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Hello, and a very warm welcome to Let Them Fly with me, Heather Harris.
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If you're a parent, you know that quiet worry, are my children on the right path?
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This is the podcast that gently reminds you to believe a little more in our children and their wonderful ability to surprise us.
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Because no one is born great and so few of us follow the path we first imagined.
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We hope today to inspire you, reassure you, and give you the quiet confidence to trust a little more and let your children fly.
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So today it's my job to welcome Janice Jean, who's a program manager at Enhanced Training Institute, which is a KHDA approved youth enrichment institute within Jeby.
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12 years as an educator and a school leader in the UE, she's built her career on giving children something different, something beyond grades, character, resilience, and a sense of what's possible.
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So Jenna, thank you so much for well for joining us today.
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Hi there, it's a joy.
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Thank you for having me.
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It's okay.
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We kind of we've navigated each other around various things for quite a long time, I think.
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We have.
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I think we've had this conversation on connection and people every time we've met.
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We love a chat, we love people.
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And the community is great for that here.
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So thank you for giving me a place in your channel.
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So I'm going to start with a very simple question, which what do you wish every parent understood about the child beyond grades?
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Sure, sure.
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Heather, I could talk at length about this.
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I think of what I've learned back home in Ireland of my uh five years there, and certainly uh with over uh yeah, over a decade here in UE, I think it's about understanding the child where we meet them.
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And I see this across schools, uh, of my teaching career, both in mainstream from chatting with parents.
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I have most of my friends are mothers.
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And I think it's something we get asked the most uh character.
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And I think the report card, I saw it when I was in Alain with ADEC back uh from 2014, and then I saw it in the international setting.
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The report card is a wonderful way to demonstrate performance.
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But I and they've they've come a long way with the drop-down, the proficient, the mastery, the the etc, etc.
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And I got a slap on the wrist many times for saying Jenna, like reduce it, because I would always want to add that extra text box to give the reasoning beyond the grade.
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That time when he built that uh not just the the 3D project for science, but that time when he public spoke, you know, if language was his barrier, and he took the time and finested and delivered it to his peers.
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And it wasn't always necessary, but for me it was essential that parents knew that beyond the grade that's what the progress looked like.
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And educators know assessment of learning, assessment for learning.
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That all feeds into the child's overall performance, but it's all the other things, the softer skills, them as a little being, their peers, how they are as learners.
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Yeah, are they risk takers?
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Are they problem solvers?
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And that doesn't mean in a in a an inquiry-based problem in a per curriculum sense.
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That can be on the schoolyard, it can be on the playground, it can be on the school bus, all those little things that marry together.
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And I wish there was more space for that in delivering to parents.
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Yes, parents ask more, definitely.
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In my career, I've seen that.
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They want to know how they are doing overall.
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And I leave the curriculum to the end because it's easy to talk about that.
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The assessment shows and data, and if you want to go down that route.
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But I'll always start with the interpersonal stuff and them as a little human.
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I absolutely love that because I think grades never tell the story.
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And I think we focus so grades are the tangible part that we just get hung up on focusing.
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But actually, I mean, I and I always remember whenever I used to go to a school meeting, and my first question is, but are they nice?
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And the teachers used to look at me sometimes as to say, I say, I don't care what their grade is, I want to know are they nice?
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And Carol Dweck, I know her work is amazing on growth mindset, but she uses this grade not yet.
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It's not amazing.
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Yes.
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So it's not I got the air, I got the D.
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It's the not quite yet.
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But here's what I did achieve along the way.
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Yes.
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I grew my resilience massively.
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And that's so important, isn't it?
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I was talking to one of the um guests we've had on the show a while ago, and they're a sports psychologist, and it was very much about it doesn't the grade doesn't matter.
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The grade just shows where you are now.
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It's not showing you where you are in the future, it's not really showing you where you came from.
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It just shows you where you are now, and it's not it's not important.
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And we know that as professionals, I'm sure you know it from motherhood.
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We know it from travel, we know it from all the things we learn as we go.
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But if we had to put metrics on that, I imagine the story that would tell.
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It'd be less of a podcast, would it not?
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In saying I learned this, I achieved this, I got this by this year.
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Whereas actually the conversation and the the substance and the the significant part is the story about the child and getting there.
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The saddest, I think the saddest line is when a child says, I've got nine, I've got nine grade nines.
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Yeah, and yeah, and and what did you do on the way?
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What what what what else?
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Tell me something about you because your grades don't define you.
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Yes, you define you.
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And I think that's such a fruitful conversation.
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And I've had it with so many of my educator friends and now decision makers and people that we kind of, I suppose, want to align with and and be of service to in the community.
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But certainly that mismatch between pedagogy curriculum, we're always going to be guided and underpinned by some level of a framework.
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But I think it's up to us as practitioners and educators and moms and dads and family life to see that dynamic as more of an enriching process as opposed to a destination that we're all hoping our child gets to.
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Yeah.
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And there is that shift.
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The conversation is shifting in UE, particularly around that.
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I think P I think parents are becoming less fixated on grades.
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And I think, I think education, there's a there's a definite undercurrent to change education.
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There is.
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And I think in Richmond, I mainstream teach, and I'll be really honest, end of day when I used to give my classroom to some extracurricular providers that would come in on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
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I remember the cleanup was very swift and we were out the co out the door.
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And I remember thinking, huh, the kids are pretty exhausted.
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And generally, and I know we'll we'll maybe come to it later in terms of, you know, what enrichment is it, a childcare service after school that mom and mums and dads are busy, households are dynamic places, they're busy, and sometimes they can serve as just that.
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Great if they attain a skill.
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But I remember when I used to see the little tired faces, and my good friend Ash, who speaks about this in all terms of well-being as well, they're exhausted by the end of the day.
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The curriculum is so packed.
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And then we're asking again, because it's a it's a paid service, that the the you know, enrichment must be fruitful and it must be a you know, uh impact-driven kind of end, you know, what are they going to come out with?
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Something tangible.
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But actually, I feel that there's a place to weave that into curriculum.
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Why are we not doing more character and resilient and you know, that type of work within our curriculum and allowing that fluidity to just be but fun.
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I just feel sometimes we're we forget that you know, children are only children for such a short space of time as well.
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This is true.
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This is true.
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So what I I know that you've been doing this for about 12 years.
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Uh 12 years now, yes.
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What what kind of drives you?
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People.
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Yeah.
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I remember saying to my good friend Rebecca, who's still at home in Ireland, I did teacher training college with her.
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She's a mum of three now.
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She used to say, I said, you know, I'm thinking of leaving teaching, and she's my springboard for a lot of my inner thoughts.
