The Educhange Podcast

Nicola Bone is the founder of Sound Off Schools, a mindfulness and well-being program currently sweeping through Queensland schools. Based in Brisbane Australia, Sound Off Schools are guiding students through mindfulness practices to help deal with increasing levels of mental health issues in the classroom. In this episode we speak about the connection between mindfulness and mental illness, and how we can better support thousands of school students.

Sue Karzis is CEO of State Schools’ Relief in Victoria, Australia, a not-for-profit organisation that provides financial assistance to students and families in order to promote school attendance and achievement. To date SSR have supported hundreds of thousands of students and their families. Sue has been the CEO of State Schools’ Relief since 2017 and has a varied career across organisations like Monash University and Trinity College where she led Student Services, Partnerships and Engagement.

Linnea Garrett is Principal of Chicago Tech Academy High School (Chi-Tech). Under her leadership, Chi-Tech is the only high school in the district implementing whole school project-based learning. During her time at Chi-Tech, Linnea has led and supported the development of a real-world learning program where students understand the connection between education and career and gain both access and exposure to career opportunities through weekly power lunches and internships in a variety of Chicago businesses.

Think Global School is a travelling high school where students live in four countries every year, making unforgettable connections between their education and the world around them. In this episode, we talk to Jamie Stekart, Head of School, about the role of project-based, place-based and mastery learning in a constantly changing world. Jamie has been a teacher, principal and superintendent and has a passion for collaborative leadership and listening to the voices of students.

Joanne is the Global New Measures Director for New Pedagogies for Deep Learning and in this episode we unpack how we can better measure the learning we value, rather than the learning that is easiest to measure. Joanne is also the CEO and Founder of The Learner First, her organisation which privileges the lens of the least-served learners to revolutionise education. She has co-authored 5 books, including her latest, ‘Measuring Human Return - Understand and Assess What Really Matters for Deep Learning’.

In the wake of the Christchurch shooting and the tragedies in Sri Lanka over the Easter long weekend, there is no time like the present to talk about fostering intercultural capabilities, respect and curiosity over fear with our students.Jessica Swann is the Outreach Program Manager at Benevolence Australia, and in this interview we explore the methods she uses to demystify Islam with teachers and students in schools.

Aaron Mabikafola is a passionate and award-winning educator who is on staff at Bethany Christian College, Adelaide, South Australia. With 20 years of experience as a music and classroom teacher, Aaron’s love for story­-telling, the arts and experience as a photographer, graphic designer, film maker, musician, producer and songwriter, continue to be shared with students in his role as the school’s Media Arts teacher.

Dr Glenn Savage is a Senior Lecturer in Education Policy & Sociology of Education at the University of Western Australia. His current research examines the development of national schooling reforms and how policies in systems impact on ideas and practice in schools. He is also a Senior Honorary Fellow in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne. In this interview we unpack Gonski 2.0 and its implications for educators, along with the relationship between policy and practice.

Jake Plaskett is an innovative, self-confessed project-based learning evangelist who has been living and teaching in Australia since 2013. Jake’s experience as a former student at High Tech High and then a teacher of Maths and Music at High Tech High ignited his passion for PBL pedagogy, and in this episode we unpack the benefits and a few of the challenges involved in project-based teaching and learning.

Melissa Moore is Deputy Principal at Rototuna Junior High School in Waikato, New Zealand, a state school that is pushing boundaries with integrated learning design. In this episode we explore the development of their integrated learning framework, the importance of Maori culture in informing the design and Rototuna Junior High School's commitment to measuring the learning they value.

Welcome to Season 5 of the Educhange Podcast. We're looking forward to dropping our first episode for the season on Saturday!

Dr. Lindsa McIntyre is currently the inspiring headmaster of the Jeremiah E. Burke High School, located in the heart of the “promise neighborhood” of Boston. As a school leader, she has helped transform the Burke into a positive learning environment of love, becoming the first high school in Massachusetts to exit Turnaround status. In 2011 she was honoured by the Freedom House as a Champion of Freedom. At EC18, she sat down with our CEO and co-founder Dave Faulkner to talk through her inspirational work

Laura McBain is the co-director of the K12 Lab at the Stanford University d.school. She is an accomplished educator, having led deeper learning approaches in education through her contributions at High Tech High, a network of 14 schools based in San Diego, California. In this recent conversation with Nicole Dyson at EC18, she shares how educators can use the process of design and empathy to enable powerful learning for students, especially by deploying a project-based approach that engages and empowers.

Daniel Flynn is the co-founder of Thankyou. Starting in social entrepreneurship at the ripe old age of 19, he continues to drive Thankyou’s vision to see global poverty eradicated with the goal to help millions of people in need. An ‘ideas man’ through and through, Daniel is a big advocate for living out your dreams. In this recent conversation with our co-founder Aaron Tait at EC18, he discusses why social entrepreneurship is so important and how teachers make a difference. 

Brad Milne and Hamish Barclay are Assistant Principals at St Thomas of Canterbury College in New Zealand. They are working to evolve learning approaches for their school by focusing on shifting pedagogy and implementing innovative practice. They share their insights with Maddie Scott-Jones on how gamification and inquiry learning can be used to engage and empower, changing what learning can be for students. Both Brad and Hamish have completed Post Grad studies in Applied Practice and Digital Learning.