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Being or Bring in a Consultant (Edubloggercon Session)

With leaders that are struggling and need help, consultants can help craft a vision. It’s a function of time. If they want you for a day, then it is difficult. In order to make a change, it has to be sustained. Be flexible for different teachers because they have to decide what they want in their classrooms.

This is how we are going to it for now but after we learn more, tweak it.

Being the Consultant

  • Be aware of culture. It is difficult to know the culture. The person who brought you in wants you to be their voice.
  • Do a complete needs assessment.  Online survey before we meet. Data we need before we start: Strategic plan, student data, and teacher data.
  • What is going on with your curriculum?
  • You cannot win everyone over.

Best PD is job-embedded, small groups, and ongoing. Yet, bringing the inspirational speaker lights the spark and conversations. Try to get people to think about the reflection. If we come in and work with you in June, is this really be the best time for your teachers to have PD?

What should schools expect from consultants?

  • Being honest.
  • Be clear about expectations.

Question – why do we need to bring consultants in if the teacher leaders can do the PD?

It’s a matter of achieving a balance of model 21st century instruction so teachers can do that with their students. Sometimes bringing in a consultant supports what you are doing in your school. Sometimes you as the teacher leader you are not a prophet in your own land.

About the author

Barbara Bray is a Story Weaver, empowerment coach, award-winning author, international keynote speaker and podcast host helping people turn life’s hardest chapters into their most meaningful work. As the creator of the Grow Your Why movement, she guides women, educators, and leaders to transform adversity into purpose, clarity, and momentum.

Her message isn’t theoretical; it’s lived. Barbara learned later in life that she survived childhood polio, a truth her parents kept secret so she would never see herself as a victim. That foundation of resilience carried her through multiple reinventions, including a career-ending injury and a lung cancer diagnosis that reshaped how she thinks about time, truth, and legacy.

For more than three decades, Barbara has worked at the intersection of storytelling and transformation, helping people reclaim their voice and direction. Through her books, podcast, and coaching, she challenges a common belief: resilience isn’t about bouncing back—it’s about growing forward, on purpose.