Plus One Podcast

My guest for episode 15 is Tomás Ó Ruairc, who wears many hats!  He is amongst other things, CEO of the Teaching Council of Ireland, a poet and writer, and has a varied career in teaching and more recently educational leadership.  He co-hosts the “Lighting a Fire” podcast series, hosts the Learning for All webinars, and produces a wonderful blog “Bazinga” which I now look forward to seeing in my feeds as it’s always so beautifully written and researched.

My guest for episode 15 is Tomás Ó Ruairc, who wears many hats!  He is amongst other things, CEO of the Teaching Council of Ireland, a poet and writer, and has a varied career in teaching and more recently educational leadership.  He co-hosts the “Lighting a Fire” podcast series, hosts the Learning for All webinars, and produces a wonderful blog “Bazinga” which I now look forward to seeing in my feeds as it’s always so beautifully written and researched.

We discuss “the more than…” , being bombed multiple times growing up, getting a Fulbright Scholarship and getting a chance to think and dream and grow.  Working in big systems, but losing sight & connection with your own individual will.

Different phases of life – growing up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, studying English & French in Dublin at Trinity College. 

The “media years” -  doing media training with TG4, working in media with the BBC, doing training, starting up the Northern Film Council – trying to help a dream come to life, and getting Ralph Fiennes to help – you only have to ask...  Moving to London to direct the Second World Summit on Television for Children, setting up a consultancy company then working with Welsh broadcaster S4C.

The Dublin years – becoming Director of The Ark, A Cultural Centre for Children, coming home to look after ill parents.

Coach & mentor. The book “Zen mind, beginner’s mind” – come to things with a really open mind.  We eat but don’t taste…

Eina’s book “To call myself beloved.” “It took me a huge amount of time, and every sort of energy and creative energy, and essentially, it's really about two themes. It's an experience of therapy, whether written from the client or the patient's perspective, you never get any other perspective. And it's also the second theme was about the troubles and the impact of the troubles that really has seen very little light of day.”

“I could not find a book that actually explained or described an experience of therapy that I could recognise everything was too posh, everything was too academic. Everything was always right. They didn't have the blood on the floor. It didn't have them. It didn't have the misunderstandings. And to me, that was essential.”

Quotations:

• “… a much deeper sense of, I am creative, and I am alive, and I am alive in my creativity...”

Links:

• Eina’s book “To Call Myself Beloved” – Amazon link - https://amzn.to/2V4dnp7

Books:

• Zen mind, beginner’s mind - https://amzn.to/3i317OD 

Eina’s Plus One

• Cultivating the capacity to visualise images is a powerful resource.

Call to action

• Start the day with some connection to nature…

We discuss “the more than…” , being bombed multiple times growing up, getting a Fulbright Scholarship and getting a chance to think and dream and grow.  Working in big systems, but losing sight & connection with your own individual will.

Different phases of life – growing up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, studying English & French in Dublin at Trinity College. 

The “media years” -  doing media training with TG4, working in media with the BBC, doing training, starting up the Northern Film Council – trying to help a dream come to life, and getting Ralph Fiennes to help – you only have to ask...  Moving to London to direct the Second World Summit on Television for Children, setting up a consultancy company then working with Welsh broadcaster S4C.

The Dublin years – becoming Director of The Ark, A Cultural Centre for Children, coming home to look after ill parents.

Coach & mentor. The book “Zen mind, beginner’s mind” – come to things with a really open mind.  We eat but don’t taste…

Eina’s book “To call myself beloved.” “It took me a huge amount of time, and every sort of energy and creative energy, and essentially, it's really about two themes. It's an experience of therapy, the written from the client or the patient's perspective, you never get any other perspective. And it's also the second theme was about the troubles and the impact of the troubles that really has seen very little light of day.”

“I could not find a book that actually explained or described an experience of therapy that I could recognise everything was too posh, everything was too academic. Everything was always right. They didn't have the blood on the floor. It didn't have them. It didn't have the misunderstandings. And to me, that was essential.”

Quotations:

• “… a much deeper sense of, I am creative, and I am alive, and I am alive in my creativity...”

Links:

• Eina’s book “To Call Myself Beloved” – Amazon link - https://amzn.to/2V4dnp7

Books:

• Zen mind, beginner’s mind - https://amzn.to/3i317OD

Eina’s Plus One

• Cultivating the capacity to visualise images is a powerful resource.

