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#004 - Why Finland’s Education System OUTPERFORMS the Rest 🇫🇮📚
5th January 2024 • Neuroeducation • Angie Dee
00:00:00 00:11:04

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In this episode of Neuroeducation with Angie Dee, we explore the global climate of education and discover what Finland is doing differently to create successful learning environments. Angie discusses how Finland prioritizes student happiness and starts formal schooling at the age of seven. She emphasizes the importance of incorporating children's interests and choices into their learning experiences. Angie also highlights schools in Australia and Bali that focus on developing skills such as resilience, creativity, and environmental stewardship. By putting happiness at the forefront of education, we can transform the learning process and create a positive impact on future generations.

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Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

0:30 - Finland's Unique Approach to Education

1:45 - Comparison with Australian Education System

2:30 - The Importance of Happiness in Finnish Education

3:15 - Starting Formal Schooling at Age Seven in Finland

4:00 - The Role of Subconscious Brain Development in Early Education

5:00 - Neuroscience Behind Happy and Engaged Students

5:45 - Teacher Priorities in Finland vs. Australia

6:30 - Emphasizing Happiness and Outdoor Learning in Finland

7:15 - Personal Reflections on Educational Experiences

8:00 - Children's Interests and Choices in Finnish Education

8:45 - Innovative Teaching Techniques at All Saints and the Green School in Bali

9:30 - Preparing Students for Real-World Success

10:15 - Fostering Resilience, Creativity, and Social Responsibility

11:00 - The Importance of Enjoyable Learning Experiences

11:45 - Educational Outcomes and Adult Happiness in Finland

Transcripts

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What is it that Finland is doing that's so different to

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everybody else's style of education? Sure

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enough, if we're really enjoying our learning process,

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we are going to be learning much more and

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we're going to remember it for a much longer time than

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if we're disinterested and we're disengaged, which

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unfortunately is a current pattern for many

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children in many schools, and I would say in most

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high schools throughout Australia. Welcome to Neuroeducation, where

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we're exploring the neuroscience of how to switch on the brain to

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supercharge learning. I'll be sharing with you innovative teaching techniques,

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effective parenting strategies, and educational advocacy. I'm

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your host, Angie Dee. Together, let's revolutionise children's

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learning. Hello and

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welcome back to Neuroeducation with Angie Dee.

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I'm so glad to have you here, thanks for tuning in. Today

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we're going to be looking at what is the global climate

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of education? We all know all the things that

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we don't like to see in current education and we know all

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of the things that We feel like are

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outdated in our factory style method of education over

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standardization of teaching and too much teaching to

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the test and worksheets. However, What

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other methods of education are out there that are

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doing fabulous work in education? What

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other countries are doing incredible things and what

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is possible? If we look on an international scale

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and some incredible studies done internationally to

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look at who is succeeding in education, not

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just in maths, in reading and in science, but

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also in life skills that prepare children to

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succeed in the real world, Finland, again

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and again, tops the scale. What is

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it that Finland is doing that's so different to everybody

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else's style of education? Well,

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I was interested, so I explored a little bit and watched

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some interesting documentaries on education in Finland. And

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one thing that I discovered was the importance they

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placed on something that just might surprise

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you. When teachers were asked, what is

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the most important thing for your students in Finland? The

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teachers responded by saying the student's happiness.

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I was taken back because I don't know of

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any school here in Australia where they would

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put that as the top priority. They might say

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they try to make learning fun and enjoyable, but

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as the top priority, I was quite taken aback. In

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Montessori, ironically, she has

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a quote where she says, the happiness is

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the best test of the method of education. So

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the happiness of the child is important. And now we know

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this with neuroscience, where we can see that

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serotonin and dopamine, two happy hormones,

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are literally the best hormones that are

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neurotransmitters that switch on our brain and make

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it work. So what is it that Finland is

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doing to make their children so happy and to make the

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educational experience enjoyable? Well,

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what they do is actually start school at

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the age of seven. And so those primal years

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of zero to seven, which we know in psychology is

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forming the subconscious brain of the child, they

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are allowed to be outdoors, to be

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in kindergarten, to be learning and to be so

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much more free than what you would see in

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our education methods around Australia, where children are

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even in prep. where they're four and a half to

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five and a half years of age, where they are already

