Thirteen Years Well Spent

I wasn’t expecting Sof’s response to what to take out of school. - judgement!  Right. Sof talks about how grades are judgements. As I read through educational research, especially in an era where ‘evidence based practice’ is expected, the evidence is nearly always spoken of in terms of student outcomes - in other words grades. I wonder if that increases teacher tendency to push for better grades,...

Yes, a duck. One of Lucy’s memories was being told off, strongly, for drawing a duck on the ‘blank’ page of her test. It was not until her late 20s that Lucy received a dyslexic diagnosis, and everything made sense.  Lucy’s story reveals that even with dyslexia a child can ‘crack the code’ of school and be successful in tests, but post school had to unlearn the assumption that your identity and wo...

Jazz wants teachers to know about neurodivergence and how to support it in ways that are respectful and helpful to the people in the room. She has some great ideas, some of which come from less than optimal experiences.

Every story is part of the picture, and this one gives the perspective of lived SEND experience. (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities). Rebecca offers important insights into the different ways school both enabled and disabled her. She describes bullying and some rocketing successes! 

This is the first of our educator episodes. The aim is that every five episodes an educator and I chat about the previous guests stories, bringing our perspectives, experiences and actions. In this episode Christian and I notice the incredible variation in the five stories so far. We reflect on the connection, ATAR, competition and life skills. And, I reveal a hatchling plan, seeking feedback from...

Liam thought his years in school based education were well spent, but not because he got good grades, because he had great friends that he still regularly goes camping with. Liam has some great ideas for how existing subjects like English and Maths could be re-mastered towards skills that are more relevant for life. 

Clair does not think her years at school were well spent. She sees herself as not cut out for school, but did get a lot in terms of social interactions and sport achievements. Clair joins other guests in suggesting that schools teach more life maths particularly in terms of shopping, counting back change, buying houses and tax. While Clair did not feel successful at school, she is proud to be a bu...

Jonathan tells us about the choices he made, quite deliberately, to either get good grades or put his energy into being social. He talks about the importance of working at his level of competence and how grateful he was when teachers were able to do this effectively. Jonathan was very specific and explicit that the real point of school is to prepare young people for the world after school. Like Be...

Grace tells us about the importance of listening and watching the people in our rooms so we can respond well to them as individual humans. While she talks about content levels, it is being seen and cared for that made the difference. She describes gentle communication and 'nudges', suggesting that some of these communications skills as well as some more general financial and political li...

Bella tells us about the value of social skills and practical knowledge like cooking. She discusses struggles with the school system, feeling overwhelmed by tasks and the pressure to compare oneself to peers. Bella emphasizes the importance of self-discovery and happiness, suggesting schools focus on personal growth rather than comparison. She advocates for more awareness and support for neurodive...