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This episode is special as we talk about an area of learning that needs to be fostered in schools. Vesna Alic from Slovenia, a business and educational consultant, trainer,and project manager in agriculture and social entrepreneurship, explains the challenges in agriculture and social entrepreneurship, the concept of learning and transferring knowledge within the community, including innovative competitions. Most importantly, the episode draws attention to the importance of food education in schools and within families. For visuals, the episode can also be found via this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvoTKsGKPn0

This episode is related to HR in general and on-boarding in particular. While there are always duties, there are also rights. Human resources (HR) is better seen as human power (HP), that can tremendously contribute to any institution when given well-tailored support, guidance, and appreciation, in alignment with the vision, mission, objectives, and values. For a win-win, there needs to be a certain combination that encompasses all factors in favor of both the institution and the new hires. With the 30-35-35 rule set in the best possible way, on-boarding not only succeeds, but also thrives. This episode touches on the culture of the institution and how it strengthens on-boarding, so that a dynamic, prolific new hire becomes an asset, who will add expected and unexpected value to the work community.  

This is a core episode, as it discusses learning from my approach for conscious learning and being. Learning is a hexagon-shaped structure within which three practices operate. It sets questions, such as no matter what high credentials we receive, we still stumble and fall in both professional and personal lives. The model represents six sources of learning, and this episode introduces them, along with the three disciplines. This episode is part of a new series "Into Orbit", that is found on my visual resources page (Youtube). The first two episodes of the series were about the 7 shocks that we experience from pre-birth to our late thirties and education under a microscope. The series aims at highlighting the balance needed, especially at the end of thousands of years era of suffering and inner struggles and during this 3-year turbulence our world has been undergoing. Educators, principals, teachers, non-academics, along with learners, and parents have all been undergoing unnecessary struggles, including painful experiences and in all places on this globe and now is the time to create some positive changes. www.youtube.com/channel/UCaP3saZBT8bza5cmFrnHU0A

This is an episode that discusses chatbots from macro and micro angles. Though it does not explain the technical aspects of chatbots, it does shed the light on the infinite capabilities of ChatGPT and chatbots in general and the radical facilitation they bring to the world. It also considers the other challenging side of this type of intelligence and poses serious discussion prompts at this point of having put ChatGPT at the fingertips of the public and Google Bard in the upcoming weeks. Given all these thought-provoking points, the episode ends with a call to action and three open-ended questions as usual, which more than ever, need to be reflected on as we embark on this journey with AI chatbots. 

This episode features Inge Rozendal (she/her) from The Netherlands. Inge is a learning designer & consultant in Higher Ed and assessment and a didactics trainer. Her focus is on regenerating education through a holistic approach that connects familiar practices and norms to our passions and drives. These passions and drives are the anchor that keep children and youth connected to their life journeys and to the world around them. As the chair of the assessment committee at the Applied University of Utrecht and a trainer at the University of Technology in Delft, Inge works on remodeling assessment. From her belief that learning is an exploration of our passions and drives for a higher purpose, she dedicates her career towards sharpening the characters of children, undergraduates, and graduates so that they think creatively and act responsibly. As she combines her views on education and assessment with her experience in business and science, she is contributing to the current paradigm shift towards a world in which humans, animals, and plants can all thrive. For more info: linkedin.com/in/ingerozendal / [email protected]

This is a bonus episode, released at the beginning of this new year 2023. It is a personal outlook of a period that ended, the few years that passed, and a new one that is just starting. While the past years were years of deep thinking and clearing of old patterns, the coming one is a softer extension of deep thinking, but with a more promising light at the end of the tunnel. It is a call to speak our truth and face our fears, as we open new paths towards a more authentic "Us" ! All this comes as part of my approach for conscious learning and being, that fosters self-awareness, which is the core of every successful, content, and caring professional. Best wishes for a very good year, from the inside out ! 