Call to action

• Start the day with some connection to nature…

We discuss inclusion as a key influencer on education, and how Belmullet, County Mayo is a great place for getting almost 100% of students into higher education.  Removing barriers for students, becoming aware of the huge difference between urban & rural disadvantage.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL), for which Lisa is an internationally recognised expert.  Teaching more senior & experienced people like a set of GP’s at age 23 – in the evenings, and core academic skills teaching for every student.  Making Shakespearean Comedy accessible to a highly diverse group of students.  Helping students understand how to focus their time to balance effort against the assessment weightings.  The need to get rid of exams!

Reviewing the module & programme types of assessment to make sure they are diverse – not just based on written work for instance, to allow all types of learner to express themselves to their fullest potential.  Reflecting the diversity of your student population in the course communications and materials.

Quotes:

“I’m always interested and curious to learn from students, in terms of how they experience higher education, because my experience is just one experience.”

“… most people haven’t been exposed to actually have to think about - how do I adjust my teaching to make sure that I’m including students with dyslexia, students with ADHD, students with dyspraxia…”

“…extra time in an exam… it’s not going to make up for the 12 weeks learning experience the student has had if they haven’t felt they were included in the classroom.”

Multiple modes of assessment – “If you want them to do a video, you need to teach them how to do a video.  If they’ve only ever written essays, they’re going to continue to just write an essay…”

“We have to be teachers, but we have to be learners as well”

“Rubric development as a process… can help people get over the fear of a new type of assessment.”

Useful Links:

The UDL Digital Badge rollout – Sept 2021 – sign up here! https://www.ahead.ie/UDL-Badge-2021-Autumn

The Book of Margery Kempe - https://amzn.to/2UdTWKr

CELT (Centre for Excellence in Learning  and Teaching) at NUI Galway - http://www.nuigalway.ie/centre-excellence-learning-teaching/

The DAWN Handbook – Teaching students with disabilities – Guidelines for Academic Staff - https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Ftrap.ncirl.ie%2F1009%2F1%2FDawn_webs.pdf

 A Practitioner’s Guide to Choice of Assessment Methods within a Module, Dublin: UCD Teaching and Learning. (Geraldine O'Neill & Aine Galvin, 2011, Ed) – downloadable PDF - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273716129_A_Practitioner's_Guide_to_Choice_of_Assessment_Methods_within_a_Module_Dublin_UCD_Teaching_and_Learning_O'Neill_2011_Ed

The Toolkit for Inclusive Higher Educational Institutions – Dr Lisa Padden & Dr Ann Kelly – downloadable PDF and online self-assessment tool -

https://www.ucd.ie/universityforall/resourcehub/toolkit/

UDL resources:

• CAST – cast.org

We discuss inclusion as a key influencer on education, and how Belmullet, County Mayo is a great place for getting almost 100% of students into higher education.  Removing barriers for students, becoming aware of the huge difference between urban & rural disadvantage.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL), for which Lisa is an internationally recognised expert.  Teaching more senior & experienced people like a set of GP’s at age 23 – in the evenings, and core academic skills teaching for every student.  Making Shakespearean Comedy accessible to a highly diverse group of students.  Helping students understand how to focus their time to balance effort against the assessment weightings.  The need to get rid of exams!

Reviewing the module & programme types of assessment to make sure they are diverse – not just based on written work for instance, to allow all types of learner to express themselves to their fullest potential.  Reflecting the diversity of your student population in the course communications and materials.

Quotes:

“I’m always interested and curious to learn from students, in terms of how they experience higher education, because my experience is just one experience.”

“… most people haven’t been exposed to actually have to think about - how do I adjust my teaching to make sure that I’m including students with dyslexia, students with ADHD, students with dyspraxia…”

“…extra time in an exam… it’s not going to make up for the 12 weeks learning experience the student has had if they haven’t felt they were included in the classroom.”

Multiple modes of assessment – “If you want them to do a video, you need to teach them how to do a video.  If they’ve only ever written essays, they’re going to continue to just write an essay…”

“We have to be teachers, but we have to be learners as well”

“Rubric development as a process… can help people get over the fear of a new type of assessment.”

