How fast are you moving right now?

This is a question I often ask to find out about you and your perspective. There are several answers to the question.

Zero…..ok

What about 667 mph…..the rotation of the earth at our latitude

What about 67,000 mph…..the speed of the earth around the sun

What about 514,000 mph…..the speed we are spinning on the Milky Way galaxy

What about 1.3 million mph…..the speed the Milky Way galaxy is moving through the universe.

It simply depends on your perspective!

Now I’ve got your attention, let’s talk about real education. When does it start? At birth. When does it end? When you draw your last breath.

What’s the purpose of education?

‘To inspire and engage young people into lifelong learning & help equip them for the world of work.’ I have never known anyone disagree with my definition & yet, in formal education we rarely do this.

Imagine an environment where children and young people learned through play and project-based learning, developing their core transferable skills. No such thing as ‘subjects’ and every aspect is given a context and application.

Let me give you one example, maths.

MATHS IS NOT A SUBJECT!

It’s a language we use to describe and solve problems. Context is crucial. Nothing in our modern world exists without maths. You may love abstract concepts. i.e. There is no such thing as one. Personally, as an autistic lifelong learner, I need a reason for it.

I spend my life asking questions and encouraging learning through problem solving with little or no example or instruction…a bit like life really. I try to give job profile examples and actively promote apprenticeships. With many years’ experience working with Y1 to Undergraduates, teachers, families, home educators & businesses, I’ve come to understand there is a disconnect between learners and employers.  This can be fixed and takes good communication as educators and employers often use different languages, so no wonder they don’t understand each other. There are exceptions & I know them.

I work with different organisations with my clear vision, mission and purpose (see above). Let’s break down the barriers to engagement and collaborate. If you are in this space as a parent, teacher, business etc. We should all be about ‘Planting acorns for trees we will never rest in the shade of’. A Greek proverb.  Stop trying to think short term, this is a lifelong journey and if we support and collaborate with each other we will plant many many more ‘trees’.

I was asked to include some links I think would be of value

I deeply admire the work of Kids invent stuff established by two wonderful engineers Ruth Amos and Shawn Brown with a beautiful mission. Kids send pictures of inventions; they pick one every month and make it. Making a video showing how, encouraging curiosity, problem solving and using tools

Kids invent stuff

Great free learning resources such as

The STEM Workshops is an organisation I work with & have a wonderful YouTube channel with brilliant learning resources…..buy a glue gun and a craft knife!

The STEM Workshops

I have worked and developed resources for Bloodhound Education for many years including a few videos

Bloodhound Education Web Resources and Bloodhound Education YouTube channel

Another organisation I worked for for many years, Create Education. Offering brilliant 3D printing resources from Primary up including a free 3D printer loan scheme

Create Education Resources

Introduction to CAD (Computer Aided Design) through Tinkercad is a great way into this piece of tech. This also can be used for simple introduction to block coding

Tinkercad

I have worked with micro:bit since its inception and the foundation has a lot of free resources you can use to learn coding

micr:bit resources

I work with the Royal Academy of Engineering who have a fantastic website full of stories of bright, diverse young people. If you can’t see it, you can’t be it.

This is engineering

To discover more about apprenticeships and the skills needed, start at primary level.

Gov.UK Find out about apprenticeships

Listen and watch young people share their reasons for choosing apprenticeships

Make UK – Future Makers

Stephen Hawking’s famous quote is, “Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the Universe exist. Be curious.”

In my work I will always encourage people to be more curious, not less. Leave the room with better questions in their tool kit and maybe some of those acorns will grow into mighty oaks.

An average, mature oak tree can produce up to 10 million acorns over its lifetime. 

STEM Boxes for Schools