Xperiential Education

Ever felt sick or were injured at school? Ever have to face the grumpy school nurse? Well, not at Bosque School in Albuquerque New Mexico! This is an amazing student led program, where all of the first responders for illness or injury are the students themselves. As members of the school’s Medical Reserve Corps, the students learn how to respond to medical incidents and emergencies and take the lead when something happens.

In this episode, we talk with Dan Shaw, teacher, first responder and faculty head of the MRC at Bosque School, as well as Maddison, Taylor & Abigail, three of the students who are part of the MRC program and first responders.

What better way to learn a unique and practical medical skill set than through real-world experiences.We take a look at how this unique program came about and how it’s been developed over the years to provide students with some amazing and challenging opportunities and experiences to develop an excellent skill-set and ability to respond and deal with a range of medical issues and emergencies.

This is true leadership in Experiential Education and one of the most impressive programs I’ve come across in a school. Whilst many schools profess they provide opportunities for leadership, this school actually does it in such a fantastic and meaningful way.

For more information on Bosque School’s program:

Bosque School MRC

https://www.bosqueschool.org/list-detail?pk=149439&fromId=245550

USA National MRC

https://www.phe.gov/about/oem/prep/Pages/mrc.aspx

Standard Diner ABQ

https://www.standarddiner.com/

This was the first diner I’ve been to in the US and it was nice. The frozen margarita with mint mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!

Have you ever wanted to start the school year by getting away somewhere, fun, challenging remote or culturally unique? No this is no holiday, this is the Aspen High School ExEd program, which provides students the opportunity to learn through experience right across the country.

In mixed year level groups, students get to choose from a huge range of options, from Hiking in the Tetons, to Biking in New Mexico, or perhaps a dive into the Cajun culture of Louisiana or some glitz and glamour of Fashion Design in LA!

There’s something for everyone in this fantastic practical and experiential education program, which has been running for over 50 years!

In this episode we talk with Brent Maiolo who is Chair of the ExEd program at Aspen High.

For more information on Aspen’s program:

Aspen High School ExEd

https://www.aspenk12.net/domain/131

Episode Corrections

Mt Kosciuszko is 2228 metres high, not 2227! Also, you multiply metres to get feet, not divide. Both entirely my mistakes as I can’t do good math! Or English it would seem.

Have you ever tried washing an Elephant at school? Explored a jungle and encountered a family of Gibbons? Well you can at The Howling Gibbon Outdoor Centre in Thailand

In this episode, we talk with Alex Moxon Founder and program Director of the Howling Gibbon Centre.

What better way to learn than to spend time in a rural centre in Thailand which combines, outdoor adventures with field studies and service learning. This centre runs a great range of interesting and diverse programs, with the service learning based upon the UN sustainability goals.

Alex is also the founder of Outdoortopia, an exciting experiential education blog and online community for teachers and other educators interested in creating change makers for a sustainable future.

For more information on the Howling Gibbon and Outdoortopia

Howling Gibbon

https://www.howlinggibbon.com/

Outdoortopia

https://www.outdoortopia.org/

UN Sustainable Development Goals

https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300

Want to lose

yourself in centuries of political and religious conflict and dark mysteries

locked in snapshots from the past? Then the National Gallery in London is just

the place for you. With an enormous collection of stunning artworks spanning

over half a millennia, this is an amazing experience. No matter how many times

I’ve been there, I haven’t even scratched the surface of the passion, the love,

the hatred, the rebellion, the political intrigue and the social and emotional

commentary that’s behind the huge collection of art in the National Gallery.

In this episode,

we talk with Caroline Smith, head of educational programs at the National

Gallery and explore how they engage students in one of the most amazing

galleries in the world.

From the early

Renaissance to legendary artists such as Monet and Van Gough and stunning works

which take up entire walls, this is something which will awe and inspire

students in ways that the classroom can never replicate.

For more

information on the educational programs at the National Gallery checkout:

National Gallery

London

https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/

https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/learning/teachers-and-schools

Best

Coffee in London

Monmouth

Coffee is well worth seeking out as you will struggle to get a decent coffee

anywhere in the UK. However, the coffee here is amazing and some of the best

coffee I’ve had in the world! Just go there and try it. You’ll know what I

mean!

Our shops

Are you between

14-25 and have a problem you want to solve? Do you have lots of ideas, but just

need the right space, equipment and support to turn those ideas into something

cool?

In this episode,

we talk with Andrew Moss, director of the YMCA 4C Centre, Christchurch.

