2024 Election Series - Beyond the Ballot: More Than Just Election Season Preparedness

Doug Edlin
Political Science Department Chair, Colorado College 

The United States is often described, for various reasons, as the most speech-protective nation in the world. We will discuss what that means. By thinking about the history, theory, and law of the First Amendment, we will explore the progression of the constitutional protection of speech, about matters of public concern, to a marketplace of ideas, to our current preoccupation with individual self-expression. We will also consider what these different conceptions of free speech mean for the current climate on campuses around the country. 

Clymer Bardsley
Teachers College, Columbia University &
The Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution

Participants will delve into the origins of political polarization and examine their personal beliefs and biases. This session introduces the concept of differentiating between "Clock" and "Cloud" problems and explores the conflict landscape, including attractors and repellers. By understanding the Seven Crude Laws for Non-Linear Change, educators will learn how to leverage self-awareness for effective social change.

The 2024 presidential election is a reminder of the importance of critical thinking and the challenges facing students in a digital media environment, including AI, media bias and fake news. This session will offer educators information, strategies and techniques that will help their students develop the media literacy skills needed to strengthen their critical thinking muscles.

Clymer Bardsley
Teachers College, Columbia University &
The Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution

This session focuses on comparing conflict resolution approaches for different types of problems. Educators will be introduced to the Five Steps to Radical Relandscaping, starting with resetting and self-reflection. The session will also cover understanding emotional reservoirs and implicit theories of change, equipping participants with foundational tools to counteract polarization​.

Clymer Bardsley
Teachers College, Columbia University &
The Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution

Building on previous strategies, this session delves into implementing advanced tactics such as Bolster and Break and Complicate to Simplify. Participants will hear inspiring success stories of overcoming polarization and learn practical applications of these steps. The focus will be on analyzing and illustrating these techniques to effectively pioneer change in their educational environments​.

Clymer Bardsley
Teachers College, Columbia University &
The Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution

This session emphasizes the implementation of Movement and Adapt to ensure sustainable change. Educators will explore techniques for maintaining progress over time, discussing methods to adapt and respond to evolving challenges. This session aims to equip participants with the skills needed to create a lasting impact within their school communities.

There are so many possibilities about what "after the election” might look like for our country and for our schools. Will the tradition of a peaceful transition of power from one administration to another continue? What if the results of the election drag on and on, leaving us a country in limbo for weeks or months? What if there is violence in our area? What if our school community is mired in polarization? What if our community rises above partisan rhetoric and embraces the diverse feelings and beliefs that comprise any human community?

Regardless of what happens on election night and the days immediately after, faculty and staff throughout the ADVIS network will be showing up for students on Wednesday morning. They will need to manage their own feelings about the election, consider the many scenarios that could become reality, and the possibilities for how their schools move forward.

Join L+D for a frank discussion and strategy session about designing for the days following the election. How can we ensure that your community is fueled by empathy and care for every single person on campus, regardless of what they feel about the outcome of the election? How might we ensure that there are not winners and losers in our community, but rather communities of learners? What will faculty and staff need in order for them to be their best for the students? What will students need from adults and from their peers? What will we all need to be our most caring and compassionate selves?

Clymer Bardsley has more than 25 years of experience as a lawyer, mediator, trainer and coach.  Throughout his career he has helped thousands of individuals to increase their conflict management and resolution skills for the benefit of both their personal and professional lives.  

Clymer learned conflict resolution, mediation, and the underlying theories from some of the leading scholars and practitioners in the United States: the Good Shepherd Mediation Program in Philadelphia, The Kukin Program for Dispute Resolution at Cardozo School of Law in New York City, and The Moritz College of Law’s Program on Dispute Resolution at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. During this time, he taught hundreds of people how to skillfully mediate conflicts, and he mediated over 500 disputes for organizations, the courts, communities, and families. Additionally, he has trained organizational heads and employees to become better problem solvers and negotiators, thereby empowering them and those around them to achieve better outcomes. Inspired by assisting people through difficult situations and training them to prevent conflicts from escalating, Clymer established the Bardsley Group in 2016.

