Changing Conversations

What happens when you bring AI into the conversation without rushing to a quick fix? Zahra and Rick from Winning Scotland are holding space for local authorities, researchers and educators to explore the possibilities and the nuance of AI in Education. This isn’t about chasing the latest tool, it’s about understanding the best conditions for change.

What began with curiosity has grown into a two-phase initiative: first, understanding the sector’s readiness and the conditions for success; then, potentially exploring how AI tools might be used in practice.

They share the thinking behind their phased approach, the partnerships they’ve built, the surprising feedback from both education and tech sectors, and why they’re staying agnostic about outcomes. Along the way, they explore the tensions between urgency and caution, and the importance of keeping teachers, pupils, and relationships at the heart of any technological change.

In this episode:

• How an initial spark led to a national, collaborative exploration of AI in education

• Why “is AI ready for Scottish education?” might be the more important question

• The risks of skipping straight to products

• What they’ve learned from speaking to local authorities, unions and tech leaders

• Designing a process that hears all voices

• The role of values in guiding decisions through uncertainty
  

Referenced in this conversation:

• Winning Scotland’s work on Growth Mindset and Planet Youth

• Khan Academy

• Educate Ventures

• The Dots

• Scottish AI Alliance

In this episode, Sarah is joined by three insightful guests: Shirley Clarke, Angela Evans, and Kate Moss, co-authors of Understanding and Reducing Anxiety in the Primary Classroom. Together, they explore the essential link between well-being and learning, drawing from their collective expertise in formative assessment, school-wide compassion, and child and adolescent psychotherapy.

Our conversation dives into the inspiration behind their book, the lessons they've learned from collaborating, and practical strategies for creating compassionate, supportive school environments that truly foster learning and growth. Shirley and Angela also share some reflections from their professional learning programme designed to bring these practices to life in classrooms.

Understanding and Reducing Anxiety in the Primary Classroom is available now.

To connect with Shirley, Angela, or Kate, visit their websites:

Dr Naomi Fisher is an independent clinical psychologist, author and trainer. She specialises in trauma, autism and alternative approaches to education and works with children, adolescents and adults. Find out more at Naomi's website.

In this episode we focus in particular on the mental health of young people and what Naomi has been observing in her work in this area. We discuss the education system and the role it can play in nurturing and supporting learning and wellbeing, but also the harm that some approaches and practices cause to too many young people and the need for change.

Get involved in the conversation by sharing reflections with us on social media or podcast platforms.

A brief scheduling update from us!

Sarah has launched a new podcast, Space to Think, which you will find on your preferred podcast platform. We'd love for you to check it out, subscribe, like or follow. You can subscribe on Substack meaning you'll never miss an episode!

We still enjoy our Changing Conversations and plan to record and share an episode each month. A big thank-you for continuing to tune in, your comments and appreciation really do mean a lot.

Billy hopes to share more brilliant conversations so keep your eyes and ears peeled...

We will be back next month with another Changing Conversation.

A month on from the live Word Education Summit event I had the opportunity to reflect on how it went with co-founder Anne-Marie. If you're wondering where and how to work your way through the epic resources that is WES, this is a must-listen.

Anne-Marie shares her highlights, some top tips for where to start as well as the 12 key thoughts that emerged for her:

In this episode, we reconnect with James Nottingham from Challenge Learning. James has recently published his 12th book, Teach Brilliantly we consider what's changed over the years and why this book and why now. We dig into the topic of engagement, what it means and what it looks like - how do we know learning is happening?

Find out more about Teach Brilliantly here.

The final episode of our World Education Summit mini-series, in which we've been highlighting some of this year's brilliant speakers. This week we revisit our conversation with Jim Knight on instructional coaching.