Shownotes
In episode 12 of Podcaster Stories, I sit down with Mark Taylor, host and creator of the Education on Fire podcast, a show for teachers, parents, and mentors to help them support children.
The show share stories and resources that Mark hopes will support children to thrive and be able to live their best lives.
Topics up for discussion this week include:
- how the idea for the podcast came about
- why it’s more than just a resource for parents and educators
- why he believes passion is key in anything you do
- why networking is key
- how Covid-19 has impacted the educational space
- why we should stop saying “kids need to catch up” when talking about the 2020 school year
- why the education system needs to change to a more open approach
- the two episodes that have really stood out for him so far
- why it’s okay to give up on a project
- how to integrate multiple show ideas to create the best podcast you can
- what advice he’d give to new podcasters
Settle back for an informative and insightful chat about why you need to not only have great content, but know the audience you’re creating that content for.
Connect with Mark:
Contact me: danny@podcasterstories.com
My equipment:
- Samson Q2U Mic
- Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen Audio Interface
- TRITON AUDIO Fethead In-Line Microphone Preamp
- Denon DJ HP-1100 Over Ear Headphones
- RockJam MS050 Adjustable Mic Suspension Boom
- Dragonpad Pop Filter
Recommended resources:
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp
Transcripts
For me, there is an opportunity here to blend some
Speaker:of these things, some learn it and it can be
Speaker:done just by children learning it themselves. And then using
Speaker:the time in school to be able to talk about
Speaker:it in a slightly different role rather than the teacher
Speaker:having to teach it. Because I know certainly my children
Speaker:there's been plenty of things that they've not actually been
Speaker:taught, but they've still learned it. And that might be
Speaker:because something is being produced in an advanced by the
Speaker:teacher. It might be that they've been asked to watch
Speaker:a particular YouTube thing or something that's being created for
Speaker:them to do with the teacher has not been there
Speaker:to deliver in person, but they still manage to learn
Speaker:what they're needed to do, and then any support they
Speaker:needed to be on that. That's where the teacher came
Speaker:in and that's a slightly different role, but I think
Speaker:it frees up a lot of time for teachers.
Speaker:And that's one of the things that teachers are really
Speaker:struggling with is, is time being time and Paul,
Speaker:Hi and welcome to Podcaster Stories each week, we'll have
Speaker:a conversation with podcasts, those across all mediums and share
Speaker:their story. What motivates them, why they started our show
Speaker:has the growth of the show and more, but also
Speaker:talk about their personal lives and some of the things
Speaker:that have happened. I've made them the person who you
Speaker:are today, and now here's your host Danny Brown Hey
Speaker:guys. And welcome to another episode of Podcaster. Stories where
Speaker:we meet the people behind the voices of the show
Speaker:is we listen to this week. I had Mark Taylor
Speaker:as my guest, who's the host and creator of the
Speaker:Education on Fire podcast, which is a show for teachers,
Speaker:parents, and mentors, to help them support team and support
Speaker:children and their endeavors for education and mental wellness, et
Speaker:cetera.
Speaker:So, Mark, I'm really glad and appreciate your opinion on
Speaker:the show today and how about you, you know, introduce
Speaker:yourself and what the show is about.
Speaker:Great. Well, thank you. Thank you so much for inviting
Speaker:me on, in some education on fire really started as
Speaker:their passion project. I was a musician by trade as
Speaker:a professional musician, then did some teaching, went into schools.
Speaker:And one of the things I notice was that education
Speaker:was getting sort of a bit of a bad press.
Speaker:Is it? Well, you know, if we have one was
Speaker:sort of quite dine on the whole education system and
Speaker:learning, but I was actually seeing some really fantastic teaching
Speaker:because I was doing workshops and multiple schools. So I
Speaker:had quite a good sort of overview of what was
Speaker:going on and I've got three children here. So it
Speaker:was sort of seeing my experience sort of firsthand as
Speaker:they would be traveling through the primary sector here in
Speaker:the UK and they don't want a secondary school.
Speaker:So I just wanted to set something up, which shed
Speaker:creative and inspiring views of learning. And I thought what
Speaker:that would do would be to enable people to, to
Speaker:basically here or things that were happening, which they might
Speaker:then be able to take back into their classroom or
Speaker:to help teach their kids in a way that it
Speaker:felt less isolated. 'cause we know you'll sort of, if
Speaker:you are the average, have the five people that you
Speaker:surround yourself with. And so if you happen to be
Speaker:in a, in a small school and the way that
Speaker:the outlook has a certain way, then that kind of
Speaker:what you expected. And if you're in a bigger school,
Speaker:maybe you've got different views, but actually, and this sort
Speaker:of online world, and this is a global setting, can
Speaker:actually be influenced and have a community of people from
Speaker:all around the world. And so that was really why
Speaker:it started.
Speaker:It was that kind of, I want to share some
Speaker:great things that are happening and hopefully by sharing those
Speaker:things, it will impact people wherever they were in this
Speaker:thing. And they can take that and making a positive
Speaker:influence to the children that they are involved in, whether
Speaker:its their own children or people in the students within
Speaker:their classroom.
Speaker:All right. And, and obviously you mentioned you have three
Speaker:kids have your own are often in secondary school now.
Speaker:Yeah. So we'll all three are in a secondary school
Speaker:now. So one is 18. So just to start to
Speaker:finish a levels once two years younger, but just an
Speaker:academic year below and one's in just finishing year eight.