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having to tick off so many boxes in the curriculum, having

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to sit down for test after test. And in Queensland, where

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we have the C2C curriculum called

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the Curriculum to Classroom, they have to sit down

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for test after test after test. Not

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in Finland. In Finland, The official schooling

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doesn't start until the age of seven. And when school

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does start, happiness is at the forefront of

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the mind of educators. I want you to think for

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a moment now, as a parent or as a teacher, your

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own educational journey, what are the things that you remember the

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most about your schooling? What were some of those educational

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experiences that stood out to you the most? Sure

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enough, if we're really enjoying our learning process,

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we are going to be learning much more and

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we're going to remember it for a much longer time than

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if we're disinterested and we're disengaged, which

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unfortunately is a current pattern for many

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children in many schools and I would say in most

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high schools throughout Australia. So, how do

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we put happiness at the forefront of the education? In

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Finland, children's interests and

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their choice is taken into account for almost every

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area of their learning. What are they interested in learning? How

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can you take an interest into a subject? And

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how can they expand on that? And how can they research that and

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find out what they're really interested in? Fortunately

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I have a exciting story of

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a school on the Gold Coast where I found out

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recently All Saints has a

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Wonder Room and in this Wonder Room they

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are allowed, the students are allowed to ask questions about

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anything they want and it's a room to explore their

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interests and explore their creativity. And

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I thought, how fantastic. That's one huge step

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in the right direction, because we know when they're interested and engaged, the

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learning is exponentially better. When we think about education,

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we also have to think about what is the end purpose? What are

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we preparing children for in the greater scheme of

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things? Really, if we think about education, we

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want to be preparing children for the real world.

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We want to be preparing children for what they're going to

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do when they leave school. What kind of person are they

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going to be? Are they going to be kind? Are they

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going to be compassionate? Are they going to be a social citizen

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or a global citizen that thinks about how can they make the world a

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better place? And what kind of

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parent are they going to be to bring up the next generation? Are

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they going to be able to follow their passions and their interests to

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succeed in their own endeavours, which takes

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resilience and grit and all of these things. These are

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the kind of skills that are fundamental in

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Finland and they see as crucial to help children succeed in

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the future. And it's great to see some schools in Australia starting

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to prioritise these and starting to bring them into

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the forefront of education. When we

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think about what kind of social citizens

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we would like that graduate from grade 12 and

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then walk into our world as adults and start shaping the

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future generation of our planet, we

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also have to think, are they going out there to make

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our world a better place? The Green School in Bali

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is an incredible school that is thinking about just

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that. The Green School is about how to help guide children

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to become social citizens of this planet, to take care

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of our environment and to take care of our planet. And

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every single subject at that school has purpose. about

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how they can impact their local and their

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global communities for the

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better. And what's incredible is when I got to go and visit

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the Green School in Bali, talking to the children about

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how they were excited for their learning journey

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and what they were learning was impactful in

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their practical world. So when they were doing art

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one of the young girls said to me we're creating these artworks for

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an art show that's raising money for a local charity and

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another student told me that they were creating dioramas to

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show how they felt they could filtrate the

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water systems better within their local school and

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another student was explaining that they actually

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take reused cooking oils they

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filter the vegetable cooking oils, and

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they use that as fuel in some of the buggies in

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school. So they're learning so many creative skills, they're

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learning innovative skills, and they're learning how to implement

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it in their daily world. So, I

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feel like if we can take something from these schools, it's

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A, the happiness of the child. If we put that at the forefront of

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our educational messaging as parents and

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as teachers to make sure that they're enjoying their learning, we're

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going to transform that learning process and we're going to

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transform the entire educational process for the child. And

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what does that do? If we do this again and again on

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a daily basis and a weekly basis, a monthly basis, the

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years of the children's learning that is enjoyable, where

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they're doing work that they enjoy, that leads to

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adults that do things in life that they also

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enjoy, which is incredibly important, which we know in psychology, if

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we're doing something we're passionate about and also has a greater impact, we

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are, as adults, are much happier. And in Finland,

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sure enough, they score right at the top of

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countries that are the happiest in the world. So it just shows what

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we do in education creates a greater impact for

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all of the adults that we're growing to the next generation. Thank

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you for listening to our podcast on neuroeducation

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