Flourishing Education Podcast - Lifelong, lifewide and lifedeep learning for ALL to flourish

I am delighted to share this imperfectly perfect with Simon van der Els whom I connected with on LinkedIn.

Simon is a (micro)biologist who has spent the last ~12 years studying molecular biology and specializing in the microbial genetics.
Over the last 3 years my interest shifted towards the macro scale : systems (both the anthroposphere and the biosphere which encompasses it).

He is now a Researcher interested in the questions:
"In what capacity will the biosphere survive the coming centuries?"
"How can homo sapiens step up and play a regenerative role instead of the current omnicidal one?"
Together we explore our journey thus far as well as these questions both at the analytical and conceptual levels as well as the more practical and implemental levels.

Today I am delighted to share this imperfectly perfect conversation with Brian Curcio, who is  co-founder of Rapunzl and a passionate supporter of any and all things related to financial education.

Brian shared with me how at a young age, I was incredibly fortunate to receive broad exposure to entrepreneurship and the stock market through my family and why during his senior year at Amherst College, he developed Rapunzl. He explained how we partnered with his highschool friend, Myles Gage, and together they designed a developed an app that could solve the three roadblocks that prohibit many from understanding the stock market: fear, exposure, and accessibility.

Listen to find out more!

This week I share my imperfectly perfect conversation with Mariam Brian who is a chief imagineer and Founder of holoartcollective.com and who offers global advisory services. She is a Global Speaker State of the Art Topics, a High Impact Global Consultant.

I discovered Mariam's work on Linkedin when I came across her blog on The Future of Education which resonated deeply with me.

We explored so many topics but in particular

- the concept of thredding the needle from STEM to STREAM and what needs to happen now AI is here.

- what advice she has for parents

- what the future of education is

We had the most wonderful conversation. It left me feeling like I could have asked so many more as she has such a wealth of knowledge and understanding.

Take a listen and get in touch with her, particularly if you would like to find out more and learn with and through her by collaborating with her.

In this imperfectly perfect conversation, I connect with and talk to the wonderful Dr Eri Mountbatten O'Malley who is Senior lecturer in Education Policy at Bath Spa University.

I reached out to him because his PhD is a conceptual analysis of human flourishing. As a researcher keen to understand what flourishing means and how we create flourishing communities in educational settings, I really wanted to learn with and through Eri.

We not only discussed his research but the phenomenal work he is doing with his Flourish Cafe here in the UK.

If you are interested in well-being and flourishing, both at the individual but also at the community and planetary levels then this is definitely a conversation for you.

Enjoy!

I am delighted to share this imperfectly perfect conversation with the amazing Sally Lewis.

Once in a while, we meet people and it feels like we have known them for ever. My encounter with Sally was exactly like this and I am sure you will be able to hear this when you listen to this episode.

Together we share our passion - children and young people's wellbeing and we explore how we can help them discover their greatness.

Sally shares heer experience in Bali and how she came to write her book 'Figuring out your Future: A guide to life beyond the school gates' and much more...

If you feel inspired to connect with Sally

Her website can be found here

And the books she mentions are:

Todd Rose

The end of Average

Dark Horse

Collective Illusions

The Creative Act: A way of Being by Rick Rubin

I am delighted to share this imperfectly perfect conversation with the wonderful Rachel Musson, Director of Thoughtbox, Systems Thinker and Climate Activist.

I invited Rachel for a second conversation on the podcast because I truly love her work. It is so aligned with my research and explorations.

Our first conversation was called 'Listen to your inner salmon'

She recently published a new ebook called The Future of Education which can be downloaded for free and where she takes us on a journey right down to the root causes of our crises in schools and back out again towards a healthier learning horizon by nurturing a culture of care for ourselves, for each other and for the planet.

And this is what we explore in this episode which is simply beautiful and left me feeling inspired and hopeful.

You can join Rachel and become an Explorer member for free here too.

Today I am delighted to share this imperfectly perfect conversation with Michelle Blanchet who is Co-Founder as well as Change Consultant at The Educators' Lab. She is also co author of The Startup Teacher Playbook and Preventing Polarization.

Michelle and I explored how to create tools to help educators turn their ideas to improve teaching and learning into ACTION. We are often told that we need to innovate in education but no one provides a HOW. Frustrated with training that inspired but didn't provide follow-through, Michelle shared how they have taken methodologies from the social-startup space and adapted them for educators, so as to provide the HOW for teachers to make innovation happen.

The other book she mentioned (beside hers above) are:

⁠Humanity⁠ by John Glover Lean Startup

I am delighted to share this imperfectly perfect conversation with Aaron Schorn who is an amplifier of youth, co-designing education programs rooted in youth agency and entrepreneurship. Head of Community and Growth at Unrulr, as well as Program Director at the Nalukai Foundation Aaron and I first discussed the importance of co-designing education programmes rooted in youth agency and entrepreneurship, focused on human connection and the key elements such as trust and transparency.

We then discussed how through the use of Unrulr, a social learning app we can make holistic growth visible through authentic moments.

Some of the books Aaron mentioned are:

This week I share my imperfectly perfect conversation with Dr Nicolene who is the co-founder of a Learning Centre in Bali called Open Flow Learning Centre which is a nice international learning centre co-curating education for children.

We explore Dr Nicolene's journey and how she co-created Open Flow and the key changes.

She highlighted:

- the amount of choice and voice that they bring into the Learning Centre, but also in the children's Day in how they do things, and how they get to actually speak up and take responsibility.

- the importance of being human-centered and human centered conversations.

- Her advice to all of us educators (parents and teachers alike) is to stop over analysing, overthinking or justifying. Let's just do things and get on with it. Because there is no other time than now.

In this imperfectly perfect conversation, I talk with the wonderful Dr Daniel Wahl, author of Designing Regenerative Cultures.

We explore what's wrong with our societies, organizations, ideologies, worldviews and cultures - and how to put them right.

Daniel is a consultant, educator, activist, speaker, blogger, weaver, catalyst. I asked him how his work can also be applied in the world of education.

We discussed in particular:

- The dominant narrative, which is that of separation versus the story of interbeing and remembering that we are much more deeply connected to place and the resources of place and how we could meet human needs within the limits of a bound territory or bio region.

- We are so much more capable than that narrative has made us believe we are in multiple ways, as healers of places and as healers of communities.

- We are not separate from what we're looking at.

As well as the importance of:

- understanding the fluctuating dynamics of life and how to dance with it

- paying attention to the metaphors we use.

I am delighted to share this imperfectly perfect conversation with Benjamin Freud and Charlotte Hankin who are both co-founders of Coconut Thinking.

In this episode, I invited Benjamin and Charlotte to come and talk about their new venture Nature on the board which is a new collaboration between Benjamin, Charlotte, Andy Middleton and Michelle Blanchet We discussed how we create the conditions for genuine sustainability action and how we create a paradigm shift in the education system.

We focused in particular on the importance of:

To get in touch with Nature on the board -

email: connect@natureontheboard.io Or book in a time with them: Calendar Nature on the Board

This week I am delighted to share this imperfectly perfect conversation with the wonderful Magaga Enos who is Communication and Outreach Coordinator for BEADS for Education and HundrED Country Lead Kenya.

He shares his journey and passion to support and give women, in particular from vulnerable communities more compassion.

I am sure you will find this episode as fascinating as I did.

The book mentioned by Magaga at the end is called:

The Innovator's Mindset by George Couros

In this imperfectly perfect conversation I talk with Dr Adam R Wright and Dr Nick Holton about antifragility for a Flourishing Education.

Dr Holton is a consultant, coach and educator, who serves a variety of both formal and informal roles, all of which are devoted to the study, dissemination, and application of the science of human flourishing. Feeling, behaving, and functioning as our best selves and at our highest potentials.

Dr Wright is a doctor of sports psychology and mental skills consultant, executive coach, and educator. For the past 20 years, he has been fully immersed in the world of high performance and has had the privilege of coaching world-class and professional athletes, Hollywood celebrities, CEOs, hedge fund executives, and more.