Clymer is on the faculty at Drexel University’s Kline School of Law, Temple University’s School of Education and Human Development, and the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution at Columbia University’s Teacher’s College.

Additionally, Clymer has conducted trainings, courses, and presentations for the United States Army, the Philadelphia Police Department, and school leaders from around the country.  He has presented at University of Pennsylvania’s Law School and School of Education, as well as schools throughout the Philadelphia School District.  He has worked with the Philadelphia’s Police Athletic League, Parks Department, Department of Human Services, and has worked in Philadelphia Family Court with hundreds of parents in managing custody and related parenting matters. He has also served as both a mediator and a settlement official for the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and facilitates abuse and neglect matters in Philadelphia Family Court.

Clymer earned his law degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York and his B.A. in History from Middlebury College.

Greg Bamford is a Co-Founder and Partner at Leadership+Design. Prior to this, Greg was Associate Head of School for Strategy and Innovation at Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma, WA, and Head of School at the innovative Watershed School in Boulder, CO. During his time at Watershed, the young school grew to full enrollment and achieved ACIS accreditation for the first time. He is currently on the Board of Trustees for his alma mater, The Overlake School in Redmond, WA, and the Advisory Board for The Hatch School, a new, independent girls' high school that opened in Seattle, WA, in 2022. 

With his experience in school leadership, Greg brings a strategic lens to leadership development, innovation, and change management for Leadership+Design clients. He is particularly passionate about building leadership capacity and the cultural muscle to enact needed change. Greg has been a featured speaker at education conferences nationally and his writing has appeared in publications like Independent School, Net Assets, and The Yield. Greg lives in Tacoma, WA, with his wife and two children.

Sean Caine is Founder and Principal at Caine Communications, a Maryland-based consulting firm specializing in providing communications-related support services to independent schools. With clients throughout the United States, Sean works with Heads to navigate a range of issues, 

including leadership transition, Board relationships, Head-faculty relationships, and crisis management. With more than 25 years of experience in media and public relations and as a parent of three daughters who received all of their primary and secondary education in independent schools, Sean brings expertise and experience that uniquely serves the needs of independent schools. His latest work to help teachers think about approaches and strategies to navigate the challenging conversations to take place in schools around the presidential election will perfectly complement the additional resources and support being offered ADVIS-member schools in preparation for the 2024-45 school year.

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Douglas Edlin is the McHugh Professor of American Institutions and Leadership and a Professor of Political Science and Chair of the Political Science Department at Colorado College.  He holds a PhD from Oxford University, a JD from Cornell Law School, an MA from the University of Pennsylvania, and a BA from Hobart College. His teaching and research focus on the courts and the judicial process, constitutional and comparative law, legal and constitutional theory, and the politics of race and gender in the United States.  He is the author of Common Law Judging (University of Michigan Press, 2016) and Judges and Unjust Laws (University of Michigan Press, 2008), and the editor of Common Law Theory (Cambridge University Press, 2007).  His articles have appeared in the American Journal of Comparative Law, the Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence, Polity, Jurisprudence, and other journals.  He was a Fulbright Scholar at Queen Mary University of London, a Research Scholar at the University of Melbourne Law School Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies, and a MacCormick Fellow at the University of Edinburgh School of Law.  Prior to returning to graduate school, he practiced civil litigation in federal and state trial and appellate courts in Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. 

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Carla Silver is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Leadership+Design. She is an experienced independent school educator, school administrator, and experience designer. She holds a B.A. in English from Emory University and a M.A. in Nonprofit Management and Leadership from The University of San Diego. 

Carla partners with schools on strategic design and enhancing the work of leadership teams and boards, and she designs experiential learning experiences for leaders in schools at all points in their careers. She also leads workshops for faculty, administrative teams and boards on Design Thinking, Futurist Thinking, Collaboration and Group Life, and Leadership Development. She has presented regularly at the NAIS annual conference as well as other regional and local seminars, workshops and conferences. She has served on the boards of the Urban School of San Francisco, the San Francisco School and Breakthrough Silicon Valley. As a lifelong learner, Carla has recently pursued her interests in design thinking, creativity, improvisation and education innovation. She lives in Los Gatos, California with her husband, three children, and two King Charles Cavaliers.