Intro

We’re back for Season 6! In this reflective episode, James and David catch up after the summer and explore the “big idea” that’s been emerging across recent blogs and conversations: there is more to human development than learning about subjects. They discuss the need for schools to make space for personal growth, wellbeing, and learner effectiveness alongside subject learning – and why our current focus on a purely knowledge-rich curriculum isn’t enough to prepare young people for life beyond school. Along the way, they talk about theatre, conferences, politics, art, and the Everybody Thriving unconference in Manchester. ⏱️ Highlights Catching up after summer: Edinburgh Fringe, Fringe Review, and the Lost Lear play at the Traverse Theatre (00:01:00) James’s trip to the EARLI Conference in Austria and the international focus on learner effectiveness (00:07:00) Hundertwasser’s art and architecture in Vienna (00:09:00) Reflections on feedback from recent Rethinking Education episodes (00:11:00) The Supervision in Education Conference at St Mary’s University, Twickenham (00:12:00) The Everybody Thriving unconference in Manchester (00:19:00) Audrey Tang, the Taiwanese civic hacker and politician, and her ideas on digital democracy (Plurality, GovZero, Pol.is, and presidential hackathons) (00:24:00) The Education Policy Alliance and “slice politics” – bridging the gap between grassroots innovation and executive power (00:28:00) The “big idea”: more to human development than subjects – learner effectiveness, self-knowledge, wellbeing, and systems thinking (00:36:00) Why subject knowledge alone isn’t working: phones, attention, and the post-literate world (00:44:00) The Learning Skills Curriculum and Who Am I? project (00:47:00) The Welsh Government’s Learner Effectiveness Programme (00:49:00) The purpose of education: human development vs. transactional outcomes (00:57:00) Future guests: Dave Whitaker and Rupert Wegerith (01:05:00) DON'T BE A STRANGER The Rethinking Education podcast is brought to you by Crown House Publishing. It is hosted by Dr James Mannion and David Cameron, and produced by Sophie Dean. Drop us a line at https://www.rethinking-ed.org/contact. SUPPORT THE RETHINKING ED PODCAST: Become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/repod Buy us a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/repod