Feb. 9, 2026

Episode 61: Stop Eating Our Own: How Educator Language Shapes School Culture and the Future of Teaching

Send us a text What happens when the stories educators tell about their work turn into the strongest recruiter, or the loudest warning, about our profession? We dive into Stop Eating Our Own by Robert Hinchliffe and Shawna Quenneville and unpack how a single choice of words online can shape school culture, public trust, and the pipeline of future teachers who are watching us closely. We explore the difference between honest critique and public venting, why negativity travels faster than hope...

Send us a text

What happens when the stories educators tell about their work turn into the strongest recruiter, or the loudest warning, about our profession? We dive into Stop Eating Our Own by Robert Hinchliffe and Shawna Quenneville and unpack how a single choice of words online can shape school culture, public trust, and the pipeline of future teachers who are watching us closely.

We explore the difference between honest critique and public venting, why negativity travels faster than hope, and how leaders at every level can flip the script without turning fake or ignoring real challenges. From hallway conversations to social media posts, we map practical shifts: amplify excellence instead of outrage, move problems to solution spaces, and narrate purpose so students, families, and aspiring educators see why this work matters. You’ll hear how two people can live the same school day and leave with opposite stories and how that mindset gap becomes contagious in a building and online.

Along the way, we share simple, repeatable practices: swap countdowns for gratitude snapshots, preview meaningful learning instead of dreading Mondays, celebrate colleagues publicly while handling conflict privately, and document policy impact with data and proposed fixes. The result is a leadership approach that is bold, honest, and deeply pro-education. If we believe teaching changes lives, our language should prove it especially in the places where the next generation is listening.

If this conversation sparks something, share it with a colleague, subscribe for more research-informed leadership talks, and leave a review to help other educators find us. Then tell us: what positive story about your students or teammates will you share this week?

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02:40 - The Provocative Opening Question

04:03 - Why Words Shape School Culture

05:03 - Book Spotlight: Stop Eating Our Own

06:34 - The Cost Of Public Negativity

08:16 - Mindset, Modeling, And Influence

09:40 - Responsible Leadership Online

11:07 - A Challenge To Protect The Profession

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Let me ask you a hard question right out of the gate.

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If a student, parent, or community member followed you on social media, would what you post about education make them want to be an educator or run the other way?

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As a school leader, I spend a lot of time thinking about culture inside our building and beyond them.

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And what if the biggest threat to that culture isn't policy, it's not funding or mandates, but it's the way we talk about our own profession.

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Today I'm going to spotlight a powerful book called Stop Eating Our Own by Robert Hinchliffe and Shawna Quenneville.

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This book challenges us to examine our own words, our post, our conversations, and our tone.

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And to ask whether are we lifting up the profession we love or are we slowly tearing it down from the inside?

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Now let's get to the episode.

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This podcast is a proud member of the Teach Better Podcast Network.

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Better today, better tomorrow, and the podcast to get you there.

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Explore more podcasts at www.teachbetterpodcastnetwork.com.

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Now let's get back to the episode.

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Welcome back, everybody, to another exciting episode of the Educational Leadership Podcast.

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Today I am very passionate about this topic.

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Today I'm going to spotlight a powerful book titled Stop Eating Our Own by Robert Hinchliffe and Shawna Quenneville.

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Now, I got this book, and the night I got it, I read it.

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I read it from front to back within two hours.

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And it just really hit me to where to the point to where I really wanted to share what I learned from this book with everybody because I really think this book is very powerful and what we need in education right now.

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Because we need to stop eating our own.

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Because we are sometimes our own worst enemy and we need to get out of our own way.

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So this book asks hard questions but necessary.

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Which side are you on?

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Are you lifting up the profession?

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Are we slowly tearing it down from the inside?

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At the core of stop eating our own, it's about how we talk about education, especially in public spaces.

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The authors remind us that teaching is one of the most noble professions in the world, with a ripple effect that lasts generations.

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Most of us become educators because someone believed in us, they inspired us, or they made us feel seen in a classroom.

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And yet, you scroll social media, you listen to people in the hallway having conversations, you read comments under viral posts, too often the loudest voices about education are the negative ones, such as countdowns to summer, complaints about students, sarcasm about parents, frustrations aimed at colleagues or even administrators.

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And here's the hard truth the book confronts.

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When educators consistently speak negatively about their work, we shape the public's perception of our own profession, and it's not in a good way.

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One line from the introduction stopped me in my tracks.

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The future of educators are watching, and they are yearning for inspiration.

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So please give it to them.

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It's not just poetic language, it's a leadership warning.

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High school students are watching how we talk about teaching.

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College students are watching how we describe our careers.

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First year teachers are watching how veterans respond when things get hard.

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The book makes this case clearly.

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If all we see is burnout, sarcasm, and public venting, why would they ever choose this profession?

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Robert and Shawna use the phrase eating our own to describe something many of us have seen and maybe participated in.

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Educators tearing down other educators online, staff members criticizing colleagues instead of supporting them.

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Public posts that shame students, families, or schools.

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Negativity gets validated with likes, comments, and shares.

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The book doesn't deny that education is hard.

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It doesn't sugarcoat the challenges, but it does ask powerful questions.

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Are the words helping move the profession forward?

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Or are they reinforcing the very problems we complain about?

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One of the strongest themes throughout the book is perspective.

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The authors contrast posts between like countdown days, dreaded Mondays, or jokes about escaping a classroom with posts that celebrate students, relationships, growth, and purpose.

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And here's the key leadership takeaway.

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Two educators can experience the same day.

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One can see burdens and the other sees opportunities.

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They both have the same reality, but they have different mindsets.

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And as leaders, formal or informal, our mindset is contagious.

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Negativity spreads fast, but so does hope.

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If you're a principal, assistant principal, instructional coach, or teacher leader, this book is a mirror.

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It asks us to reflect on questions like, how do we speak about our work when no one is making us?

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What culture are we modeling, especially online?

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Do our words invite people into the profession or do they push them away?

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The book reminds us that leadership is not just what we do inside the building, it's about how we amplify outside of it.

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Stop eating our own isn't about being fake.

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It's not about pretending everything is perfect.

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It's about being responsible with our influence.

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The authors challenge us to share excellence, not frustrations, to celebrate colleagues instead of tearing them down.

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Address problems constructively, not publicly and destructively.

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Remember why we chose this work in the first place, because if we don't believe in education, why should anybody else?

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I highly recommend this book, Stop Eating Our Own, for leadership teams, book studies, department discussions, reflections with veteran and early career educators.

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It's bold, it's honest, and it's deeply pro education.

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Let's be leaders who protect the profession, elevate the narrative, and model what it looks like to love the work even when it's hard.

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Because the future of education is watching.

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And the best recruiters of education are educators doing the work and sharing all the amazing work we do every day.

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So this is my challenge to you.

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Can you be the change?

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Don't be the one talking negatively about education, but be the change and talk about the positives because no one is going to do it for us.

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Do you accept this challenge to stop eating our own?

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And to be the change?

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I hope you do.

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If this episode resonates with you, please share it with an educator that needs to hear it.

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Please subscribe to this podcast and leave a review so we can reach other extraordinary educators like you.

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And remember to be curious, 1% better, and to be the change for education, the greatest profession in the world.