A father-son podcast about the unfathomable mystery of existence | The Open School is gathering a head of steam
A short round-up of a weird week
A father-son podcast about the unfathomable mystery of existence
My son, Harry, is currently on a gap year. Actually, since he's not really sure whether he wants to go to uni, it may well turn out to be a ‘gap life’. (Honestly, I’m beginning to wonder if ‘gap life’ should be the default. Since the introduction of tuition fees - and especially since they were ramped up to an eye-watering £9K a year in 2012 - the calculus of "should I go to uni” has altered dramatically. Even more so since AI started shaking its booty. But even before this, the whole “going to uni at 18” thing has always struck me as odd. How many people know what they want to do at age 18? How many graduates end up working in the field they studied? Spoiler: it’s less than half…)
I digress. Earlier this year, Harry travelled to South America, where he acquired a rather fetching poncho - as you do. Since returning to the UK, he's worn it around town a little, and he says it's like wearing a magic cape - people wander up to him and he has all kinds of interesting conversations that he wouldn't otherwise have.
So, he's decided to start a podcast where he dons a poncho - as does his guest - and they have meandering conversations about life’s big questions.
It's early days. Episode 1 featured a late-night chat by the bonfire with his friend Atahan. And for his second episode, he had a long-form conversation with his old man. Here’s a short clip in which we ponder the unfathomable mystery of existence…
In an era when young people (and indeed adults) spend much of their spare time scrolling 10-second video reels, creating long-form content of this nature is something of an experiment in depth over dopamine. But who knows - perhaps the kids are secretly craving something a bit more nourishing. Time will tell!
I think his target demographic is probably mid teens to mid twenties. If there are any young people in your life, please feel free to nudge this in their direction. Or listen together perhaps, and see what they make of it. Harry would love to hear their thoughts, whether they're positive or of the more constructive variety!
You can watch or listen to the whole thing on Spotify at the link below.
Also, if you know of any young people who might be interested in donning a poncho and speaking with Harry in a future episode, feel free to drop him a line at harrymannion23 at gmail.com.
OK, nepo baby duties fulfilled! Normal service resumes below :)
The Open School is gathering a head of steam
On Monday, I was invited to attend an event in The Mother Of All Staffrooms about the Open School. I first came across this idea when I interviewed Mick Waters and the (much missed) Sir Tim Brighouse on the podcast in 2022.
By the way, it’s an absolute belter of an episode (3h37!) and well worth listening back to. In researching their magnum opus ‘About Our Schools’, Mick and Tim interviewed every Secretary of State from the last 45 years (bar one - you can probably guess which). To my mind, it’s a chapter (and a podcast) that reveals pretty much everything that’s wrong with our approach to education policymaking at the national level.
It’s safe to say that a lot has happened since I last tuned in to the Open School idea. The quality and range of the speakers and initiatives discussed on Monday absolutely blew me away. I invited two of them to speak at the Everybody Thriving unconference in October - possibly three - and acquired at least five new podcast guests! (It’s actually dangerous for me to attend edu-events these days. I’m trying to get things done here, magpie brain!)
As Mick describes it, the Open School is more a concept than a thing, and it takes a bit of getting your head around. To my mind, it’s an attempt to fill in the many spaces left by a one-size-fits-all, school-based, teacher-led education system. It’s a supplementary, complementary ecosystem that provides a rich stream of opportunities for vocational learning, remote learning, character development, free play, extracurricular provision, coaching and mentoring and much more besides - alongside formal learning. There was a strong focus on more holistic, personal development alongside academic learning which… well, you probably know my feelings about that.
I won’t go into more detail here - we’ve slated a podcast for the autumn term - but if you haven’t come across this idea before, here are some handy links by way of an intro:
An excerpt from ‘About Our Schools’ in which Mick and Tim outline the idea
A recent article by Fiona Aubrey-Smith asking “What If… A National ‘Open School’ Became a Reality for Every Young Learner?”
The new Open School website, which includes the following info on various ways in which you can get involved with this exciting development:
If you are a School or Group:
initial design phases are available to schools or groups of schools who are committed to offering new and innovative ways to better meet the changing needs of young people, in conjunction with local authorities and partners. The cost to be part of this initial design phase of The Open School will be around £20,000 for a small group of schools, or £12,000 per individual school.
Would you like to help path-find The Open School?
If you are able to offer philanthropic support:
we are actively seeking seed-funding to accelerate the work currently underway, towards a financially sustainable operating model.
Would you like to boost the life chances of young people?
If you are able to offer specific delivery expertise:
we are actively seeking partnerships with individuals and leaders representing schools, MATs, local authorities, businesses and industry, community and voluntary organisations, sports and culture, academic and vocational.
Are you able to offer capacity, and practical support?
Do get involved if you can.
Interesting to read about the Open School - Wayne Holmes did work on this idea when he was at Nesta I think - we were thinking of trying to raise funds at DEFICambridge.org to try it out. We would probably be very interested in helping think about and evaluate the role of AI in such a school. Also have you thought about global reach? I gave a talk about the Open School concept in UNESCO Paris and sub-Saharan Africa was mentioned a lot. In fact they had an Open School initiative in Ghana but I think the focus was more on infrastructure.
Thanks a million for this Open School stuff James. I love the way your antennae wave around and pick up on and connect creative ideas and developments whose time has come and are 'in the air.'. The drivers of the Open School exactly match those of the "20% Proposal". What a fantastic parallel resource the Open School would be for kids in a 20% programme. I have written to their website and signed up for your unconference - though my participation will have to be virtual because of Deb's (my wife) health problems.
Very best wishes,
Derry