Episodes

Ever felt sick or were injured at school? Ever have to face the grumpy school nurse? Well, not at Bosque School in Albuquerque New Mexico! This is an amazing student led program, where all of the first responders for illness or injury are the students themselves. As members of the school’s Medical Reserve Corps, the students learn how to respond to medical incidents and emergencies and take the lead when something happens. In this episode, we talk with Dan Shaw, teacher, first responder and fac...

Have you ever wanted to start the school year by getting away somewhere, fun, challenging remote or culturally unique? No this is no holiday, this is the Aspen High School ExEd program, which provides students the opportunity to learn through experience right across the country. In mixed year level groups, students get to choose from a huge range of options, from Hiking in the Tetons, to Biking in New Mexico, or perhaps a dive into the Cajun culture of Louisiana or some glitz and glamour of Fas...

Have you ever tried washing an Elephant at school? Explored a jungle and encountered a family of Gibbons? Well you can at The Howling Gibbon Outdoor Centre in Thailand In this episode, we talk with Alex Moxon Founder and program Director of the Howling Gibbon Centre. What better way to learn than to spend time in a rural centre in Thailand which combines, outdoor adventures with field studies and service learning. This centre runs a great range of interesting and diverse programs, with the ser...

Want to lose yourself in centuries of political and religious conflict and dark mysteries locked in snapshots from the past? Then the National Gallery in London is just the place for you. With an enormous collection of stunning artworks spanning over half a millennia, this is an amazing experience. No matter how many times I’ve been there, I haven’t even scratched the surface of the passion, the love, the hatred, the rebellion, the political intrigue and the social and emotional commentary that’...

Are you between 14-25 and have a problem you want to solve? Do you have lots of ideas, but just need the right space, equipment and support to turn those ideas into something cool? In this episode, we talk with Andrew Moss, director of the YMCA 4C Centre, Christchurch. The YMCA 4C Centre is a place where young entrepreneurs, inventors and problem solvers can go to build their solutions in a really cool and supportive environment. From robotics, to 3D printing, to video and artistic pursuits, ...

Want to have 3 classes a day and learn in the heart of a city and use everything around you as a lab? The Downtown School in Seattle is a leading-edge school which uses Downtown Seattle as part of their integrated educational program. This is a grade 9 through 12 school. It’s a great example of a school that’s future focussed and enabling students to pursue their own interests and identity as part of their education. More time in the classroom doesn’t equate to better learning outcomes and the...

How do you get students to buy into their role and responsibility in caring for the environment? How do you use this to build a sense of community at the same time? In this episode, we talk with Pete Johnson, from the Christchurch City Council in NZ who leads the environmental experiential education programs for schools. We take a look at how these programs are aimed at all ages and build and grow on prior experience year after year to help students, not only understand the local environment ...

Where do you start with Risk Management? With any experiential education, you have a professional responsibility to pro-actively manage risk. This is an ever-evolving and dynamic skill-set that you develop over the years through training and experience. It’s something we can never take for granted. We take a look at some of the challenges we face in managing risk and what can happen, when things don’t go to plan. In this episode, we talk with Paul Tame, who is a leading risk management trainer ...

Want to learn how to be an entrepreneur? Often this sort of thing is left to chance, luck or sheer force of will. Why not avoid this and get started at school with some real-world problem solving, idea hacking and industry partnerships to help you build an entrepreneurial mindset and skill set whilst still at school In this episode, we talk with Dr Paul Browning, Principal of St Paul’s School in Brisbane, Australia and Author of ‘Compelling Leadership and Principled. In a rapidly changing worl...

I know it’s been a year longer than we had hoped, but now, despite the current global issues, which reminds me of the Billy Joel song, ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’, we’re back for season 2 of the Xperiential Education podcast! This season, we cover all sorts of great programs from art, to science, to risk management, to outdoor ed, to a really wonderful student-led medical program and a few things in between. The depth and breadth of the podcast and our guests, highlights how important it is for ...

