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Forget Grades! Educate for Human Potential Instead.

Creativity is the Future. Let's Embrace It in Education.

Throw-away Christmas Cheer! What Are We Teaching Our Kids?

Dec 13, 2018
3 min

Throw-away Christmas Cheer! What Are We Teaching Our Kids?

For most, Christmas is a time of giving, spending time with family and celebration. Traditionally, it's a celebration of Christ's birth by spreading joy and giving to those less fortunate than ourselves. The story of Santa Claus was inspired by St Nicholas, a wealthy Bishop who lived in the fourth century in a place called Myra (now within modern-day Turkey). He had a reputation for helping the poor by giving secret gifts to people who needed it most. The fact that the storie

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Let Teachers Do What They Do Best. Let Them Teach!

Dec 11, 2018
1 min

Let Teachers Do What They Do Best. Let Them Teach!

Teachers have always had a big remit to fulfill. They're expected to mentor successive generations towards a bright future by providing pastoral care, while at the same time equipping our bright young minds of tomorrow with new knowledge and skills today. That’s no small task and one that we must get right if we are to going to successfully prepare children for the uncertainties and challenges of the 21st Century. "Change, as it is sometimes remarked, is the only constant in

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Fear of Liability Must Not Stop Us Getting Children Outdoors!

Dec 10, 2018
5 min

Fear of Liability Must Not Stop Us Getting Children Outdoors!

In recent years, I've actively sought global opportunities to work in outdoor and experiential education roles for youth in various countries including in the UK, Germany, US, Canada & Thailand. Thankfully, this has given me a unique perspective in terms of the risk management culture in outdoor education within these diverse countries, with a focus on international school settings and residential outdoor education centers. In my view, risk tolerance is an urgent issue in edu

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Top 5 Ways to Empower Children to Tackle the 21st Century Environmental Burden We're Leaving Them

Dec 5, 2018
4 min

Top 5 Ways to Empower Children to Tackle the 21st Century Environmental Burden We're Leaving Them

Environmental Education (EE) in the context of sustainable development is essential for the next generation to build a brighter future in the 21st Century. It's vital in order to meet the sizable (and growing) environmental challenges we face. What's certain is that today's youth must gain deeper levels of environmental understanding and ecological literacy, through carefully constructed education which begins in pre-school, and is not only integrated, but intimately interwov

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Should Structured Outdoor Learning Form an Integral Part of Every School Day?

Oct 11, 2018
3 min

Should Structured Outdoor Learning Form an Integral Part of Every School Day?

For thousands of years, children have learned through outdoor play and essential lessons for survival have come from both instinct and from older, more experienced family members and teachers. In a similar way to lion cubs playing to test their limits and find their place in the pride, humans need outdoor play and learning experiences for successful child development. This includes developing brain functioning, bodily coordination (e.g. balance, posture, agility etc.) and soc

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Worrying Trends in Health & Wellbeing Among Children

Sep 3, 2018
4 min

Worrying Trends in Health & Wellbeing Among Children

Health and wellbeing among children in many developed nations is showing some very concerning trends. In this blog post, I explore why this is and what evidence-based solutions are emerging in the research with a special lens on outdoor education. The Facts & Figures 1 in 3 10-11 year olds are obese or overweight in England according to recent research (NCMP England, 2012-13). 1 in 10 school pupils (5-16 years) suffer from a diagnosable mental health disorder in England and h

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Shining Outside the Classroom

Jul 19, 2018
4 min

Shining Outside the Classroom

In an average classroom of students, some are likely to possess a talent for mathematics. Others might find art a natural fit and enjoy letting their creativity flow through the tip of a paint brush. Likewise, some may find their calling in the sciences and relish being immersed in a web of test tubes and Bunsen Burners. Fitting the Mold But what about those kids who don't fit the mold? Those square pegs who simply don't fit into the round holes of the education system. For m

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Sustainability & the 8 Billion People Conundrum

Jul 16, 2018
5 min

Sustainability & the 8 Billion People Conundrum

Almost nobody actually wants to harm wildlife and fewer still want to exploit factory workers in developing nations. And I've never met anyone who willingly wants to send their plastic waste to landfill to spend the next four centuries decaying. Yet frustratingly, these things happen day in, day out around the world. And due to the complexity and challenge of these global issues, it's far too easy to feel disheartened, as if there's very little we can do as individuals to cha

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Designing an Outdoor Classroom: 5 Simple Things to Consider

Jul 9, 2018
3 min

Designing an Outdoor Classroom: 5 Simple Things to Consider

As adults, we all love to hear the joyful sound of children laughing, and the sight of children smiling and interacting with their friends. As educators, our duty is to offer inspiring places to learn, which successfully support the learning process both inside and outside the classroom. However, many of the outdoor spaces in our schools and local communities weren't built with this in mind, and so they fall short as places for learning to take place. How Do We Maximize Outdo

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