The Educhange Podcast

Valerie Campbell-Hogg is the founder and CEO of Silkwood School, a school in the hinterland of the Gold Coast in Australia that approaches learning differently. With a background in business and personal development, and when her two young children were of school age, finding an inspiring educational experience seemed difficult, and so Valerie set up her own school. From humble beginnings in 1999 with 2 students in a rented house, Silkwood School now has over 600 students from Prep to Year 12 and they've built their own educational model. 

Rob Steffler is the Dean of Studies and Director of The DeLorean Project at Glasshouse Christian College, a P-12 Independent School on the Sunshine Coast. Based on his passion of providing students with explicit opportunities to develop the capabilities and skills they will need to effectively navigate their way through the workforce of the future, Rob and his team innovated a new Year 10 curriculum. In this podcast, Rob shares The DeLorean Project with us and we explore the framework and learning structures that make this an authentic, community-supported, student-directed opportunity.

Nicola Bone is the founder of Sound Off Schools, a mindfulness and well-being program currently sweeping through Queensland schools. Based in Brisbane Australia, Sound Off Schools are guiding students through mindfulness practices to help deal with increasing levels of mental health issues in the classroom. Nicola Bone is a gun - she worked both in public health and as a teacher before founding Sound Off Schools. In this episode we speak about the connection between mindfulness and mental illness, and how we can better support thousands of school students.

Sue Karzis is CEO of State Schools’ Relief in Victoria, Australia. State Schools’ Relief is a not-for-profit organisation that was established to provide financial assistance to students and families in order to promote school attendance and achievement. To date they have supported hundreds of thousands of young Victorian students and their families. Sue has been the CEO of State Schools’ Relief since 2017 and has a varied career in leadership across organisations like Monash University and Trinity College where she has led Student Services, Partnerships and Engagement.

Linnea Garrett is Principal of Chicago Tech Academy High School (Chi-Tech). Under her leadership, Chi-Tech is the only high school in the district implementing whole school project-based learning. During her time at Chi-Tech, Linnea has led and supported the development of a real-world learning program where students understand the connection between education and career and gain both access and exposure to career opportunities through weekly power lunches and internships in a variety of Chicago businesses.

Think Global School is a travelling high school where students live in four countries every year, making unforgettable connections between their education and the world around them. In this episode, we talk to Jamie Stekart, Head of School, about the role of project-based, place-based and mastery learning in a constantly changing world. Jamie has been a teacher, principal, superintendent and Outward Bound Expeditionary Learning Instructor, and has a passion for collaborative leadership and listening to the voices of students.

Joanne McEachen is the Global New Measures Director for New Pedagogies for Deep Learning and has led the development of a system of tools to measure “deep learning”. In this episode we unpack how we can better measure the components of learning we truly value, rather than the learning that is easiest to measure. Joanne is also the CEO and Founder of The Learner First, her organisation which privileges the lens of the least-served learners to revolutionise the measurement, assessment, teaching and learning across whole system change. She has worked with schools and districts to both design learning that works for each individual learner and to know how it works. Joanne has been a teacher, principal, super-intendant and national change leaders in New Zealand and around the world, and has co-authored five books, including her latest, ‘Measuring Human Return - Understand and Assess What Really Matters for Deep Learning’.

In the wake of the Christchurch shooting and the tragedies in Sri Lanka over the Easter long weekend, there is no time like the present to talk about fostering intercultural capabilities, respect and curiosity over fear with our students.Jessica Swann is the Outreach Program Manager at Benevolence Australia, and in this interview we explore the methods she uses to demystify Islam with teachers and students in schools.  

Aaron Mabikafola is a passionate and award-winning educator who is on staff at Bethany Christian College, Adelaide, South Australia. With 20 years of experience as a music and classroom teacher, Aaron’s love for story­-telling, the arts and experience as a photographer, graphic designer, film maker, musician, producer and songwriter, continue to be shared with students in his role as the school’s Media Arts teacher. 

Dr Glenn Savage is a Senior Lecturer in Education Policy and Sociology of Education at the University of Western Australia. His current research examines the development of national schooling reforms and how policies in systems impact on ideas and practices in schools. He is also a Senior Honorary Fellow in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne. In this interview we unpack the Australian education report, Gonski 2.0, and its implications for teachers and school leaders, along with the relationship between policy and practice globally.