When Advisory Fails: Rethinking Teacher Roles and Student-Led Connection

I was the teacher for whom advisory didn’t work.

I remember sitting at my desk…Avoiding the conversation.Going through the motions. Hoping the time would just pass.

Not because I didn’t care.But because I cared too much.

I didn’t want to get it wrong. I didn’t feel equipped. And stepping outside of being the “content expert” into something more relational felt uncomfortable… and uncertain.

So I protected myself.

And what I’ve come to realize is—that same dynamic is playing out in your building.

When advisory doesn’t work, we tend to:

• Avoid the real conversation

• Blame teachers

• Or look for a new curriculum to fix it

But we’re missing the core issue.

We’re asking teachers to step into a role they were never trained for—and expecting confidence where there’s actually hesitation.

So instead, we see:

• Disengagement

• Inconsistency

• Surface-level connection

Not because teachers don’t value relationships…but because they don’t feel equipped to lead them.

What looks like resistance is often protection.

And until we name that, nothing really changes.

What I’ve seen work instead isn’t adding more structure—it’s shifting the model.

Bringing students into the process.Sharing responsibility for connection.Allowing teachers to participate without needing to be the expert.

That’s where advisory starts to feel different. More natural.More real.

If any of this feels familiar, you’re not alone.

And it’s something we can actually rethink.

I also shared more on this in my TEDx talk. CLICK to watch the video