Speaker:So she is, yeah. So she's just starting her sort
Speaker:of secondary school.
Speaker:Right. And did you take the, the lessons? I guess
Speaker:there's an, a piano, I've got two young kids that
Speaker:are younger than yours. There are eight and 10 and
Speaker:I'm guessing you took the lessons that you've learned as
Speaker:a parent. And I know you're heavily involved. Is it
Speaker:an NYP or any PE that you are the vice
Speaker:chair of
Speaker:That's right. That's the national association for primary education. And,
Speaker:and I got involved in that because one of the
Speaker:schools I was teaching at in London probably around, I
Speaker:guess it would've been just after, or 2010, 2012 or
Speaker:something like that. The, the, the, the director of the
Speaker:school was then chair of NAIT and asked me if
Speaker:I'd go along really with most sort of parental hat's
Speaker:on them because we can working in the same school.
Speaker:She kind of knew my views about education and the
Speaker:sorts of things that I was doing related to music.
Speaker:So that's how I got involved with it. So I'll
Speaker:sort of, I do use sort of straddle that sort
Speaker:of education knowledge in some respect is what does that
Speaker:parental one
Speaker:Now, do you, you mentioned that you were a background
Speaker:obviously is in the music as well. So do you
Speaker:sort of a blend a two when you're, you know,
Speaker:either Education on or helping parents and, you know, teachers
Speaker:and educators, et cetera, do you sh does music play
Speaker:a part of that, that role or is it purely,
Speaker:you know, from a more sort of speaking point of
Speaker:view, if that makes sense?
Speaker:Well, the podcast, it really is a little bit more
Speaker:Gen the music element I think, is like the biggest
Speaker:impact on me because it's something I'm passionate about, its
Speaker:a way that I kind of feel like I'd show
Speaker:up in the world and I could express myself authentically.
Speaker:And so I think its with that hat on, I
Speaker:want to express myself through the podcast. So whatever your
Speaker:passion would be. I think if you can tune in
Speaker:to that, if you can tap into that and you
Speaker:can express yourself that way in that's really what our
Speaker:get excited about it. And I know that's different for
Speaker:everybody, but I think understanding what it was like as
Speaker:a child to kind of have my first concert in
Speaker:just think, Oh wow, this is amazing. I really want
Speaker:to experience more of that, you know, and follow that
Speaker:or go through it and be in a professional or
Speaker:whatever your, your thing is that you want to follow
Speaker:through.
Speaker:I think that if you can understand what it's like
Speaker:to of had that experience and that's, that's the positive
Speaker:thing. And then I did do a music series and
Speaker:I have also got it, a membership site attached to
Speaker:the podcast called Primary music on Fire, which does support
Speaker:teachers within music. But it is again, that's much more
Speaker:have a kind of let's have a community that support
Speaker:you to create this musical world in your school, in
Speaker:how we can do that. But again, much more from
Speaker:that feeling sense, even though you've got some great resources
Speaker:and stuff in there, the heart of the community and
Speaker:giving children experiences, this is where that drives for a
Speaker:minute.
Speaker:I know you mentioned that the, the, the musical side
Speaker:of it is that Primary musical in fire trying to
Speaker:catch it. Right. And obviously you got Education on Fire
Speaker:so on Fire is definitely the sound like the brand
Speaker:of their, the podcast, the program and what you're trying
Speaker:to do. Where did that come from? Where does, is
Speaker:it just like on fire as in like all of
Speaker:that supports a person is on fire, they're like on
Speaker:a big street car, where, where did that come from?
Speaker:Yeah, well there's, there's a famous quote. Education is not
Speaker:the filling of a pill with the lighting of a
Speaker:fire. And, and I, and I kind of kind of
Speaker:felt that it was the case that a little bit,
Speaker:like I said, in terms of that feeling of excitement,
Speaker:of knowing you've got a passion that you want to
Speaker:then fulfill and I then spoke to some people in
Speaker:the education field. And so then, you know, that there's
Speaker:some sort of thinking around these terms and, and yeah,
Speaker:it was amazing because there was a great cause I
Speaker:can, that's such a memorable name and it's such a,
Speaker:it really sort of speaks to the essence of it.
Speaker:Its not just another podcast talking about how you do
Speaker:math. So how are you doing English or math or
Speaker:something like that. It is, it's a much more of
Speaker:a different starting point, but bought by the same token,
Speaker:of course, most podcasts will know John Lee Dumas is
Speaker:entrepreneurs on fire and And and lots of people took
Speaker:the The on, Fire kind of an element of that
Speaker:back, you know, early in the, in the two thousands
Speaker:and into the teens, you know, and lots of people
Speaker:that did that.
Speaker:So it was very, very wary about taking that sort
Speaker:of name on board and because I didn't want a
Speaker:trip on now, turn it on his toes, but also
Speaker:sort of get into that kind of cycle of everyone
Speaker:having the same kind of on Fire name, but because
Speaker:some of the educators really liked it because it seemed
Speaker:to fit within the quotes and what I was trying
Speaker:to do. And also I've met at JLD a few
Speaker:times and I've had this conversation about him and apologize
Speaker:for taking the name and as him to just talk
Speaker:it through. And so yeah, so, you know, it was
Speaker:almost the, in my sphere of knowledge cause I was,
Speaker:I was aware of him, but by the same token,
Speaker:isn't the, the main reasons that I took him. It
Speaker:was because of that quote and the education element.
