Radical Love and Student Agency: Creating Classrooms Where Every Student Can Dream with Sawsan Jaber, Crystal Watson, and Marlo Bagsik

What if the key to transforming education isn't new curriculum, but radical love?When we center radical love, hope, and relationality in our classrooms, we create spaces where every student can rediscover the beauty of who they are and can thrive.In this powerful conversation with three of the co-authors of Pedagogies of Voice, Marlo Bagsik, Dr. Sawsan Jaber, and Crystal Watson, we explore how student agency emerges when we step back from power and step into authentic relationship. These brilliant educators, alongside their co-author Shane Safir, have created something truly special: a book that meets this moment with practical tools for building classroom communities rooted in identity, belonging, inquiry, and efficacy.What happens when we recognize that no one comes into education to harm children, yet harm still occurs through well-intentioned compliance?How do we move from surface-level "getting to know you" activities to truly seeing our students as whole human beings?Why does teacher agency directly impact student agency, and what does that mean for how we support educators?This conversation reveals the interconnected nature of liberation: we cannot free students from dehumanizing systems while keeping teachers trapped in those same systems. The paradigm shift here isn't about new techniques. It's about recognizing that “teachers are the most powerful people in the world” when they understand their capacity to create transformative spaces through radical love and authentic relationships. All these insights, plus practical pathways for implementing pedagogies that honor student voice and agency, in this paradigm-shifting episode of Breaking the Paradigm. Thank you for showing us what educational revolution looks like in practice, Marlo, Sawsan, and Crystal!If you haven’t pre-ordered Pedagogy of Voice, it comes out on July 31st! You can order the book at the link below, and if you want to build community as you read, you can also join the author-led book club!I don’t say this often- but if you only have time to read one book this summer as an educator, leader, or policy maker, you should choose Pedagogy of Voice! (And no one has paid me to say these things- I just think the work is that good!!)Pre-Order Link: https://www.corwin.com/books/pedagogies-of-voice-288927Book Club Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfN6GKJRA8GOJk2Z8uV8BqzYFlfgYpwl-C_yper5aBzNmSMeQ/viewformWant to Deepen Your Paradigm Breaking Practice?After two years of exposing the education status quo, we're going deeper.Provocations, our new publication, brings together the most innovative global minds—the educators, rebels, and visionaries who refuse to accept that "this is just how school works."Each issue reveals the hidden patterns keeping millions trapped in outdated systems, and the proven strategies already transforming communities worldwide.This isn't another academic journal. It's the playbook for parents, teachers, and leaders ready to break free from an education system designed for a world that no longer exists.Available exclusively to Breaking the Paradigm subscribers.Thank you so much for your continued support!Breaking the Paradigm is a division of Developing Education, which is on a mission to transform education globally to foster human development and flourishing for all people.First Intention: Curriculum and pedagogy support for Montessori adolescent practitioners, specifically with math and language across the prepared environment.The Enlightened Educator Project: Supporting educators with mindfulness and resiliency through professional development and downloadable resources. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit breakingtheparadigm.org/subscribe

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