Jeff Kleck on ”Using Neuroscience to Inspire Thinkers: In Schools, Sport and the Workplace”

“Like Martin Luther King, I have a dream. I dream that someday all teachers will teach students how to think rather than make them think. I dream that all students will understand how their brains work and use the knowledge to be successful and excel in whatever endeavor they choose.” Arizona School Administrator, Jeff Kleck Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/2pDRrOOcX5s On this episode we will learn:  ✔  About the educator who inspired Andrea to move in the direction of neuroscience in 2014. ✔  How he became interested in neuroscience, introducing Andrea to Carol Dweck and David A. Sousa. ✔  The moment of truth when Jeff met Andrea and gave her feedback that changed the direction of her work. ✔  How to handle criticism, and move forward even when it's difficult to hear. ✔ After 40 years in education, Jeff Kleck shares brain-based strategies he's used with students, athletes and his own children. Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we cover the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning (for schools) and emotional intelligence training (in the workplace) with tools, ideas and strategies that we can all use for immediate results, with our brain in mind. I’m Andrea Samadi, an author, and educator with a passion for learning specifically on the topics of health, wellbeing and productivity, and launched this podcast to share how important an understanding of our brain is for our everyday life and results using the most current brain research to inform our decisions. Our guest today is someone I’ve mentioned often on this podcast, but one day, I realized that I know very little about the person who encouraged me to pivot in the direction of neuroscience, back in 2014. Every interview I’ve ever done, someone always asks me “How did you end up doing a podcast on the topic of neuroscience?” and I tell the same story about how an educator urged me to go in this direction many years ago. I’m very intentional about the people I ask to come on the podcast. They are usually someone who is making an impact in the field of health, wellness, and education in some way, or has had an impact on my direction, and the work I’ve been doing over the years and while creating the questions for Dr. Ginger Campbell, who’s well known for her podcast Brain Science[i], I stopped to think for a moment about how on the earth I ended up where I am today and I thought about our next guest. I never ignore those flashes of insight that interrupt me while working, as the connections I’ve made over the years are the only reason I am here today, working in this field of educational neuroscience, and so very passionate about it,  with the incredible opportunity to think, learn and create every day. And I wouldn’t have had the courage to move in the direction of Neuroscience, without the guidance of our next guest, Jeff Kleck,[ii] who is now the principal at Valley Christian School in Phoenix.  I look forward to talking neuroscience with Jeff, someone I’ve not seen since he helped me to create my second book, Level Up: A Brain-Based Strategy. On today’s episode #246, we’ll be speaking with Jeff Kleck, and see if I can fill in the blanks of where his passion for neuroscience began, what he’s doing now to help educators understand how their brain impacts learning, and what he thinks of the future of educational neuroscience in our schools, sports and workplace environments. Let’s welcome my mentor to this field of educational neuroscience, Jeff Kleck. Intro: Welcome Jeff! It’s incredible to see you again. Was it 2014 when we met last? Maybe 2015? Somewhere back then… Jeff, I reached out to you, as I mention in the back story that I never ignore those flashes of insight that come while working, and I was writing Dr. Ginger Campbell’s interview questions, and for a moment, I was stumped. How on the earth did I get here, asking the host of the top neuroscience podcast questio