Teachers' Voices

Why is it so important to take a holistic approach to young people's sense of self? Nina explores how educators can be the connection between children, nature and the wider society with the aim of creating a community of learning.

In this episode, two teachers, from Portugal and Japan, share how their work enables them to support collaborations between students, schools and communities to help protect the environment. 

Nina also talks to Ross Hall about the tools and actions needed for educators, schoolchildren and the wider community to learn and thrive together. 

Guests
For more info about Ross Hall and the work of the Jacobs Foundation, connect on LinkedIn or visit Learning Societies.

Ross's book recommendation: Designing regenerative cultures by Daniel Christian Wahl.

You can find Manuela Valentim on her website or on Twitter. 

For more information about Blueschools: The Blue Schools concept, Blue Schools

Manuela’s inspiration: Koen Timmers - Educator, Author, Speaker

Barbara Bilgre is on Twitter. 

For more information about the Global March for Elephants and Rhinos: GMFER

Barbara’s tips for resources: 

Learning that transfers

Podcast: Cult of Pedagogy

Episode Highlights

• [02:25] Meet Ross Hall
• [03:25] What does 'thriving' mean?
• [07:26] What does the research say?
• [10:27] Inspiration and recommendation
• [11:09] Meet Manuela Valentim
• [12:28] Project-based learning
• [15:07] Building learning ecosystems
• [17:21] Manuela's tips and resources
• [19:24] Meet Barbara Bilgre
• [20:54] A life-changing moment
• [24:07] Barbara's advice and inspiration
• [26:32] The power of collaborative networks

Join us on social media: https://twitter.com/BOLD_insights and https://twitter.com/VoicesTeachers

Listen to all episodes of Teachers’ Voices here: https://bold.expert/teachers-voices/

Subscribe to BOLD’s newsletter: https://bold.expert/newsletter

Stay up to date with all the latest research on child development and learning: https://bold.expert

Get in touch with us: [email protected]  

Teachers' Voices, the podcast in which teachers tell their own stories, in their own words, is back for season two.  

No matter the learning context - from Stockholm, to Uruguay - teachers are one of the most influential and powerful forces we have for equity, access and quality in education. And they’re an important part of sustainable global development. 

Join Nina Alonso for inspiring interviews with experts about learning and child development. Guests come from all over the world and discuss topics such as neurodiversity, youth activism, curiosity and creativity, educational technology, and gender equality. 

Whether you’re a teacher, a parent, or you’re interested in how children learn, be part of the conversation on how we encourage children to thrive in an uncertain world.

Teachers' Voices is produced in partnership with BOLD, the digital platform on learning and development.

There is a new episode every fortnight and you can find Teachers' Voices on your favourite podcast platform or on bold.expert. 

Follow Teachers' Voices and make sure you don't miss the fascinating interviews in season two. 

As adults we take it for granted that we have the ability to choose. But for children, they don’t always have the awareness that they have choices available to them. 

Yet having agency, i.e. making choices based on active engagement in decision making, plays a vital role in developing a child’s self esteem as well as enabling their learning. 

In this episode, we hear from Natalia Kucirkova, Professor of Early Childhood Education and Development about the role of children as independent agents of action. 

“It is really about making sure that children have choices about their own lives, it is what gives life meaning isn’t it. Agency is a fundamental human right, some say supreme human value. I think we have to see both the learning benefits as well as this broader importance of agency.” - Natalia

We next hear from Koen, a strategic advisor for the Belgian organization for education and development, VVOB, based in Vietnam, who shares a story about children taking an experience and turning it into a class production:

“The satisfaction of seeing how the kids collaborated and seeing how proud they were when they realized what they had achieved, it's a very rewarding moment for a teacher to experience something like that.” - Koen

Finally we meet Aline who works as a researcher and university lecturer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She shares a story about how reading experiences with young children can support their agency:

“When we think about agency, it is not that we are free to do whatever we want or that the child can do whatever she wants… we are always dealing with the context around us.”