Speaker:Okay. And you were up to episode 154 at the
Speaker:moment, I think the earliest published episodes. Yeah. So thinking
Speaker:back to the early days when you first started a
Speaker:podcast and you came up with the idea of it,
Speaker:et cetera, what's been one or some of the biggest
Speaker:challenges that you've found then you know, that that got
Speaker:you to where you are with the shorter days they
Speaker:go over, come at them.
Speaker:One of the, one of the most important things that
Speaker:I did was have a good foundation to begin with.
Speaker:And when we mentioned JLL do there before him and
Speaker:I did his free podcast cause to begin with which
Speaker:meant that I had a really good understanding of what
Speaker:was required in terms of setting yourself up. And I'm
Speaker:not one of the original, original podcast website members that
Speaker:Mark Asquith put it together. I believe it was, has
Speaker:been a, has been on your shoulders and they are
Speaker:where they are, but, but have been there for a
Speaker:long time. So it was sort of in that community
Speaker:of the sorts of people in there and they are
Speaker:so supportive and our communities are so supportive as it
Speaker:is as you know yourself with a captivate as well.
Speaker:And so it was really important for me to surround
Speaker:myself with those kinds of people.
Speaker:And then when I had a problem or I wanted
Speaker:to do something and I wasn't sure how about anything
Speaker:or which way to turn, there were lots of people
Speaker:to ask. And I think that really solved a lot
Speaker:of those problems. So what I wanted to try and
Speaker:think about monetizing or, or, or when I wanted to
Speaker:think what the podcast first, it started off in a
Speaker:theme seasons. Umm, which was great. So I'd sort of
Speaker:the first season was just sort of generally explaining what
Speaker:I was about what I wanted to explore. And then
Speaker:I did some computing, an ICT and we did an
Speaker:English one in a mass one and a PE one.
Speaker:And that was fantastic. And I really liked the structure.
Speaker:It was very clear for everybody. And I did talk
Speaker:about it in this kind of, you know, inspiring way.
Speaker:But what happened was is this is the podcast grew
Speaker:up.
Speaker:I had lots of people starting to reach out and
Speaker:saying, look, we would love to talk about this as
Speaker:a followup based on what you've already done by which
Speaker:time this the season to kind of moved on from
Speaker:there. And so it was quite hard to then fit
Speaker:them back in because not because I wanted to revisit
Speaker:it in it necessarily, but I thought that it actually,
Speaker:there was a lot of value in having these conversations
Speaker:maybe on the topic at all would have covered. And,
Speaker:and so what I then decided to do is just
Speaker:to kind of broaden the data a little bit and
Speaker:I'll sort of a visit all these Topics, but it
Speaker:doesn't need to be within that theme sees it. And
Speaker:so one of the things I struggled with was sorta
Speaker:in there, how did you do that? How did you
Speaker:kind of change the format, but without sort of starting
Speaker:and stopping again. And, and, and it just seems to
Speaker:me all the advice I had from all of these
Speaker:people that I spoke about, it was just that kind
Speaker:of, just to be clear, you know, and just talk
Speaker:to people as you would like to be an audience
Speaker:member yourself, you know, that kind of, this is what
Speaker:I'm going to do.
Speaker:This is what I'm doing. It. This is where I'm
Speaker:heading. This is what I want to be able to
Speaker:achieve. This is, this is what it is all about.
Speaker:You now come on this journey with me and that's
Speaker:exactly what I did. I didn't try and sweat it
Speaker:too much. So I just kind of just developed in
Speaker:and took on board all of those things. And luckily
Speaker:enough, it, it really helps in terms of your audience
Speaker:has grown and the more and more people seem to
Speaker:find the show and enjoy it. So it must've been
Speaker:the right thing to go.
Speaker:Yeah. And, and how your phone, any, I know I
Speaker:have spoken before, but if there are some people that
Speaker:have moved from see a CDO too, you know, a
Speaker:programmatic, not programmatic, I'm thinking my marketer's head there to
Speaker:go out on too. You know, an episodic, I should
Speaker:say, how have you found it is sometimes difficult. I
Speaker:know a lot of people that did Syrus for, for
Speaker:example, a themed seasons find it easier because it was
Speaker:a structure they are that says, okay, this season was
Speaker:definitely gonna be about this season to do this, et
Speaker:cetera. Whereas episodic may not be quite as structured because
Speaker:now you're talking about every topic or any topic where
Speaker:every guest or any guest have you found when you
Speaker:made the transition to be a little bit weird and
Speaker:less structured, or is it easier for you?
Speaker:I think it's both of those things, which is sort
Speaker:of a little bit difficult to explain, I guess, in
Speaker:some ways, because on speaking with people, generally speaking, who
Speaker:have got a passion that they want to share, it
Speaker:might be something they've created within the education and learning
Speaker:space. It might be the written, the book. It might
Speaker:be their actually a teacher and their explaining about that.
Speaker:The system they work in, in, in, in the environment
Speaker:and they are creating, they pretty much actually just take
Speaker:care of the conversation. You know, I always have a
Speaker:list of questions and points. I want to cover it
Speaker:based on all of the information I've got, but actually
Speaker:generally speaking, it's like having a coffee, you know, I
Speaker:always say, you know, let's just sit down, let's talk
Speaker:about it. And you know, I can direct things if
Speaker:need be.