No uniforms, open plan learning and a wonderful happy school environment! I only wish I could have gone to the Australian Science & Mathematics School. Specifically designed to cater for students with an interest in Maths and Science, the non-selective government school based at Flinders University in Adelaide is a remarkable example of the future facing experiential education at its best. This impressive campus and program is for years 10-12 and all education starts with a major social, health...

What happens when you collect a lot of random stuff? Well, if you only have a small house, you get called a hoarder. However, if you have massive amounts of money and can build an enormous building to put all your stuff in, then you’re called a philanthropist. Queen Victoria and her husband Albert, happened to be the latter. The V&A has an astounding collection of rare and unique artefacts from around the world. In this episode, we talk with Adrian Deakes, Program Manager For Theatre & Performa...

What do you know about penguins? Well they get mad if you steal their fish… Thankfully, I wasn’t the one given the opportunity to go to Antarctica and lead a research base station. In this episode, we talk with Noel Mifsud, Principal of Christian Brothers College in Adelaide, whose extra-ordinary career crosses between education and industry as opportunities have presented themselves. We look at how his experiences outside of education have helped him in his teaching and leadership throughout a...

How do you like the sound of going away for eight weeks and living in a house with seven other people you might have never met before? No it’s not big brother. It’s Wesley College’s residential Yr 9 program called Clunes. In this episode, we talk with Tim Nolan, Head of Student Welfare at Clunes. We look at how different this sort of program is and how their experiential learning approach covers their daily social lives, their academic work and their community involvement. We explore some of t...

How would you react when thrown in the deep end? Foreign country, different culture, different language and all you have to do is build an effective police force from scratch. In this episode we talk with Rebecca Cameron, former Australian Federal Police officer who shares her experiences on building police force capacity in war ravaged East Timor. From basic police work and training in Australia, to a far more politically and culturally complex overseas policing with the United Nations Interna...

Where’s your creative space? Is it in a place filled with movement and noise, a quite retreat away from everything, or do you have random moments of creativity whilst out surfing? In this episode, we talk with Mary Preece, Education Manager for Bundanon Trust, Arthur Boyd’s former property nestled on the banks of the Shoalhaven River. The Trust was set up after the famous artist donated the land and much of his private collection to the Australian people. We talk about various experiential educ...

What better way to spend the weekend than to take some government data and hack it! No it’s not quite wikileaks! No breaking into filing cabinets we find at second hand furniture stores in Canberra! It’s a competition to see who can creatively use the masses of government datasets available to the public. In this episode, we talk with Matt Purcell, Head of Digital Innovation at Canberra Grammar School and former ACT Director of GovHack in Canberra. We explore some of the ways GovHack came about...

There’s nothing more important than for us to understand and learn from the lessons of the past. The Australian War Memorial, built to commemorate the Great War and opened in 1941 in the midst of the Second World War, remains one of the most important and most visited sites in Australia. In this episode, we talk with Dr Brendan Nelson, Director of The Australian War Memorial in Canberra. It’s a fascinating and moving insight into the great work that the War Memorial is doing to provide the next...

What’s a great way to get boys to mature and take responsibility for themselves and the direction of their lives? Send them away to live in remote rustic timber mill cottages with seven other boys, where they have to cook for themselves, keep their cottages in good order, study and take on all manner of outdoor challenges, including skinning and cooking their own rabbits! In this episode, we talk with Cyn Smith, Director of Tihoi Venture School in NZ. Situated near Taupo on the North Island of ...

Introducing the new Experiential Education Podcast, hosted by David Gregory, the podcast delves into all different sorts of experiential learning. From art, to science, to outdoor ed, to policing, to theatre and performance and everything in between, the depth and breadth of the podcast and its guests, highlights how important it is for students today to learn to be adaptable problem solvers. For more info, guest suggestions and other feedback visit: https://xperiential.education/ For cool blog...