The book mentioned are:

The Coddling of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff

Antifragile: Things that gain from disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Dopamine Nation: Finding the balance in the age of Indulgence by Anna Lembke

Nick's podcast can be found here:

Flourish FM

Finally - here is the link to Dr Scott Barry Kaufman's podcast ⁠The Psychology Podcast ⁠

Today I am delighted to share with powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with Madeleen Mulder who is a Wayfinder | Warrior for the human spirit | Futurist | Regenerative Leadership | General Counsel | Purpose activator | Writer.

Madeleen explains how she used to be a lawyer but left because she was bored and also she loved asking the hard questions or the critical questions, the why?

We reflected (among other things) on:

The books Madeleen mentioned are:

The Alchemist- Paulo Coehlo

The Body keeps the score - Bessel van der Kolk

Flux - April Rinne

In this powerful imperfectly perfect conversation, I talk with the wonderful Natalia Blagoeva who supports humans humans to thrive in an era dominated by AI and machines by unleashing their Human Advantage. She is also a Change Whisperer©, Educator, Constellator Systemic Constellations, Founder & Co-creator, Podcast Co-host.

You can find out all about her work here: https://www.nataliablagoeva.com/

In this episode, we particularly focused on Natalia's journey on how to let go and surrender as well as the importance of heart-to heart connections and how easy it is to recognise them.

I have absolutely no doubt that you will love every minute of it (as much as I did!)

At the end of our conversation, Natalia promised a list of the authors that most touched her on her journey. Here it is:

- Meditations for Living in Balance: Daily Solutions for People Who Do Too Much by Anne Wilson Schaef

- Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership by Joseph Jaworski

- Leading with Wisdom: Spritual Based Leadership in Business by Peter Pruzan and Kirsten Pruzan Mikkelsen

- Collaborating with the Enemy: How to Work with People You Don’t Agree with or Like or Trust by Adam Kahane

- Braving the Wilderness: The quest for true belonging and the courage to stand alone by Brené Brown

- The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible by Charles Eisenstein

- Who Do We Choose to Be?: Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity by Margaret J. Wheatley

- The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself by Michael A. Singer

-  The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture by Gabor Maté MD

In this imperfectly perfect conversation, I talk with Brad Peirce who is a Living Systems Learning Experience Designer, Facilitator, Advisor, and Coach.

Brad explained how he helps clients bring their sustainability strategies to life.

We discuss how leaders and teams develop regenerative mindsets, skills and capabilities. And much more...

I am sure you will enjoy this episode as much as I did.

The book Brad mentions is called Regenerative Leadership by Giles Hutchins and Laura Storm

I am delighted to share this imperfectly perfect conversation with Edd Moore who is a Primary School Teacher, National Award Winning Eco Coordinator.

During this episode he shared his amazing initiative in the primary school he works and how he empowers schools and their pupils to become Eco Ambassadors.

I am sure you will love this conversation as much as I did.

In this powerful imperfectly perfect conversation I talk with Deborah McNelis who is a Speaker and Author of The First 60 Days & The Neuro-Nurturing® Interaction Packets Series.

We cover a lot in this conversation but in particular:

I am sure you will love this conversation and will learn lots. I know I did!

In this imperfectly perfect conversation I shine the light on an amazing innovator and disruptor in the field of education: Raya Bidshari CEO and Founder of School of Humanity

We started with Raya's journey into education and then Raya shared all about School of Humanity and its origin, the values of that underpin the school and how as a parent whose son attends School of Humanity, I have noticed that these values permeates absolutely everything the team does.

We also explored how we let go of the need for qualifications that are highly valued by universities and societies?

I am sure you will love every minute of this conversation. I know I did!

In this imperfectly perfect conversation with Stef Kuypers who is a TEDx Speaker,  PhD student in Business Economics,  Researcher in behavioural and monetary economics, Systems Thinker and Facilitator.

I first discovered Stef's work through his two TEDx talks:

Money, Behaviour and Society: the invisible Link

Man Made Money

We discussed Happonomy, an initiative originally started by Bruno Delepierre based on his research about happiness and well being. Its goal is to build an economy which has our well being at its core.

If you've ever wondered how we can create a different economy and system, then this conversation is definitely for you.

Today I talk with Matt Piercy who is  a learner, international educator, author, and an explorer.

We covered so many points in this imperfectly perfect conversation.

Here are some of them:

His website: matthewpiercy.edublogs.org/ 

Today I share this wonderful conversation with John Rainford who came to talk to me about how much he cares about Education, Health and Wellbeing.

He shared how he created the Darwin Matrix and how he believes that we should all believe in ourselves.

He added that we all carry a lot of baggage around but what would happen if we let go of that baggage? 

We would

- go on leaps and bounds

- bring a new mindset

- think differently 

When/if we think differently, we can do anything

Take a listen to the whole episode and let me know what your key take-aways are. 

In this new episode, I am delighted to share my imperfectly perfect conversation with Dr Jayne-Louise Collins who is a Learning Designer; Researcher; Facilitator of Adult Learning.

We discussed the notion of partnering to learn and lead and regenerative change.

We explored other questions such as :

- how do we prepare for change in a complex system?

- how do we decide to partner with an organisation or not?

- the importance  of attending to what is happening right now

- what are the possibilities for a learning culture?

Jayne-Louise also shared:

- her web-like illustrations and connections drawn from her PhD work

- how leadership and bio-leadership start will listening

- how holding the space for silence is.

- how noticing and SLOWING RIGHT DOWN become our ritual

Because "when we let the play between the inner and the outer become one, we can learn deeply about ourselves, in relationship and in interaction with others."

In this powerful imperfectly perfect conversation, I spoke with the wonderful Christine Freeland who is the Founder of Boost Your Brilliance.

Christine shares with MWe about Leadership in tune with life. She worked for the National Park Service in the United States for 30 years. The last 6 years of her career, she became interested in leadership, feeling there was something missing in the way work and workers were managed. Very top down, bureaucratic, and hierarchical, with a mostly transactional way of working. She had an aha moment taking an unusual leadership course which involved connecting with her personal and work passions. 

Something clicked, and she thought, this is the necessary ingredient, leadership with heart!!

Helping to lift employees up in an organization and support their talents and passions to accomplish amazing and creative ways of working together.

The two books Christine mentions at the end are:

- Leadership and the New Science by Margaret Wheatley

- Regenerative Leadership by Laura Storm and Giles Hutchins

I am delighted to share this new episode with the wonderful Evelien Verschroeven who is a Business Mentor as well as an Educational and L&D Innovator, Edutech focused on educational Design and Relational Cognition.

Together we discussed how wisdom is born in interaction.

Evelien shared how to learn sustainably, we have to respect and connect with the wholeness:

She also shared how her vision is based on her knowledge of pedagogy, anthropology and relational cognition and experience as a business mentor.

I am sure you will love this episode as much as I did.

In this conversation, I talk with Inez Aponte who is a Storyteller, an Educator and a Human Scale Development Consultant. She is the Founder of Growing Good Lives and Crazy Beautiful World.

We discussed how Crazy Beautiful World started with a conversation between a mother and a son and how it now connects  teens and adults to explore – with open hearts and minds – the challenges of growing up in the 21st Century.

Growing Good lives asks the questions: how do we live in harmony with each other and the Earth?

I am sure that you will enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Link to the Oxfam report: https://www.oxfam.org/en/not-all-gaps-are-created-equal-true-value-care-work

The link to Megan Phelps- Roper Ted talk:

https://www.ted.com/talks/megan_phelps_roper_i_grew_up_in_the_westboro_baptist_church_here_s_why_i_left?language=en

I am delighted to share another imperfectly perfect conversation with the wonderful Maggie Favretti who is an author, CoDesign Thinker, Systems Change Maker, Educator, Climate Activist, Founder of Design Ed 4 Resilience.

During this episode we discuss her new book Learning in the Age of Climate Disasters which was released today - 13th December 2022 on the day we spoke.

Maggie outlined the contexts and causes of "futurephobia" and then offered Regenerative Learning strategies rooted in nature’s principles for repair and redesign. She explains how tending the soil and cultivating the roots of (re)generative power (Love, Personhood, People, Place, Purpose, Process, Positivity) help us disrupt degenerative hierarchical fragmentation.

You will love this conversation, I am sure!

You can reach her via email: maggie@designed4resilience.org

In this episode, I talk to Thomas Legrand who is a wisdom’s seeker, living in France next to Plum Village, the monastery of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Thomas has a PhD in economics and he works in the field of sustainability for UN agencies, NGOs and companies.

