E229: “We All Want To Be Valued.” - Maureen O'Shaughnessy

Maureen O’Shaughnessy is on a mission to connect the dots between education, belonging and youth empowerment and today, she joins Pete to discuss exactly how she’s doing it. They discuss why all children should have the opportunity to discover their passion, how schools can encourage creativity and why it is important to take an active interest in children's passions.   KEY TAKEAWAYS All children should have the opportunity to unpack how they learn and what their interests are. Some children feel defeated, don’t own who they are and they feel lost once they have graduated high school. If we can figure out our passions, strengths and what upsets us and put that together, we can create project-based learning to help children go after their passions. Some children who have become great at testing at school aren't good at life interacting with others or at knowing who they are. Children are then encouraged to go to college when they are unsure of their passions and people wonder why they are floundering and unhappy. Schools and families could be doing a lot to encourage children to believe they are amazing. Taking an active interest in what they are fascinated by, and spurring on their strengths can help children. Memorization is short term, using short term memory to pass tests, is that really what we want from our children? Or is there a way to level the playing fields and show lots of ways of demonstrating knowledge and lots of ways to give credit to children? The opposite of hate is love. When we are in that love zone we are seeing others with empathy and seeking to understand. When we have project-based learning, longer chunks of time and mentors we can build an empathetic community. Relationships make hard work worth it. Relationships are also win-win for students and teachers. Getting to know children over multiple years and having the ability to guide children rather than being the expert is so beautiful.   BEST MOMENTS “Why would we want to kill creativity? Now more than ever we need kids creating and solving for the jam we have gotten the world in.” “We don’t find ways to nurture the ‘I am amazing’” “We all want to be valued.”   ABOUT THE GUEST Maureen O’Shaughnessy is on a mission to connect the dots between education, belonging, and youth empowerment. She is the founder of the human-centred micro-school, LEADPrep. This learner-focused middle / high school is a national model for micro-schools, helping students learn from a place of love and personal alignment. Dr O’Shaughnessy is the author of Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids, host of the Education Evolutionpodcast, and co-founder of the active Collective. She recently shared innovation ideas in her TEDx talk: Changing My Mind to Change Schools. Disrupting the outdated education system, Maureen offers a variety of coaching resources. From running a mastermind for leaders of small schools to consulting with educational innovators on developing accessible-for-all learning environments, she is a force to help all students thrive and be future-ready.   Dr Maureen O’Shaughnessy / Founder & Executive Director LEADPrep — An innovative micro-school where teens thrive Learner-centred. Experiential. Accountable. Demonstrated. 425-298-6451 OUR MISSION At LEADPrep we create a dynamic space where education is engaging, not one-size-fits-all, for all learners to be seen, heard, valued, and thriving. LEADPrep  /  Education Evolution podcast  /  The Micro-School Coalition  /  Instagram  /  Facebook  /   ABOUT THE HOST The ‘Mighty Pete Lonton’ from the ‘Mighty 247’ company is your main host of ‘Fire In The Belly’. Pete is an Entrepreneur, Mentor, Coach, Property Investor, and father of 3 beautiful girls. Pete’s background is in Project Management and Property, but his true passion is the ‘Fire in The Belly’ project itself. His mission is to help others find their potential and become the mightiest version of themselves. Pete openly talks about losing both of his parents, suffering periods of depression, business downturn and burn-out, and ultimately his years spent not stoking ‘Fire In the Belly’. In 2017, at 37 years of age that changed, and he is now on a journey of learning, growing, accepting, and inspiring others. Pete can connect with people and intuitively asks questions to reveal a person’s passion and discover how to live their mightiest life. The true power of ‘Fire In The Belly’ is the Q&A’s - Questions and Actions! The ‘Fire In The Belly’ brand and the programme is rapidly expanding into podcasts, seminars, talks, business workshops, development courses, and rapid results mentoring. CONTACT METHOD https://www.facebook.com/mightypetelonton/ https://uk.linkedin.com/in/mightypete https://www.facebook.com/groups/430218374211579/       Support the show: https://www.facebook.com/groups/430218374211579/