Speaker:But generally speaking that actually kind of just works because,
Speaker:you know, if I were talking to somebody who is
Speaker:passionate about something, then that they can talk all day
Speaker:because it's kind of, you know, is kind of, of
Speaker:what they're about. And, and that often then comes across.
Speaker:But I, I should, I should also probably point out
Speaker:of it. I, I almost developed what I was doing
Speaker:into a kind of a network. You mentioned Nate before,
Speaker:and I do produce a podcast for them as well
Speaker:because they were wanting to share or shared some of
Speaker:the things that they were doing and, and, and pull
Speaker:it up and their reach. And so I started to
Speaker:sort of tip my toe in to a kind of
Speaker:a network idea. So because I'm captivate in podcasts with
Speaker:startups and it enabled me to kind of have more
Speaker:than one show on the platform I sort of had
Speaker:Education on fire and I had the Nate podcast going
Speaker:on at the same time.
Speaker:And because I was able to develop it. And you
Speaker:talked about it sort of The episodic idea and, and
Speaker:these sorts of things that you wanted to come for.
Speaker:What I did at one stage also have a podcast
Speaker:called learning on Fire and that was then okay. Basically
Speaker:there to just sort of, and it really, it kind
Speaker:of adolescents in terms of, I wanted to speak to
Speaker:people who were living life on their terms. And we
Speaker:talked about their education. We're talked about teachers that might
Speaker:of been influential of the best advice that we were
Speaker:given, the sort of advice they would think if their
Speaker:younger self and the resources that they had. And so
Speaker:there were some really great kinds of things that you
Speaker:could take on board and, and take action with it,
Speaker:if you wanted to and so forth to support children,
Speaker:who do you know, they are, the children learn what
Speaker:they learn within the school system based on the curriculums
Speaker:that they have to do.
Speaker:And I think there are many parents out there and
Speaker:then also educators as well, if you think that could
Speaker:be brought to, it could be a bit more sort
Speaker:of a life skill sensitive, you know, in terms of
Speaker:those sorts of things. And so I wanted to sort
Speaker:of embody that, and that was fantastic. And I really
Speaker:enjoyed that. And that had a list of 10 questions,
Speaker:which works really, really nicely, honestly. But one of the
Speaker:things is a Podcaster that you saw, we realize that
Speaker:what you must be a, well, this isn't sort of
Speaker:demographic. One of the people that are gonna be listening
Speaker:and, you know, and my focus on the podcast, it
Speaker:was really thinking parents would be listening to it and
Speaker:their children will be listening as well. So it might
Speaker:be when they're in the car, it might be when
Speaker:there are going to be on an Alexa or something
Speaker:when they're in the house or whatever.
Speaker:And the podcast did pretty well, but it wasn't doing
Speaker:as well as Education and Fire, and it also, if
Speaker:one was referring to everything is Education on fire. And
Speaker:so, and, and what I was trying do is to
Speaker:niche down because lots of people say no to a
Speaker:niche is important, and that is sort of a separate
Speaker:all of those things out. But actually what I found
Speaker:was it was, I needed to broaden it back out
Speaker:again, to, to be under that creative and inspiring learning
Speaker:or Brennan, which is Education on five and then sort
Speaker:of split everything else up. So I still produce the
Speaker:NAIT podcast, but I do it purely through their website
Speaker:and on their own sort of platform as it were.
Speaker:And the learning on Fire. I decided to just to
Speaker:stop the recording in that way as a separate podcast,
Speaker:but I sort of combined the elements a little bit.
Speaker:So some of those questions I do now ask at
Speaker:the end of an interview, if any, Education on Fire
Speaker:podcasts. And that works really well because I've combined the
Speaker:best bits of that learning on Fire into Education on
Speaker:Fire as well. And also people just seem to have
Speaker:the sense that having one brand is it we're having
Speaker:won sort of a canopy and have all of those
Speaker:things where it is much better. So, so its been
Speaker:complicated as it in some ways, but it actually the
Speaker:simplification that's been a really key factor in the last
Speaker:few months
Speaker:And I think that's it. Yeah. That's a good point
Speaker:that you raised the boat learn and what works and
Speaker:what doesn't work. I think M I know we're in
Speaker:the group that we are in, for example, with the
Speaker:rebel based media group on Facebook, it's, it's clear that
Speaker:and often it can be hard to give up or
Speaker:I want to give up a podcast because it's not
Speaker:working because you wanna keep, you know, seen it through.
Speaker:But as you shared it, it makes sense to, to
Speaker:either, you know, envelop it into your existing a podcast
Speaker:or maybe makes it like a bonus content or something.
Speaker:So it's interesting to hear that you have taken the
Speaker:best parts of what you learned from Landon on fire
Speaker:and unintended and, you know, put that into your, your
Speaker:main core show, which is pretty cool.
Speaker:And I think that's true and what I've started to
Speaker:do because I'm still, I, I did 50 episodes of
Speaker:learning on the Fire. And so what I did is
Speaker:I got to the point of saying that I'm stopping
Speaker:recording this now. Thank you. Great for those people who
Speaker:have subscribed really appreciative of their loyalty, but it said
Speaker:it's going to go under the Education on Briar feed.
