Fresh Forward

This week’s guest is Mihaela Tabacaru. Our conversation is about organized chaos in education. About how to stay messy and be comfortable with that messiness, and not knowing the power of facilitating the in-between spaces of connection, acknowledgment, safety, and personal growth. We touch upon the relevance of humans in times of AI. Furthermore, we will discuss the value of failure and the safe...

Papers and readings are very common tools in education. Today's guest Chris McMorran tried something different and incorporated making a podcast into his teachings in order to keep his students deeply engaged. In this episode, we talk about the results of using podcasts, the ups and downs, and the beauty of co-creation with students. Chris McMorran is an associate professor of Japanese Studies at...

Maura McAdam is internationally renowned for her pioneering work in gender equality and women's entrepreneurship and has been ranked amongst the top 2% of scientists in the world for research impact of her research on entrepreneurship. In this episode, we talk about how you can really bring your classroom to life and create a worthwhile learning experience for your students. Entrepreneurship is ex...

This episode's guest is Sylvia Bronkhorst. Her program “Learning with head, heart, and hands” innovates learning at HAN University of Applied Sciences here in The Netherlands. The goal of her program is to get students and teachers excited about education that approaches the whole human being, rather than exclusively the brain. This starts with trust and building a strong community. Out of that tr...

Today we are talking about playfulness leadership and how it can bring ease and joy (back) to education. Because it’s ok to play. If you are able to lean into this playfulness leadership you will be able to create awesome learning experiences. Connect with me on linkedin: Neza Krek. Sign up for the newsletter to receive handy dandy handouts and checklists that will help you up your facilitation &a...

How can we create a better world and improve education by connecting with our natural cycles? In this episode, my guest Carola von Zsemery will explain everything about what could this connection look like and what are the benefits of connecting with our natural cycles. She has been diving deep into self-discovery, personal development, and inner growth. Since 2016 she focuses on women's work guid...

Hello, dear Fresh Forward listener! The new podcast season is in the making and in the meanwhile, I prepared a few bonus episodes for you. You see, I asked each of my guests from the first season to bring in a question for me. The episode you're about to listen to is a patchwork of my answers to their questions about education, learning, facilitation, transformation, and business. And remember: Fe...

Hello, dear Fresh Forward listener! The new podcast season is in the making and in the meanwhile, I prepared a few bonus episodes for you. You see, I asked each of my guests from the first season to bring in a question for me. The episode you're about to listen to is a patchwork of my answers to their questions about education, learning, facilitation, transformation, and business. And remember: Fe...

The academic environment is often very competitive. Anke de Vrieze and Meghann Ormond initiated the Transformative Learning Hub with one central question: how to integrate head, heart, and hands in higher education? And to connect people with diverse backgrounds to break down walls and barriers between teaching and research. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Chantal Inen and I talk about creating micro revolutions and movements. Chantal Inen has been a businesswoman for over 11 years and won numerous awards. She helps organizations and big companies to transform international challenges with water, food, climate, sanitation, and health care into viable business opportunities. By doing small steps at a time we can create big impacts. E...

What is facilitation? In this episode I talk about the difference between lecturing, facilitation, facilitation transformative learning, mentoring, and coaching. One is not better than the other, but being able to cherry pick for the occasion can strengthen your impact as a teacher. Facilitation for me is the missing part in adult education. When incorporated right it can be the change agent in ed...

We lost the connection with our bodies because we are constantly told to not listen to them. My guest Chitra Natarajan explains how the use of hypnobirthing, guided imagery and other tools can enhance your birthing experience and then we chat about how those insights could be applied in mainstream education. The main message is: we need to get rid of the top-down authority in the birthing world. I...

When trained to be a teacher I got the message that I need to have full control over what happens in the classroom. Once I shifted to a facilitated approach in teaching that belief was hindering the engagement of my students. I had to learn to let go of my expectations. That happened through the redefinition of my relationship to rules. I started extending invitations instead - and the engagement...

My conversation with Marilyn Mehlmann (Sweden) turned so many stones. We spoke about: the role of education systems in dealing with collective trauma transformative learning the disconnect from emotions in adult education and why that is what and why we educate our economists and why is it essential to reconsider the myths about money that feeds into the society the war in Ukraine and how the teac...

In this episode, I share the story of how I heard about facilitation and how I got to be a facilitator myself. Back in the day, facilitation was still an unknown concept in Slovenia. There were only 24 of us in the whole country. Now, as a professional facilitator, I carry with me a suitcase full of tools every time I go facilitate a session. Every object has a purpose. This episode is a collectio...

How can we create a better, more sustainable and fullfilling world? The lack of connection with others, nature and mostly ourselves is one of the causes for the mental health issues we are seeing in the world right now. We stopped listening to our inner voice. What role does our education system play in this? How can we set an environment that empowers people to become their fullest self? Is growt...

Imagine for a second that you have a magic wand to change the way we educate on this planet. What would you change? If asked differently: What would your education utopia look like? If I ask my clients what frustrates them about our current education system, the answer is usually: “Omg, Neža, how much time do you have for me to answer this question? I mean, *I’d talk about how difficult is to get...