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There's always that one, there's the one person.
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And I remember saying, I don't know, a level of guilt, I guess.
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And I know the phases of change bring that level of anticipation and maybe guilt, and then kind of, you know, you get excited then.
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And I remember being pretty sure back in Alane that I was coming to the end of my teaching career, and that was 2017.
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And I remember saying Rebecca, like, but I love children.
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She said, Jen, you love people.
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And that was the difference.
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And that was the reframe and thinking, okay.
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And that's when I got involved in Alane and more community-based initiatives.
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Went back, studied, COVID hit, did my master's, then went on, and knowing I needed maybe a space in Dubai to further kind of excel and see maybe what else is out there in the international setting and had that benchmark to compare with government, my experience in government education, and private.
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And certainly it's people.
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Yeah.
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I have as much adoration, and my time was invested as much into the parents, the staff at my school, loved the chat in the mornings.
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How are people doing?
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Yes, you know.
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Um, you know, I just think those are the conversations, listening to parents, not just the parent teacher meetings where you're relaying it and having that exchange of, you know, progress or successes, or you know, it was just the everyday chat.
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And that's essentially what they would come to me and talk about enrichment.
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Sometimes it was a sadness and saying, I'm working on spring break.
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Where can I offer my child something meaningful?
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Or we're not traveling for summer.
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You know, what is out there?
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What's of substance in the community?
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So I suppose I logged all of these kind of conversations, I suppose, uh subconsciously, and leave and teach, and then thought, well, there's something that I could maybe put some time and effort in designing and focus on, is offering something in the community that just might speak to parents as an educator and speak to fellow educators in their kind of, I suppose, battles between a jam-packed curriculum and offering maybe something of difference in an enrichment space.
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And it's done really well.
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It's done really well.
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It's done really well.
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There was there was a space.
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There was a space.
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And I always say there are phenomenal practitioners.
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It's a very, very busy market of enrichment and beautiful clubs, and everyone has their area of focus.
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And again, we went back to the drawing board, much like the I think many people have during quieter times of the instabilities in the region, and we really looked to see what was working.
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And a good friend of mine in Abu Dhabi said that to me about a year ago.
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I used to keep a notebook of all these little words of wisdom.
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And he said, Jen, to scale up, you have to niche down.
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And we really began to niche down.
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We were offering 11 individual KHD-approved child courses in skills development.
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What was really working well?
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What was of impact?
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I always think if we come back to that one word impact, what's really measurable and what are we making the difference in?
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And that's kind of how our program now has niched down.
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It looks a lot smaller, but it just encompasses what works for us and it's given that the children the experience, a dynamic experience, as opposed to one single.
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We think about the child that maybe, for example, photography.
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I'm not a photographer.
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We never get asked when people are out.
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Could you take a photo?
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Or the ones that do, it's like, oh, thank you.
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You know it's been delicious straight away.
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Because I say I'm not creative.
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Yeah, when I hear that from a seven-year-old, I think, not creative.
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Have they ever been given a camera or a paintbrush in a mess space just to be without the frameworks of gotta tick the box?
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We've got a school assessments coming up, and we have an inspection, and I best have all my assessment in line.
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And I think that is what formed giving children a transdisciplinary.
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I mean, I know I'm in it from an inquiry background with IB, but I still feel the place belongs to just explore something familiar.
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You know, that beautiful um desirable difficulty, that lovely phrase of let them in where meet them where they are, yes, and then stretch.
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Yes.
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And I think just because they have never held a microphone in a shark tank experience or you know, created a STEM LED light, so be it.
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Let them explore.
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I think and I think you touched on it, but one of the things that always worries me is art, because so many kids love art and then they go into school and they've been told to draw in a particular way.
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But art isn't meant to be drawn in a particular way.
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And the number of children who don't love art that did love art is phenomenal.
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And there's still a level of ceiling uh on that, isn't there?
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A cap as to what maybe oh, we don't have time for that, or boys and girls, we have to move because it's our big time.
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Instead of shattering that glass, yes, being there as a facilitator, but they must shatter it.
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That's just that kind of narrative around that autonomy.
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I always talk about student agency, and I think that would be a big one for parents.
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They're here to kind of, yes, conscious control of who what clubs or enrichment or curriculum they they invite their children into, but given that child the absolute autonomy and agency over their kind of trajectory.
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Yes.
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On, you know, identifying their strengths.
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We know confidence over capability is a topic we always talk about.
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I've met such capable children, Heather, but they've never been stretched to find out what it is I'm really, really good at.
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Yes.
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They'll say it on a report card, I'm doing very well.
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But it's not the same.
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What else?
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Yes, what else?
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Yes.
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We keep talking about this word resilience.
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What should resilience look like in a child?
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I read this last week, Heather, and I wish I could find, I will send it to you when I do find it.
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I remember thinking it.
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Well, the R and the E for resilience reminded me, it's like a response.
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So um what was it?
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Speed response.
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So, how quickly are you actually recovering?
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So, recovery speed, that was the R and the E.
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And I remember thinking, and yesterday actually at an event, and a lady pointed out so well that it has to be also sustainable because we talk about resilience being a quick spring back, and you know, but actually having the tools and that regulation.
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I know as an adult, it's still something I'm working on.
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Being able to self-regulate in moments of pressure and time restraints and deadlines.
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And I think of little children were asking so much of them, but it's also, I love this one, and I read it from I think it's a John Dewey, it's safe failure, safe failure given another space to fail, but it's designed that we're going to catch them, right?
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Yes, yes, and then repeat it again.
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And if the fall comes again, that's also but it doesn't matter.
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I mean, one of our podcasts is very much on that that quote that you know, let them fly, and you and the the question is, but what if they fall?
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Yeah, but what if they don't?
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What if they don't?
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What if they don't?
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And I think it's all that good stuff again.
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Angela, is it Angela Duckworth?
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Grit.
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Grit.
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Yes.
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It's everything you can be so high in aptitude, but it's that attitude of Do you think that this generation is lacking grit for some to some extent?
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They're almost oh we're almost overparenting kids these days.
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Can be.
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I ask my my good mom friends this ones you can really unpack with that will give you the real honesty and and transparency.
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It's a very vulnerable um topic, isn't it?
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I'm not a mum and I wonder how I would be.
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But I think when I try to wear what I think a mom hat must feel like, as well as uh, I suppose my background in education, I think, I think it's it's we're doing them an underservice if we don't allow just to ex just let them.
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Yes, absolutely agree.
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Yeah.
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Uh what that may look like in terms of a curriculum or how the household is, or I think they marry in.
