Two Inconvenient Women

What sort of learning do we need to support young people with in a rapidly changing world? What does it mean to be a life-long-learner? What qualities of learning do we all possess? What is 'unlearning' and how might it be a vital form of our own growth? What is spiral-learning and how does this shape the way we grow in the world? What if learning was as much about the why and the how as it is about the what?

In this week's episode we dive into the qualities of learning; from pedagogy to process and practice. In particular we talk about the newly launched 'Learning for Life' programme for educators which helps young people make sense of the world they’re growing up in by seeing how it all fits together. Developed over the past decade, these learning resources are built around a simple idea: instead of leading with content, what if we allow learning to be shaped by a pedagogy which inspires critical, curious and compassionate learners. We are gifting all of these materials, shared freely under a Creative Commons Licence and intended for use and adaptation across a range of educational settings for all ages - children and young adults alike.

In this week's episode we reference the following:

Learning for Life - ThoughtBox (website & resources)
Futures of Education - UNESCO (website & report)
Times Education Commission - The Times (PDF report)
Human Flourishing Report - PISA (PDF report)
Rebooting Education Report 2023 - Reboot the Future (PDF report)
The Future of Education & Skills 2030/2040 - OEDC (website & report)
School Report – Pearson - Pearson Education (PDF report)

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Holly and Rachel are away this week, so we're re-sharing an episode from this time last year on the inconvenience of systems change.

Systems thinking isn’t just a concept—it’s how life works. Every action, choice and relationship is part of something bigger. So why do we resist seeing the connections? In this episode, we explore what it really means to understand the world as an interconnected whole. It’s not about learning a framework, it’s about shifting how we see, think and act. This conversation explores what happens when we start noticing the patterns we’re part of—and begin to change them.
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Singing is a deeply healing and cathartic experience for humans - mentally, emotionally, neurologically and spiritually. It is a primal quality we all possess, and something that has formed an innate and constant part of human culture since the dawn of our species. Singing is a birthright, yet many of us have been told that 'we can't sing'. We often mention singing on this podcast as both Holly and myself (Rachel) are members of our local choirs. Both of us have had very different routes into singing - and perhaps represent some of the different ways that singing has shaped - or absented itself - from our lives.

In this week's episode we dive deeply into the many different ways that singing is good for us - from the way it makes us feel, to how it helps soothe our nervous systems, to how it helps forge our connection to others and the wider world. We explore some of the science of singing, the qualities of song in different cultures; the resonance of singing in harmony with others and dabble a little in the profound and extraordinary mystery and magic of where and how music shapes the entire universe.

In this episode we reference the following:

Wednesday Lunchtime Fun Choir (event / website)
The Universal Frequency (website)
How flowers talk to bees - David Attenborough (video)
Harriet - biopic of Harriet Tubman (film trailer)
Spirituals - protest, sacredness and song (website)
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Belonging is the innate human desire to be part of something larger than us. It is primal - something that we all yearn for constantly and can find in different places and spaces across our lives. So were are the places that we can find and really feel a sense of belonging? And what happens when belonging means a sacrifice of our authenticity?

In this week's episode of Two Inconvenient Women, we explore what it means to belong, some of the places that we all can - and often do - find a sense of belonging; what it means to belong to ourselves and how this sense of inner belonging helps shape our authenticity in the world, allowing us to feel even more of a sense of connection.

In this conversation we reference the following:

Dr Dan Siegel - Interpersonal Neurobiology (website)
Brene Browne - Atlas of the Heart (Book)
Martin Shaw - The Woman who became a Fox (video)
Dr Stephen Porges - Polyvagal Theory (website)
Groups & Gangs - ThoughtBox Curriculum (website page)

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There has been a lot emerging in the media recently about countries making decisions to ban social media for under 16s. Australia has been leading the way in this movement, with many other countries now passing legislation through government and widening the public discourse.

So why social media? Why 16? Why now?

In this week's podcast we begin to untangle many of the complexities that living in an online world is having on our mental, physical, emotional spiritual and social health, in particular how it is influencing the development of children and young people. Drawing wisdom from the depth research of social psychologists such as Jonathan Haidt (whose infamous book The Anxious Generation is waking up millions to the 'disconnection epidemic') we wrangle with some of the questions, complexities, possibilities and opportunities of shifting ourselves away from the trappings of an online world and 'rewiring ourselves' back into healthier connections.

In this episode we reference the following:

The Anxious Generation - Jonathan Haidt (book)
The Social Dilemma - Exposure Labs (Film / documentary)
No rush to ban social media - Sonia Livingstone (LSE article)
How a handful of technology companies control billions of minds - Tristan Harris (TED talk)
Is Social Media making us less social? ThoughtBox (inquiries for 5-18 year olds) **COMING SOON
Digital Literacy - Ditch The Label (Lesson resources 13-16 years)

**We will be releasing our full Learning for Life resources for free in mid-February- keep an eye on the ThoughtBox website for more details: www.thoughtboxeducation.com

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