Podcast Summary: “Inspiring Teachers to Inspire Students”

Podcast: Hillsdale College K-12 Classical Education Podcast
Episode: Inspiring Teachers to Inspire Students
Date: April 14, 2025
Host: Scott Bertram
Guest: Stephen Battaglia, Assistant Headmaster for Upper School, Seven Oaks Classical School (Ellettsville, Indiana)

Episode Overview

This episode delves into the vital role inspired teachers play in the success of classical education. Host Scott Bertram and guest Stephen Battaglia discuss why school leaders should prioritize fostering inspirational teaching, the qualities that make a teacher truly inspiring, practical steps and resources for maintaining faculty motivation, and the impact a culture of inspiration can have on an entire school community. The conversation is grounded in the principles and challenges of implementing classical education today.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Importance of Prioritizing Inspirational Teachers

• Leadership’s Many Demands: School leaders face a vast array of responsibilities—curriculum, hiring, facilities, budgets, etc. Amid these, the cultivation of inspired teachers is often overlooked but crucial.
• Risks of Neglect: Not prioritizing inspired teaching can create negative cultural standards and passivity or even "the germ effect," where negativity or stagnation spreads.
  • Quote: “If you don't have inspirational teachers...it's really difficult to deliver the curriculum. Hillsdale K-12 office works very diligently in putting together a curriculum in such a way that is one that is life giving. And without an inspirational teacher, it can be really hard, really difficult to bring it to life.” – Stephen Battaglia [03:13]

What Makes a Teacher Inspirational?

• Core Qualities: Inspirational teachers are marked by curiosity, interest in their curriculum, willingness to learn beyond subject expertise, collegiality, humility, and coachability.
• Community Building: Teachers who engage well with their peers and are eager to grow professionally tend to inspire students more effectively.
  • Quote: “It really is going to be about identifying teachers who have a sort of a strength of will, who have an interest in the curriculum, who are interested learning outside of what they knew to be their sort of quote, unquote subject expertise.” – Stephen Battaglia [04:51]

Identifying Inspirational Teachers in Practice

• Beyond Observation: While classroom visits matter, school leaders should observe both class dynamics and faculty culture.
• Community Pulse: Rapport among staff and enthusiasm from parents are additional indicators.
  • Quote: “One way is...being involved in the classroom of seeing, you know, what's going on and observing teachers...to enjoy to sit in and to experience class as if you were a student.” – Stephen Battaglia [06:45]

Resources and Strategies for Inspiring Teachers

• Institutional Resources: Hillsdale K-12 resources such as videos and guidance documents are invaluable for both teachers and leaders.
• Storytelling Culture: Cultivating storytelling is essential to classical education and to engaging both students and faculty.
  • Quote: “Classical education is such that the movement is one in which it's allowing us to be storytellers. It's such an integral part, a keystone, if you will, of classical education is this revitalization of being storytellers.” – Stephen Battaglia [09:26]
• Faculty Formation: At Seven Oaks, faculty gather around short stories (e.g., Hawthorne) to deepen discussion and inspiration.

Sustaining Teacher Inspiration Year After Year

• Preventing Burnout: Sustaining inspiration requires intentional planning—ongoing reading assignments, department initiatives, or building excitement for the new year.
• Mission Alignment: Teachers are re-energized when leadership demonstrates enthusiasm for the school’s mission and visible progress.
  • Quote: “Teachers really find excitement or inspiration even through heads of school that are really caught the vision of the school, are really determined, continue to think about the mission, and then really reveal that to teachers...” – Stephen Battaglia [12:28]

Effects of Inspired Teachers on School Culture

• Community Uplift: Inspired teachers positively influence the entire community, creating a sense of belonging and common purpose.
  • Quote: “You see the sort of thing, the work that you're doing has value and it gathers people around a common cause. I mean, if you think about it like a city...you see everyone kind of more carefully pulling together, serving one another in such a way.” – Stephen Battaglia [14:23]
• Necessity for Excellence: While a school might survive with uninspired teachers, true excellence depends on widespread faculty inspiration.
  • Quote: “It's impossible to have a good school without inspiring teachers.” – Stephen Battaglia [15:21]

Encouraging Authenticity and Unique Teaching Styles

• Genuine Engagement: Many inspirational teachers are simply authentic, sincere, and passionate about their subject and students rather than adhering to a formula.
• Embracing Variety: Occasionally, unconventional or “wild card” teachers offer unique value to school culture.
  • Quote: “They were good people who were genuine, who were sincere and loved the sort of work that they did...there is the one little oddball out that actually I think can be really good for a school culture...” – Stephen Battaglia [16:42–17:51]

Problems Stemming from a Lack of Inspirational Teachers

• Contagious Disengagement: Uninspired teachers can spread low morale among staff and negatively affect students.
• Vacuum of Direction: When leaders fail to inspire, teachers seek motivation elsewhere, risking drift from the institution’s mission.
  • Quote: “If they're not particularly inspired, that can be contagious...the uninspirational spirit, will kind of...really trickle through a faculty.” – Stephen Battaglia [18:33]
• Compensation is Not a Cure-All: While pay is a factor, it alone won’t foster lasting inspiration.

Hiring for Inspiration: What to Look For

• Core Attributes: Coachability, humility, strength of will, joy, versatility, and collegiality.
• Demonstration Lessons: These reveal whether a candidate is dynamic, creative, and sincere in practice—not just in interviews.
  • Quote: “The proof in the pudding will be really the demo lesson...are they dynamic within their lesson? Do they have creativity?” – Stephen Battaglia [21:22]
• Sincerity Above All: Genuine investment in teaching stands out as the most critical trait.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It's impossible to have a good school without inspiring teachers.” – Stephen Battaglia [15:21]
• “Classical education is such that the movement is one in which it's allowing us to be storytellers.” – Stephen Battaglia [09:26]
• “If you don't have inspirational teachers...it's really difficult to deliver the curriculum.” – Stephen Battaglia [03:13]
• “Teachers really find excitement or inspiration even through heads of school that are really caught the vision of the school...” – Stephen Battaglia [12:28]
• “If they're not particularly inspired, that can be contagious...the uninspirational spirit, will kind of...really trickle through a faculty.” – Stephen Battaglia [18:33]
• “The proof in the pudding will be really the demo lesson...are they dynamic within their lesson? Do they have creativity?” – Stephen Battaglia [21:22]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:13] – The necessity of inspiring teachers for bringing curriculum to life
• [04:51] – Qualities that make a teacher inspirational
• [06:45] – How to identify inspired teachers within a school
• [09:26] – The role of storytelling in teacher inspiration
• [12:28] – Strategies for sustaining teacher inspiration across school years
• [14:23] – Community-wide effects of inspired teachers
• [15:21] – On whether a school can be “good” without inspired teachers
• [16:42–17:51] – The importance of authenticity and embracing unique teaching styles
• [18:33] – The dangers of a faculty lacking inspiration
• [21:22] – Qualities to look for in hiring potentially inspiring teachers

Conclusion

This episode provides an insightful, practical exploration of how inspiring teachers are at the heart of every thriving classical school. Stephen Battaglia offers clear strategies and hopeful wisdom for both school leaders and educators, emphasizing the power of authenticity, community, and mission-driven inspiration for lasting educational excellence.