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I think they marry from how they watch older siblings, um, aspirations of mum and dad can look very different, um, school setting, peer group.
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I think all of that combined.
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But I'd like to think even of a small service, it can be I think service and significance, isn't that what they say?
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Success is that being of service as us as an enrichment provider, that it's a space, a space where we can stimulate and plant those seeds of resilience and character building.
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And that failure is a real thing.
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I think I mean fail, yes, and I I'm a great believer in on it.
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We often parents who phone us up and you know, one thing so we sort of say, let them fail before we try and find the solution because there might not be necessary for a solution.
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I I personally blame social media and I have a big, big sort of parents have this pressure to be a perfect parent.
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And that means that you know, my child shouldn't be dirty, my child shouldn't eat hamburgers or whatever it is they should.
00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:56.399
But actually, the reality is they should.
00:15:56.559 --> 00:16:00.720
They literally should, because if they don't, they don't ever know the experience of doing.
00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:10.320
And I think we know this as educators that you know it's all about the actual doing, the hands being the connector to the brain and that knowledge is that experiential learning.
00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:20.320
But I think the same thing by living something out, and that's the I I've seen it time and time again, or you'll hear it through another staff member, let's say the Arabic teacher or the R teacher.
00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:21.759
This used to come back often.
00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:25.440
You are always looking for your evidence in the classroom through observations.
00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:28.879
When it doesn't come, it may be when you're not watching.
00:16:29.039 --> 00:16:44.799
And I think that's a real sign when a teacher or another staff member will come back and tell a child, tell a story of the child that you know the incident happened in your the, you know, experiential learning or some level of growth or progress happened in that aha moment in the classroom.
00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:52.639
But it it demonstrated in Arabic class or yes, and that's a great thing to observe when they don't think anyone's watching and how do they respond?
00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:54.559
What's their kind of coping mechanism?
00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:56.000
What's their problem solving?
00:16:56.159 --> 00:16:59.840
What do they do in that moment without looking for a response from an adult?
00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.079
And it's, I suppose, is it all in the questioning when we are asking how was your day?
00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:05.200
What did you learn?
00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:08.240
Is it in that shift of what lit you up today?
00:17:08.400 --> 00:17:08.559
Yes.
00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:09.839
What did you do for someone else?
00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:10.640
I love that.
00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:11.759
That that excitement.
00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:13.440
You can't, you just can't beat that.
00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:15.759
So tell me a little bit about your institute.
00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:17.039
Sure, sure, sure.
00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:18.960
So we're almost two years old, Heather.
00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:29.119
I joined with, as I always say, when when Ali's in or out of the room, our CEO, I joined with a laptop and a trade license and an empty desktop on that, which is a wonderful thing.
00:17:29.279 --> 00:17:31.519
Uh, I mentioned earlier about you know creativity.
00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:40.000
I would be creative not in an art sense or uh, I suppose, artsy scene, but I'm massively creative when it comes to people.
00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:42.160
I believe hugely in the power.
00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:43.519
Impact, I think, is people.
00:17:43.599 --> 00:17:47.839
I think it's our, you know, the most valuable currency we have is human connection.
00:17:48.000 --> 00:18:00.799
And I suppose I was at an advantage of having the 12 years here in UE, uh, beautiful relationships built, and also I suppose, the, I suppose, the honesty to know that there were gaps, there were underserviced areas.
00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:12.640
And again, I came back to Tom about, you know, reframing things when during the hostilities in we were offering much, but what did we actually want to do really, really, really well?
00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:14.799
And that's where the learning carousel came about.
00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:28.480
And that took five of our most, I suppose, um, socially proofed, most popular, most impact-driven uh child development skills, which are photography, STEM, public speaking, enterprising, and financial literacy.
00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:44.799
And those five can absolutely be weaved into much like an inquiry-based that your child may or may do in an IB curriculum, where their common theme across the week, I'll give you an example that we ran at Expo our first time, was where iSPy through my little eye was our um was our theme.
00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:47.119
Children went in with very little knowledge.
00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:52.079
We just did a simple provocation and showed a picture of a gallery at the Lure Vin Abu Dhabi.
00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:56.559
And we thought we stimulated some questions, there was a bit of curiosity, and that's where we're meeting them.
00:18:56.640 --> 00:18:58.720
And I always say meet them where they're at.
00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:07.440
So bear in mind we had students of determination, we had some uh second English as a second language speakers, so a typical dynamic setting in this particular camp.
00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:10.160
So we walked through what the week might look like.
00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:16.880
So now we're kind of probing to see what the interests are and the hands fly up for, but are we doing woodwork and please are we doing art?
00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:19.599
And my mum said that we might be doing photography.
00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:26.559
So now you kind of have a feel for the for the room, and now it's us as our job as facilitators to step back and just let them.
00:19:26.640 --> 00:19:30.720
So we put out what we hoped the end product would be, all in isolation.
00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:35.759
A couple of cameras, Nikon happened to be our collaboration with Nikon at the time, was day one.
00:19:35.920 --> 00:19:37.359
Day one, they were gonna photograph.
00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:41.200
Day two, they were gonna use that photograph and transfer it onto a canvas.
00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:42.400
So there was the art element.
00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:46.799
Now we've got two of our KHDA-approved um child development skills.
00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:56.160
Wednesday got very, very tricky because Wednesday was the resilient day, where they had to now create, well, you're gonna exhibit in a gallery, right?
00:19:56.319 --> 00:20:01.440
Just like the Louvre, so you must how does lighting um depict in your in your picture, and that's gotta be accurate.
00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:08.400
And Kate is our creative Gen Z are on the team, and she had them eaten out of the palm of their hand, palm of their hand with all this kind of creativity.
00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:18.319
And so they did an LED light, they built a solar-powered LED light, and Expo being so big on sustainability that you know it worked in the setting, they understood the examples in their environment.
00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:20.960
Thursday, they designed their pitch.
00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:23.440
Well, you every artist has to talk about their piece of work, right?
00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:28.079
And Friday, we always love to bring in some level of Islamic values and tradition and heritage.
00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:32.720
So we got a beautiful calligrapher in and they learned their name in Arabic calligraphy.
00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:36.640
And Friday was exhibit day, moms and dads joined, and the auditorium we presented.
00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:45.039
Heather, I cannot tell you if that was my job done in that one week in Enhanced, because it planted the seed of what became at the time.
00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:50.480
It was just a pilot, just to see would a carousel model work there?
00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:51.440
What would it look like?
00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:54.480
Remember, a lot of our students weren't in an IB curriculum, so it didn't.
00:20:54.559 --> 00:21:02.000
We had to almost, I suppose, um hand walk through the process and handhold us to why we were doing everything in succession.