We discussed his new book Politics of being  Thomas explained how he researched what wisdom traditions, in dialogue with science, can tell us about how to design a new model of development because the old one is broken. 

This wisdom-based approach to politics offers a coherent vision across many different traditions and resonate with current emerging reflections. It puts human fulfillment at the center of our development efforts. In the 21st century,  Thomas argues that this should now be the fulfillment of all living beings, including non-humans (plants, animals, ecosystems, mother earth, etc.). Human fulfillment is the realization of our full potential: our highest and truest being. Our highest being refers to the development of inner values, virtues, or qualities, while our truest being relates to the process of becoming who we really are. They both converge in the manifestation of our true interbeing or relational nature.

The politics of being conceptualization allows to identify an agenda for action with clear priorities and many concrete public policies in all sectors that can embody such politics and bring about the cultural evolution – as well as the human, social and environmental regeneration – we need.

In this conversation with Brandon Wetzstein who is Founder and Principle of In8 Create, I discuss the importance of play not just in the lives of our children and young people but also for us adults.

Brandon designs and facilitates workshops for teams using the LEGO Serious Play method. He explained all the benefits of this approach.

As a linguist, I really enjoyed exploring the tension between two words such as 'serious' and 'play' too.

I thoroughly enjoyed this joyful and fun conversation with Brandon. I am sure you will too!

I am delighted to share this new episode with Tim Klein who is an Educator, Writer, Researcher and Co-Founder of How To Navigate Life.

In this conversation, Tim and unpack unpack his new book co-written with Dr Belle Liang called How to Navigate Life where they advocate for cultivating a purpose mindset. They tell us that purpose is about playing the long game, pursuing something meaningful, about making a contribution.

Tim and I went on this wild tour all across the world of purpose and but when it boiled down to it, the practice of purpose is really really simple. The more we think about our lives in an intentional way, the more likely we are to find purpose in them.

There is so much synergy between my research and Tim and Belle's work that we had a truly empowering and fascinating discussion about trusting ourselves to figure it out, intentionally listening to ourselves and to what our strengths and values are.

The other book Tim mentioned at the end is The Path to Purpose by William Damon.

I highly recommend this episode. It was as Tim says at the end, a joy!

I am delighted to share this imperfectly perfect conversation with Dicken Bettinger who founded Three Principles Mentoring and who is currently working to train and develop 3 Principles Practitioners, as well as running seminars on-line and for the public in cities around the world.

Dicken is also co-author of 'Coming Home' which is how I felt when I first listened to his work online and when I spoke to him to record this conversation.

He told me how he encountered and discovered the work of Sydney Banks, a person graced with an enlightenment experience. He now insightfully deepen  our understanding of the 3 Principles as taught by Sydney Banks.  

An ever-deeper understanding of these Principles reveal them to be the sole source of all feelings and experiences, and is the key to raising anyone's overall level of well-being.  

When our level of well-being rises, we experience less anxiety, less time feeling down, less stress, more enjoyment, a greater sense of aliveness, a light-heartedness, more confidence in our decisions, and a greater ease in all of our relationships.

Such a beautiful conversation! Thank you, Dicken!

Today I am delighted to share this powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with Satish Kumar. Peace-pilgrim, life-long activist and former monk, Satish Kumar has been inspiring global change for over 50 years.

We had a conversation about his amazing work but also about the recent publication of Regenerative Learning. Nurturing people and caring for the planet. We discussed how it was published for the 30th anniversary of Schumacher College, U.K., and how this is an outstanding collection of essays on a subject of urgent importance for our world, afflicted as it is by climate change, inequality, mass disadvantage, and pandemics. 

The essential message of this book is that we need to abandon the evolutionary perspective on education which places humans at the top of the tree to exploit and despoil everything below us.

This is round 2 of a powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with Dr Bern Nicholls.

We discuss how we create conditions for ourselves and young people to flourish, to have the courage to find our way and how we can contribute to the world. How we can be of service to the world, rather than this old paradigm of getting ourselves ready for work. 

To do this we also need to be asking the question: who's at the table, particularly the decision making table, per se, particularly the discernment table? How can we discern and decide if our young people and our other key people in our community aren't there? Because we need diverse voices and we need to be disruptive. This will enable us to get everyone at the table authentically, not in a tokenistic way.

We schooled our children and young people for work rather than schooling for life. 

Bern told me how many of the young people she worked with told her that young people they don't feel seen, don't feel heard and they don't feel valued.

Her dream is to start changing education to create the conditions for our young people to feel truly safe, to be integrated and part of the learning community.

Meg Wheatley's book - who do we choose to be 

This week I am delighted to share my first conversation with Dr Bern Nicholls who is a passionate advocate for student empowerment and believes every student needs to be in the driver’s seat of their own learning. 

Through her consultancy work in schools she is committed to providing practical, evidence-based ways for leaders and teachers to genuinely include student voice in the learning journey.

 Integral to her facilitation is the creation of a safe space of trust, which support leaders and teachers to take time to reflect on their current practice and explore ways of leading and teaching that values the integrity of student voice in the learning equation.

I am sure you will love every minute of this amazing conversation.

The book Bern mentions is Who Do We Choose To Be? Facing Reality | Claiming Leadership | Restoring Sanity by Margaret J Wheatley

This week, I am delighted to share my conversation and interview with Annabel Jeffcoate who helps primary teachers reduce anxiety & switch off through work-life balance coaching. Through her business Balance For Teachers she shares what work-life balance for teachers is all about.

Annabel shares her own personal story and provides us with some amazing tips on how to deal with our stress and anxiety as adults, whether we are teachers or parents.

Link to the book by Brené Brown - Atlas of the heart

Link to register for the 5 Day Challenge

I am so happy to share this powerful imperfctly perfect conversation with Curtis Ogden who is Senior Associate of the Interaction Institute for Social Change.

It was such a delight to be in conversation with Curtis and the hour flew by!

Curtis works with multi-stakeholder networks to strengthen and transform food public health, education, and economic development systems at local, state, regional, and national levels.

I highly recommend reading his blog posts for IISC which are simply transformational.

In addition to his work at IISC, Curtis is on the advisory board of EmbraceRace, a member of the Research Alliance for Regenerative Economics (RARE) and the Emerging Networks Governance Initiative (ENGI) and shares the Thomas W. Haas Professorship in Sustainable Food Systems at the University of New Hampshire where he is engaged in scholarship on the intersection of networks and racial equity.

I think you will love this conversation with Curtis. He told me that life is, when lived at its best truly a journey of learning throughout. The invitation is not simply to forget about our heads but to reclaim the rest of our bodies that are sources of knowledge, wisdom and emotion.

The three books recommended by Curtis are: 

Sand Talk: How indigenous thinking can save the world

Braiding Sweetgrass

Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve : Self-Help Exercises for Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, and Autism

I am super excited to share this powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with the wonderful Rachel Musson who is Director of Thoughtboxwho believes the most valuable thing we can learn in life is how to care for ourselves, each other and the planet.

Rachel and I discuss how as the world transforms, so must our education systems. It’s time to regenerate – to connect with the world and cultivate our innate human values so that we can be well in our lives, feel valued in our communities and live in balance with our planet.

A beautiful conversation. I highly recommend it - I know you will love it!

The book Rachel recommended is Active Hope by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone

This week I am delighted to share my conversation with Dr Thom Markham who is considered one of the founding fathers of Project Based Learning, Thom Markham is an educator by trade, a positive psychologist by training, and a global entrepreneur dedicated to expanding educator mindsets in service to a positive future. n 2015, Thom established PBL Global to offer online courses and onsite professional learning for a transformative strengths-focused model of project based learning that integrates high quality project design, student centered growth, and social emotional well-being.

In this conversation we discussed how to let go of the traditional standard pathway and supposition in education that all will be fine and that instead we have to think about the personal capabilities of our children and how to best develop them and one way to do that is to honour who they are as individuals rather than asking them to fit into the system.

Thom's book can be found here: Redefining Smart

This week I am delighted to share this powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with Maggie Favretti. Maggie is a Co-Design Thinker, an Award-winning Educator, Mentor, and Founder of Design Ed 4 Resilience 

We discussed how we can design Education and Lifelong learning to cultivate belonging and shape collaborative community responses to climate change and other complex issues. Maggie told me about how to learn about and tap into the power of life found in nature, self and community so that we can learn how to CO-Create the world we want to live in.

