Limitless

The change I'm making in the world... how I launched Education Start Ups with Jo Symes and why it wasn't always smooth sailing.

It's really easy, I find, to look at what others are doing from the outside and wonder how they ever managed it, and how they have the time/energy/motivation/skills/winning personality/whatever to make it work. It's often hard to see inside the reality of what happened, the late nights, the emotions, the procrastination, the self-doubt, the help and support required from others, and all the times when they thought it just wasn't worth it or it wasn't possible.

I always wanted to share the reality of my journey on this podcast, and that is what this episode is all about. How I love the fact I'm finally doing something that feels like it's making a difference in the world, but that getting here, and still going forward, is never plain sailing!

Find out more about Education Start-Ups:

Mailing list: educationstartups.org/email-sign-up

Community: educationstartups.org/community

Come say hi and join the Limitless Community!

Socials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠ || ⁠Facebook⁠ || ⁠Instagram

Mailing list: ⁠⁠⁠www.limitlesscommunity.co.uk⁠⁠⁠

Community: ⁠⁠⁠limitless.supercast.com⁠⁠⁠

The episode was edited by ⁠⁠⁠Ali Walker Audio

Have you ever been to boarding school, or know someone who has?

In this episode, Piers Cross discusses the systemic challenges in the boarding school experience for so many young people and the impact that has on them as adults. We talk about the struggle to develop the skills to emotionally connect with others, and what that means when we see how many of our political and business leaders went through boarding school.

What does this lack of connection mean for making leadership decisions that affect hundreds, if not thousands or even millions of people?

Check out this episode as we talk about the antidote - compassion, connection, vulnerability, and learning to feel your feelings.

Find Piers Cross:

Piers Cross website and Compassionate Leadership programme: www.piers-cross.com

Boarding on Insanity documentary: www.boardingoninsanity.com

Come say hi and join the Limitless Community!

Socials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠ || ⁠Facebook⁠ || ⁠Instagram

Mailing list: ⁠⁠www.limitlesscommunity.co.uk⁠⁠

Community: ⁠⁠limitless.supercast.com⁠⁠

The episode was edited by ⁠⁠Ali Walker Audio

How much more could you achieve if you felt like you had the power to choose everything in life?

In this episode, we meet Robbie Swale (again!), life coach, podcaster, and author, who shares the optimistic view of life, and we talk about such an important topic... how we can choose the way we interact with life.

As changemakers, we will often have to overcome setbacks, battle the status quo, and have to potentially make really difficult choices between what we choose to do with our time, with no right answer, and the ability to choose how we approach these situations rather than feeling like they are "done to us" is so powerful.

So, come join us for this great conversation, and if you want to continue the conversation with me and other changemakers, also come and join the Limitless Community over on ⁠www.limitlesscommunity.co.uk⁠! You can get behind-the-scenes content, give me your ideas for future podcast episodes, and support my work so I can keep bringing you more great interviews.

Enjoy! :)

Where to find Robbie:

• His website: www.robbieswale.com
• Connect with him on LinkedIn (also check out his regular blog!)

Come say hi and join the Limitless Community!

Socials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠ || ⁠Facebook⁠ || ⁠Instagram

Mailing list: ⁠www.limitlesscommunity.co.uk⁠

Community: ⁠limitless.supercast.com⁠

The episode was edited by ⁠Ali Walker Audio

It's back!

The Limitless podcast has returned for another season, and this is the first episode, with just me on the mic! I share with you the reason it's been *cough cough* nearly 21 months (!) since the last episode was released, and what I've learned from my time in between.

If you have some difficult life stuff going on and are struggling to get back into the zone with your project, heed my lessons in this episode:

• Don't give up, you'll get back to it when the time is right
• Lean on people for help where you need it
• Remember the core reason why you're doing this work

In this series, I want to share more stories about the truth behind doing this changemaker work, AND I want to meet YOU and hear your stories too!

Come and join the Limitless Community over on www.limitlesscommunity.co.uk so you can support the podcast, hear what I get up to behind-the-scenes, and give me your ideas for making the podcast even better!

Enjoy :)

Come say hi and join the Limitless Community!

Socials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠ || ⁠Facebook⁠ || ⁠Instagram⁠

Mailing list: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.limitlesscommunity.co.uk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Community: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠limitless.supercast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

The episode was edited by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ali Walker Audio⁠

What if you could demonstrate your skills and learning through projects you're passionate about instead of classes?

Learnlife was born from a deep desire to free learning from the constrains of the standard classroom. Devin and his co-founders visited and researched 100 different schools across the globe and picked out what works and why to turn it into the first Learnlife hub in Barcelona.

Now with multiple hubs and training delivered to teachers across the globe, Learnlife wants to spread the word that the future of education will not be taught - the future will guide, facilitate and help learners follow their own passions.