Speaker:And that's where it's all going to be. And I
Speaker:did have lots of new subscribers to Education and fire,
Speaker:which I think is fantastic because they must have them
Speaker:come across it just as I've mentioned. And I still
Speaker:see all the analytics people and listening to that and
Speaker:moving to Education on Fire episodes to be able to
Speaker:see do that and move across. But what's been really
Speaker:interesting is the fact that I've actually, I keep releasing
Speaker:some of the learning on Fire podcasts is a bonus
Speaker:episodes on Education on Fox.
Speaker:So the new episodes of that I'm recording, I'm now
Speaker:making the two things like to say a general podcast
Speaker:with people, with some of those questions involved. But then
Speaker:because I released my main episodes on a Monday and
Speaker:the bonus episodes, I just released every couple of weeks
Speaker:on a Friday, but the analytics is showing me. And
Speaker:so it actually is many people will listen to those
Speaker:bonus episodes, which were the previous podcasts as they do
Speaker:to the other one. So, I mean, it's, you know,
Speaker:the amalgamation seems to seem to have not lost anything,
Speaker:but actually doing things together,
Speaker:Which goes back to your point about knowing your audience
Speaker:and, you know, deliver on the content that your audience
Speaker:wants to consume and listen to it. Nothing that's true.
Speaker:No. And when we were speaking out loud on the
Speaker:green room for the show, we were both speaking about
Speaker:our kids and the, the, the long distance learn and
Speaker:that they're doing it or the digital, you know, virtual
Speaker:learn and have them. And obviously, you know, COVID, it's
Speaker:impacted like globally if we know that, but especially the,
Speaker:the education system and how people are, how kids are
Speaker:being educated and what that might look like, come see
Speaker:a September or August, September or October when kids are
Speaker:do to go back to school, as someone who speaks
Speaker:two parents and teachers, educators, et cetera, what's been the
Speaker:biggest fears of you like that.
Speaker:They have brought up the biggest concerns that they've got
Speaker:about gone back to school and also a hose. How
Speaker:have they phoned like a virtual learning impact and you
Speaker:know, life for them and their families?
Speaker:I think the going back to school, there are two
Speaker:elements that I hear mostly one, I think children have
Speaker:missed the social element have been with their friends. And
Speaker:I think that's been a really big thing. So I
Speaker:think going back to school is a really important thing
Speaker:from that, from that side, I don't get the feeling
Speaker:that children are particularly worried about going back, you know,
Speaker:because children's seem to be less effected directly in terms
Speaker:of illness and the way that the virus seems to
Speaker:be working. But I know lots of people are wary
Speaker:because of the amount of people. Then of course they
Speaker:have are still people at home who might be carers,
Speaker:who might be key workers. We were looking after people
Speaker:that they need to be very respectful of a, of
Speaker:this virus.
Speaker:And they don't want to be at risk in a
Speaker:more than they need to. And I think that's where
Speaker:some of the fear factor comes in from children go
Speaker:in back. One of the things that I've, I've been
Speaker:quite vocal about on the show is the fact that
Speaker:there's lots of people talking about having to catch up
Speaker:because things had been lost while we're, you know, what
Speaker:we've been in game. And I don't really subscribe to
Speaker:that. And as much as we know, we've been through
Speaker:a pandemic or, you know, the whole world has changed
Speaker:and they might not be where they would have been
Speaker:before, but they are where they are now. And they've
Speaker:learnt many things by being through this experience. And, and
Speaker:naturally we should then just embrace where we are and
Speaker:we move on in a way that we can.
Speaker:And I kind of came out with the, the, the,
Speaker:the analogy that, you know, I might be wanting to
Speaker:run a a hundred meter race next week, and I've
Speaker:been focusing on it and I've been training and I'm
Speaker:all set to go. But if I broke my leg
Speaker:or twisted my ankle, my expectations have to change. So
Speaker:I'm still gonna run that race, but its probably going
Speaker:to be a, you know, two months or three months
Speaker:because that's the reality of what it means to be.
Speaker:We need to move those goalposts. And the education system
Speaker:is quite strict at the moment. And even with everything
Speaker:that's happened, it looks like it's gonna sort of try
Speaker:and go back to the way that it was because
Speaker:it's such a big tanker to move. And, and one
Speaker:of the things that the home learning has really done
Speaker:is the fact that we've proved that what it's not
Speaker:perfect and the interaction isn't there from a personal sense
Speaker:in the same way that it was that actually there's
Speaker:been some really positive elements, you know, that I don't
Speaker:think that being on a computer all day every day
Speaker:is necessarily the best way to go.
Speaker:But there are some parts of learning which works really
Speaker:well like that. You know, things that can be easily
Speaker:graded things, which can be a little bit more, yes,
Speaker:no, or, or a multiple choice or writing, you know,
Speaker:things which were less artistic, I guess in some ways,
Speaker:which were much harder to mock if you need to
Speaker:Mark it up in that way. So I think for
Speaker:me, there was an opportunity here to blend some of
Speaker:these things, some of the learning that can be done
Speaker:just by children learning it themselves and then using the
Speaker:time in school to be able to talk about it
Speaker:in a slightly different role rather than the teacher having
Speaker:to teach it. Because I know certainly my children there's
Speaker:been plenty of things that they've not actually been taught,
Speaker:but they've still learned it.
