Coconut Thinking

In this episode of the Meaningful Learning podcast by Coconut Thinking, I speak with Jennifer Groff. Jennifer is the Founder of Learning Futures and was the Chief Learning Officer at Lumiar Education. Her work largely focuses on redesigning systems, learning environments, and digital innovations that align with the learning sciences. Jennifer brings tremendous, positive energy and thinking to curricular innovation and supporting teachers, students, and schools through the pedagogical changes that education just might need. We discuss:The emerging ecosystem of competency- and mastery-based evidencing (including digital passports)Embedding Design Thinking into creating learning experiencesHow maybe we just need to start over...Join us for this episode where Jennifer's ideas and connections are sure to provoke. As always, we look forward to your thoughts.Erratum: I referred to cyborgs when what I really meant were androids. 

In this episode of the Meaningful Learning podcast by Coconut Thinking, I speak with Bern Nicholls. Bern is a school-based researcher who focuses on creating cultures of curiosity that support students and teachers to pursue their inquiries. She embraces curiosity as the fuel for her own learning and many interests. Bern and I had an earlier conversation about adopting a more biocentric worldview and set of values to address the problems that lay ahead for the planet and all living beings. I wanted to capture more of her inspiring thoughts in this podcast. In this conversation, Bern and I discuss:How it’s not either/or; it’s both/and… breaking through binaries and dualism.  How curiosity is the precursor to thinking. The need for teacher agency, not just student agency.The power of animals in learning and well-being. Join us for this episode and we look forward to your thoughts.

This is a particularly nourishing episode of the Meaningful Learning podcast by Coconut Thinking. Our guest is Dr. Thom Markham, 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. This conversation is the first of I hope many amongst a nascent community of thinkers and doers who believe that we need to shift our values away from anthropocentrism toward biocentrism, toward purpose that benefits other living beings. We had the Agricultural Revolution, the Industrial Revolution... now it's time for another revolution, one where humans develop beyond themselves. In this conversation, Thom and I discuss:How the neuro-cognitive model we use is breaking downSocial Growth MindsetSustainability as the driving standard for learning and doing.Join us for another episode of the Meaningful Learning podcast by Coconut Thinking.Erratum: at the end I say "beyond ecocentrism" when I meant "buying anthropocentrism!" Sorry about the confusion.

In this episode of the Meaningful Learning podcast, I speak with Michael Bunce. Michael is Curriculum Development and Enhancement Lead for Music and Performance, and Course Leader for the Masters in Global Learning Futures at the University of East London. He is engaged in practice and research as a teacher and curriculum innovator, educational technology developer, composer and music producer, and interdisciplinary arts practitioner. Michael is also the Founder of the Metapraxis Project, which facilitates the design, development and implementation of reflexive interdisciplinary learning projects in primary, secondary and tertiary contexts. In this episode, Michael and I discuss: How learning is a transformation process that occurs within a context.How learning is an experience this takes place in the moment and is oscillating.How agency and metacognition feed off each other.Join us for another episode of the Meaningful Learning podcast by Coconut Thinking. We hope you enjoy this episode and please let us have your thoughts and feedback.

In this episode of the Meaningful Learning podcast, I speak with Tanya Sheckley, Social Entrepreneur and Founder of UP Academy, an elementary school in San Mateo, California, which is the first school in the world where kids who are able bodied and kids with physical disabilities learn together in the same classrooms. UP Academy focuses heavily on Project Based Learning, showing that elementary school students aren't too young to engage in authentic experiences. In this podcast, Tanya and I discuss:How to develop core academic skills through student agencyHow to build a school culture that promotes and sustains joy in learning and teachingHow to model lifelong learning to the students and adults alike.Join us for another episode of the Meaningful Learning podcast by Coconut Thinking. We hope you enjoy this episode and please let us have your thoughts and feedback. 

In this episode of the Meaningful Learning podcast, I speak with Will Richardson. Will is a former public school educator of 22 years and has spent the last 15 years developing an international reputation as a leading thinker and writer about the intersection of social online learning networks, education, and systemic change. Most recently, Will is a co-founder of The Big Questions Institute, which was created to help educators use "fearless inquiry" to make sense of this complex moment and an uncertain future. In 2017, Will was named one of 100 global "Changemakers in Education" by the Finnish site HundrED, and was named one of the Top 5 "Edupreneurs to Follow" by Forbes. He has given keynote speeches, lead breakout sessions, and provided coaching services in over 30 countries on 6 continents. (Come on Antartica!) He has also authored six books, and given TEDx Talks in New York, Melbourne, and Vancouver. In this podcast, Will and I discuss:Why we so seldom ask "What do you mean by learning?" and other existential questionsHow change in education may come from mini-schools or schools on the fringesHow we can turn the COVID situation into opportunities to foster curiosity and creativity in all learnersJoin us for another episode of the Meaningful Learning podcast by Coconut Thinking. We hope you enjoy this episode and please let us have your thoughts and feedback. 

In this episode of the Meaningful Learning podcast, I speak with Tim Logan, long-time educator and consultant and strong advocate of bringing Agile into education. Tim explains how Agile principles and values guide us to respond to change and avoid ineffective rigidity, helping to meet student and group learning needs as they arise. Agile is about collaboration and personal interactions, bringing the human element to learning through doing. In this podcast, Tim and I discuss:The value of going beyond quantitative measures as means to understanding learners and their potentialHow Agile allows us to connect action and learning by having the tools to make good decisions for our students and our schoolsPractical ways to implement Agile in your classroomJoin us for another episode of the Meaningful Learning podcast by Coconut Thinking. We hope you enjoy this episode and please let us have your thoughts and feedback. 

In this episode of the Meaningful Learning podcast, I speak with Karl Millsom, Founder of the Rebel Teacher Network. Karl is a thought agitator who is not afraid to pose questions and frame issues in ways that force us to stop and re-consider why and how we do things in education. Karl helps and leads teachers to transform their practice to make learning experiences deeper by placing the student and the center of learning, but in ways that are fulfilling for the teacher as well. We discuss:How we can find space to transform the curriculum to make it matter to all learnersHow assessment connects to learning... or fails to in many casesHow the community can and should be involved in teaching to bring expertiseJoin us for another episode of the Meaningful Learning podcast by Coconut Thinking. We hope you enjoy this episode and please let us have your thoughts and feedback. 

In this episode of the Meaningful Learning podcast, I speak with Kyle Wagner, Learning Experience Co-Designer who uses PBL as a vehicle for deeper learning. Kyle has global experience leading transformation of schools and their cultures. In this episode, we discuss Micro-Schools—schools within schools that drive innovation and buy-in from all stakeholders. We also talk about:Why authentic products and assessments provide opportunities for creativity and meaning for students and teachers alikeHow to avoid the traps in setting up Micro-Schools and maximize momentum toward successHow to students can tell their stories to stand out from the crowd of university applicants.Join us for another episode of the Meaningful Learning podcast by Coconut Thinking. We hope you enjoy this episode and please let us have your thoughts and feedback. 

In this episode of the Meaningful Learning podcast, I speak with Mark Barnett, Learning Experience Designer, PBL consultant, maker space leader, machine learning scholar... a renaissance man in the world of education. In this episode we discuss:Project-Based Learning as way to cultivate deeper learningGoing beyond traditional assessment to reframe our thinking about learningHow technology should be used to create, not just replicate what already existsMark's work pushes us to think in ways that challenges the traditional system so that all learners can find more meaning in what they do and learn. Join us for another episode of the Meaningful Learning podcast by Coconut Thinking. We hope you enjoy this episode and please let us have your thoughts and feedback.