In this episode, we are privileged to get to meet and talk with Devin and three of the learners at the hub, Sol, Lorenzo and Pep. We hear all about how the hub runs day-to-day, what the learners are working on and why it is such a different experience to a standard curriculum-based school.

• Check out Devin's new book, The Future Will Not Be Taught.

Get inspired!

I'd love to hear from you, get in touch :)

X (Twitter): @alexoneill

The music in this episode is Indestructible by Noah Smith

Are we looking at behaviour management the wrong way?

Behaviour management is a topic all to itself when it comes to teaching, but what if we're looking at it the wrong way? Managing behaviour in a classroom often centres around rewards and punishments, from sticker charts and rainclouds for young children, to exclusion rooms and detentions for seniors, all of which can be short-lived and hard to implement.

Joel Shaljean is a therapeutic trainer in Essex and worked as a deputy head in a special school for a number of years. In this episode, he shares his knowledge about seeing behaviour as a result of underlying thoughts, feelings and experiences and instilling pro-social skills in young people. Behaviour management policies in schools can have unintended negative consequences and Joel shows us an alternative way to consider how we can look after our young people in the school environment (and at home).

If you'd like to get in touch with Joel find him on LinkedIn.

Enjoy today's episode!

I'd love to hear from you, get in touch :)

X (Twitter): @alexoneill

The music in this episode is Indestructible by Noah Smith

Education in the UK is "a system that is deeply unhealthy in many ways"

Dr. James Mannion started his career as a teacher to change the way education was embodied in schools. However, he realised that the system was so outdated and broken that the teaching workload made it extremely hard to enact any real widespread change.

So he launched Rethinking Education, an organisation that supports schools through change initiatives, challenges the status quo on a podcast, and brings education reformers together through online forums and real-life conferences.

In this episode, we cover why the way the school system is set up currently just doesn't work to create healthy, lifelong learners, why fear is a problem, and we dive into "Implementation Science" which looks at how schools (and other organisations) can create change that lasts.

• Rethinking Education website

Get inspired and enjoy!

I'd love to hear from you, get in touch :)

X (Twitter): @alexoneill

The music in this episode is Indestructible by Noah Smith

When your child tells you they would rather be dead than be in school, it would make any parent take action.

Peter Hartkamp and his wife did just that - by taking their daughter out of mainstream education and setting up their own school in The Netherlands. After some failed attempts at circumventing the education system there, they now run the successful Sudbury School in Amersfoort and this interview is all about the school and why Peter kept pushing the government in The Netherlands to allow him to create this change for his daughter and the many other children who now attend the school.

For more info on the school, check out their website:

Sudbury School Amersfoort

Peter's book "Beyond Coercive Education" is available in various places - check it out if you would like to hear more about his thoughts on children's rights.

Enjoy!

I'd love to hear from you, get in touch with me :)

Twitter: @alexoneill

The music in this episode is Indestructible by Noah Smith

There's a different way to educate our young people, and Dr Ian Cunningham shows us what that is.

Ian is a professor, author, and educator who founded the Self Managed Learning College in Brighton. His work spans many years and the College is a demonstration of how children can find their own path in their learning without the pressure of standardised tests or a set curriculum to motivate them.

In this interview, Ian goes into detail about how the College came to be, how it runs each day, and his view of a beautiful educational future.

• Check out the Self Managed Learning College

It sounds like such a cool place to learn!

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How to set up a learning community

If you think you'd be up for setting up something like the Self Managed Learning College in your local area, come and get some expert advice on Tuesday 4th July from Sophie Christophy, co-founder of the consent-based, self-directed learning communities the Cabin and the Lodge. You will have plenty of chances to ask questions and hear about her real lived experience of creating a free learning space.

Book now!

I'd love to hear from you, get in touch with me :)

Twitter: @alexoneill

The music in this episode is Indestructible by Noah Smith

If you've ever thought there was something about school that just didn't sit right with you, Dr. Naomi Fisher will probably be able to articulate why that is.

She is a clinical psychologist and author and has worked with children and adults who have struggled with or fallen out of the education system for many years. She has seen the challenges young people struggle with at school and advocates for society to look at whether it might be the system itself that needs to change instead of the individuals within it.

Naomi has written two books: Changing Our Minds I have read and would HIGHLY recommend and is on Kindle for 99p throughout June, and her new book, A Different Way to Learn, is just about to be released on the 21st of June. As a listener of the Limitless podcast, you can grab a copy of it from the Jessica Kingsley website for 20% off using the code NFISHER20.

Get Changing Our Minds from Kindle

Get A Different Way to Learn from Jessica Kingsley

If you want to hear more from Naomi you can find her in the following places:

• Substack blog

Enjoy the episode and get inspired!

I'd love to hear from you, get in touch with me :)

Twitter: @alexoneill

The music in this episode is Indestructible by Noah Smith