00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:06.480
And it should be spoken about Monday's learning, should be still spoken about on Thursday during their pitch.
00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:10.079
Tuesday's art lesson is still being talked about at Friday's exhibit.
00:21:10.160 --> 00:21:14.319
So they marry and they understand why, why they're learning what they're doing.
00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:17.119
I'm a massive believer in a tangible output.
00:21:17.200 --> 00:21:17.440
Yes.
00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:22.319
It doesn't always come in the form of the painting or the LED light or the photo in their hand.
00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:24.880
It's the the creativity that comes with it.
00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:29.920
The fact the next time they go on Zoom with granddad in New Zealand, they're talking about the experience.
00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:44.880
It's not just a memory, it's proof, it's a presentation that you know hopefully when they go to do the interview in a new school or they take the next assessment in language that it's going to kind of further bolster them.
00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:51.200
And I think that's all we can hope for in our place and the limited time we have with children is that we leave some impact.
00:21:51.759 --> 00:22:02.799
And that's why I've stayed on two years and why I'm so passionate about growing a small business because there's a place for us, the community is so, so, so welcoming in being the connector and the enabler.
00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:06.000
Um, government entities have been wonderful, particularly in this time.
00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:08.880
You know, the whole Dubai It is a real thing now.
00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:13.359
And I feel like that there is excellence out there, and we can all be a part of that.
00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:14.240
I love that.
00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:18.640
That sounds absolutely something a child will remember for the rest of their lives.
00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:21.440
It's not just the next stage, that's a real memory.
00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:22.319
That's so lovely.
00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:23.279
Thank you, Heather.
00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:23.839
Thank you.
00:22:24.079 --> 00:22:29.359
So, for a mum planning a summer camp, a very topic of conversation at the moment.
00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:32.559
What's one thing for her to look for and one thing for her to avoid?
00:22:32.799 --> 00:22:34.319
So, we talk about the report card.
00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:43.200
Let's go back there that sometimes it can be a very um one-sided uh we're offering this, and that's wonderful if you know what your child is really, really into.
00:22:43.599 --> 00:22:48.559
But don't forget to explore that sprinkle of newness, something they maybe haven't tried.
00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:53.039
It might just be the kid that didn't have the camera access to a camera ever, and they're super creative.
00:22:53.119 --> 00:23:01.920
Uh, something tangible that will always go with some tangible object-proof presentation, something that they're gonna take with them and bolster even further.
00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:15.279
Um, I don't believe in segregating the kids based on age to a point, but ability, no, because it's up to us as practitioners to be able to scaffold and and and really be able to, you know, make quality and provide quality provision.
00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:19.039
And I think, yeah, something stimulating, something that's really gonna be.
00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:19.519
Something different.
00:23:19.599 --> 00:23:20.240
I always say something different.
00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:24.960
For safety for failure, given the space to be able to say, I did this, it didn't work.
00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:32.400
I think that's what, yeah, our youth founders, again, another flagship program, they're really good at that, building a prototype and hoping for the best.
00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:33.839
Yeah, yeah, totally.
00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:35.279
Thank you so much for joining us today.
00:23:35.359 --> 00:23:36.880
I've got one last question.
00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:48.000
If you had to go back and knowing everything you know today, and you go back and ask your seven-year-old self one qu um, you give yourself one piece of advice, what would that one piece of advice be?
00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:51.680
If it's both terrifying and amazing, you should definitely pursue it.
00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:52.240
Love it.
00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:58.160
We should be afraid, we should have that little thing in our belly about something, because it's a challenge, right?
00:23:58.319 --> 00:23:58.480
Yes.
00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:01.200
And then the safety also of knowing, I've got this.
00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:08.960
I've, you know, I'm familiar, it's comfortable, but also safety again to fail and say, something is, you know, like maybe today.
00:24:09.039 --> 00:24:10.319
Today's my first podcast for this one.
00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:11.200
Oh, welcome.
00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:12.400
Well, thank you.
00:24:12.880 --> 00:24:13.920
And again, new experience.
00:24:14.079 --> 00:24:18.079
I sat in the car, you're reading your notes, you're excited, but it's a little bit terrifying, right?
00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:19.119
So more of that.
00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:19.920
Yes, yeah.
00:24:20.559 --> 00:24:21.359
Thank you so much.
00:24:21.599 --> 00:24:22.240
Absolute pleasure.
00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:23.200
Thank you, Heather.
00:24:23.359 --> 00:24:25.920
Um, look forward to seeing the programs for this summer.
00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:28.480
You there will be a note down below of where to get a hold of you.
00:24:28.559 --> 00:24:29.519
So, thank you so much for joining us.
00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:30.640
Appreciate it, Heather.
00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:31.359
Thanks for having me.
00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:15.119
Hello, and a very warm welcome to Let Them Fly with me, Heather Harris.
00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:20.879
If you're a parent, you know that quiet worry, are my children on the right path?
00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:29.039
This is the podcast that gently reminds you to believe a little more in our children and their wonderful ability to surprise us.
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Because no one is born great and so few of us follow the path we first imagined.
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We hope today to inspire you, reassure you, and give you the quiet confidence to trust a little more and let your children fly.
00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:54.399
So today it's my job to welcome Janice Jean, who's a program manager at Enhanced Training Institute, which is a KHDA approved youth enrichment institute within Jeby.
00:00:55.520 --> 00:01:07.680
12 years as an educator and a school leader in the UE, she's built her career on giving children something different, something beyond grades, character, resilience, and a sense of what's possible.
00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:10.719
So Jenna, thank you so much for well for joining us today.
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Hi there, it's a joy.
00:01:12.079 --> 00:01:12.640
Thank you for having me.
00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:13.280
It's okay.
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We kind of we've navigated each other around various things for quite a long time, I think.
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We have.
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I think we've had this conversation on connection and people every time we've met.
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We love a chat, we love people.
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And the community is great for that here.
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So thank you for giving me a place in your channel.
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So I'm going to start with a very simple question, which what do you wish every parent understood about the child beyond grades?
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Sure, sure.
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Heather, I could talk at length about this.
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I think of what I've learned back home in Ireland of my uh five years there, and certainly uh with over uh yeah, over a decade here in UE, I think it's about understanding the child where we meet them.
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And I see this across schools, uh, of my teaching career, both in mainstream from chatting with parents.
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I have most of my friends are mothers.
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And I think it's something we get asked the most uh character.
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And I think the report card, I saw it when I was in Alain with ADEC back uh from 2014, and then I saw it in the international setting.
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The report card is a wonderful way to demonstrate performance.