Speaker:And that might be because something is being produced in
Speaker:advanced by the teacher. It might be that they've been
Speaker:asked to watch a particular YouTube thing or something that's
Speaker:being created for them to do with the teacher has
Speaker:not been there to deliver in person, but they still
Speaker:managed to learn what they needed to do and then
Speaker:any support they needed to be on that. That's where
Speaker:the teacher came in and that's a slightly different role,
Speaker:but I think it frees up a lot of time
Speaker:for teachers. And that's one of the things that teachers
Speaker:are really struggling with is, is time being time and
Speaker:Paul. And so I think actually if they can find
Speaker:a way to blend this kind of virtual learning and
Speaker:in-person learning, then I think there's a real opportunity here
Speaker:for the education and learning generally to, to really move
Speaker:in a different direction.
Speaker:Now I know certainly here on a terror, I'd completely
Speaker:agree with your view there and there's a big push-back
Speaker:on the, the provincial government's goals or plans for a
Speaker:reopening a school in September. And, and as you mentioned,
Speaker:it's basically as normal as it used to be with
Speaker:more hygiene, you know, less people are in the classes
Speaker:and now, but then you have like the, the other
Speaker:side of that, where you've got two then. Okay, well,
Speaker:no, you need to do twice as much or as
Speaker:many teachers because you are having twice as many classes
Speaker:because you're basically having the, the students. And there's a
Speaker:lot of time component, you know, as you say, moving
Speaker:more towards a hybrid of say maybe two days in
Speaker:school, three days at home or something like that. But
Speaker:I don't know if I completely agree or this is
Speaker:a really good learning moment.
Speaker:I feel for the education system to get the overhaul
Speaker:that's desperately needed since even I was a kid, we
Speaker:were back back in their last century mid-century or something.
Speaker:So yeah, for sure. Now, as I mentioned, Ella, you
Speaker:know, you know, it should be one, five, four, I
Speaker:believe over 150 shots of the podcast. What's been some
Speaker:of your favorite episodes share in that time and why
Speaker:these episodes, I think
Speaker:Some of the favorite episodes I've really been the ones
Speaker:that have really surprised me. You know, like sometimes, you
Speaker:know, you have an idea of the person that you're
Speaker:going to talk to and then they send you through
Speaker:some details or you seen their website and you think,
Speaker:I know, I know where this is going. I, I
Speaker:really understand what this person is about. And then they
Speaker:completely take your left fields. You know, they, they, they
Speaker:talk about something personal or something, which do you just
Speaker:really didn't think it was something that you were going
Speaker:to expect and then you have to adapt and you
Speaker:have to kind of think on your feet and you
Speaker:have to really listen carefully. And, and, and, and I
Speaker:think some of those are, can be, can be really,
Speaker:it can be really inspiring. And you sort of get
Speaker:an idea of where those, where these journeys come from
Speaker:and, and why those people who have done they've done
Speaker:what they've done.
Speaker:And I think that, that there were probably two that
Speaker:stick out in some ways, what was the one I
Speaker:did very early on with overstock in school. And Gen
Speaker:Janice Marcel was the head teacher there. And we had
Speaker:a great conversation about why it was that the ethos
Speaker:and the atmosphere for the school. It was so fantastic.
Speaker:And it, and it literally ran through the entire system,
Speaker:the entire system of her school and what she was
Speaker:done. And it was because I think she'd still managed
Speaker:to keep that child focused. That child-centered idea of what
Speaker:learning is all about, despite the pressure's from, you know,
Speaker:people are around her and you don't know that it's
Speaker:from government from this in that and whatever, they were
Speaker:still in school and it was able to keep a
Speaker:hold of it.
Speaker:And they were still in a small school and they
Speaker:were expanding. So it was tricky, but because I think
Speaker:she has such a strong idea of what she was
Speaker:about and what she wanted Education to be about what
Speaker:she wants her children to feel is that really came
Speaker:across. And that was really, really exciting for me. So
Speaker:it sort of here that that was possible and that
Speaker:was there. And I think that sort of made that
Speaker:made my skin really sort of call in a really
Speaker:good way, because it was like, this is what I
Speaker:wanted to share. You know, do you actually, for the
Speaker:people to experience, you know, no matter what was going
Speaker:on, this was still possible. And then I think some
Speaker:of the things is I start to expand, you know,
Speaker:I'm not talking about English or maths talking about other
Speaker:things. So recently I've had a conversation about yoga and
Speaker:I, and another might have been in season one when
Speaker:I was setting the whole thing up.
Speaker:I talk to Bruce Langford foot about his podcast called
Speaker:mindfulness mode and, and his whole idea of, of how
Speaker:mindfulness fits in both in terms of how, you know,
Speaker:everybody can have it in their life, but certainly with
Speaker:an education and higher and how that can work, not
Speaker:as something you just do, but as something which you
Speaker:do, you embrace is part of your life, which then
Speaker:affects everything that you do. And I think that's what
Speaker:really excites me about some of those interviews, because it
Speaker:just shows, it shows you a way of being, which
Speaker:can affect everything that you do and can support children
Speaker:and people in a way that isn't just about studying.
Speaker:And I think that's the essence of hopefully what I'm
Speaker:trying to get across.
