That Elevate Students (Oxford University Press). Drawing from years of research and experience studying educational systems in the United States and internationally, Whitney explores how schools can better understand students, challenge traditional assumptions, and create environments where young people feel valued and empowered.
Through her work as an educational leadership expert, Whitney encourages educators and school leaders to look beyond simply asking what students are learning and instead consider how schools are organized to support the people at the center of education—the students themselves.
In this interview, Whitney shares her journey into education, the inspiration behind her book, what she has learned from studying different approaches to teaching and learning, and her vision for the future of schools.
For readers who are just getting to know you, can you tell us a little about your background and what led you to the field of education?
I’ve always gravitated toward working with children, even when I was still very young myself! In my view, children possess so many wonderful qualities that we lose or stifle as we get older: curiosity, bravery, mindfulness. In undergrad, I majored in anthropology and very quickly took an interest in studying different ways of schooling around the world. Ever since then, my whole life has been about education. Academically, I’ve studied international comparative education and educational leadership and policy. Professionally, I’ve been a teacher or educational researcher across multiple states and countries. I’m currently a professor of educational leadership at the University of La Verne, where I get to teach K-12 leaders at all levels (i.e., classroom, school, district). And, because I simply can’t get enough, I am also the mother of three rambunctious little boys, and soccer coach for two of them. (You can only imagine how many shoes I tie in that role ☺)
What inspired you to write Just Talk to Us Normally: A Leader’s Guide to Organizing Schools That Elevate Students? Was there a specific moment or experience that made you feel this book needed to be written?
Looking back, I honestly think it’s been a lifetime of experiences that led me to write this book. Like many wise researchers who came before me, I understand that all research is, to some degree, “me-search.” This book is me fighting back against a society that chronically underestimates children. Particularly when those children have marginalized identities (e.g., based on their race/ethnicity, sex, religion, etc.) in addition to being young. I’ve previously written about mutual respect in schools, which I define as the work of disrupting power asymmetries, both between adults and children, and among diverse groups of children. This book explains how to do that work and how to disrupt in ways that elevate the student experience.
Can you give readers a brief overview of what your book is about and what you hope they take away from it?
Just Talk to us Normally supports educational leaders in their efforts to change culture. Specifically, I rely on research with schools in different educational systems and national contexts to demonstrate how educational leaders can use educational infrastructure — both their direct and indirect supports to teaching and learning — to improve the way we see and teach young people. I hope that the educators who read this (and those who support and partner with them) walk away from this book understanding their power to transform our beliefs and actions toward children. And, I hope they appreciate this: There is more than one way to change culture, more than one way for leaders to use educational infrastructure to systemically improve how students are perceived and taught. Educational leaders can determine how adaptable, aligned, and specified their supports are for teaching and learning. However, these decisions leaders make around their educational infrastructure have implications for the work and challenges of leaders, the beliefs and practices of teachers, and the experiences and beliefs of children.
You have studied different educational systems and schools across the United States and internationally. What are some of the most interesting things you’ve learned from looking at education around the world?
The main thing I’ve learned is to take nothing for granted! The thing about education is that everyone has an opinion on it because everyone has experienced it. The way we teach (much like the way we parent) is heavily informed by our own experiences of schooling growing up. When you’re as lucky as I am, and you’ve been able to research and teach in multiple different places, you recognize that all of your assumptions about schooling, all of your assumptions about children, are just that. Assumptions. Teaching and learning and childhood look VERY different around the world. These things can even look quite different within a single country, especially a country like the US, where we have a longstanding preference toward local control of schools.
Across all of my experiences, however, I never cease to marvel at the immense capability and humanity of young people.
The title of your book, Just Talk to Us Normally, really stands out. Can you share the meaning behind the title and why that message is important?
Thank you for saying that, I’m so glad you like it! And I cannot take any credit for this fabulous title. These words came from a wise 9-year-old girl, whom you can read more about in the book. She was taking part in a focus group conversation, where she and other children were watching a video of a classroom in a different school and system. These children were noticing that the teacher in the video was talking to her students as if they were babies. With a single comment, this young girl swiftly summed up everything this book is about. I keep emphasizing how capable children are; she did in one sentence what took me years to think through and write!
What do you hope educators, school leaders, and anyone interested in education learn from your work?
I hope that readers come to appreciate the power of educational infrastructure and the wisdom of comparison. Regarding the former, I join other researchers who demonstrate how educational infrastructure can shift not only practice, but also fundamental beliefs. At the same time, through my own comparative methods, I hope to show readers the immense benefits of comparison. One need not compare to compete or to rank. Instead, by examining how others teach and learn, an educator can become more clear-eyed about how they themselves do things, and can more readily consider whether they want to make any changes to improve the student experience.
As your book prepares to launch, what are you most excited for readers to discover about your research and your perspective on education?
I’m excited for folks to read my Chapter 4, where I show how the infrastructure work of educational leaders can shape children’s assumptions about themselves and their abilities. That said, to really appreciate the culture change that can and is happening in schools, readers need to read all the chapters leading up to Chapter 4 to appreciate the groundwork that was laid. (Sorry, once a teacher, always a teacher: I expect you to do your homework!)For more info on Whitney, please visit: https://www.whegseth.com/