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But I and they've they've come a long way with the drop-down, the proficient, the mastery, the the etc, etc.
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And I got a slap on the wrist many times for saying Jenna, like reduce it, because I would always want to add that extra text box to give the reasoning beyond the grade.
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That time when he built that uh not just the the 3D project for science, but that time when he public spoke, you know, if language was his barrier, and he took the time and finested and delivered it to his peers.
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And it wasn't always necessary, but for me it was essential that parents knew that beyond the grade that's what the progress looked like.
00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:06.960
And educators know assessment of learning, assessment for learning.
00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:18.319
That all feeds into the child's overall performance, but it's all the other things, the softer skills, them as a little being, their peers, how they are as learners.
00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:19.840
Yeah, are they risk takers?
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Are they problem solvers?
00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:27.199
And that doesn't mean in a in a an inquiry-based problem in a per curriculum sense.
00:03:27.360 --> 00:03:32.960
That can be on the schoolyard, it can be on the playground, it can be on the school bus, all those little things that marry together.
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And I wish there was more space for that in delivering to parents.
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Yes, parents ask more, definitely.
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In my career, I've seen that.
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They want to know how they are doing overall.
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And I leave the curriculum to the end because it's easy to talk about that.
00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:49.599
The assessment shows and data, and if you want to go down that route.
00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:53.599
But I'll always start with the interpersonal stuff and them as a little human.
00:03:53.919 --> 00:03:57.199
I absolutely love that because I think grades never tell the story.
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And I think we focus so grades are the tangible part that we just get hung up on focusing.
00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:08.719
But actually, I mean, I and I always remember whenever I used to go to a school meeting, and my first question is, but are they nice?
00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:14.000
And the teachers used to look at me sometimes as to say, I say, I don't care what their grade is, I want to know are they nice?
00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:20.079
And Carol Dweck, I know her work is amazing on growth mindset, but she uses this grade not yet.
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It's not amazing.
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Yes.
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So it's not I got the air, I got the D.
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It's the not quite yet.
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But here's what I did achieve along the way.
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Yes.
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I grew my resilience massively.
00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:30.959
And that's so important, isn't it?
00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:38.560
I was talking to one of the um guests we've had on the show a while ago, and they're a sports psychologist, and it was very much about it doesn't the grade doesn't matter.
00:04:38.639 --> 00:04:40.160
The grade just shows where you are now.
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It's not showing you where you are in the future, it's not really showing you where you came from.
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It just shows you where you are now, and it's not it's not important.
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And we know that as professionals, I'm sure you know it from motherhood.
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We know it from travel, we know it from all the things we learn as we go.
00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:57.839
But if we had to put metrics on that, I imagine the story that would tell.
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It'd be less of a podcast, would it not?
00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:03.519
In saying I learned this, I achieved this, I got this by this year.
00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:10.959
Whereas actually the conversation and the the substance and the the significant part is the story about the child and getting there.
00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:16.319
The saddest, I think the saddest line is when a child says, I've got nine, I've got nine grade nines.
00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:20.800
Yeah, and yeah, and and what did you do on the way?
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What what what what else?
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Tell me something about you because your grades don't define you.
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Yes, you define you.
00:05:27.360 --> 00:05:29.680
And I think that's such a fruitful conversation.
00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:39.439
And I've had it with so many of my educator friends and now decision makers and people that we kind of, I suppose, want to align with and and be of service to in the community.
00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:47.279
But certainly that mismatch between pedagogy curriculum, we're always going to be guided and underpinned by some level of a framework.
00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:59.439
But I think it's up to us as practitioners and educators and moms and dads and family life to see that dynamic as more of an enriching process as opposed to a destination that we're all hoping our child gets to.
00:05:59.519 --> 00:05:59.759
Yeah.
00:05:59.920 --> 00:06:00.879
And there is that shift.
00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:03.920
The conversation is shifting in UE, particularly around that.
00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:08.240
I think P I think parents are becoming less fixated on grades.
00:06:08.319 --> 00:06:14.160
And I think, I think education, there's a there's a definite undercurrent to change education.
00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:15.040
There is.
00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:24.879
And I think in Richmond, I mainstream teach, and I'll be really honest, end of day when I used to give my classroom to some extracurricular providers that would come in on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:28.240
I remember the cleanup was very swift and we were out the co out the door.
00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:31.920
And I remember thinking, huh, the kids are pretty exhausted.
00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:44.480
And generally, and I know we'll we'll maybe come to it later in terms of, you know, what enrichment is it, a childcare service after school that mom and mums and dads are busy, households are dynamic places, they're busy, and sometimes they can serve as just that.
00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:46.079
Great if they attain a skill.
00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:54.800
But I remember when I used to see the little tired faces, and my good friend Ash, who speaks about this in all terms of well-being as well, they're exhausted by the end of the day.
00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:56.319
The curriculum is so packed.
00:06:56.480 --> 00:07:06.079
And then we're asking again, because it's a it's a paid service, that the the you know, enrichment must be fruitful and it must be a you know, uh impact-driven kind of end, you know, what are they going to come out with?
00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:06.959
Something tangible.
00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:10.879
But actually, I feel that there's a place to weave that into curriculum.
00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:19.680
Why are we not doing more character and resilient and you know, that type of work within our curriculum and allowing that fluidity to just be but fun.
00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:25.360
I just feel sometimes we're we forget that you know, children are only children for such a short space of time as well.
00:07:25.920 --> 00:07:26.480
This is true.
00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:27.040
This is true.
00:07:27.279 --> 00:07:30.079
So what I I know that you've been doing this for about 12 years.
00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:31.600
Uh 12 years now, yes.
00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:33.920
What what kind of drives you?
00:07:34.399 --> 00:07:34.879
People.
00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:35.279
Yeah.
00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:39.680
I remember saying to my good friend Rebecca, who's still at home in Ireland, I did teacher training college with her.
00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:40.800
She's a mum of three now.
00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:46.079
She used to say, I said, you know, I'm thinking of leaving teaching, and she's my springboard for a lot of my inner thoughts.
00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:48.319
There's always that one, there's the one person.
00:07:48.560 --> 00:07:51.199
And I remember saying, I don't know, a level of guilt, I guess.
00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:56.800
And I know the phases of change bring that level of anticipation and maybe guilt, and then kind of, you know, you get excited then.
00:07:56.879 --> 00:08:03.279
And I remember being pretty sure back in Alane that I was coming to the end of my teaching career, and that was 2017.
00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:06.639
And I remember saying Rebecca, like, but I love children.
00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:08.480
She said, Jen, you love people.
