EduLead 2025

The title of this workshop is a play on the popular book by Faber & Mazlish (1999) who called their work: How to Talk so Kids will Listen and Listen so Kids Will Talk. In fact, the title should be reversed so that listening comes first: deep listening is the foundation for trust and for risk taking. It sets psychological safety in the environment so that children (and adults) of any age can feel seen and heard. This allows the conditions for individuals to engage in conversation and contribute thinking and ideas.  
 
Part 1 will focus on deep, active listening, a very old Chinese concept represented by the character 聽 (ting). We can signal our nonjudgmental listening through the use of paraphrasing, sending three very powerful messages: “I’m listening”, “I care”, and “I understand” (or, “I’m trying to understand”). The act of paraphrasing provides psychological safety so the speaker feels heard rather than judged.

Have you ever felt like your parents don’t understand how important your phone is? Or, as a parent, have you wondered why a simple request to “put the screen down” leads to frustration? Families often struggle to see eye to eye on technology—not because they don’t care, but because they experience digital life in completely different ways. 
But what happens when online interactions become stressful? A message taken the wrong way, a group chat that turns mean, or a moment of thoughtless posting can create real tension at home and school. How do we handle these moments while protecting our well-being? 
This interactive session brings parents and students together to explore how we communicate online, why misunderstandings happen, and how to navigate digital conflicts in ways that strengthen—rather than harm—relationships. Through open discussion, we’ll examine how screen time, messaging, and social media affect our emotions, how to set fair boundaries, and how to build a digital culture of kindness and respect—both at home and online. 
 
Why This Matters: 

• Parents and students often misunderstand each other’s digital behaviors, leading to screen time, online friendships, and privacy conflicts. 
• Both sides experience digital stress, but in different ways—this session helps bridge that gap. 

 
Practical Strategies: 

• Understanding how different generations perceive online time and the common misconceptions that cause frustration. 
• Setting realistic screen time expectations as a family—without unnecessary conflict. 
• Establishing clear and fair family rules for messaging and online communication. 
• Recognizing online meanness, its emotional impact, and how families can support each other. 
• Small, easy-to-implement well-being habits that can make a big difference in family dynamics. 

 
Key Takeaway: 
Families will leave with clear communication strategies, practical tools, and a deeper understanding of each other’s digital world—while having fun along the way. 

In today's complex educational landscape, effective advocacy skills are essential for student well-being. This workshop brings parents and students together to explore how they can collaboratively navigate educational systems while building students' self-advocacy muscles. Through case studies, discussion and strategic planning exercises, participants will learn to identify when parent advocacy is appropriate and when stepping back allows students to develop crucial future-ready skills. Families will examine  communication frameworks for addressing concerns with educators, strategies for gradually transferring advocacy responsibilities to students, and techniques for productive dialogue when perspectives differ. The session emphasizes how thoughtful advocacy partnerships ultimately strengthen students' sense of belonging and agency.

The title of this workshop is a play on the popular book by Faber & Mazlish (1999) who called their work: How to Talk so Kids will Listen and Listen so Kids Will Talk. In fact, the title should be reversed so that listening comes first: deep listening is the foundation for trust and for risk taking. It sets psychological safety in the environment so that children (and adults) of any age can feel seen and heard. This allows the conditions for individuals to engage in conversation and contribute thinking and ideas.  
 
Part 2 will focus on developing powerful questions that simultaneously empower and invite deeper thinking in the recipient. Unless a recipient feels truly invited to engage in thinking, they won’t, perhaps because of a fear of being judged. So, how questions are constructed to reflect an invitation, matters.