The Harmony Project Education Podcast

For the latest episode in our Living in Harmony podcast series, we spoke to Barney Swan, a polar explorer and Nature-based solutions expert who is currently leading a restoration project in Daintree, Australia – the world's oldest rainforest and home to a unique range of flora and fauna. Barney was born in London but, aged six, he and his family moved to an off-grid community in Daintree to live closer to, and in harmony with, Nature. This experience shaped Barney's appreciation for the natural world and his understanding of its finite resources. This is why, after years of travelling and living in various parts of the world, he returned to the rainforest to restore and protect a place that played such a huge role in determining who he is today. To broaden his global impact, Barney started the charity ClimateForce. Its mission is to equip businesses, students and citizens with sustainable development strategies to help reduce CO2 emissions and regenerate the planet, both on land and in the ocean.

Listen to the latest episode of our Future of Education podcast with best-selling, British author, Isabel Losada. She's written seven non-fiction books relating her own experiences in the pursuit of a more environmentally friendly lifestyle, combining humour with a serious take on this critical subject. In her most recent book, ‘The Joyful Environmentalist: How to Practice without Preaching', she shares practical tips on how to live in more sustainable ways that will benefit both the planet and ourselves, maintaining a positive and uplifting tone throughout.

What is a polymath? What cultural changes are needed today to promote holistic, multidisciplinary thinking? To find out, listen to the latest episode of The Future of Education podcast with Waqās Ahmed. 

Mary Colwell, the award winning author, producer and campaigner for Nature, who spearheaded the establishment of the Natural History GCSE talks to Richard Dunne, the director of The Harmony Project. Mary discusses how her passion for curlews led her to set up the charity, Curlew Action. She also shares her vision for the new GSCE syllabus and explains why we need Nature to ensure our own happiness and wellbeing.

We are joined by Donna Edmonds, CEO of Farms for City Children, a charity that's enabling children from disadvantaged communities to experience farms in the heart of the British countryside. She explains how, growing up on a council estate in South London, she had zero experience of the natural world and had very little understanding of the links between food and farming, and how this led her to see access to Nature as the right of every child, not a privilege.

What are the opportunities and challenges we face in education today? Could the outcomes of learning be measured in a more holistic way? Why is now the right time to rethink the purpose of education? These are just a handful of the questions we discussed with Dame Alison Peacock in the most recent episode of our Future of Education podcast. Dame Alison Peacock is chief executive of the Chartered College of Teaching, a new professional body that seeks to raise teachers' status through celebrating, supporting and connecting them to provide expert teaching and leadership. Prior to joining the Chartered College, Dame Alison was executive headteacher of The Wroxham School in Hertfordshire. Her career to date has spanned primary, secondary and advisory roles. She is an honorary fellow of Queens College Cambridge and UCL, a visiting professor of both the University of Hertfordshire and Glyndŵr University and a trustee for Big Change. Her research is published in a series of books about 'learning without limits', offering an alternative approach to inclusive school improvement.

In the third episode of our podcast series on the future of education, The Harmony Project's Director, Richard Dunne, is joined by former TV presenter and co-founder of  Wildfarmed and GROW, George Lamb. 

In the second episode of our podcast series on the future of education, The Harmony Project's Director, Richard Dunne, is joined by former Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening.

In the first of our new podcast series on The Future of Education, The Harmony Project's Director, Richard Dunne, is joined by flexi-schooling advocate Sian Goodspeed, who is also Founder of Flying Start Tuition and a former primary school teacher.

In this episode, Richard Dunne speaks to Advisor to The Harmony Project, Professor David Cadman.  During the podcast David discusses his upbringing as a Quaker, the lessons he learnt during his time at boarding school, the evolution of his career in estate management and his work with HRH The Prince of Wales (following the Toxteth Riots of 1981), which led to his ongoing work with The Prince's Foundation. Richard asks David about his understanding of Harmony and his new School of Love: "Harmony is constantly fluid and flowing and in movement from and towards. It is always seeking to find a point of equilibrium even if we don't rest upon it for very long" explains David. "The shaping force of that moment is love". David is also a visiting professor at the University of Maryland, USA, a Harmony Professor of Practice at the University of Wales Trinity St David, a fellow of the Temenos Academy and Harmony Advisor to The Prince's Foundation. David has most recently been writing a trilogy under the pseudonym of William Blyghton, the first part of which was published in 2017 under the title of The House by the Marsh.

In this podcast, Richard Dunne talks to Pramisha Thapaliya - a passionate climate justice and sustainable food systems advocate from Nepal. Pramisha shares her experiences growing up in Kathmandu and the changes that have taken place in her own lifetime. She describes the need for an education system in Nepal which prepares young people for the real world challenges that they will face, particularly in terms of climate change, and explains why she believes that an understanding of food systems is such an important part of this transformation.

