Last few weeks, it's been a joy to learn from our Educators Laddership Circle, with over a dozen of us spread out across Vietnam, Philippines, India, US, and Romania!

Below are some quotes from our first week, where many dove deep into the practice of deep listening:

• "Am I really listening? Or am I listening for what I want to hear?"

• "There's a feeling of being so calm when you're really listening."

• "My husband and I tried a listening activity -- for 10 mins, one of us listened without interruption while the other spoke. Then we switched. It was a beautiful way to connect heart to heart."

• "In our social emotional learning program, it became very obvious that children, no matter how small (even as young as 2), are very capable of telling you what you need."

• "Listening is not always asking to start a conversation: how are you? But really being mindful as well."

• "The center of learning should be the learners, not the teachers. if teachers are in the center, then students become spectators... Traditional schooling thinks of students as receivers; but when we flip it, there's so much wisdom among them. We just have to ask the right questions, so that their wisdom will come out."

• "'Listening' should be at the top of my job description. Just listening to students so our class is relevant to them."

• "One part of listening is being honest. Some stories are not easy to receive."

• "In parent-teacher conferences, there's no agenda, but the agenda becomes "How can I support you?" But that's a very basic question we hardly ask, even of ourselves."

• "While receiving unsolicited advice, I practiced just stepping back and listening. And I could see his energy come down. I think he felt really heard."

• "We encourage mistakes as opportunities to learn. One teacher counted with her class every “mistake” (39 total!) she made one day. Every single time, she took the opportunity to learn together with her students. By the end of the day, students were excited to make mistakes and learn together."