00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:10.240
And that was the difference.
00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:12.480
And that was the reframe and thinking, okay.
00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:15.920
And that's when I got involved in Alane and more community-based initiatives.
00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:31.040
Went back, studied, COVID hit, did my master's, then went on, and knowing I needed maybe a space in Dubai to further kind of excel and see maybe what else is out there in the international setting and had that benchmark to compare with government, my experience in government education, and private.
00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:33.440
And certainly it's people.
00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:34.000
Yeah.
00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:42.879
I have as much adoration, and my time was invested as much into the parents, the staff at my school, loved the chat in the mornings.
00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:44.000
How are people doing?
00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:45.120
Yes, you know.
00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:57.679
Um, you know, I just think those are the conversations, listening to parents, not just the parent teacher meetings where you're relaying it and having that exchange of, you know, progress or successes, or you know, it was just the everyday chat.
00:08:57.759 --> 00:09:00.960
And that's essentially what they would come to me and talk about enrichment.
00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:04.000
Sometimes it was a sadness and saying, I'm working on spring break.
00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:06.159
Where can I offer my child something meaningful?
00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:07.840
Or we're not traveling for summer.
00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:08.879
You know, what is out there?
00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:10.399
What's of substance in the community?
00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:36.639
So I suppose I logged all of these kind of conversations, I suppose, uh subconsciously, and leave and teach, and then thought, well, there's something that I could maybe put some time and effort in designing and focus on, is offering something in the community that just might speak to parents as an educator and speak to fellow educators in their kind of, I suppose, battles between a jam-packed curriculum and offering maybe something of difference in an enrichment space.
00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:37.919
And it's done really well.
00:09:38.159 --> 00:09:38.960
It's done really well.
00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:39.679
It's done really well.
00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:41.039
There was there was a space.
00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:42.159
There was a space.
00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:45.679
And I always say there are phenomenal practitioners.
00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:52.320
It's a very, very busy market of enrichment and beautiful clubs, and everyone has their area of focus.
00:09:52.480 --> 00:10:01.440
And again, we went back to the drawing board, much like the I think many people have during quieter times of the instabilities in the region, and we really looked to see what was working.
00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:04.639
And a good friend of mine in Abu Dhabi said that to me about a year ago.
00:10:04.799 --> 00:10:07.440
I used to keep a notebook of all these little words of wisdom.
00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:10.159
And he said, Jen, to scale up, you have to niche down.
00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:12.320
And we really began to niche down.
00:10:12.399 --> 00:10:18.080
We were offering 11 individual KHD-approved child courses in skills development.
00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:19.600
What was really working well?
00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:20.559
What was of impact?
00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:26.159
I always think if we come back to that one word impact, what's really measurable and what are we making the difference in?
00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:29.279
And that's kind of how our program now has niched down.
00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:38.080
It looks a lot smaller, but it just encompasses what works for us and it's given that the children the experience, a dynamic experience, as opposed to one single.
00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:41.519
We think about the child that maybe, for example, photography.
00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:42.639
I'm not a photographer.
00:10:42.799 --> 00:10:44.320
We never get asked when people are out.
00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:45.120
Could you take a photo?
00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:47.679
Or the ones that do, it's like, oh, thank you.
00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:49.600
You know it's been delicious straight away.
00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:51.360
Because I say I'm not creative.
00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:54.639
Yeah, when I hear that from a seven-year-old, I think, not creative.
00:10:54.799 --> 00:11:01.840
Have they ever been given a camera or a paintbrush in a mess space just to be without the frameworks of gotta tick the box?
00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:07.039
We've got a school assessments coming up, and we have an inspection, and I best have all my assessment in line.
00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:10.799
And I think that is what formed giving children a transdisciplinary.
00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:18.960
I mean, I know I'm in it from an inquiry background with IB, but I still feel the place belongs to just explore something familiar.
00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:25.440
You know, that beautiful um desirable difficulty, that lovely phrase of let them in where meet them where they are, yes, and then stretch.
00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:25.919
Yes.
00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:34.799
And I think just because they have never held a microphone in a shark tank experience or you know, created a STEM LED light, so be it.
00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:35.600
Let them explore.
00:11:35.840 --> 00:11:44.000
I think and I think you touched on it, but one of the things that always worries me is art, because so many kids love art and then they go into school and they've been told to draw in a particular way.
00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:47.120
But art isn't meant to be drawn in a particular way.
00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:51.759
And the number of children who don't love art that did love art is phenomenal.
00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:55.279
And there's still a level of ceiling uh on that, isn't there?
00:11:55.360 --> 00:12:00.240
A cap as to what maybe oh, we don't have time for that, or boys and girls, we have to move because it's our big time.
00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:05.600
Instead of shattering that glass, yes, being there as a facilitator, but they must shatter it.
00:12:05.840 --> 00:12:09.440
That's just that kind of narrative around that autonomy.
00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:13.919
I always talk about student agency, and I think that would be a big one for parents.
00:12:14.080 --> 00:12:28.080
They're here to kind of, yes, conscious control of who what clubs or enrichment or curriculum they they invite their children into, but given that child the absolute autonomy and agency over their kind of trajectory.
00:12:28.159 --> 00:12:28.480
Yes.
00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:30.879
On, you know, identifying their strengths.
00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:34.559
We know confidence over capability is a topic we always talk about.
00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:42.159
I've met such capable children, Heather, but they've never been stretched to find out what it is I'm really, really good at.
00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:42.480
Yes.
00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:44.720
They'll say it on a report card, I'm doing very well.
00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:45.840
But it's not the same.
00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:46.639
What else?
00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:47.600
Yes, what else?
00:12:47.919 --> 00:12:48.240
Yes.
00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:50.480
We keep talking about this word resilience.
00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:53.120
What should resilience look like in a child?
00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:57.600
I read this last week, Heather, and I wish I could find, I will send it to you when I do find it.
00:12:57.919 --> 00:12:58.720
I remember thinking it.
00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:02.559
Well, the R and the E for resilience reminded me, it's like a response.
00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:05.120
So um what was it?
00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:06.159
Speed response.
00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:09.039
So, how quickly are you actually recovering?
00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:11.759
So, recovery speed, that was the R and the E.
00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:24.559
And I remember thinking, and yesterday actually at an event, and a lady pointed out so well that it has to be also sustainable because we talk about resilience being a quick spring back, and you know, but actually having the tools and that regulation.
00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:27.279
I know as an adult, it's still something I'm working on.
00:13:27.519 --> 00:13:31.840
Being able to self-regulate in moments of pressure and time restraints and deadlines.
