In this episode of Neuroeducation, host Angie Dee discusses the intersection of politics and education. She highlights how taxpayers are the ones funding the education system and argues that they should also have a say in how it operates. Angie criticizes the current outdated and boring factory-style method of education and calls for a revolution in the system. She empowers listeners to take action and make a difference in shaping the future of education.

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Timestamps:

00:00:00 - Introduction

00:00:31 - The State of Education Funding

00:01:15 - The Need for an Education Revolution

00:02:09 - Political Engagement in Education

00:03:01 - Montessori Programs in Brisbane Schools

00:04:07 - Parent Advocacy for Montessori Education

00:05:11 - Neuroscience and Montessori Method

00:05:44 - Community Involvement in Education

00:06:06 - Parental Activation for Educational Change

00:07:11 - Supporting Overworked Teachers

00:07:53 - Montessori Curriculum in Australian Schools

00:08:59 - Call to Action for Local Educational Change

00:09:10 - Closing and Podcast Subscription Information

Our money is currently funding a totally outdated, factory-style

method of education. It's f***ed. Welcome to Neuroeducation,

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

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

effective parenting strategies, and educational advocacy. I'm

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

learning. Hello

and welcome back to Neuroeducation with Angie Dee.

Today we're talking about politics and education and what you

can do. We have an education system

in Australia that is funded on the backs of

taxpayers. That's you, that's me, that's

your brother, your sister, all of the people you know. When

you look around they are the people that

are literally funding our education system.

Now we are funding this education

system. If we are the funders we should also have a

say and in this democratic nation that we live in

We have a democratic right to have a say how our

education plays out. What is

our money currently going towards? Sadly,

our money is currently funding a totally outdated

factory style method of education. And

excuse my French, it's fucked. Because children

are sitting there day after day bored as

batshit. I feel like what we

need is a total education revolution and you

and I can have a massive impact

on how that plays out. In so many other areas of

politics, people feel like they have a say. They want

to put their hands up and they want to have their two cents heard. in

voice to parliament, in renewable energy, in

all of these areas, people are talking about what

they want to see happen in our current

political climate. But when

it comes to education, I hear

crickets. but we have the power. It

is a totally democratic area where

we have the power to make positive change.

Now the most dramatic areas of positive change I

have seen in education has been on

the backs of parents. In

two incredible schools in

Brisbane, Australia, they are running a

Montessori program. That

means alongside the mainstream method of

education that's running in the traditional school, they

have started a Montessori method of education through

the schooling process, starting in prep and every year

gaining one grade more. Groverley

State School in Brisbane and also Capalaba

State School in Brisbane have been running these innovative

programs, bringing Montessori, an alternative method

of education that is highly, highly recommended

by neuroscientists worldwide, into our

public education system. This is one of the first times

we have had something that is usually private, incredibly

expensive, that is only available

for the, let's say, high echelon of society, of

people that can afford it, bringing it to the people. Now,

how did these two schools implement a

totally alternative method of education? A parent group

in Grovely who had their children going to a

Montessori community kindergarten wanted

a Montessori primary school option for

their children. There was nothing available to them in the area. So

they approached Groveley State School and as a

parent body, they advocated for their children and

they advocated for an alternative method of education. Lo

and behold, six months later, Groveley

started the first Montessori program. The

same thing happened at Kapalipa State School an

incredible woman, Rebecca Gruen, who

was running Montessori childcare centres, wanted a

Montessori option for children, for her own children, and

for children in that area of Brisbane. There

was nothing available, and after

trying also to start an independent school,

She decided with the parent group that was supporting her to

take it to the state school. She took it to Groverley

State School. Lo and behold, six months later,

Montessori had started. Now we know Montessori is

backed by neuroscience. It's backed by educational research

and it's backed by child psychology. What

we have now in two schools in Brisbane is

a innovative educational approach to

learning. and the two

parent groups that brought this education method

in brought it in by advocating on behalf of

their children. Now this is no different to

you or I where we can approach another

school For your children, you

can get together with a parent group. You can talk to people about

how we can create change in our school community. Obviously,

there are so many things you can do without even dramatically changing

it to the point of introducing an alternative method of education. There

are other things you can do. Participating in school

maximizes your child learning. As the old adage

and the quote goes, it takes a village to raise a child. And

the best classrooms that I have personally seen

across Queensland are classrooms and

schools that have had the maximum amount of community support.

That means there are grandparents that are coming in and

reading and helping with the classroom. There are parent

volunteers that are helping to run reading groups or math

groups to make the hands-on learning more available

to the children. And at these schools, the maximum amount

of input from parents and grandparents and

the community members is where I see learning

excelling the most. So it

comes down to our capacity as

parents to be able to

activate change. Teachers, God bless them,

are so overworked and have

so much demand put upon them

by the curriculum, by the state board, by

the national government, and every single other thing that they

have to tick off to be able to teach our

children. So yes, we can come in and we can advocate as

parents, to the PNC, the parent teacher

communities at the schools, and we can also do this for

the principals, and it can propose different options. But

the Montessori curriculum in Australia is

now approved as an independent curriculum, which

means state schools have the

capacity to be able to do what

Groveley State School did and what Kapalaba State School did.

They have the capacity to come in and to implement

an alternative method of education like Montessori, even

if it's co-aligned with the school. Montessori

being a very independent method

of learning where the children are slowly building their independence from

a very young age is really important that it is started

from the age of prep and that slowly builds in. Montessori

is not something that can be implemented school wide in one

shot, but it can be implemented step by step slowly

as one prep class moves into grade one and grade one

into grade two and so on. These

are things that we can advocate in our local community

and I hope I have inspired you to talk to your parents

and teachers and even your principal to make positive change in

your local community because if it's not you

then who? Thank you for listening. Please

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