A truly beautiful and empowering conversation. I am sure you will love it too

The book recommended by Maggie at the end of our conversation can be found here: All We Can Save

I am delighted to share a conversation with Alan Williams, Director of ServiceBrand Global. This is round 2 as I spoke to Alan last year and I will be completely honest, this conversation over the summer was absolutely life altering for me.

In this episode Alan explains what a values driven life: it really means consciously making choices and decisions and behaving in line with what we understand is important to us. Instead of just reacting and responding to the environment around us, we become clearer about what was is important to you.

And the starting point is is the question, what is important to me? So what are my values? 

I am sure you will love this conversation as much as I did.

Link to the book by David Bohm - Wholeness and the Implicate Order

Today I am extremely excited to be sharing this powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with Richard Barrett. Richard is Managing Director of Barrett Academy for the Advancement of Human Values.

Richard shares his breakthrough work - the Barrett Model. Inspired by Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and tested over more than two decades of real-world experience with thousands of organizations, the model identifies the seven areas that comprise human motivations. These range from basic survival at one end, to service and concern for future generations at the other.

In this episode Richard explains how as parents we can take a values-based approach and provide personal and societal transformation through self-expression. We teach our children and young people to fully self-express, connect and contribute. 

Richard added that we should never ever sacrifice our self-expression because it is about exploring your gifts and talents. Connection is about self expression. And contribution is about service.

To explore and download the handbooks Richard mentions in the podcast - visit Humanity Awareness Initiative

I am delighted to share this new episode with the wonderful Max Girardeau who is Director and co-founder of The Visionaries.

In round 2 of our conversation, we talk about the work Max, Adrian and Nikki do. In this imperfectly perfect episode, Max shares their guiding inquiry: how to support regenerative leadership to emerge both in young people and in educators, and those working in the systems of education.

So what do Max and his co-founders mean by looking at our education system through an ecosystemic lens?

So let's make this episode, the reference conversation to spark some thinking and ideas for those that are looking to take that kind of approach but know that the way that we're doing things currently isn't serving

The book mentioned by Max at the end of the podcast is:
Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home by Toko-pa Turner

Today I am beyond excited to share this powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with two trailblazers in education Charlotte Hankin and Benjamin Freud.

I absolutely love the work that Charlotte and Benjamin are doing with Coconut Thinking to disrupt the way we educate and parent our children and young people in order to help individuals and organizations create, develop, stress test, and implement their ideas for sustainability and regenerative design.

I wanted to talk to them in particular about their WISR conceptual framework developed with Louka Parry, Education Futurist for the purpose spreading "awareness and action" on Regeneration.

Some other important website relevant to the conversation to check out:

WISR

The Learning Future

The books Charlotte and Benjamin mentioned at the end of the podcast are:

Jeremy Lent Web of Meaning
Fritjof Capra Web of Life 

With over two decades of experience at the forefront of international education, Craig Vezina is the founder & President of the Z-17 Collective (formerly ZSchool: The International School of Social Entrepreneurship) & co-founder of The Spaceship Academy.

We talk about what it means to empower people to discover and find out their meaning or purpose so that they don't feel at the mercy of bigger powers. How do people find their meaning and be part of something substantive, forward thinking and real?

The book Craig recommends at the end of the podcast can be found here: Guns, Germs and Steel 

Today I return from a truly invigorating 4 week-break and I am delighted to start again with a powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with the wonderful Jessica Cavallaro and Roslynn Jackson who are both based in Florida.

They are both educators, innovators and change makers in education. In this episode, they share how they both discovered Agile as a solution to keep their students connected, collaborating and creating while distance learning and it transformed their pedagogy.

If you are interested in innovative ways to approach your teaching, this is the podcast for you!

Enjoy!

Here are the links to connect with them:

Website: www.the-agile-mind.com 

Teachers Lounge: www.l-eaf.org/teachers_lounge 

Email addresses: 

jessica@the-agile-mind.com 

rosjackson@the-agile-mind.com

Awakening Genius in the Classroom by Thomas Armstrong

“On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings” by William James

“Only Connect: The Goals of a Liberal Education”, by William Cronon

The Path to Purpose by William Damon

A Whack on the Side of the Head by Roger Von Oech

The Pleasure of Finding Things Out by Richard Feynman

(as well as the documentary video here)

Other readings:

Anything on the RENVISIONED Medium site created by Prof. Erin Raab

Anything on Monte Syrie’s “Project 180” blog.

Anything on the “Teachers Going Gradeless” website maintained by Arthur Chirarivalli and Aaron Blackwelder.

Anything done by Chris McNutt and Nick Covington for the Human Restoration Project.

Gary's own blogs/websites:

Connect with Gary on social media:

Twitter--@Ed_by_design

Instagram -- @pvnovalab

Youtube -- Garreth Heidt

I am absolutely thrilled to be sharing this powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with Max Girardeau from The Visionaries.

Max and I talk about his amazing work and vision - how do we help create nurturing school communities and to support young people into healthy adulthood.

We also discuss the importance of self-care so that we can care for the planet and serve others.

I loved every minute of it. I am sure you will too!

Here are some of the references that Max mentioned in our conversation and said he would share with us too:

I am delighted to share this powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with the wonderful Jenny Finn who is the Founder of Springhouse.

Jenny and I talk about how we can create conditions for vitality to thrive in the individual and collective.

What happens when an intergenerational learning community work towards a vision of regenerative culture where all people are connected to the vitality within themselves, their community, and the Earth?

Listen to find out more

I am delighted to share this new episode with Uncle Sele - Founder, Trees and Pillars Online school for Values, character and Child mentoring. 

Uncle Sele is a Values and Character Coach  Model and Mentor to Children. We discussed what values are and why they are important and what the role of parents and adults are.

I am sure you will enjoy this conversation - I know I did!

In this episode I share the wonderful work of Dr Elizabeth Lindsey, Nat Geo Explorer and UN Visionary.

Dr. Elizabeth Lindsey is a global strategic advisor and the first Polynesian Explorer and female Fellow in the history of the National Geographic Society. Her keen insights are helping to reshape Western perspectives on global leadership.

Her commitment to conserving traditional knowledge and wisdom is critical for the complexity of these times. Elizabeth applies this intelligence to help leaders and organizations navigate today’s challenges.

A must listen to! 

This week I am delighted to share my conversation with Dr Pauline Crawford - The conversation maker

We talk about her work and how we can activate conscious leadership, lead authentic success, elevate performance through Magical Conversations.

We also discuss how to expand relationship potential between #Men&Women #AuthenticHarmony#AuthenticPower

You can watch the video: Bears and Birds -Tale of Two Cities - Who's in Charge? here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKsqGgyhuow&t=13s

I am delighted to share this powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with Dr Benjamin Freud - co founder of Coconut Thinking, which is a website where we post articles and have a podcast. They are trying to get people together to have conversations about how we can move beyond the system of education that we have today. 

Benjamin explains that revolutions by definitions don't happen at the core, because the system doesn't want to kill itself. So the revolutions have been on the fringe. He explains the mechanistic versus the living systems approach and how they determine how approach to nature.

We are not beings, we are becomings.

A fascinating conversation about how we can bring about change and what we can do from an individual perspective so ALL can flourish.

I am delighted to share this conversation with Dr Charles Margerison, Founder of Amazing People Schools, a chartered psychologist and member of the Royal Institution. He has been researching the lives of Amazing People for over 20 years. 

I talked to Charles about how by sharing these stories we can unlock the amazing potential of every student through their award-winning, whole-school approach to character and well-being.

A fascinating imperfectly perfect conversation!

I am delighted to share another powerful imperfectly perfect conversation. This time with the wonderful Christa Campsall who is the Teacher and Author of "My Guide Inside: Knowing Myself and Understanding My World" K12 Curriculum. 

Christa introduced the 3 principles by Sydney Banks and we discussed the importance of discovering the wisdom within and the fact that we all have an innate wellbeing. We also talked about the importance for our children, young people and ourselves to know ourselves and understand our world.