In this episode, Richard Dunne speaks to the founder of Square Food Foundation, Barny Haughton. Barny is a chef, teacher and food educator who believes that food education should be playing a central role in health and education policy both at local and national government level: "if we want resilient food systems, we need resilient communities and if we want resilient communities, we need a food educated society" says Barny.  Barny opened his first and organic restaurant Rocinantes in Bristol in 1988 and went on to run two others, the third of which was Bordeaux Quay – a grand statement in eco-gastronomy and a huge lesson in the difference between what it takes to run a large business with a £3.5 debt and being an uncompromising idealist. During his restaurant years however, Barny instinctively and inevitably became a cookery teacher; to his chefs, then to children at his own children's primary school and then, more formally to adults and families. Barny founded Square Food Foundation in 2011, a community cookery school which teaches people from all backgrounds and of all ages and abilities to cook good food and to better understand the role food plays in every aspect of life.  "From one person's relationship with the food they eat to global strategies for a sustainable world future, never has food education had a more important role to play in what it means to be human" [Barny Haughton, May 2015]

In this podcast Richard speaks to Catherine Smith, Headteacher at Damers, a large first school with specialist provision for children with complex communication needs, which sits at the heart of the Duchy of Cornwall's Poundbury development in Dorset. Damers introduced the Harmony principles to their curriculum two years ago and are now beginning to embed these principles into all areas. Catherine shares her journey to Headship, which was driven by her own experience of the power of education as a means to overcome barriers and her three decades of teaching and advisory work, both at local and national level. Her passion for inclusion and her determination to ‘find the learner' within every child, regardless of their background or starting point, is evident in every aspect of Damers' provision.

In this week's episode, Richard Dunne speaks to co-founder of the Eden Project, Sir Tim Smit, about his personal experiences of education and fascination with the natural world, as well as what lessons he learnt from the restoration of the Lost Gardens of Heligan and creation of Eden. "There is no greater vocation than to be a teacher" says Tim, as he shares his wish for a radical new way of teaching and learning based on Nature's principles of Harmony.

During this podcast, Richard Dunne speaks to Serena Murdoch, a 16 year old from Kent, passionate about climate justice and environmental activism. During the podcast, Richard and Serena discuss the future of education, as well as Teach the Future's demands for a reform of the education system - repurposed around the climate emergency and ecological crisis. "In an ideal situation we would have a whole generation of people who would prioritise other peoples lives and the environment and know how to deal with a problem like the climate crisis in an efficient and creative way".

In this week's podcast, Richard speaks to Professor Yoshiyuki Nagata, Vice Director of the Sacred Heart Institute for Sustainable Futures (SHISF) in Tokyo. During the conversation, Yoshi shares his reflections on the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development - including its successes and some of the barriers to change. He also talks about the shift from Education for Sustainable Development to Learning for Sustainable Lifestyles and what this means for the future of education.

In this episode, Richard Dunne speaks to Tessa Willy, the Co-Programme Lead of the Primary PGCE at UCLs Institute of Education, about the benefits of creative learning environments, re-energising teachers and what the 'new normal' might look like in relation to education as children return to the classroom. "Teaching is the ultimate responsibility we can have as adults, and we must be prepared to give our all to children" says Tessa.

In this podcast, Richard Dunne speaks to Nizam Uddin, former Senior Head of Mosaic and Community Integration at The Prince's Trust. Nizam shares his experience of education as a young person growing up in East London, as well as his fascination with StarTrek and a growing ambition to "cultivate environments that encourage young people to innovate a far more sustainable world". Richard and Nizam also discuss the work of The Prince's Trust's Mosaic initiative and how Harmony in education might help to support disadvantaged young people.

In this episode, Richard Dunne speaks to Headteacher and CEO of Values Based Education, Bridget Knight, about what lessons we might learn about education during this time of coronavirus, and why a values-based approach to Harmony in education offers a solution. Bridget is currently working with The Harmony Project and schools in Herefordshire as part the Harmony in Herefordshire initiative, which aims to expand the number of schools delivering the Harmony approach to education across the county.

In this week's podcast, Richard Dunne speaks to an important guest - Lord John Bird, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Big Issue, who in 2015 became a people's peer in the House of Lords. Richard is particularly interested in speaking to John about his current campaign around the Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill. His own experiences have led John to believe that ultimately, a good education is critical to successful life chances. ‘I don't want to leave the next generation, and the generation after it, having to suffer the problems that I went through', he explains. ‘This, to me, is about education.' With the Future Generations Bill, he hopes to further improve education, and introduce a new kind of pedagogy – one which fosters children's innate curiosity and passion for knowledge, and nurtures our environmental, social, cultural and economic wellbeing.

In our second podcast, Richard Dunne talks to Forest School Association Director and trainer Sarah Lawfull about the importance of bringing nature into children's learning. Sarah shares her own experiences as a child growing up in rural Devon, being able to explore the wilderness beyond her home, and explains how this shaped her as an early years teacher and later Forest School leader. "Forest School is about learning how we are, learning to look after ourselves, learning to look after and care for other people, and learning to care for the planet" says Sarah. It is about encouraging children to "understand the ecology and ecosystem we are in, whether out in a woodland or in our school's grounds".

In this first episode The Harmony Project's Director of Education Richard Dunne speaks to Sir Anthony Seldon, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham, contemporary historian and public educator. During the conversation, Richard and Anthony discuss the importance of valuing wellbeing in the classroom and how we can create a better education system for the future.