The YMCA 4C Centre

is a place where young entrepreneurs, inventors and problem solvers can go to

build their solutions in a really cool and supportive environment.

From robotics, to

3D printing, to video and artistic pursuits, the 4C Centre is for everyone who

are curious and want to build their skills in Communications, Creativity and

Critical Thinking. It’s a wonderful place and space in Christchurch to take

your ideas, take risks and turn them into something amazing.

For more

information on the YMCA 4C Centre:

YMCA Christchurch

https://www.ymcachch.org.nz/4c/

Want to have 3 classes a day and learn in the heart of a city and use everything around you as a lab?

The Downtown School in Seattle is a leading-edge school which uses Downtown Seattle as part of their integrated educational program. This is a grade 9 through 12 school. It’s a great example of a school that’s future focussed and enabling students to pursue their own interests and identity as part of their education.

More time in the classroom doesn’t equate to better learning outcomes and the Downtown school has built this into their overall program.

For more information on the Downtown School checkout:

Downtown School

https://www.downtownschoolseattle.org/

Lakeside School

https://www.lakesideschool.org/

The KEXP Gathering Space

https://www.kexp.org/visit/gathering-space/

How do you get

students to buy into their role and responsibility in caring for the

environment?

How do you use

this to build a sense of community at the same time?

In this episode,

we talk with Pete Johnson, from the Christchurch City Council in NZ who leads

the environmental experiential education programs for schools.

We take a look at

how these programs are aimed at all ages and build and grow on prior experience

year after year to help students, not only understand the local environment and

the challenges we face to care for that, but also taking real action to do

something within the community.

For more

information on Pete’s work and the great Learning Through Action programs on

offer at the Christchurch City Council checkout:

Christchurch City

Council

https://ccc.govt.nz/the-council/learning-resources/learning-through-action/

Programs

on Offer

https://ccc.govt.nz/the-council/learning-resources/learning-through-action/list-of-programmes/

How do you get students to buy into their role and responsibility in caring for the environment? How do you use this to build a sense of community at the same time? In this episode, we talk with Pete Johnson, from the Christchurch City Council in NZ who leads the environmental experiential education programs for schools. We take a look

Where do you start

with Risk Management? With any experiential education, you have a professional

responsibility to pro-actively manage risk. This is an ever-evolving and

dynamic skill-set that you develop over the years through training and

experience. It’s something we can never take for granted. We take a look at

some of the challenges we face in managing risk and what can happen, when

things don’t go to plan.

In this episode,

we talk with Paul Tame, who is a leading risk management trainer with Xcursion

Risk Management Training, Lead corporate management trainer for Zen Training

& Senior lecturer at Western State Uni Colorado. We take a dive into risk

management for experiential education and touch on a few challenges we all face

when planning and running programs.

Often things look

great on paper. However, how does that translate into the real world? With risk

management for any sort of activity, it needs to be a living and breathing

culture within your organisation and not just a bit of paperwork someone

completed and then filed away.

For more

information on Paul’s work and the organisations he’s worked with over the

years, check out:

Zen For Business

https://www.zenforbusiness.net/

Xcursion Risk

Management

https://training.xcursion.com.au/

Western State Uni

https://www.western.edu/

And Crested Butte

a fun ski resort we’ve skied together at:

https://www.skicb.com/

For

more information on Denali:

https://www.nps.gov/dena/index.htm

https://www.weather.gov/afg/denaliclimbing

Want to learn how to be an entrepreneur? Often this sort of thing is left to chance, luck or sheer force of will. Why not avoid this and get started at school with some real-world problem solving, idea hacking and industry partnerships to help you build an entrepreneurial mindset and skill set whilst still at school

In this episode,

we talk with Dr Paul Browning, Principal of St Paul’s School in Brisbane,

Australia and Author of ‘Compelling Leadership and Principled.

In a rapidly

changing world, we explore how St Paul’s has taken a proactive approach to

teaching and learning and created an Entrepreneurial stream for their students

to prepare them for an uncertain future.

From an in-depth educational

review with input from leading educational minds such as Andy Hargraves &

Pasi Sahlberg, to industry partnerships and a start-up fund, this school is on

the leading edge of education today.

For more

information on St Paul’s and their wonderful program:

Pathways

http://www.andyhargreaves.com/ https://pasisahlberg.com/

For more information on Dr Paul Browning and his books:

The Books

https://www.uqp.com.au/books/principled