Speaker:Oh yeah. And with having so many shows, I mean,
Speaker:you've had multiple shows that as you mentioned in multiple
Speaker:podcasts, what would it be a, a piece of advice
Speaker:you'd offer to any podcasts are either just starting out
Speaker:or even just thinking about it and either in your
Speaker:niche or, you know, just in general and what might
Speaker:a piece of advice would you give to someone looking
Speaker:to get in to the medium?
Speaker:Tell me that what you think of podcasting is get
Speaker:in the way of what you want to explore. I
Speaker:think if you are going to start a new podcast
Speaker:app or you're thinking about doing it, it has to
Speaker:come from your passion, whether it's your hobby or whether
Speaker:it's a field that you you are as is part
Speaker:of your career and what your job or whatever it
Speaker:happens to be, make sure its something that you're really
Speaker:excited about. And then just to understand that when you
Speaker:are learning any new skill, you get better over time.
Speaker:So if you wait for that perfect moment, I need
Speaker:to do this number of practice episodes before I can
Speaker:do a live one, all of that kind of stuff,
Speaker:you know, you'll, you'll never get it done. So, so
Speaker:to get everything set up, press record, do the best
Speaker:you can. And certainly the episodes that I did early
Speaker:on don't sound very much like the Wednesday that I
Speaker:do now, just because of the experience.
Speaker:And if you think about anything in your life, when
Speaker:you started doing something new, it's new and you're learning
Speaker:and you're doing the best you can, and it will
Speaker:always develop and get better as you go on. So
Speaker:just get going with it, get in a community. So
Speaker:you can get people to support you for the things
Speaker:you need to learn, whether that's editing, whether its the,
Speaker:the, the, the tech that you need, or the setup
Speaker:that you need, so that you've gotten support to ask
Speaker:questions, but then just get on and do it, and
Speaker:then progress and learn and develop and, and bring it
Speaker:up and bring the audience with you. To be honest,
Speaker:I think that's great to be able to just sort
Speaker:of say what you do and why you're doing it,
Speaker:how things are working or not working. And if you're
Speaker:going to pivot or whatever are you going to do.
Speaker:But remember, people will listen to your podcasts are very
Speaker:loyal in terms of media, a much more lower than
Speaker:many other outlets out there, and certainly for the video
Speaker:and things like that.
Speaker:So they want to be part of your journey. So
Speaker:be honest with that, talk about your journey. So what
Speaker:you're doing and why you're doing it. And then you
Speaker:start to build that rapport. And that's why we are
Speaker:doing it really is to, is to like, to say,
Speaker:to share stories, to share ideas, to actually bring people
Speaker:in the journey that we are doing personally, because there
Speaker:were lots of people doing podcasts, but only you're doing
Speaker:it your way. And that's the thing that you need
Speaker:to focus on.
Speaker:And I like that piece of advice, because I know
Speaker:I'm, as you mentioned, a there's, that can be a
Speaker:lot of issues and a lot of, you know, categories
Speaker:and sub-categories, and people do the same thing on a
Speaker:similar thing to yourself, but there's only, you know, you're
Speaker:not the person that got your thoughts and your voice
Speaker:in your approach, et cetera. So I love that piece
Speaker:of advice that you gave there, for sure. So just
Speaker:to flip it over it a little bit, and for
Speaker:people that they may know, you are sort of people
Speaker:that do you know, you, that you would do or
Speaker:don't know someone, but for people that know you and
Speaker:even four folks like myself, that, you know, I had
Speaker:just came to me and you are today properly, what
Speaker:would be one thing that may surprise them about you?
Speaker:One of the things they probably don't know why is
Speaker:that? I do quite like snowboarding. Okay. There, there are
Speaker:two reasons for that. One is the fact that it's
Speaker:not something I talk about all of that often, but
Speaker:also I live in North Hampton share in the middle
Speaker:of the UK, not a big snowboarding place, except it's
Speaker:quite close to Milton Keynes, which has a very good
Speaker:indoor ski center. And so that's something which is, is
Speaker:quite fun to do in terms of just sort of
Speaker:getting out and changing what they are changing perspective of
Speaker:what it is that you like and what you want
Speaker:to experience. And I, I sort of have a love,
Speaker:hate relationship with it. And as much as I love
Speaker:it, when I can go enough to kind of feel
Speaker:comfortable again, talking about that kind of being used to
Speaker:what you do and the repetition of things.
Speaker:And then there were times when they can't go quite
Speaker:so often. And certainly as a musician, I'll have to
Speaker:be slightly careful about obviously your injuries and those sorts
Speaker:of things. And so that kind of fear factor of
Speaker:them standing at the top of the slope, again, remembering
Speaker:all of those things when you are basically just strap
Speaker:to a board. So yeah. But yeah, snowboarding is something
Speaker:that I really enjoyed and something which was very exhilarating
Speaker:in. Great, fine. And, and probably not that many people
Speaker:would know that I do it.
Speaker:Why is that a recent thing that we've been doing
Speaker:it for a while because they are, you mentioned Northampton
Speaker:chair. Isn't the way that the most known place at
Speaker:the U K in general, I guess. I mean, I
Speaker:can't think of many places and let you go to
Speaker:the Lake, the foreign office in Scotland, or maybe in
Speaker:the mountains of Wales' or something. Yeah. It is not
Speaker:really something you considered. So how did that come up?