#happyteachers #happylearners #myguideinside

I am delighted to share this fantastic interview with Neil (Dr Values) Hawkes who is Founder of Values-based Education VbE

Neil and I had such a powerful and magical conversation about what it means to be a values-based school, institution or organisation and why it is important if we want to reach true quality education.

A must listen to!

In this episode, I share my powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with the wonderful Stephanie Sewell who is Independent Education Coach and Consultant | Homeschooling and Unschooling Support | Speaker | Advocate for Children's Right to Individualized Education.

Stephanie told me how she helps:

We then discussed the impact on the children and teens, the parents and the families as a whole.

A truly magical conversation that I am sure you will enjoy as much as I did!

In this amazing episode, I speak with Ulcca Joshi Hansen - author of The Future of Smart: How our education systems needs to change to help all young people thrive and Chief Program Officer at Grantmakers for Education.

In our conversation Ulcca told me how we all have our sphere of influence. Education belongs to all of us. Young people grow into the adults who shape the world. And so education is all of our responsibility. We can all ask ourselves: what is my sphere of influence in this? 

She added that it is an intentional choice. We're at a moment where we have no choice but to make a shift. It's both big and small. We have to do this and we can do it if each of us is really intentional about our sphere of influence and doing the small things we can do every day and collectively.

You can check out Ulcca's work on her website Educating Potential

I am delighted to share this sensational conversation with Joanna Merrett who is a Home Education Researcher,  Early Years Professional and an Elective Home Education Support Consultant.

We have a conversation about her research on home education and how we stop thinking about school as being the only option and how we can re-imagine education, learning and work that works for us all as a family.

We discuss the one-size fits all versus a personalized and individualized education. 

I am sure you will enjoy it as much as I did!

I am delighted to share this fantastic episode with Dr Rachael Jefferson-Buchanan who is a Lecturer in Human Movement Studies (Health and PE) and Creative Arts at Charles Sturt University, and International Consultant, Speaker, and Life Poet.

Rachael shares her work and research and why she believes it is important to develop self-awareness as well as well as being kind - to oneself and to the young people in our care.

I am sure you will enjoy this as much as I did!

What happens when your child suffers a really serious brain injury and his changed and unable to attend school? In this wonderful episode, I talk with Nicola Leyland - a mother, a dog walker and home educator who is also a part-time student on the Msc in Mindfulness at Aberdeen University.

In this conversation, Nicola and I share our passion for mindfulness - its link to autonomy and agency in education and the importance of living 'in the now' for our children and ourselves.

I really recommend this episode! So powerful!

This is the second conversation I have with the wonderful Shannon Ross. He is Executive Director of The Community. Partner at Paradigm Shyft, Reentry Strategies and Consulting. Founding member of the Univ. of Reentry. Advisor for Sia Precision Education. Emotional IQ expert & jokester extraordinaire.

Shannon shares his journey, what books have inspired him to change your mental models and how much we need to find ways to sustainably challenge ourselves. 

Today I am so happy to share this amazing conversation with the fabulous PJ Jackson also known as the JoyOwl. PJ is a Soul Empowerment Coach who creates breakthroughs for high performers looking to level-up. 

Author, influencer, difference maker, PJ brings a positive energy like no other, she is truly one-of-a-kind! A creative force that can influence change, PJ is making a difference, one moment at a time. Join PJ’s Inner Circle at www.PJJackson.com

PJ shares the stories behind her two books - The Labyrinth Influence: Awaken the Wisdom Within and Sophie G Wanderlin: One of a Kind

In this episode PJ and I talk about #kindness, #wellbeing, #empowerment, #mindfulness, and #conciousliving

In this episode I have a wonderful conversation with Thomas Schecter co-founder of MuchSmarter and Gavin Hepherd-Hall, Managing Director of Much Smarter UK Ltd.

They both explain how we can help frustrated, stressed-out young people learn how to learn and the 3 habits of thinking, feeling and learning. 

Enjoy!

In this episode I am very lucky and privileged to speak to Dr Peggy Kern who is Associate Professor at the Centre for Positive Psychology at the University of Melbourne’s Graduate School of Education.

You can check out Peggy's website here. Peggy and I talk about flourishing and thriving. We discuss who thrives in life, why, and what enhances or hinders healthy life trajectories. We also discuss the synergy between my research and her work and the question of individual, group/community and societal wellbeing.

The Palgrave Handbook of Positive Education put together by Peggy that she mentions at the end of the call can be downloaded for free here 

Today I am delighted to be sharing this interview with the wonderful Penny Pullan who is an expert, speaker and author as well as a mentor and consultant in Virtual and Hybrid Leadership and Creative Collaboration. You can check out her website Making Projects work here. Penny will help you take projects from hard slog to creative collaboration.

We talk about how to become good leaders and virtual leaders and Penny takes us through her model.

We also discuss how leadership has changed and the model we need is a 'distributed leadership' which enables to facilitate a network of people.

If you want to find out more, go and buy Penny's second edition of her book 'Virtual Leadership - Practical Strategies for Success with Remote or Hybrid Work and Teams.' it's officially out tomorrow:

https://www.koganpage.com/product/virtual-leadership-9781398604278

Today I am delighted to share this wonderful conversation with Willy Wijnands who is the Creator & Founder of eduScrum® as well as co-founder of the worldwide initiative "Agile in education".

As you will hear, Willy is a passionate chemistry and physics teacher on the Ashram College in Alphen aan den Rijn and Aikido teacher. 

Willy shares about his journey and how he created eduscrum, we discuss the values underpinning it all and the fact that he gets pushback around students' agency and freedom to choose what they do.

I am sure you will enjoy it as much as I did.

I am delighted to be sharing this powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with Dr John Cottone. John is a Psychologist, Researcher, Clinical Assistant Professor and Columnist for Psychology Today

We discussed so many topics: mental health versus mental ill-health and the 4 types of depression, the Tao Te Ching for parents, how best to support our young people when 25 is the new 18 and we need to adapt our expectations and consider that boys tend to lag behind in childhood. and finally why getting in a top university shouldn't be the end all and be all.

LINKS:

Article: What Today's Teens and Teslas Have in Common

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Article: Why 25 Could Be the New 18 (1 of 2)

Article: Why 25 Could Be the New 18 (2 of 2)

Note: The first article talks about the phenomenon of extended brain development into the mid-20s; the second article offers recommendations for parents.

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Article: Four Types of Depression

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Ted Talk: Andrew Solomon - Depression: The Secret We ShareArticle: The Idea of Existential Depression-----

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Ted Talk: Brene Brown - The Power of Vulnerability

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The Tao Te Ching: Translated by Benjamin Hoff

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Looking Beyond Ivy League Hype - The College Solution:

https://thecollegesolution.com/looking-beyond-ivy-league-hype/

This week it's conversation two with the wonderful Olly Newton. If you haven't listened to our first conversation, you can check it out here: Episode 56.

In this episode Olly and I talk about his recent work on Rethinking Assessment and you can read Olly's blog post I mention in our chat here.

Olly and I talk about the importance of all coming together to push for change and the holistic element.

This week I am delighted to share my powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with Hema Patel on the importance to love who we be and what we do in order to express ourselves authentically.

Hema is a Hypnotherapist and Coach who also delivers Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT). She supports rebellious growth seekers, like you, to LEVEL UP and ENJOY IT!!!

She tells me how much she believes that self-love and self-expression are gateways to abundance.

This week I am delighted to share a conversation with Dr Chris Bagley about his amazing work as an educational psychologist whose core motivation is to co-develop psychologically healthy education systems alongside young people, families, professionals and creative thinkers.

We talk about his research as part of his role as Director of Research at States of Mind, and how he is part of an innovative team of practitioners dedicated to gaining young people's insights about education and placing their voices at the centre of reform.

A must listen to if you believe in the power of autonomy and in promoting reform by listening to young people.

This podcast interview is another powerful imperfectly perfect conversation. This time with the wonderful Bea Herbert.

Bea founded States of Mind in 2017, driven by a desire to create change in how our society speaks about and supports experiences of emotional distress. Bea is the Project Manager and Lead Facilitator at States of Mind.

We talk about Bea's work - co-designing initiatives that promote young people’s wellbeing which draw on her training in Psychosynthesis Psychotherapy. Such an inspirational chat. Take a listen!

