Teachers' Voices BOLD and Nina Alonso

The final episode of Teachers’ Voices season 3 opens with Sister Zeph, winner of the 2023 Global Teacher Prize, talking directly to teachers. “You are a future maker”, she says. These words inspired the rest of this mini-episode, which explores futures literacy. What is futures literacy? What do students gain from futures literacy? How can teachers incorporate it into their classrooms?Former teacher Michelle Blanchet, co-author of the Startup Teacher Playbook and Co-Founder of The Educators’ ...

Why is it important to make sure children have words to name their emotions? How can teachers promote mental health and wellbeing? Is it possible to remove academic pressure from school?In this episode, Nina first meets Sarah Griffiths, a Senior Research Fellow at University College London and Co-Director of the Wellbeing and Language Lab in UCL’s department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology. “Language, particularly words for emotions, are critical for understanding emotions,” Sa...

What types of physical activity benefit students? Can bringing movement and play into different academic classes help children learn? How can spaces and classes for movement be inclusive?Nina first meets Fotini Vasilopoulos, a Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Sydney in Australia. “Physical activity is important for physical health, for mental health, and it also can drive behaviours for learning.” Fotini suggests giving children different types of experiences - not just sports, bu...

In what ways do students differ from each other in their learning? How does one student vary in their own learning from day to day? How can schools embrace these types of learning variability?In this episode, Nina talks to Julia Leonard, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Yale University. Learning variability, Julia explains, is both “my learning might be different than your learning” and “my learning one day might be different from the other day”. It is also that “my learning in one class ...

How can teachers help students make a positive change in their communities? How can schools better connect education with the future of work?In this bonus mini episode of Teachers’ Voices, Nina hears practical tips from last episode’s guests Alison Yang, Barbara Bilgre, Maud Seghers, and Larisa Akrofie. Nina is also joined by Tanya Sheckley, an edupreneur and host of the podcast Rebel Educator. All share their tips and inspiring resources for instilling an entrepreneurial mindset and preparin...

What is an entrepreneurial mindset? Why should educators nurture entrepreneurial mindsets in young people? What entrepreneurial projects have teachers developed in classrooms around the world?In this episode, Nina first speaks to Maud Seghers. Maud is a global education advisor at VVOB in Belgium, an international organisation devoted to education development. An entrepreneurial mindset is not just about starting and managing projects, programs, and businesses that generate wealth, Maud says,...