Speaker:So it really came about, because I had been, I've
Speaker:been to France and actually schemed and, and really enjoy
Speaker:it. And so then we went with a, a fellow
Speaker:from some friends of ours and, and, and we thought
Speaker:that she would like to snowboard. I quite, I quite
Speaker:liked to the, having joked about the idea of being
Speaker:strapped to a board who are actually in some ways,
Speaker:enjoy that rather than in the sense of a ski
Speaker:where your legs can go in a completely different directions,
Speaker:if you end up sort of coming, falling over or
Speaker:doing whatever. So we thought we would just give it
Speaker:a go and we both really enjoyed it and decided
Speaker:that we'd do that kind of a, you know, we
Speaker:learned probably we go out and have some proper lessens
Speaker:and, and build it out that way. So we've been
Speaker:doing it since probably 2000 and we were wanting to
Speaker:say 10, 11 or something like that.
Speaker:Okay. And, and, and we were lucky to say, we,
Speaker:we, we do that. Yes, we are gonna do this
Speaker:every week. And then we ended up being for some
Speaker:old world, and then we go again and again, and
Speaker:go backwards and forwards. But I think one of the
Speaker:things about the whole lockdown and Covid in that kind
Speaker:of thing is you really start to miss certain things
Speaker:that you think you would do, but you put off
Speaker:a little bit, but then when the chance has come
Speaker:to really get it back into it, that was certainly
Speaker:the one thing that I want to be doing that,
Speaker:that along with tennis, which is something else I've been
Speaker:doing a lot recently since they've opened the courts up
Speaker:now.
Speaker:Well, that's cool. So, Mark I really appreciate you coming
Speaker:on the show today. I, I know that the less
Speaker:than it is going to get a lot of value
Speaker:from, you know, what we spoke about some of the
Speaker:things we spoke about it today, and you, you know,
Speaker:whether they be, you know, parents of kids like myself,
Speaker:are teachers, educators, et cetera, for people that want to
Speaker:know more about yourself, find out more about the podcast
Speaker:or some of the courses that you do. You know,
Speaker:some of the resources that they can use to take
Speaker:back to their kids, et cetera, where's the best place
Speaker:for people to find Your the best place to people
Speaker:to connect with you on that?
Speaker:Right. So the best place to go to his Education
Speaker:on Fire dot com and through their, you can find
Speaker:on my social links, there's a newsletter that it can
Speaker:be signed up too, which has a, a, a free
Speaker:and top 10 download's. And that's not just resources in
Speaker:terms of how to do your best English or the
Speaker:best math. Some of them were actually linked directly. Some
Speaker:of the actual interviews I've done of people who are
Speaker:doing outstanding things that can support you in learning generally.
Speaker:So it's all there at Education on Fire dot com.
Speaker:Okay. Awesome. I'll just say, I really appreciate you coming
Speaker:on the show today. What's up next for your podcast
Speaker:and this couple of weeks, have you got up here
Speaker:on the show?
Speaker:So in the next couple of weeks, I've put, if
Speaker:I interviewed when, when the amazing thing I did, which
Speaker:I was so thrilled for my daughter, as I interviewed
Speaker:Beth Twitter, who is the, for the most successful female
Speaker:gymnasts here in the UK. And I think she finished
Speaker:her career back in 2012, but since then it was
Speaker:really keen on education. And she's got a whole load
Speaker:of in-person courses that she does, but As also then
Speaker:pushed forward her online courses, which are about to start
Speaker:hearing in September. So I've got to interview her. And
Speaker:she was really inspiring just from the fact that, you
Speaker:know, being an Olympian in actually having that kind of
Speaker:development, but also with the Education passion as well.
Speaker:And she was incredibly sweet and have a fantastic conversation
Speaker:with her. And also she was very gracious and they
Speaker:actually gave us a little quick note to my daughter
Speaker:who was a real great gymnast as well. And, and,
Speaker:and it was, it was lovely. And I was able
Speaker:to do that recording, and I was able to sort
Speaker:of break it down and send it to her on
Speaker:a, on a WhatsApp message. So that was really exciting.
Speaker:So yeah, I've really loved that. And that was coming
Speaker:up in the next few weeks.
Speaker:Yeah. That's awesome. Like a good people. There are the
Speaker:smallest things that you would have taken any of your
Speaker:time, but that makes such a huge difference for your
Speaker:daughter, but at that time, all right, that's awesome. I
Speaker:want to say, I really appreciate you coming on a
Speaker:shorter day and I'll be looking forward to catching up
Speaker:with some more of your episodes. I know we have
Speaker:our, our two kids and it helped that we can
Speaker:get back to you, you know, how to help them
Speaker:through the same, but also just education in general. I
Speaker:know that something that will definitely benefit from, so thank
Speaker:you for coming on a short today,
Speaker:And that's been a real pleasure. I've really enjoyed it
Speaker:in
Speaker:Time. Okay, guys, this has been another episode of Podcaster
Speaker:Stories. If you enjoyed the show, make sure you subscribe
Speaker:to get the latest episode when it comes to my
Speaker:life, you can do that on Podcaster Stories dot com,
Speaker:where you can send it through the newsletter, and you
Speaker:can also find the latest episodes there as well as
Speaker:on Apple podcasts, Spotify, and Google podcast. It till the
Speaker:next thing you guys take care of, and we'll speak
