Education On Fire - Sharing creative and inspiring learning in our schools

Dr. Sophia Nicole Morgan is an educator, author, and entrepreneur whose work focuses on career literacy, academic advising, and helping students make intentional decisions about their futures. Her career spans Jamaica, the United States, and China. She is the founder of Explore Career Academy, a platform dedicated to helping schools integrate career exploration and college planning into everyday l...

Adam Adler is a Charleston-based founder and investor focused on building technology that creates healthier, more sustainable systems — for families, communities, and the next generation. The idea for Wyzly didn't come from a pitch deck or a boardroom. It came from Adam's daughter, Isla. At seven years old, Isla proposed a simple idea that every parent instantly understands: what if kids could ear...

Dyslexia, which affects an estimated 15 to 20% of learners, often leads to the frustrating advice of waiting and seeing from educational professionals. Russell Van Brocklen, a dyslexia researcher and advocate, challenges this complacency by presenting actionable solutions for parents and educators. His innovative approach, grounded in structured literacy methods, aims to transform the educational...

Kevin Cripe was a teacher in Modesto City Schools for 27 years and during that time created an award winning after school chess program for students who came from socio-economically challenged backgrounds. He took students to 200+ tournaments and 14 national chess championships and watched as students used chess to become first generation college graduates. After retiring he moved to Central Ameri...

Jacob Adams is an education leader committed to transforming schools into places of joy, belonging, and critical thinking for Black and Brown youth. He coined the term “disconnection crisis” to describe how traditional education separates young people from their purpose, community, and creativity. In 2017, he founded STEM to the Future, now Inner Spark Learning Lab, which has reached over 40,000 y...

In this final episode of the Ger Graus Gets Gritty series, Professor Dr Ger Graus OBE and I wrap up our 10-episode journey through education from early years to higher education and beyond. We explore the difference between schooling and education , the role of universities in an AI-driven world, and whether lifelong learning could — or should — move beyond traditional institutions. Learning doesn...

Joining Mark Taylor as part of this series with Prof Dr Ger Graus OBE is Rebecca Durose-Croft a Managing Director with over 20 years’ experience in educational publishing and the evolving world of edtech. Rebecca has built a reputation for bringing together editorial expertise, strategic thinking and a deep understanding of how learners engage with content - leading teams to create high-quality pu...

Today we bring together Prof Dr Ger Graus OBE and Cristian Fabbi, Director of the Fondazione Reggio Children, for a deeply human and intellectually rich conversation about the future of early years education. Ger and Cristian share personal stories and the work of their friend and colleague Carla Rinaldi — one of the world's most influential educational thinkers. They explore what it truly means t...

Today I'm delighted to chat with Matthew Kaufman from I Love Camp. He has spent more than three decades creating environments where children and staff thrive and he has done this as a camper, counselor, and now summer camp director. People learn, grow, and connect best in community settings where problem-solving, creativity, and play come first. Most workplaces, schools, and families stumble into...

Joe Reed, founder of Pulse, discusses how his student support platform is transforming the way schools identify and respond to struggling students. Rather than relying solely on traditional metrics like grades and attendance, Pulse brings together teachers, parents, counsellors, and therapists around a shared, real-time picture of each student's wellbeing. Joe shares the story behind the platform...

Josh Dorfman is a climate entrepreneur, author, and media personality. He is the CEO and host of Supercool, a media company covering real-world climate solutions that cut carbon, increase profits, and enhance modern life. Josh was previously the co-founder and CEO of Plantd, a carbon-negative building materials manufacturer, which was named to Fast Company’s list of the World’s Most Innovative Com...

As we transition into the Easter break here in the UK, I will take the next couple weeks off to spend time with my family. But today I share the events and products produced by National Association of Primary Education. These include: Reading Conference with University of Bedfordshire Maintaining Curiosity in the Curriculum - Christian Schiller Lecture - London Primary First Journal Book release o...

Cerys Griffiths is the Head of BBC Bitesize, the BBC's free, online learning resource for students aged 5 to 16, their teachers and parents. Bitesize also aims to support educating the whole child through it's Careers, Study Support and media literacy offer, Other Side of the Story, as well as special educational initiatives like the Bitesize Guide to AI. Cerys was, for many years, a journalist in...

