We just wrapped up a conversation with Kiran Bir Sethi, founder of the renowned Riverside School (Ahmedabad, India) and the global Design for Change program (making impact in 63 countries!) for our latest Season 1 episode of the “Wander & Wonder: Exploring the Future of Learning” podcast.
Inspiring conversation that focused on:
– she never set out to create a school that would one day change the world; it was just a mother’s dream to create something for her own children that grew into something truly global in scope and impact
– “I never say that we’re the most successful school in the world. But we do know that we are the type of school that the world needs most right now.”
– launching Riverside’s ‘institute’ to inspire a network of “I CAN” schools around the world
– why joy matters so much when it comes schools that matter – to their kids, to their families, and to their community
– the magic of purposefully returning to the classroom while still running a school for 21 years, then realizing the kids had so much more to teach her
– challenging the need to over-design curriculum (“it can get so heavy”) by offering lighter frameworks that even the youngest child can take advantage of when it comes to finding ways for curiosity to lead to progress in the real world
– how students may now have a limitless amount of content, but what they truly need is more time to pause, to reflect, and to notice; and that this may be just as true for teachers and administrators, too
– the vital nature of ‘stamina’ (not talent or degree) when it comes to meaningful school leadership, something she is regularly reminded of when she considers Gandhi’s impact on her leadership style and life
– her thoughts on the power of intentional school architecture to create healthy school culture (and why she even recommends “putting the principal’s desk out in the middle of the hallway” for a stretch of time)
– her dreams of spending a year on an archeological dig slowly removing the dirt to uncover remarkable history or having the opportunity to learn first-hand from the masters at Cirque du Soleil
and
– the ‘one thing’ that a school leader could do next to uncover incredible opportunities for her / his school at this moment in time
Release Date: We’ll release Kiran’s episode in early November.
All 13 episodes will be released over the month of November with short video snippets released daily M-TH and full episodes / transcripts each Friday.
Article by
Seb Olsen
Web Designer & Podcast Producer
Seb Olsen, a forward-thinking tech enthusiast from York, UK, now resides in Amsterdam, Netherlands after graduating from THINK Global School in 2022. During his two-year journey exploring different cultures, he achieved various milestones such as app development, SCUBA diving mastery, marketing campaigns, and AI research.