On today’s podcast:

Links:

• What children's agency means
• How educators can nurture children's agency
• The link between children's agency and motivation
• Why story apps feed children’s imagination
• How educators can help children make conscious choices

To find out more about today’s guests, and for more episodes featuring other teachers and their stories, visit https://bold.expert/podcasts/bold-podcast-series2

Good school practices are the key to helping build better educational systems, says Renaud Comba, research manager at UNICEF, but detecting exemplary school practices is easier said than done:

“For the first time we are paying attention to the already created, contextualized, cost effective local solutions that local stakeholders have created through practice and through understanding where they live and their context to really address global education challenges.” - Renaud 

We also hear from three teachers trying to develop good creative practices in their daily work with children. First off we meet Andrea from Montevideo in Uruguay who teaches strong basic numeracy skills through play and experiential learning:

“In the pedagogy of our school it is very important to guide the learning development with lived experiences that include a body and sensorial experience….In the multiplication table, every scale is represented by an animal” - Andrea

Next we hear from hear from Suzie in Wyoming who explains the different dimensions of foundational skills when teaching visually impaired children: 

“All things that people know by seeing not by doing we have to give [visually impaired] kids the experiences too and then from there we can learn the literacy piece because it will then be more meaningful and motivating.” - Suzie

We also meet Manda, a traveling teacher working in various schools in California, who shares how she supports the development of foundational skills with visually impaired children:

“So many of these skills that are taught in school are taught visually… sighted children are surrounded by letters…they also have access to social skills through seeing, like body language and visual expressions.” - Manda

And finally we hear from Francis Bizoza, a teacher trainer from Uganda, who stresses the need for teachers to motivate reluctant young people:

“When helping them understand it is important for you to be able to read, it is important for you to write well showing them that in their day to day life these are things we do daily, we read, we comprehend and we listen.” - Francis

On today’s podcast:

• The Data Must Speak
• The relevance of learning through play
• Learning numbers through bodily experiences
• The learning needs of visually impaired children
• The importance of improving young people’s motivation for learning

Links:

• Renaud Comba
• Data Must Speak (UNICEF)

To find out more about today’s guests, and for more episodes featuring other teachers and their stories, visit https://bold.expert/podcasts/bold-podcast-series2

Investing in children’s foundational educational skills is key to their learning and development, as these skills are the building blocks for other life skills and further education, says Professor Ricardo Sabates, a researcher dedicated to equipping out-of-school children in the global south with basic numeracy, reading and writing skills.

“One of the challenges that we have is that when children are not able to reach these foundational skills, when the curriculum that the teachers are trying to teach is further advanced than the capabilities and understanding of concepts of these children, then actually the curriculum is only being able to be followed by 10 percent of the children in the classroom.” - Ricardo

While some children don’t have the foundational skills they need to make learning happen, for others, the language they speak at home isn’t the language of instruction at school, which can lead to an even wider educational gulf developing. 

This is something that Nadira, a social science teacher working in a multilingual community in South Africa, is very conscious about: 

“What we find amongst our learners in the rural parts of our province is that they have a low self esteem because they do not have that parental support or they do not have that confidence that's built up from birth. Hence, the learners are very very afraid when it comes to speaking English.” - Nadira

Finally, we hear about the experience of Manu, a French primary school teacher who uses innovative project-based learning approaches to strengthen his students' motivation in learning how to read and write. 

“A child needs to make sense of what he's doing. Why he writes, why he reads, what is the meaning of all that? The child needs to know why we ask him those things, because he needs to own his learning process.” - Manu

On today’s podcast:

• The importance of foundational skills
• The role of educators and teachers in accelerated learning interventions 
• Tackling the gendered component of education
• The centrality of motivation and self esteem in children's learning

Links:

• Ricardo Sabates

To find out more about today’s guests, and for more episodes featuring other teachers and their stories, visit https://bold.expert/podcasts/bold-podcast-series2

We all remember that one teacher from school who had a long lasting positive impact on us. In this episode, we hear once more from a variety of educators around the world, each one sharing why they’re so passionate about preparing children for their future.

