Carolyn McKanders

Carolyn McKanders

Carolyn McKanders is director emeritus for Thinking Collaborative, the home of the Adaptive Schools Seminars® and Cognitive Coaching Seminars®. She cofounded The Center for Adaptive Schools as well as Teachers As Facilitators, LLC, where she remains an active member.

As an educational specialist, Carolyn focuses on individual, group, and organization development. Her passion is supporting quality human relationships by promoting self-love, communication, collaboration, and leadership skills development.

Carolyn’s background includes over 28 years in Detroit Public Schools as a teacher, counselor, program administrator, and staff-development specialist. Presently, she conducts seminars internationally on developing adaptive schools and organizations, cognitive coaching, enhancing presentation effectiveness, meeting facilitation skills, and honoring equity, inclusion, and diverse voices. She also provides polarity management training, which supports individuals and organizations in identifying and managing competing tensions inherent in social systems.

In addition to her work in educational settings, she is a family and women’s counselor. From her counseling experience she brings to her work a deep belief in the unlimited capacity and resilience of the human spirit.

Presentations by Carolyn McKanders

• Teachers as Facilitators©
• Leaders as Facilitators
• Managing Systems Tensions and Polarities
• Harvesting Diversity to Create Resourceful Systems
• Using Conflict As a Resource
• Promoting Self-Love and Human Flourishing
• Leading from Wholeness
• Adaptive Schools©
• Cognitive Coaching©
• Presentation Skills
• Mindfulness