Ross W. Greene, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and the originator of the innovative, evidence-based approach called Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS), as described in his influential books The Explosive Child, Lost at School, Lost & Found, and Raising Human Beings. He developed and executive produced the award-winning documentary film The Kids We Lose. Dr. Greene was on the facult...

In this solo reflective episode, host Mark Taylor wraps up the first part of the Ger Graus Gets Gritty season by doing something personal — instead of a straightforward summary, he weaves the season's key themes through the story of his own life in music. From a secondary school wind band to 30 years as a professional musician and music educator, Mark explores how opportunity, community, practice,...

This week I used AI to summarize the 7 episodes I have recorded with Prof Dr Ger Graus OBE about his book Through a Different Lens: Lessons from a Life in Education. The aim was to give you a short (22 mins) overview of the themes we have discussed in a different way. I used the transcripts from all 7 episodes to create a summary document in Claude which I then imported to NotebookLM that in turn...

Based on the final chapter of Prof Dr Ger Graus's book Through a Different Lens: Lessons from a Life in Education (Routledge), this conversation asks the most honest question of the entire series: So what? Ger examines what 40-plus years of educational work has truly changed — and what it hasn't. At the heart of the episode is a sobering reckoning: Wythenshawe, the deprived area of Manchester wher...

"More Than a School: Values, Measurement, and What Education Is Really For" In this episode of the Ger Graus Gets Gritty series, Mark Taylor sits down once again with Professor Dr. Ger Graus OBE to explore one of his most passionate themes — the idea that schools are, and must intentionally become, more than a school . Drawing on his own transformative work leading Education Action Zones in Wythen...

In this episode of the Ger Graus Gets Gritty series, Professor Dr. Ger Graus OBE tackles what he calls "the most underestimated aspect of a child's learning and growing up"—the role adults play as models in young people's lives. Through personal stories, including his daughter's early obsession with "Mrs. Poole" her nursery teacher, and insights from his global work with Kidzania, Ger reveals how...

This is the fourth instalment of the "Ger Graus Gets Gritty" series. Based on Chapter 4 of his book Through a Different Lens: Lessons from a Life in Education (published by Routledge), this episode tackles one of the most contentious topics in modern education: technology. Rather than focusing on the technical aspects of digital tools, Professor Dr Ger Graus OBE reframes the conversation around te...

In this episode we explore the critical distinction between schooling and education—and why it matters more than ever. Drawing from his book Through a Different Lens: Lessons from a Life in Education , Prof Dr Ger Graus OBE challenges us to rethink how we prepare children not just for exams, but for lifelong learning. From conversations with Reggio Emilia's Carla Rinaldi to insights on India's Nat...

This episode explores how children's aspirations are fundamentally shaped by their experiences and what they're exposed to. Drawing from Prof Dr Ger Graus's groundbreaking work with the Wythenshawe Education Action Zone and Manchester Airport, they unpack the reality that children from disadvantaged backgrounds often can't dream of careers they've never seen. The conversation moves from airports t...

In this first episode of a special 10-part series named Ger Graus Gets Gritty , Mark Taylor sits down with Professor Dr. Ger Graus OBE to launch an honest conversation about education and schooling. Following the release of Ger's book "Through a Different Lens: Lessons from a Life in Education" this series uses each chapter as a springboard for examining what's working—and what isn't—in our educat...

Samantha Gourd from Country Space explains the profound benefits and opportunities presented by connecting educational institutions with British farms. The initiative aims to provide immersive, hands-on learning experiences for students, facilitating a deeper understanding of agriculture and sustainability. By engaging children in activities such as growing vegetables and caring for animals, the p...

Dr. Cynthia Rapaido, a highly accomplished educator, holds an Ed. D. in International and Multicultural Education and an M.A. in Educational Administration from the University of San Francisco. She earned her B.S. in Applied Arts and Sciences Biology from San Diego State University. With over 30 years of experience in K–12 education, she has served as a high school principal, assistant principal,...