First we hear from Nadia in New York: 

“The long impact that teachers have is we do things that we are passionate about, from our heart we pour into the lives of children not knowing where that would lead and we will not often have the opportunity of hearing how we've changed their lives.” - Nadia

We also hear again from Jose Luis, in Singapore, and from Pamela, in South Africa: 

“I believe that teaching is not only about academics. I'm very passionate about giving and helping children gain skills in developing socially, building their self-esteem and having a positive outlook towards school and life in general.” - Pamela

Diana in the Gaza Strip highlights the need to support other teachers and keep them motivated during turbulent times, because the key to the success of any educational experience is the teacher. This is a view also held by Olasunkanmi in Nigeria, who during the pandemic created a digital platform to enable collaboration among educators. 

So if you’re an educator, wherever you are in the world, and you are looking for ways to improve your teaching practice, download and listen to Teachers’ Voices. Here you’ll find incredible dialogue from a variety of teachers all in different locations, discussing the latest pedagogical research and how they’re implementing it in their daily teaching. 

On today’s podcast:

• The positive impact of a teacher’s recognition 
• Teachers are agents of social change and transformation
• Educators need the support of other educators
• What we can learn from the variety of teachers’ voices

To find out more about today’s guests, and for more episodes featuring other teachers and their stories, visit https://bold.expert/podcasts/bold-podcast-series2

Our world is evolving so quickly and the skills that students needed to thrive just a few years ago are fast becoming obsolete. So what 21st century core competencies do students need to learn to succeed in our modern world?

In this episode we are joined by two inspiring teachers, Enzil and Samaya, who, despite working in very different places – The Bahamas and Nepal - and teaching very different subjects - drama and technology –  both prioritize strategies that develop 21st century skills.

Our special guest today, framing the stories that Enzil and Samaya share, and providing us with his definition of 21st century skills, is Goren Gordon, a researcher studying the potential of  social robots to promote curiosity in children. 

“21st century skills [are] sometimes called super skills. They're called the 4 Cs, so it's about creativity, communication and collaboration and critical thinking… I would actually add another one, which is the 5th C, which is curiosity.” - Goren.

First we hear from Enzil in The Bahamas, who teaches drama in Nassau’s Saint Andrew International School:

“If we, as teachers, think beyond the content, we can invite [students] to bigger places or broader places that allow them to feel connected to real world experiences. And in that way, it's not ignoring the content, it's actually adding value to the content.” - Enzil.

Next we hear from Samaya who is developing a STEM workshop with Karkhana, a Nepalese social enterprise dedicated to showing children creative ways of using science and technology.

“Most of the time we'll be focusing on a full skill, so the child learns how to think critically… So we know how we can communicate with people, how we can communicate our ideas. Also, how to be creative. Also, the most important thing is that we can't do the work alone. We need a team, we need to know how to work in a group that means collaboration.” - Samaya

On today’s podcast:

• Developing skills that can be applied to the real world
• Building skills through STEM education
• Social robots and the skills they help children learn
• Developing a sense of community around robots

Links:

• Email: [email protected]
• Bold.expert
• Karkhana
• Goren Gordon
• Saint Andrew school 

To find out more about today’s guests, and for more episodes featuring other teachers and their stories, visit https://bold.expert/podcasts

One key aspect of children’s lives and development which many of the teachers we have spoken to for this podcast have mentioned, regardless of who they’re teaching and where they are, is the relevance of parental and family engagement in children’s education. 

Their observations mirror the findings of today’s guest Sharon Wolf, an applied developmental psychologist interested in how young children’s social environments - specifically their families and schools - shape their development.

“Parents' involvement really can enhance the children’s academic outcomes. Not just how they engage in school, but their positive attitudes and their behaviours, and how they feel about school.” - Sharon

We are also joined by teachers in Lebanon and India, and hear in-depth insights from an impactful parental engagement program in Cajon Valley, California. 

First we hear from Nour, who works in a kindergarten in Lebanon, supporting the special needs of autistic children.

“The program that I am working on relies a lot on consistency and without the parents' engagement this is very difficult to do. You cannot be consistent with the work that you are doing if the parents are not engaged.” - Nour

Next we hear from Janice Raymond, lead of the project Family and Community Engagement (FACE) in Cajon Valley, Southern California. 