00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:48.080
And I think of little children were asking so much of them, but it's also, I love this one, and I read it from I think it's a John Dewey, it's safe failure, safe failure given another space to fail, but it's designed that we're going to catch them, right?
00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:50.559
Yes, yes, and then repeat it again.
00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:53.600
And if the fall comes again, that's also but it doesn't matter.
00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:59.600
I mean, one of our podcasts is very much on that that quote that you know, let them fly, and you and the the question is, but what if they fall?
00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:00.960
Yeah, but what if they don't?
00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:02.080
What if they don't?
00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:03.360
What if they don't?
00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:05.600
And I think it's all that good stuff again.
00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:07.440
Angela, is it Angela Duckworth?
00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:07.919
Grit.
00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:08.639
Grit.
00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:09.440
Yes.
00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:19.039
It's everything you can be so high in aptitude, but it's that attitude of Do you think that this generation is lacking grit for some to some extent?
00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:22.240
They're almost oh we're almost overparenting kids these days.
00:14:22.720 --> 00:14:23.200
Can be.
00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:29.919
I ask my my good mom friends this ones you can really unpack with that will give you the real honesty and and transparency.
00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:32.960
It's a very vulnerable um topic, isn't it?
00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:35.679
I'm not a mum and I wonder how I would be.
00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:51.919
But I think when I try to wear what I think a mom hat must feel like, as well as uh, I suppose my background in education, I think, I think it's it's we're doing them an underservice if we don't allow just to ex just let them.
00:14:52.240 --> 00:14:53.919
Yes, absolutely agree.
00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:54.399
Yeah.
00:14:54.559 --> 00:14:59.840
Uh what that may look like in terms of a curriculum or how the household is, or I think they marry in.
00:14:59.919 --> 00:15:09.759
I think they marry from how they watch older siblings, um, aspirations of mum and dad can look very different, um, school setting, peer group.
00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:11.279
I think all of that combined.
00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:16.960
But I'd like to think even of a small service, it can be I think service and significance, isn't that what they say?
00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:27.679
Success is that being of service as us as an enrichment provider, that it's a space, a space where we can stimulate and plant those seeds of resilience and character building.
00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:30.480
And that failure is a real thing.
00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:33.600
I think I mean fail, yes, and I I'm a great believer in on it.
00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:41.440
We often parents who phone us up and you know, one thing so we sort of say, let them fail before we try and find the solution because there might not be necessary for a solution.
00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:48.399
I I personally blame social media and I have a big, big sort of parents have this pressure to be a perfect parent.
00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:54.159
And that means that you know, my child shouldn't be dirty, my child shouldn't eat hamburgers or whatever it is they should.
00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:56.399
But actually, the reality is they should.
00:15:56.559 --> 00:16:00.720
They literally should, because if they don't, they don't ever know the experience of doing.
00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:10.320
And I think we know this as educators that you know it's all about the actual doing, the hands being the connector to the brain and that knowledge is that experiential learning.
00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:20.320
But I think the same thing by living something out, and that's the I I've seen it time and time again, or you'll hear it through another staff member, let's say the Arabic teacher or the R teacher.
00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:21.759
This used to come back often.
00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:25.440
You are always looking for your evidence in the classroom through observations.
00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:28.879
When it doesn't come, it may be when you're not watching.
00:16:29.039 --> 00:16:44.799
And I think that's a real sign when a teacher or another staff member will come back and tell a child, tell a story of the child that you know the incident happened in your the, you know, experiential learning or some level of growth or progress happened in that aha moment in the classroom.
00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:52.639
But it it demonstrated in Arabic class or yes, and that's a great thing to observe when they don't think anyone's watching and how do they respond?
00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:54.559
What's their kind of coping mechanism?
00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:56.000
What's their problem solving?
00:16:56.159 --> 00:16:59.840
What do they do in that moment without looking for a response from an adult?
00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.079
And it's, I suppose, is it all in the questioning when we are asking how was your day?
00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:05.200
What did you learn?
00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:08.240
Is it in that shift of what lit you up today?
00:17:08.400 --> 00:17:08.559
Yes.
00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:09.839
What did you do for someone else?
00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:10.640
I love that.
00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:11.759
That that excitement.
00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:13.440
You can't, you just can't beat that.
00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:15.759
So tell me a little bit about your institute.
00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:17.039
Sure, sure, sure.
00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:18.960
So we're almost two years old, Heather.
00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:29.119
I joined with, as I always say, when when Ali's in or out of the room, our CEO, I joined with a laptop and a trade license and an empty desktop on that, which is a wonderful thing.
00:17:29.279 --> 00:17:31.519
Uh, I mentioned earlier about you know creativity.
00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:40.000
I would be creative not in an art sense or uh, I suppose, artsy scene, but I'm massively creative when it comes to people.
00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:42.160
I believe hugely in the power.
00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:43.519
Impact, I think, is people.
00:17:43.599 --> 00:17:47.839
I think it's our, you know, the most valuable currency we have is human connection.
00:17:48.000 --> 00:18:00.799
And I suppose I was at an advantage of having the 12 years here in UE, uh, beautiful relationships built, and also I suppose, the, I suppose, the honesty to know that there were gaps, there were underserviced areas.
00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:12.640
And again, I came back to Tom about, you know, reframing things when during the hostilities in we were offering much, but what did we actually want to do really, really, really well?
00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:14.799
And that's where the learning carousel came about.
00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:28.480
And that took five of our most, I suppose, um, socially proofed, most popular, most impact-driven uh child development skills, which are photography, STEM, public speaking, enterprising, and financial literacy.
00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:44.799
And those five can absolutely be weaved into much like an inquiry-based that your child may or may do in an IB curriculum, where their common theme across the week, I'll give you an example that we ran at Expo our first time, was where iSPy through my little eye was our um was our theme.
00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:47.119
Children went in with very little knowledge.
00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:52.079
We just did a simple provocation and showed a picture of a gallery at the Lure Vin Abu Dhabi.
00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:56.559
And we thought we stimulated some questions, there was a bit of curiosity, and that's where we're meeting them.
00:18:56.640 --> 00:18:58.720
And I always say meet them where they're at.
00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:07.440
So bear in mind we had students of determination, we had some uh second English as a second language speakers, so a typical dynamic setting in this particular camp.
00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:10.160
So we walked through what the week might look like.
00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:16.880
So now we're kind of probing to see what the interests are and the hands fly up for, but are we doing woodwork and please are we doing art?
00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:19.599
And my mum said that we might be doing photography.
00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:26.559
So now you kind of have a feel for the for the room, and now it's us as our job as facilitators to step back and just let them.
