Risky Business

In this final (part 4 of 4) Andy Reflects on his potential to lead educational transformation based on his learning about digital and collaborative learning and leadership.

In this episode (part 3 of 4) Andy reflects on his leadership and followership so far in our changing educational environments. 

Episode 2 of Andy's assignment has him talking about leadership and the new ideas that he has connected to.

Andy goes solo as he creates 4 short episodes for his Mindlabs postgraduate DCL assignment.  Episode 1 is all about inspiring people he has worked with over his teaching career, of which Jack is one.

We're back after a 2 year hiatus to provide some closure to our beloved Risky Business project. We talk about the experience of moving home from international education, and unpack some literature on Autonomy for students and teachers. Articles in this episode: Porter, L. (2014). Meeting students' need for autonomy : Voice and choice. Core Education - Learner Agency Final Research Report.

This week Andy Groom and Jack Cooper delve into the topic of Numeracy. We advocate for a more authentic, real-world problem-solving approach to mathematics that gives students the opportunity to apply their skills in a range of unfamiliar contexts. Contacts us on twitter @riskybusinessed or email [email protected]

This week we present the case against subject-based education. What are the other options and how might it benefit students and teachers to dissolve the traditional subject barriers? Don't forget to reach out on Twitter @riskybusinessed or email [email protected]

For our first episode back in far too long, we thought we'd change things up and answer a bit of a mixed bag of questions. Happy to be back and looking forward to posting more episodes in the coming weeks! Don't forget to tweet us @riskybusinessed with any questions or feedback!

Follow up to our episode on Project based learning - where we share some of the techniques we've used in the classroom. We also get some insight from our friend Tom Collins (BIS Chicago) on his preferred methods. Don't forget to get in touch via twitter @riskybusinessed or [email protected]

We love the idea of Project-Based Learning but how are we supposed to assess it! This week Andy and Jack try to get to the bottom of this topic with the help of special guest Luke Dyer (BIS-HCMC).

This week we sit down with Tom Collins, STEAM lead at British International School of Chicago (Lincoln Park) and Nord Anglia Education STEAM fellow. Tom shares his thoughts on what makes STEAM so important to students and invites Nord Anglia staff to join his online tutored course.

Welcome back to school! In this episode of Risky Business we set goals for the year and chat about how great our holidays were. We also sit down with Frances Morton and James Giallombardo for their perspective on innovation and risk-taking as they begin their journey at Northbridge. Find us on twitter @riskybusinessed or [email protected] 

For our final episode of the academic year, Andy and Jack reflect on innovative moments and the podcasting journey. We chat with Bissy Groom, PYP Co-ordinator and Deputy Head of Primary at Northbridge International School of Cambodia. And we share our holiday reading and listening  lists with a bunch of awesome books and podcasts we think you should check out!

Making! It's a natural human desire to build things with our hands and a great way to engage students. This week Andy and Jack chat about how we incorporate Making into our teaching, both through the use of the Makerspace and with maker-like projects in the classroom. Get involved on twitter @riskybusinessed or email [email protected]

CODING! We discuss why it's useful to teach our students coding, take a look at the work of Seymour Papert and Constructionist theory, and go through some of the best educational coding platforms like Scratch, Lego Mindstorms and Microbits. Don't forget to get in touch with your comments, requests and feedback: [email protected] or @riskybusinessed on twitter.

For our debut episode of Risky Business, we're chatting about Student Agency! We delve into  the theory with links to Bandura and Piaget (the grandaddies), and some of the successes and challenges we've experienced while experimenting with agency in our classrooms. Get involved in the conversation on twitter: @riskybusinessed where you can find links to some of the articles we've discussed this episode!

Join Andy Groom and Jack Cooper as we take some risks and try out innovative teaching practices. Enjoy a short teaser trailer here for the first episode on Student Agency that will launch early May. Weekly episodes to follow!