“Regardless of who you visit, other parents in the apartment buildings see you, other kids see you doing visits. All of a sudden everyone wants a home visit. You affect more than just that one family. The relationship is built in the community just by reaching out and making that first step. It is really quite astonishing how that ripple effect works. You don’t need to visit every single family to have an effect on every single family.” - Janice

On today’s podcast:

• Why the pandemic opened parents’ eyes to their children’s schooling
• The need for teacher-parent supportive relationships 
• Why family engagement in children's schooling is crucial

Links:

• Email: [email protected]
• Bold.expert
• Center for Universal Education at Brookings

To find out more about today’s guests, and for more episodes featuring other teachers and their stories, visit https://bold.expert/podcasts/bold-podcast-series2

Over the last 18 months teachers have had to find innovative ways to not only teach, but engage with students. For many, they’ve relied on technology to help them educate their students. But how do technology and play contribute to learning?

In today’s episode, we explore the intersection between learning through play and technology. First we speak with Bo Stjerne Thomsen, Chair of Learning Through Play and the Vice-President of the Lego Foundation, about the increasing role technology has in learning through play. 

“When we look at how technologies are used in playful ways, where they test and try out things, they engage in collaborative activity, they use it to integrate and explore the environment. There's huge opportunities both for development and for learning.” - Bo

We also hear firsthand accounts from two inspiring teachers from two very different contexts, about the impact technology has had on enabling their students to learn through play. 

First we hear from Patrizia in Monterrey, Mexico who works with all ages, but tells us about early teenagers' use of video games in a learning context. 

“Once they start working and learning through game-based learning, they are constantly learning, connecting, involving with their environment through positive experiences in games.” - Patrizia

And secondly, we hear from Pamela, near Johannesburg in South Africa, who shares with us her experience of how her primary school students learned to play via distance learning during COVID-19 school closures.

“​​For the children, I think the rewarding outcome for them is when they grasp that concept, when they have understood that skill, it is a pure joy that they feel. And I know that once I've taught through play, that knowledge will stick.” - Pamela

On today’s podcast:

• The positives that technology can bring to learning through play
• Using Minecraft to help students express themselves
• The importance of play for childrens’ development

Links:

• Email: [email protected]
• bold.expert

To find out more about today’s guests, and for more episodes featuring other teachers and their stories, visit https://bold.expert/podcasts/bold-podcast-series2

Children need to develop reasoning skills in order to carry out problem solving in the real world, says Professor Lindsey Richland. But what are reasoning skills and why are they so important for children to learn, and what role can teachers play in helping develop them? 

Lindsey explains: 

“When we are learning how to reason and how to use that information, teachers are able to use those resources in really important ways so [children] can be productive in lots of different kinds of long term career trajectories.” - Lindsey

We also hear from three amazing teachers who help students at different developmental stages and in different contexts, develop their reasoning skills and make interesting connections between concepts, ideas, practice and observation. 

First we meet Monica who coordinates a Montessori Kindergarten in Brussels (Belgium):

“I believe that mainly in early childhood contexts you are teaching them to be independent, to be part of the society, so young children are learning how to eat by themselves, how to dress by themselves.” - Monica

Next we meet Anne-Li, a social science teacher from Sweden who teaches her secondary school students in a very special program - sailing around the world and visiting different harbours with them:

“The reasoning skills are really working because they put things together from facts and from visiting harbours… The thing here is when you are actually being a part of the people in a country you can take so much [more] wisdom with you that you can't do when you just read about it or look at it on the Internet. Every assignment really comes to life with the people we meet.” Anne-Li

Finally we hear from Hasan who is instilling his love of maths and physics in his teenage students at the American School in Palestine:

“I’m trying to make maths more interesting by introducing some practical problems, something that they don’t know, and they have to use physics or maths to explain certain ideas or to solve certain problems.”

On today’s podcast:

• How reasoning skills develop in the brain
• What children can learn about reasoning from other cultures
• Make teaching experiences relevant for real life situations
• How teachers can help kids learn reasoning skills

Links:

• LinkedIn - Lindsey Richland
• Lindsey Engle Richland

To find out more about today’s guests, and for more episodes featuring other teachers and their stories, visit https://bold.expert/podcasts/bold-podcast-series2