00:19:26.640 --> 00:19:30.720
So we put out what we hoped the end product would be, all in isolation.
00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:35.759
A couple of cameras, Nikon happened to be our collaboration with Nikon at the time, was day one.
00:19:35.920 --> 00:19:37.359
Day one, they were gonna photograph.
00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:41.200
Day two, they were gonna use that photograph and transfer it onto a canvas.
00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:42.400
So there was the art element.
00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:46.799
Now we've got two of our KHDA-approved um child development skills.
00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:56.160
Wednesday got very, very tricky because Wednesday was the resilient day, where they had to now create, well, you're gonna exhibit in a gallery, right?
00:19:56.319 --> 00:20:01.440
Just like the Louvre, so you must how does lighting um depict in your in your picture, and that's gotta be accurate.
00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:08.400
And Kate is our creative Gen Z are on the team, and she had them eaten out of the palm of their hand, palm of their hand with all this kind of creativity.
00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:18.319
And so they did an LED light, they built a solar-powered LED light, and Expo being so big on sustainability that you know it worked in the setting, they understood the examples in their environment.
00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:20.960
Thursday, they designed their pitch.
00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:23.440
Well, you every artist has to talk about their piece of work, right?
00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:28.079
And Friday, we always love to bring in some level of Islamic values and tradition and heritage.
00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:32.720
So we got a beautiful calligrapher in and they learned their name in Arabic calligraphy.
00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:36.640
And Friday was exhibit day, moms and dads joined, and the auditorium we presented.
00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:45.039
Heather, I cannot tell you if that was my job done in that one week in Enhanced, because it planted the seed of what became at the time.
00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:50.480
It was just a pilot, just to see would a carousel model work there?
00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:51.440
What would it look like?
00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:54.480
Remember, a lot of our students weren't in an IB curriculum, so it didn't.
00:20:54.559 --> 00:21:02.000
We had to almost, I suppose, um hand walk through the process and handhold us to why we were doing everything in succession.
00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:06.480
And it should be spoken about Monday's learning, should be still spoken about on Thursday during their pitch.
00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:10.079
Tuesday's art lesson is still being talked about at Friday's exhibit.
00:21:10.160 --> 00:21:14.319
So they marry and they understand why, why they're learning what they're doing.
00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:17.119
I'm a massive believer in a tangible output.
00:21:17.200 --> 00:21:17.440
Yes.
00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:22.319
It doesn't always come in the form of the painting or the LED light or the photo in their hand.
00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:24.880
It's the the creativity that comes with it.
00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:29.920
The fact the next time they go on Zoom with granddad in New Zealand, they're talking about the experience.
00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:44.880
It's not just a memory, it's proof, it's a presentation that you know hopefully when they go to do the interview in a new school or they take the next assessment in language that it's going to kind of further bolster them.
00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:51.200
And I think that's all we can hope for in our place and the limited time we have with children is that we leave some impact.
00:21:51.759 --> 00:22:02.799
And that's why I've stayed on two years and why I'm so passionate about growing a small business because there's a place for us, the community is so, so, so welcoming in being the connector and the enabler.
00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:06.000
Um, government entities have been wonderful, particularly in this time.
00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:08.880
You know, the whole Dubai It is a real thing now.
00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:13.359
And I feel like that there is excellence out there, and we can all be a part of that.
00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:14.240
I love that.
00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:18.640
That sounds absolutely something a child will remember for the rest of their lives.
00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:21.440
It's not just the next stage, that's a real memory.
00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:22.319
That's so lovely.
00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:23.279
Thank you, Heather.
00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:23.839
Thank you.
00:22:24.079 --> 00:22:29.359
So, for a mum planning a summer camp, a very topic of conversation at the moment.
00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:32.559
What's one thing for her to look for and one thing for her to avoid?
00:22:32.799 --> 00:22:34.319
So, we talk about the report card.
00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:43.200
Let's go back there that sometimes it can be a very um one-sided uh we're offering this, and that's wonderful if you know what your child is really, really into.
00:22:43.599 --> 00:22:48.559
But don't forget to explore that sprinkle of newness, something they maybe haven't tried.
00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:53.039
It might just be the kid that didn't have the camera access to a camera ever, and they're super creative.
00:22:53.119 --> 00:23:01.920
Uh, something tangible that will always go with some tangible object-proof presentation, something that they're gonna take with them and bolster even further.
00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:15.279
Um, I don't believe in segregating the kids based on age to a point, but ability, no, because it's up to us as practitioners to be able to scaffold and and and really be able to, you know, make quality and provide quality provision.
00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:19.039
And I think, yeah, something stimulating, something that's really gonna be.
00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:19.519
Something different.
00:23:19.599 --> 00:23:20.240
I always say something different.
00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:24.960
For safety for failure, given the space to be able to say, I did this, it didn't work.
00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:32.400
I think that's what, yeah, our youth founders, again, another flagship program, they're really good at that, building a prototype and hoping for the best.
00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:33.839
Yeah, yeah, totally.
00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:35.279
Thank you so much for joining us today.
00:23:35.359 --> 00:23:36.880
I've got one last question.
00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:48.000
If you had to go back and knowing everything you know today, and you go back and ask your seven-year-old self one qu um, you give yourself one piece of advice, what would that one piece of advice be?
00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:51.680
If it's both terrifying and amazing, you should definitely pursue it.
00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:52.240
Love it.
00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:58.160
We should be afraid, we should have that little thing in our belly about something, because it's a challenge, right?
00:23:58.319 --> 00:23:58.480
Yes.
00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:01.200
And then the safety also of knowing, I've got this.
00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:08.960
I've, you know, I'm familiar, it's comfortable, but also safety again to fail and say, something is, you know, like maybe today.
00:24:09.039 --> 00:24:10.319
Today's my first podcast for this one.
00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:11.200
Oh, welcome.
00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:12.400
Well, thank you.
00:24:12.880 --> 00:24:13.920
And again, new experience.
00:24:14.079 --> 00:24:18.079
I sat in the car, you're reading your notes, you're excited, but it's a little bit terrifying, right?
00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:19.119
So more of that.
00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:19.920
Yes, yeah.
00:24:20.559 --> 00:24:21.359
Thank you so much.
00:24:21.599 --> 00:24:22.240
Absolute pleasure.
00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:23.200
Thank you, Heather.
00:24:23.359 --> 00:24:25.920
Um, look forward to seeing the programs for this summer.
00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:28.480
You there will be a note down below of where to get a hold of you.
00:24:28.559 --> 00:24:29.519
So, thank you so much for joining us.
00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:30.640
Appreciate it, Heather.
00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:31.359
Thanks for having me.
