Exquisite Compassion with Father Greg Boyle

Father Greg Boyle has spent most of his adult years helping transform the lives of former gang members at Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles. In this conversation he applies his many lessons learned to how we can increase joy and reduce loneliness in schools through kinship, mercy, and meaning.

We cover a lot of territory, including:

2:21 Greg’s childhood on Norton Avenue

4:23 How Bolivia turned Greg inside out

9:00 How Homeboy Industries came to be

12:26 Building a powerful culture

16:50 A powerful message from a Homie to teachers

19:02 The cultural problem in American schools (the power of relationships)

21:23 The powerful story of Lencho and true belonging

25:30 Exquisite compassion and merciful community

30:09 How Father Greg’s school addressed the most difficult students

31:02 Steve seeks counsel on the youth mental health crisis

33:13 The recipe for sadness and the recipe for joy and wholeness

36:57 How schools are rising to meet the challenge

40:06 Father Greg tells a story you won’t want to miss

Learn more about Father Greg and Homeboy Industries

Homeboy Industries’ powerful 30-year anniversary short video

Father Greg’s commencement address at Pepperdine University

Mike Wallace’s 1992 60 Minutes story on Father Greg

Michelle Pledger confronted the internalized oppression from her experiences as a Black girl in a predominately white school; then she converted her newfound wisdom into a commitment to promote culturally relevant teaching practices that honor and support the lived experiences of all students. Her story is essential listening for anyone committed to true equity in schools.

We cover a lot territory, including:

4:00 Black in a White school

7:42 Michelle’s awakening

10:58 The personal cost of assimilation

15:05 Michelle’s challenge to you

18:08 Personal filters and blind spots

19:50 Decolonizing our schools

21:43 Liberating the curriculum

24:16 The startling impact of non-representation

26:44 Individualistic vs. collectivist cultures

29:48 Liberating classroom communication

35:20 Deficit thinking: our subconscious biases about intelligence

39:31 Ability grouping’s harmful effects

43:11 What’s stopping us from being culturally responsive?

48:35 Michelle’s call to action

Michelle Pledger’s personal website

Michelle’s about page at the High Tech High Graduate School of Education

Purchase Liberate! Pocket-Sized Paradigms for Liberatory Learning

About Experience Matters

Experience Matters with Steve Shapiro invites guests to reflect on the most profound learning experiences of their youth and to consider how we can reform American schools. Each episode provides clues about how parents and educators alike can engage young people in powerful, sometimes transformational experiential learning. Education can take many forms, but whatever form it takes- experience matters.

Humans, young and old, share a basic need to have some authorship in our own lives. Dr. Russell Quaglia has built his entire career around how to bring students’ voices into focus in classrooms and schools across the world. The result is happier students who learn more.

We cover a lot of territory, including:

2:55 The difference between hockey and school

7:40 Our basic human need

8:50 Russ’s definition of voice

11:21 The (often missing) factor needed for voice to thrive

14:50 Why surveys often fail (or worse)

17:30 Can kids really know what’s best for them?

22:24 The students we often overlook

26:24 A sense of belonging

28:25 The link between voice and learning

30:25 The link between voice and democratic citizenship

31:57 What’s stopping us?

33:49 Reflect on our purpose and renew our passion

Link to the Quaglia Institute for Voice and Aspirations

Link to Steve’s short video reflecting on what has really mattered in his career

About Experience Matters

Experience Matters with Steve Shapiro invites guests to reflect on the most profound learning experiences of their youth and to consider how we can reform American schools. Each episode provides clues about how parents and educators alike can engage young people in powerful, sometimes transformational experiential learning. Education can take many forms, but whatever form it takes- experience matters.