All our speakers and inquiry lines are very carefully picked
in collaboration with our community.

Our speakers and inquiry lines are very carefully picked in collaboration with our community. They always align with our vision of embedding what really matters in education. Inquiry, play and the Learning Power Approach (LPA) are golden threads through our learning process, as well as focusing on the head, heart and mind of learning.

We choose speakers by ensuring:

  • They are qualified, world-leading voices in their area of expertise
  • Their work is based in research and is deeply practical and implementable
  • They will inspire, inform, support and challenge our thinking and practice
  • Their work builds on previous learning, creating a snowball effect to our progress
  • Their work is steeped in knowledge, pedagogical understanding and research
  • They are authentic and lead from the heart.

By being part of our learning and answering our unique questions, their ideas will also be shaped, challenged and extended.

So, we’re pretty picky!

We want our Q and A’s to be rich, meaningful and create new perspectives and angles for our community, as well as provide practical ideas. We often invite two or three lead thinkers during one Q and A to bring this perspective and stimulate new thinking. This way, our content supports practitioners completely new to developing their practice as well those who are more experienced.

September - November

1. Belonging and Inclusion

Headshot of Bennie Kara
Bennie Kara
Headshot of Kym Scott
Kym Scott
Headshot of Jo Brassington
Jo Brassington
LPA Design Principle

Making the classroom a safe and inviting place to learn

Focus

Heart

What could be more important than every single child feeling a sense of belonging in school? Sadly, all too often, this isn’t the case. If you reflect on classes you have taught, students who have passed through your school, we are sure you can think of those who had a strong sense of belonging and those who did not. What if we could pay conscious attention to how we create belonging in our schools and classrooms? What if we could be brave enough to unearth unconscious bias and learn how to shift our practice to be more inclusive for ALL children - Children from all backgrounds, from all sorts of families, with all sorts of approaches to learning. Wouldn’t that be amazing?! If every single child really did feel like they were seen, heard and valued in school and it was a place they were welcomed and belonging. THAT is what this “live” and inquiry line is about.

November - December

2. Documenting Teacher Learning

Headshot of Ann Van Dam
Anne van Dam
Headshot of Jessiva Vance
Jessica Vance
LPA Design Principle

Developing the Learning Environment with Learning in Mind

Focus

Hand

In many classrooms, and particularly in reggio emilia and inquiry settings, teachers visibly document children’s learning. The process of doing this slows down thinking, makes learning visible, enables teachers to see childrens’ interests, fascinations and misconceptions and provides an opportunity to reflect on and build upon learning. So, pretty powerful! Research also backs this up: Making learning visible enables learners to see the process of their thinking and learning and therefore to examine it. It makes sense then, to amplify teacher learning and collective efficacy in schools, that we also document teacher learning visibly - In the staffroom, in classrooms, down the corridors and online. What would it look like if we did this? What impact would this have on teacher learning conversations, conscious competence in our practice, a feeling of agency and trust amongst staff? What if parents, too, could get involved - not only to see how teachers were learning but also to add their own powerful insights - to learn from and with teachers.

We’re really excited to invite documentation leader, Anne van Dam and author of “Leading through a Lens of Inquiry”, Jessica Vance to co-construct how we can being to visibly document teacher learning in schools.

January is a reflection and rest time in our community since those in the Southern Hemisphere are on summer break. This gives the rest of us time to take stock, reflect, breath, make links with prior learning and plan forwards.

January is a reflection and rest time in our community since those in the Southern Hemisphere are on summer break. This gives the rest of us time to take stock, reflect, breath, make links with prior learning and plan forwards.

February - April

3. What might education look like in 2030? How can we make steps towards that?

Headshot of Yong Zhao
Yong Zhao
Headshot of Valerie Hannon
Valerie Hannon
LPA Design Principle

Being purposeful and mindful in our practice, always being ready to disrupt the status quo

Focus

Self/soul/visioning

We need to know where we’re going. We need to vision into the future. But not too far, otherwise we’ll lose sight of what’s practical. Visioning towards 2030 seems doable. But, as prior speaker for Learning Pioneers, Mark Finnis says, “A vision without a plan is just a hallucination.” Which is a) not very practical and b) downright scary! So, it makes sense to vision forwards AND begin to build a roadmap and practical steps towards that vision. Who better to inspire our thinking than visionary educational thinkers Yong Zhao and Valerie Hannon?!

Join us in this powerful learning journey by signing up to our “Diving Deeper” community package
April - June

4. Embedding the LPA

Guy Claxton
Rachel MacFarlane
LPA Design Principle

All of them!

Focus

Mind

Our community has been inquiring into embedding the LPA for 4 years now - That said, we know that the more ways we find to implement the LPA, the deeper we go with embedding its principles, the more we can do and the further we can go - And the bigger impact we can have!

We're delighted, then, to have this opportunity to gain insight from LPA- designer, Guy Claxton and LPA leader, Rachel MacFarlane. How can we:

  • Ensure the LPA is embedded across all learning and policies in our schools?
  • Powerfully walk WITH parents on the LPA journey?
  • Ensure we are strengthening all elements of Learning Power and have consistency and depth in all Design Principles?
  • Incrementally build the LPA over time so students become ever better learners?

By joining our community you will get to embed these ideas into your schools and classrooms and walk this leading-edge journey with us.

Join us in this powerful learning journey by signing up to our “Diving Deeper” community package

Previous speakers and inquiries

Each year we curate a learning journey, choosing inquiries that will stimulate growth, add depth and ultimately make the biggest impact to children in our care reaching their unlimited potential.

By joining our asynchronous and “diving deeper” packages, you will gain access to all of this content.

Here is a summary of our learning journey so far:

Mark Finnis and Dr Robert Loe
Mark Finnis and
Dr Robert Loe
Relationships
Kath Murdoch and Anne van Dam
Kath Murdoch and Anne van Dam
Habitats for Learning
Jaz Ampaw-Farr
Jaz Ampaw-Farr

Positive Disruption
Prof. Bill Lucas and Sugata Mitra
Prof. Bill Lucas and Sugata Mitra
Creativity and
Problem Solving
Paul Dix and Lindsay Beth-Lyons
Paul Dix and Lindsay Beth-Lyons
Behaviour Empowerment
Prof. Guy Claxton and Kath Murdoch
Prof. Guy Claxton and Kath Murdoch
Links between inquiry and the LPA
Liz Pemberton and Jennifer Abrams
Liz Pemberton and Jennifer Abrams
Who do I aspire to be as a leader?
Ron Berger and Trevor MacKenzie
Ron Berger and Trevor MacKenzie
Craftsmanship,
reflection and feedback
Adrian Bethune
Adrian Bethune
Well-being
James Nottingham
James Nottingham
Challenge
David Price OBE
David Price OBE
Student Agency
Dr. Ron Ritchhart
Dr. Ron Ritchhart
Developing Thinking Routines
Anne van Dam
Anne van Dam
The Power of Play
Trevor MacKenzie
Trevor MacKenzie
Student Agency
Prof Guy Claxton
Professor Guy Claxton

We have invited Guy in for Q and A’s on a range of topics, including his take on developing creativity, exploring deeper thinking and deeper learning and diving deeper into "Learnish". In these interviews, Guy shares his latest thinking in the LPA, provokes our, often unconscious, thinking and provides new and practical ideas to develop the LPA in our classrooms.

Book a free 30-min call with Becky to clear all your questions

The first step to joining a Mastermind, is booking a free 30-minute call with Becky to explore whether you are a good fit for the Mastermind. During that call, she will answer any questions and find out more about your key challenges and dreams for your school.

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