I am thrilled to be sharing this powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with the wonderful Becky Carlzon. She is an Educator, enabler. Co-creator of Learning Pioneers, revolutionising Professional Learning. Nearly award-winning author, Powering Up Children.

If you wonder what happens when two women who are passionate about education and change in education come together and have an in-depth conversation - take a listen!

You can find Becky on Twitter @Beckycarlzon and Linkedin

Today I am delighted to share this wonderful conversation with Dr Abide Zenenga who is the co-founder of Riverside Education and a Special Education Needs Consultant.

I visited Abide and his team in October 2021 and I was so impressed by his work and his school settings.

I think you will thoroughly enjoy this powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with him.

I am delighted to start the New Year by sharing this amazing conversation with the wonderful Alice Sheldon. She is the Founder of Needs Understanding.

Alice's book recently came out - it's called 'Why weren't we taught this at school? - the surprisingly simple secret to transforming life's challenges'.

We talk about 'being busy', life and how we can get all of our needs met.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am sure you will too!

In our previous episode, we talked about the importance of our wellbeing as mothers. In this conversation, I talk with the wonderful Florence (Ukpabi) Okwusogu and we discuss the importance of teachers' wellbeing. 

Florence empowers burnt out teachers to thrive by becoming the Boss of their Health, Happiness & Life. You can check out her website here: Aligned Flow.

We cannot have a flourishing education and flourishing young people if their teachers and educators are unwell. Flourishing education = flourishing students and flourishing adults in their lives and that includes their teachers. Florence talks about her experience and shares tips and advice on how to look after our wellbeing as teachers/educators.

Enjoy!

This week I am delighted to share this powerful conversation with Dr Dani Hristova about a very important topic which is often ignored and certainly not discussed enough (in my humble opinion) and which can clearly affect our wellbeing and health as mothers (and as a result the rest of the family): menopause.

Dani is a Senior Clinical Physician and Medical Advisor with a deep interest in Women's Health. She is an expert trainer, mentor and clinical trial specialist. In this podcast she shares why it's important to seek professional help early and the potential impact of menopause in our lives now and for the future.

Listen here!

In this episode, I talk to the wonderful Rob Hopkins - Rob is a cofounder of Transition Town Totnes and Transition Network, and the author of The Transition Handbook, The Transition Companion, The Power of Just Doing Stuff, 21 Stories of Transition and most recently, From What Is to What If: unleashing the power of imagination to create the future we want. Rob also hosts a podcast series ‘From What If to What Next‘ which invites listeners to send in their “what if” questions and then explores how to make them a reality.

In this podcast, we discuss what would happen if we reimagined education and if we unleashed the power of imagination to create the future of education we want. A very powerful chat indeed!

In this episode I am delighted to be talking with Alan Williams, Director of ServiceBrand Global Ltd. We use the values' lense to look at the word 'education' and we discuss the question: 'what's the purpose of education'?

A deep dive into the meaning of these word and the importance of going beyond surface level assumptions.

In this episode I am delighted to follow up the two powerful episodes with Rosina Dorelli with a powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with Zach Reznichek, Co-Founder at Da Vinci Life-Skills | Author of Teacher-Gamer Handbook.

We talk about the Da Vinci Life Skills pilot in Bali but also about Zach's work and his book - the Teacher Gamer Handbook and how Role-Playing Games in Schools helps build literacy, bolster confidence and ignite imaginations. 

Enjoy!

I am delighted to be sharing Part I of this powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with Rosina Dorelli, Founder/Director at Da Vinci Life-Skills, Design Technology & Art teacher and Homerton Changemaker Ambassador.

In this second episode, we hear all about Rosina's specific plans with Da Vinci Life Skills which showcases a model for the future of education. 

Enjoy!

I am delighted to be sharing Part I of this powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with Rosina Dorelli, Founder/Director at Da Vinci Life-Skills, Design Technology & Art teacher and Homerton Changemaker Ambassador.

In this first episode, we hear all about Rosina's experience and what led her to create the Da Vinci Life Skills which showcases a model for the future of education. I am sure you will thoroughly enjoy this chat.

In this podcast interview I talk with Riyad Maroof Hassan Author, Youngest Writer of Assam, Talk Show Host. Founder - The Clippers & TCCCI & LOS Podcast Host - A Sketch Of The Sky. History & STEM Analyst,  Global Child Rights Ambassador, Poet, Singer, Essayist.

Another powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with a young writer and author. We discussed about how young people can co-create with adults and the importance of imagination and creativity in education.

Today I share my conversation with Mike McCarthy. Mike is a Journalist, Media consultant. Campaigner for mental health awareness and change.

I often say that all the people I speak to reshape who I am. This podcast is one of them. A real life changer which moved me to the core of my being.

Listen to Mike who shares his story, the loss of their beautiful son Ross to suicide and his mission and campaign for mental health awareness and change so that we can have better mental health in the UK (and beyond).

In this episode, I talk with Mike Gilmour who is Principal of Knightsbridge House International School in Singapore and Author of The Power of Rapport. Mike and I had such a heart-warming conversation about the importance of human connections and what little steps we can all take to bring more rapport in our lives in order to build positive relationships and a sense of belonging.

I am really excited to be sharing this conversation with the wonderful Sharath Jeevan. Sharath talks to us about his amazing book 'Intrinsic: A manifesto to re-ignite our inner-drive. I loved the book and I recommend it highly.

I asked Sharath a lot of questions around intrinsic motivation versus extrinsic motivation and their implications in the field of education.

You can find out more about Sharath's work on his web site Intrinsic-lab

I am sure you will enjoy it as much as I did.

In this new episode, I talk with the wonderful Liz Keable and her amazing work as Teaching and Learning Specialist.

We discuss metacognition in education and in practice as well as success, neuroscience and why it is important to think about our thinking.

I loved this conversation and I am sure you will too.

I am delighted to share this powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with Zofie Lloyd-Kucia, Happiness Coach and Founder of Relax Me Happy.

We discuss the importance of presence in our lives and what we can do to be free from anxiety.

I am delighted to share this conversation with Greg Satell who is best selling author of Mapping Mapping Innovation: A Playbook for Navigating a Disruptive Age as well as Cascades: How to Create a Movement that Drives Transformational Change.

In this podcast Greg explains how creating true change is never easy. The status quo is, almost by definition, well entrenched and never gives up without a fight.

Greg also explains how to truly change the world or even just your little corner of it, you don’t need a charismatic leader or a catchy slogan. What you need is a cascade: small groups that are loosely connected but united by a common purpose.

It's a very powerful conversation and anybody who wants to see change in education will enjoy it tremendously.

You can connect with Greg on Linked in as well as Twitter

His websites are - Digitaltonto and GregSatell.com

I am super excited to be sharing this conversation with Richard Fransham. 

Richard told me how early in his teaching career, he read “Education and Ecstasy” by George Leonard and that set him on a course to becoming a strong advocate for self-directed learning. He now focuses his advocacy on the mental health of young people, which has two core ingredients: social justice and self-determination. He explains how these ingredients form the basis to self-directed learning. 

Richard has initiated The Youth Rights Day to provide youth and their supporters with the opportunity to show the power of their combined voices.

You can find out more by checking Richard's website 

I am delighted to share this powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with Gilda Scarfe who is a researcher, keynote speaker, global consultant, and positive education and leadership expert. You can find out more about her work here - Positive Ed

We talk about how we (parents, educators, leaders) can empower young people to be the architect of their success. Gilda shares her work around mental toughness, self-compassion, self acceptance and resilience. Enjoy!

I am delighted to be sharing this powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with Bryn Llewellyn who is the founder of TAGTIV8 and Co-Director of Move & Learn.

We discuss many topics and in particular how we need to incorporate movement into the daily lives of our children and young people (and ours) in order to develop critical thinking, curiosity and empathy.

I would highly recommend that you also watch Bryn's TED Talk (with Andy Daly-Smith) on how physically active learning combines movement and learning and how initial research proves positive impacts on academic performance, classroom behavior and cognition.

In this episode, I speak with Michael Stewart, Founder of ESP thinking.