This episode features Pirjo Suhonen from Finland, the founder of ALO Finland Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC). Through the digital teacher training, Pirjo focuses on teachers as the Best App, who are offered the opportunity to experience digitally authentic ways and methods with Finnish teachers, all exploring core competencies of the Finnish system of education. She shares her Double-Flip concept, as a success story, in which an immersive atmosphere was weaved into the entire community. Through coding, robotics, and gamified mathematics, intertwined with innovative pedagogical practices, both children and teachers explore their potential and continue to build the connections that we all know about Finnish classes. She also talks about the urgency to invest and retain teachers and the ways to do that. Find more about Pirjo Suhonen and the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC): https://www.alofinland.com/

This episode features Britta Simon from Germany. Britta is a personal resilience coach certified by the Institute of HeartMath and specializes in sustainable stress management, self-regulation & sensitive trauma recovery. She works with individuals & teams to help them combat their inner chaos that result from stress, helplessness, and emotional depletion. In the middle of the episode, Britta shares a very simple exercise to connect to our inner state of calmness and balance, and consequently create heart-brain coherence. She also explains how science proved that the heart has its own intelligence and how heart intelligence empowers us to discover our potential. The episode is a call for schools and families to explore heart intelligence that can help reduce bullying and stress in school communities and increase compassion, DEI, engagement, and achievement. Britta shares two free gifts with schools and families: HeartMath Experience Interactive Program https://experience.heartmath.com/and Sending Love with Heart Ebook by Britta Simon https://www.canva.com/design/DAD4AqVpdxA/I1jSCHYWrJ3_khyBZ5OLzw/view?website#4. Please feel free to share these two resources. More about Britta Simon https://brittasimoncoaching.com/

This episode addresses Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), fundamental themes that are interrelated and may still be underrated in "schools" with the  continuous emphasis on testing and achievements. The episode is an extract from 21st Century Series (ORBITS Model), a globally-oriented series that I have been sending since September 2021 via my monthly newsletter. This series, which applies to most, if  not  all education systems,  provides themes in the most efficient, non-demanding ways with strategies, rubrics and  suggestions that can help in better understanding, implementation, and evaluation of practices. Here is the PDF of the rubrics related to this episode on (DEI): https://04b5da25-d834-4a86-a112-7d0a45b8d93f.filesusr.com/ugd/2a74fe_cbf45ce6a6744d0a8b441d7e5cde5208.pdf?index=true

This episode features Jihan Najjar, a job search coach and Sr. HR generalist. Speaking from Greece, Jihan shares insights from an international recruiter and a coach’s perspective about basic principles for a successful job search. She outlines strategies that ensure mutual value, professionalism, and profit for both recruiters and candidates, emphasizing positive and responsible mindset of the two parties involved. Jihan explains that the job search is a process, strategically planned and realistically conducted, and pinpoints steps to be taken and steps to be avoided for a better outcome for all. More at https://www.academicjobs.me/

This episode presents 21st century learning from ORBITS perspective, highlighting its four components: Cognitive rigor, technology, social-emotional rigor and global citizenship (also from ORBITS perspective). The key is to catch the essence of learning for life, learning for continuous growth, and learning for ultimate value and joy. It is time now to reset formulas and detach from fixed concepts. More from the 21st Century Learning ORBITS Model is issued in a series this academic year 2021-2022 through my monthly free newsletter: www.orbitsdevelopment.com. Presentation from Economist Impact UK mentioned in this episode can be found through this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqs8vb7JYlg&t=1509s

This is an open talk that features Benjamin Freud, the educator who advocates more questions than answers, in a mutual exchange with the host about how skills taught in class remain limited, how curricula and assessment can be redesigned to meet our multidisciplinary real-world needs, and how those needs are far beyond students. Benjamin explains that biocentrism is our only way towards a better and more equitable future. The episode is a double call to action from Benjamin Freud and the host as they both emphasize the role of a “possible” change mindset, self-paced schools, and qualitative methods in building bridges and making impact. More of Benjamin Freud Ph.D. content can be found via this link: https://coconut-thinking.design/