Useful Links:

The UDL Digital Badge rollout – Sept 2021 – sign up here! https://www.ahead.ie/UDL-Badge-2021-Autumn

The Book of Margery Kempe - https://amzn.to/2UdTWKr

CELT (Centre for Excellence in Learning  and Teaching) at NUI Galway - http://www.nuigalway.ie/centre-excellence-learning-teaching/

The DAWN Handbook – Teaching students with disabilities – Guidelines for Academic Staff - https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Ftrap.ncirl.ie%2F1009%2F1%2FDawn_webs.pdf

 A Practitioner’s Guide to Choice of Assessment Methods within a Module, Dublin: UCD Teaching and Learning. (Geraldine O'Neill & Aine Galvin, 2011, Ed) – downloadable PDF - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273716129_A_Practitioner's_Guide_to_Choice_of_Assessment_Methods_within_a_Module_Dublin_UCD_Teaching_and_Learning_O'Neill_2011_Ed

The Toolkit for Inclusive Higher Educational Institutions – Dr Lisa Padden & Dr Ann Kelly – downloadable PDF and online self-assessment tool -

https://www.ucd.ie/universityforall/resourcehub/toolkit/

UDL resources:

• CAST – cast.org

We discuss transitioning from business into education, “finding your element”, loving what you do.  How Montessori techniques are still working, why creativity and innovative teaching engages and fosters a mindset change.  The transition from sage on stage lecturer to facilitator – and how difficult this can be.  Avoiding banana-skins, and co-creating learning. 

• Gary Ridge – CEO of WD40 – 4 concepts around the mindset for leadership:

1. Collaboration

• Robert Greenleaf – Servant Leadership – https://www.greenleaf.org/what-is-servant-leadership/

Books:

• Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly - https://amzn.to/3i3tkDI

The fundamental world view for effectuation is called the Pilot-in-the-plane, which describes the future as something you can influence by your actions, i.e. you can create your own opportunities.

The four principles of effectuation are:

1. Bird-in-Hand: You have to create solutions with the resources available here and now.

Ref: https://innovationenglish.sites.ku.dk/model/sarasvathy-effectuation/

Podcasts:

Inside education – Episode 38 interviewing Professor Zong Zhao - https://insideeducation.podbean.com/e/programme-398-yong-zhao-on-globalisation-technology-entrepreneurship-education-25-4-20/

Quotes:

“Creative leadership is about challenging the status quo.  It’s about believing in the way we actually can think differently.”

“I’ve seen these educators go back to their classrooms and they fundamentally change what they do, and re-imagine education in a way that’s better.”

“The first challenge is the system, the second is the people who work in the system…”

Quoting a recent round-table with Andreas Schleicher at the UCD Innovation Academy – “It’s up to the teaching profession to change the teaching profession – don’t be waiting for Govt. policy.  Change from the grass-roots, and then that will inform policy…”

Call to action – look deeply into what you are currently doing, and ask – is this working and could I do it better?  Reflect on your own practice, and engage more in an experiential learning model.

The UCD Innovation Academy Professional Certificate/Diploma in  Creativity & Innovation in Education is at https://www.innovators.ie/creativity-and-innovation-for-education/

We discuss transitioning from business into education, “finding your element”, loving what you do.  How Montessori techniques are still working, why creativity and innovative teaching engages and fosters a mindset change.  The transition from sage on stage lecturer to facilitator – and how difficult this can be.  Avoiding banana-skins, and co-creating learning. 

• Gary Ridge – CEO of WD40 – 4 concepts around the mindset for leadership:

1. Collaboration

• Robert Greenleaf – Servant Leadership – https://www.greenleaf.org/what-is-servant-leadership/

Books:

• Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly - https://amzn.to/3i3tkDI

The fundamental world view for effectuation is called the Pilot-in-the-plane, which describes the future as something you can influence by your actions, i.e. you can create your own opportunities.

The four principles of effectuation are:

1. Bird-in-Hand: You have to create solutions with the resources available here and now.

Ref: https://innovationenglish.sites.ku.dk/model/sarasvathy-effectuation/

Podcasts:

Inside education – Episode 38 interviewing Professor Zong Zhao - https://insideeducation.podbean.com/e/programme-398-yong-zhao-on-globalisation-technology-entrepreneurship-education-25-4-20/

Quotes:

“Creative leadership is about challenging the status quo.  It’s about believing in the way we actually can think differently.”

“I’ve seen these educators go back to their classrooms and they fundamentally change what they do, and re-imagine education in a way that’s better.”