Michael tells me about the ESP range of products are aimed at providing a new set of solutions to some of the major problems facing education. We know that more and more is being asked of our teachers and so Michael and his business are looking at as many ways of achieving this as possible.  This is not following trends, it is creating them.

In this episode, I share the very 'raw' & 'honest' conversation I had with Charles Young who created LACES - an educational programme which was developed by Charles in 1994. It offers educational and practical support to vulnerable young people of all ages. 

Since 1994, Charles has spoken to thousands of young people on the subject of Drugs and alcohol and how a life of crime can affect individuals, their family and friends, and the victims. Charles' message is clear and simple "Don't Follow a criminal path as I did".

I am delighted to be sharing the amazing work done by The Global Goals Centre, a UK based education charity creating exciting engaging experiences that inspire learning and action on climate and equality in our everyday lives. Jenny Foster, the Project Lead for the Global Goals Centre explains how they create their own projects and amplify the work of others, inspired by the UN Global Goals.

I am thrilled to be sharing another powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with a young man - Jake Donziger. We talk about his project Blaze and how Jake is trying to spark change in education through innovation.

Enjoy!

In this episode, I have a wonderful conversation with Praja Tickoo and we discuss his business Impact the Future, an organization dedicated to empowering students to problem-solve through the process of design thinking.

We talk about the importance of empowering young people and giving them a voice and platform.

A powerful conversation!

In this episode, I speak with Michael Lawrence, Veteran Teacher, Education and Music Writer about what we can learn from Finland in order to change the face of education and ensure that our young people truly become life long learners.

We talk about Michael's book - Testing 3, 2, 1: What education can learn from Finland

I am so happy to share this conversation with May-Ling Thomas who is a home-educator and a coach. This is our third conversation as we have become very good friends and in this episode we ask (amongst many other things):

- what would happen if we stopped viewing the situation in education from the lense of 'problem'?

- Can we reform education one powerful conversation at a time? 

May-Ling wanted me to clarify two things she said in the podcast - Nikki O'Rourke & Natasha Gossett created this great self-directed project called Curiouser & Co, but she referenced them as the idea holders of a kind of learning community that is actually just Nikki's. Nikki set up Curious Minds which is an existing Home Educating group in Raynes Park/Wimbledon.  

The 2nd thing was the democratic school she mentioned was the East Kent Sudbury School. Kezia Cantwell-Wright set it up and wrote that article that said we should support existing projects if at all possible. 

This is the article: https://eastkentsudburyschool.org.uk/democracy/thinking-of-starting-a-democratic-school/

Enjoy 

I am delighted to share this fabulous imperfectly perfect conversation with Steve Hall who is Senior Lecturer in Education at Staffordshire University with an interest in community-led learning and a work-based, apprenticeship route into teaching.

You can connect with Steve on Twitter.

We discuss the importance of research-led change and why it's important, the concept of 'white space' for creativity and innovation and finally why trust, equity and a shared language for learning are vital.

In this episode I talk with Professor Paula Caligiuri - we discuss her latest book 'build your cultural agility' and the link I have found between flourishing individuals and the fact that I believe they are culturally agile.

You can find out more about Paula's work by checking her website Skiilify 

Her guide to building cultural agility and the assessment can be found here myGiide

I am so happy to share this powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with Alex Khost. He talks about Flying Squads, the project he is currently working on. Alex is a father and Youth Rights advocate. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Tipping Points, the book and magazine publisher for the Alliance for Self-Directed Education, and founder of Voice of the Children, promoting and facilitating art and activism for young people. He works at the homeschooling coop, Brooklyn Apple Academy.

A must listen-to if you are interested in Youth Rights!

In the podcast, Alex also mentions the work done by Akilah Richards called Raising Free People

This is an incredible conversation with Angela Karanja who is an Adolescent Psychologist & Parenting Teenagers Expert. In this episode, you will learn more about Angela and will discover how she can help you build strong bonds with your teenager based on honesty and trust, so that they actually wants to listen to you.

You can connect with Angela here:

Website: Raising Teenagers 

Linkedin: Raising Teenagers

Twitter @angelakaranja 

Facebook @angelakaranja

Facebook page @raisingremarkableteenagers 

Instagram @raisingremarkableteenagers

This episode was a real joy and pleasure to record. I was very lucky to chat with the wonderful Kristen Helmsetter, author of Coffee Self-Talk - 5 minutes a day to start living your magical life as well as romance novels under the pen name Brisa Starr.

If you have heard of the importance our our mind chatter and inner dialogue and want to develop new and healthier habits, then this book (and this podcast conversation) is for you.

You can follow Kristen on Instagram - Coffee Self Talk page and join her Facebook group

In this episode, I have a fascinating conversation with Alison Kriel who shares her experience as Head Teacher and CEO who has both turned around a failing school within a deprived area of London from the bottom 1% to the top 0.1% in 3 years and then sustained the success for a further 6 years.

Alison also shares why she believes that school staff know their school best and why she has launched a professional platform where we can celebrate, connect, share and collaborate to make #EverySchoolAGreatSchool

In this episode, I speak with Brandi Heather - Award-Winning Disability and Inclusion Educator, Consultant, Business Owner of Amped2play, Play Coach, Inspirational Speaker, and Canadian Best Selling Author of Return To Play: Rebuilding Resilience, Risk and Reconnection.

You can also buy it if you are in France and Germany

Brandi and I talk about how together, we build diverse and inclusive cultures. We also discuss the importance of play. Brandi's business was created as an answer to the critical need in business, health, and education for solutions to account for our loss of physical, cognitive, and social ability to adapt in times of change.

This conversation was so empowering for me and I am delighted to be able to share it with you. Enjoy!

In this episode, I speak with Dr James Mannion, Director, Rethinking Education. Specialists in research-informed school improvement and professional development. We discuss all the fantastic work James has been doing, including his Rethinking Education Mighty Network and Rethinking Education podcast.

You can also join his Rethinking Education Facebook Group and Rethinking Education Campfire Conversations.

His book Fear is the Mind Killer co-written with Kate McAllister is available on Amazon

In this episode, I talk about Dr Laura Biggart, a Senior Lecturer in Social Science Research and Psychology in the School of Psychology and the Director of Enterprise and Extermal Relations for the School of Psychology. Laura is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

We talk about the difference between emotional intelligence and emotional resilience but we also explore Laura's work: The Team as Secure Base draws from social workers’ experiences and their articulation of what helps create trust as a foundation for effective teamworking.

A fascinating conversation - I highly recommend it.

This episode was so easy and fun to record - David Anderson or Pep the Poet. His mission is to ‘scatter sunshine one poem at a time.’ David is the easiest man to talk to and so humble. We talk about the books he has written:  poetry for children, but also for student teachers and educators.

We also discuss fear and love and why fear tells lies.

A must listen to!

I am really delighted to be sharing this wonderful conversation with Graham Frost - a speaker who helps young people make better choices and heart-shaped decisions.

In this wonderful episode Graham shares his own heart-shaped decisions which include leaving his whole family behind at the age of 17 to start a new life, and just two years later, getting away from a life of petty crime after a spell in a Young Offenders' Institution.

Such a powerful conversation!

I am very happy to share this conversation with Helen Clare, she is a former primary school teacher. She's also a senior yoga teacher, founder of  Class Yoga. Her vision is to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of children globally, no matter their background, by enabling teachers, parents and carers to offer excellent quality yoga and mindfulness for them, at school and at home.

We discuss why we, as adults we are role models for our young people and why it is so important to look after own wellbeing so that our young people be well too.

I am delighted to share this extremely powerful conversation with Dave McPartlin, Head teacher of Flakefleet Primary as well as BBCbitesize presenter. Britain's Got Talent Golden Buzzer Finalist, Happiest school 2018 and School of the Year runner up 2019.

David share with me why happy children = happy learners. We did talk about BGT but we also went much deeper and discussed the importance of mindset and equity in education.

Have a listen! I loved it and so did Dave!

I am delighted to be sharing this powerful imperfectly perfect conversation with Raheen Fatima.  Raheen is a 13 year-old girl from Pakistan. She is a peace and SDGs activist, standup-comedian, Theater Actress and Interviewer. 

Her goal is to empower People around her to foster the global peace.

Enjoy our conversation! I loved it. I am sure you will too.

