In this episode the English and psychology teacher Katharina Wendrich joins me for a chat about storytelling, students and social media. We delve into how stories can help young people to discover who they are, how social media has changed the way we tell certain stories, how to help students deconstruct stories on social media, using Shakespeare to understand how perspectives can be manipulated, the importance of creating an emotional connection with your audience, as well as other ways to help students think more deeply about their stories and posts.

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Macbeth:

Romeo and Juliet:

As the world becomes increasingly interconnected and interdependent, the importance of global competence has come to the fore. In 2018 it was even included in the PISA assessment test.

In this episode we'll be looking at what it is, how it differs from intercultural competence, factors that are key for its development, as well as at some thinking routines that can be used in the classroom.

The ability to communicate effectively is one of the mostsought after skills today. Yet even though we spend so much time sharing our ideas, we are not always able to get our message across clearly. Come and join me to find out how communication skills can be improved, what top business leaders do to get their ideas across, why non-verbal communication skills are key, as well as a few ideas for how this can be done in the English-speaking classroom.

Today, everybody is talking about the importance of lifelong learning. Yet what does it actually entail? In this episode we'll also be exploring the attributes lifelong learners have, to what extent it is possible to cultivate these traits, and why it is important to lay the foundations early on.

Adaptability is considered vital for the future since technological changes are disrupting work as we know it. But why is it key? Can it be measured? To what extent can we learn to become more adaptable? And why is unlearning so important? Listen in to find out more!

Today, our world is changing at such a rapid pace that it is difficult to know what the future of work might look like. So how can we best prepare young people for what is to come? Experts are now talking about redirecting our focus towards human flourishing to equip young people with the skills and attitudes they will need to navigate these changes. But what does human flourishing actually mean? What skills and attitudes does this encompass? And, of course, how can we incorporate some of this into the English-speaking classroom?

In today’s digital world, we need critical thinking more than ever. The ability to be able to judge the credibility of sources and formulate plausible hypotheses are key. So what can we learn from professional fact checkers? What happens if we delegate search tasks to AI chatbots like ChatGPT? And what implications might this have for the classroom? Listen in to find out more!

ChatGPT has been causing quite a stir. But what can really it do? What are its limitations? What might it mean for students and how will it affect the skills that they need in the future? To find out more, I chatted to a software engineer at a news organisation in the UK.

Empathy has been described as the psychological “superglue” that connects people, yet today it is in decline. In this episode, I’ll be looking at why this is, its importance, what steps we can take to cultivate it, as well as a few ideas for the classroom.

Students came together at the Creators Camp in Coburg this summer to draw up and present an idea for the school of the future. It was an event that saw students having to put 21st century skills into action as they worked towards a common goal. I visited one of the initiators, headteacher Ursula Kick-Bernklau, to find out more about this fascinating project and how 21st century skills are incorporated into everyday life at her school.