“The first challenge is the system, the second is the people who work in the system…”

Quoting a recent round-table with Andreas Schleicher at the UCD Innovation Academy – “It’s up to the teaching profession to change the teaching profession – don’t be waiting for Govt. policy.  Change from the grass-roots, and then that will inform policy…”

Call to action – look deeply into what you are currently doing, and ask – is this working and could I do it better?  Reflect on your own practice, and engage more in an experiential learning model.

The UCD Innovation Academy Professional Certificate/Diploma in  Creativity & Innovation in Education is at https://www.innovators.ie/creativity-and-innovation-for-education/

We discuss genetic makeup, nature vs nurture, teaching exposing you to different perspectives, layers of diversity.  Education giving us curiosity, agility, enquiry. Having a terrible memory, and following your nose…  The opportunity to give global perspective education without travelling. The process of discovery through writing… refining the thinking, taking away the words, focussing the ideas…   Taking ideas from different disciplines and applying them to education, and contributing to the dialogue, to the idea generation.  We explore the process of matchmaking which Stephanie facilitates through COIL, the skeleton protocol that educators and students plug into.  Icebreaking experiences,

Stephanie’s Plus One is icebreakers – exploring perspectives and leading into the collaborative task/experience.  Designing tasks with power equality, which requires everyone, and how are ideas exchanged and connected.  Directing students to connect all their ideas to co-create the outcome, and then mindfully reflecting on the outcome, because the learning happens in the reflection. 

“Collaboration doesn’t happen by default – it happens by design”. 

 “Your way of seeing things is not the only way, and we can benefit from seeing things differently.”

Getting to “The leanest, meanest way to say the thing”

“It’s not about what to think, but how to think”

“Global learning is a  process that involves diverse people… in collaborative efforts… to understand, analyse and address complex problems that transcend borders.”

• Stephanie’s book – “Making Global Learning Universal” - https://www.stephaniedoscher.com/book/

• Season 2 Episode 4: Tara Harvey on the Relationship Between Intercultural Learning and Global Learning - https://globallearningpodcast.fiu.edu/season-2/episode-4-tara-harvey/index.html

• https://www.23andme.com – genetic testing online

• NAFSA – Association of International Educators - https://www.nafsa.org/

• Gabriel Hawawini – INSEAD - https://www.insead.edu/faculty-research/faculty/gabriel-hawawini defined internationalization as “It’s about connecting the institution and the people in it to the world’s knowledge exchange and production network”

We discuss genetic makeup, nature vs nurture, teaching exposing you to different perspectives, layers of diversity.  Education giving us curiosity, agility, enquiry. Having a terrible memory, and following your nose…  The opportunity to give global perspective education without travelling. The process of discovery through writing… refining the thinking, taking away the words, focussing the ideas…   Taking ideas from different disciplines and applying them to education, and contributing to the dialogue, to the idea generation.  We explore the process of matchmaking which Stephanie facilitates through COIL, the skeleton protocol that educators and students plug into.  Icebreaking experiences,

Stephanie’s Plus One is icebreakers – exploring perspectives and leading into the collaborative task/experience.  Designing tasks with power equality, which requires everyone, and how are ideas exchanged and connected.  Directing students to connect all their ideas to co-create the outcome, and then mindfully reflecting on the outcome, because the learning happens in the reflection. 

“Collaboration doesn’t happen by default – it happens by design”. 

 “Your way of seeing things is not the only way, and we can benefit from seeing things differently.”

Getting to “The leanest, meanest way to say the thing”

“It’s not about what to think, but how to think”

“Global learning is a  process that involves diverse people… in collaborative efforts… to understand, analyse and address complex problems that transcend borders.”

• Stephanie’s book – “Making Global Learning Universal” - https://www.stephaniedoscher.com/book/

• Season 2 Episode 4: Tara Harvey on the Relationship Between Intercultural Learning and Global Learning - https://globallearningpodcast.fiu.edu/season-2/episode-4-tara-harvey/index.html

• https://www.23andme.com – genetic testing online

• NAFSA – Association of International Educators - https://www.nafsa.org/

• Gabriel Hawawini – INSEAD - https://www.insead.edu/faculty-research/faculty/gabriel-hawawini defined internationalization as “It’s about connecting the institution and the people in it to the world’s knowledge exchange and production network”