I am so happy to be sharing this powerful conversation with Yumna Hussen, co-author of Struggles of War. Yumna is a multi-hyphenate growth enthusiast, committed to influencing transformational change to ensure marginalised young people’s voices are directly embedded in policy making. 

She is the elected Deputy Member of Youth Parliament for Birmingham and the Chair of Birmingham Aspiring Youth Council, representing 200,000+ young people in UK Youth Parliament.

I would recommend you listen to Yumna's TED talk. In this conversation, we talk how it is time to grow our own collective resilience. Now's the time that we need to reevaluate our education. How now is the time that we need to remember that we as individuals have far more impact when we give ourselves the permission to seek a renewed sense of possibility for our own communities. When we work together, when we collaborate, in which we can actually develop ourselves into active citizens who want to create a difference, you are reimagining the systems that we live in with a limitless potential, and we have the agency to redefine our lives on our own terms.

A must listen to!

I am delighted to share this conversation with Lottie Cook, activist, public speaker, writer and A-level student who is also part of pupil power.

Lottie tells me why we need to listen to young people and act on what they are sharing and saying to us.

A truly powerful and magical conversation.

This week is all about young people and we start this Monday with Olivia Barnes. She is 17, lives in the US and describes as a self-directed learner, a lover of learning.

Listen to what she has to say about her experience. I was so impressed by her eloquence and her ability to express herself so clearly and effectively. You will understand why she calls herself a lover of learning.

I have found a new hero!

In this episode, I talk with Professor Guy Claxton. We discuss his new book 'The Future of Teaching: And the Myths That Hold It Back' and why it's time for the educational slugfest to stop. He also told me why the search for a new model of education – one that is genuinely empowering for all young people – is serious and necessary.

A must listen for anybody who wants to see change in education!

I am so happy to share this conversation with Heather MacTaggart creator of the Unschooling school movement - let's make school fit the learner.

Heather is a mother of four children, passionate about making the education system work for everyone. She is also Founder and Executive Director of Classroom Connections, on-site leader, Change It Up initiatives within Alberta First Nations communities. She is the co-author Overschooled but Undereducated, with John Abbott in the UK

This episode is an outstanding conversation with Derry Hanham. He shares with me about how in his twenty years as a teacher in English state secondary schools he always tried to create environments where students could make choices about and take care control of their own learning in a democratic and rights respecting context. We talk about his book Another Way is possible - hardcopy or ebook

Derry has been described as a 'bridge person' who tries to bring about dialogue between the mainly private democratic education movement with its 500+ schools worldwide and state or public school systems.

I highly recommend this episode.

This is a beautiful conversation with Elsa Torres about equity and inclusion. I highly recommend it. It was such a powerful chat.

Elsa tells us to:

Wonderful to finish the week with this powerful interview with Scott Van Beck who is co-founder of The Education Game.

We talk about our importance and role as parents, how we can become learning coaches instead and start asking questions instead of telling our children what to do.

A short conversation with Beau McCoy, Founder and CEO at SOLcademy. We talk about his new educational short-format video platform, distraction-free & ad-free and the benefits it brings to learners, parents and educators.

Today, I am particularly excited to share my interview with Shannon Ross. He is Founder and Executive Director of The Community. Emotional intelligence expert. HIGH-motor, highly-principled entrepreneur and Reentry/reform consultant.

Shannon truly inspired me during this interview and we talked about his experience in prison, how it changed him and all about his work on Reentry and reform consultant. A truly empowering conversation.

I am very excited to be sharing this episode with Emmanual Ponchon, who is Multicultural educator - eduScrum Rep / Trainer for Spain and France. Languages & Effective Communication Trainer / Coach.

In this episode, Emmanuel tells us about eduScrum and his amazing work with the Treehouse but we also discuss what it would be like if we considered education as an ecosystem. What happens when we create a safe and nurturing environment? If we fostered trust in ourselves and our young people and most importantly if we developed more connections:  with yourself, with the people around you, with your emotions with the world, and with nature (which is very important)?

Today I talk with Seth Fleischauer, President & founder at Banyan Global Learning; founder at Lingoloop; expert in video conferencing, international teaching, SEL & K-12 online education.

We talk about his amazing work at the intersection of technology, language, culture and social and emotional learning. 

Seth invites us to:

We often say that our schooling system is not working. Well today, I am going to share the amazing work done by the wonderful Wayne Haworth who is Principal at Hampton Park Secondary College in Australia.

Wayne shares his journey and his innovative thinking and approach and why we want young people to be lifelong lovers of learning.

A must listen for those who have lost faith in the current schooling system.

This week, I talk to Kathryn Pratt - Founder at Soweni (Cornish for Thrive) where we discuss the origins of this empowering non-profit, which is evolving education for the 21st Century in the Age of Corona. 

It’s all about Ecosystem Learning where the traditional boxes of family life, work life & school are blown apart and education becomes an exciting, inquiry driven, supported open journey for everyone.

I am sure you will find this episode a fascinating listen!

This week I talk with Lee Pace, Deputy Headteacher who specialises in pedagogy and curriculum design. We talk about the concept of cognitive load, cognitive overload and how great curriculum design, tailored to the needs of pupils, complimented by research informed pedagogy will lead to amazing outcomes, giving learners hope for the future.

Today, I talk with Ava Shabnum Hasan, LSE graduate and former teacher who worked in several state and independent schools in England and Asia, including Merchant Taylors' Prep School and Harrow International School Bangkok. Former SENDCo and Senior Leader she founded Mentally Well Schools in 2019.

We talk about the importance of compassion and self-compassion as well as giving our young people the knowledge and skills they need to navigate the challenges ahead of them.

This week, on the Flourishing Education podcast, I talk to the amazing Aidan Sloane, Head of Skills, Apprenticeships, Employer Engagement at Belfast Metropolitan College. We discuss how the FIRST choice is always the RIGHT choice for young people and how there is not just one determined straight path: GCSE, A-levels and degree/higher degrees (in the UK) but that people should be encouraged to find what is right for them - not ONE PATH but ONE'S PATH.

In this episode, I interview the amazing Naomi Fisher, Clinical Psychologist. 

We talk about her book Changing our Minds and how it brings together research, theory and practice on learning.

Naomi looks at education through a psychological lens and tells us how there are other ways to learn. School is not the only way to become educated.

This week I talk with Nathan McGurl, Founder of The Study Buddy which Nathan created to support his child when he was revising for his GCSE.

We discuss the importance of developing skills for the future of our young people.

This week, I share another powerful conversation with Toni Pettitt, who is founder and director of Branching Out Forest School & Social Forestry.

We discuss the what 'Forest School and Social Forestry are, their benefits and most importantly why we should keep investing in children and young people's outdoor experiences.

In this episode, the wonderful Sally Fox, Headteacher of a Pool Church of England primary school in West Yorkshire talks to me about her big why and why she believes in personalising education not standardising it. and helps me realise that what I want the most for my children and our young people (and myself) is to find meaning and fulfilment in life.

I am sure you will find this conversation with Sally as inspiring as I did.

This week, I talk with the wonderful Dr Ian Cunningham who chairs the Governing Body of SML College. He created Self Managed Learning in the 1970’s and was the first person to be awarded a PhD in Management Learning from the University of Lancaster. He has published six books and over 120 articles and papers in areas such as education, learning, leadership and organisational change.

In this episode we talk about his new book - Self Managed Learning and the New Educational Paradigm and his amazing work at the Self Managed Learning (SML) College. I am sure you will be as inspired and motivated by his work than I am.

Tis week I speak with the wonderful Komal Shah, Educational consultant creating a more harmonious world by shifting outdated educational paradigms through consciousness. It was a fascinating discussion talking about Komal's journey through the 'mainstream system', her frustrations which led her to write her new book, a nonfiction book that speaks to educational leaders, teachers, and parents who have a desire to educate the whole child in a new way.

Komal's book 'Bringing Consciousness to Education' is available to pre-order here.

This week I talk to TJ Jutla Managing Director of QTS - Quality Teacher Suppliers who is inspiring change in education and & challenging The Status Quo.

Enjoy!

This week I had a wonderful and joyful conversation with Ros Wilson about the importance of talk.

With over 55 years experience in education, including 27 years in schools, ten years in senior management positions and 14 years in advisory and inspection work.

She has taught in primary, middle and secondary schools