Phil: and it seems to be in small schools that it, you know, it's even a greater load really because you're taking on so many things as well as teaching. but I find like the systems themselves that you know that form the processes and the expectations that go into educating children are not necessarily that complex in and of themselves. But when you combine them together, they're incredibly time consuming, repetitive, inefficient and overwhelming. yeah, and I think that's where if you can embrace AI, we can go a long way to solving some of those issues.
Trudy: Welcome to the Trailblazing Schools podcast. Phil Warburton. Great to have you join me today. A big welcome.
Phil: Thanks for having me, Trudy. Good to speak with you again.
Trudy: Yeah, I am really looking forward to this conversation 'cause because since we last spoke you have been up to some fascinating things and I can't wait to share them with everyone that listens in. so Phil, in the usual Trailblazing Schools way, I'm curious, did you give AI a prompt to do an introduction about you?
Phil: Yeah, I did. yes, I use Google Gemini quite a lot these days and so it's got a lot of a lot of me in it. And yeah, so it says, I'm a curious mind with a practical streak. You are someone who thrives on meaningful ideas, smart solutions, and thoughtful conversation. Whether untangling a complex problem or exploring new perspectives, you approach life with focus, humor, and a genuine desire to learn. Driven by creativity and grounded by logic, you balance big picture ambition with everyday precision. You value authenticity, clarity, and continuous growth, making you the kind of person people turn to for insightful advice or an engaging discussion. Always looking ahead, you bring warmth, sharp focus, and a unique spark to everything you dive into.
Trudy: Wow. So how did that how did that resonate with you, Phil?
Phil: yeah, I thought it was quite accurate. Yeah. it was interesting, yeah, based on it's got a lot of conversation history in in there now. So yeah, thought it was a a pretty cool perspective.
Trudy: Yeah, and it I love it's contrasting you to the practicality but also the big picture, right?
Phil: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Trudy: Yeah. So Phil, as a guest on the show on Trial Blazing Schools podcast, what does Gemini say your message would be or should be for those listening in?
Phil: so it says the most powerful message you can leave listeners with is that true educational leadership isn't about providing a complete map for the unknown. It's about building a culture brave enough to navigate it together. when stepping into uncharted territory, leaders often feel pressured to have every answer. But real trade trail blazing happens when you trade rigid certainty for collaborative courage. Innovation is caught, not taught. If we want students to become resilient, adaptable problem solvers in an unpredictable world, they need to see educators and administrators actively embracing uncertainty, testing new ideas, and viewing failure as valuable data rather than a defeat. To make this message resonate deeply, you can anchor it around three essential ideas: culture over curriculum, co-creation over command, and agency over compliance. Your final
Trudy: Ooh, I love those last three.
Phil: your final takeaway for listeners should remind them that the point of venturing into the unknown isn't to be radical for the sake of it, it's to prove that a better, more human centered vision of education is entirely possible.
Trudy: wow. I love that.
Phil: Mm. Yeah, so some yeah, good thoughts there.
Trudy: And as you reflect back on the last couple of years, what it's saying about trailblazing and particularly the word innovation jumped out to me, how does that ring for you?
Phil: yeah, I think we're at the precipice of innovation. you know, AI and we're gonna probably talk a lot about that, is obviously something that's quite new and people are unsure about. but yeah, I think it's got a lot of potential for creating a lot of efficiency in education which needs it. but yeah, it It's gonna take some some bravery and courage to to explore that.
Trudy: Yeah. Bravery and courage, that is for sure. And especially when the future's so unknown.
Phil: Mm.
Trudy: It's it's exactly that, right? Taking those initial steps forward into that space. Yeah.
Phil: Yeah.
Trudy: Phil interesting about what Google Gemini said about you in the first part in terms of introducing you, gave lots of personality traits and what you stand for and your values, but it didn't actually explain what you do. So maybe we should t tell people a little bit about
Phil: Yeah, yeah.
Trudy: Phil Warburton's education career and what you do and where you are and all of that kind of stuff. So yeah, d tell describe a little bit about your current context and what you're up to.
Phil: Yeah, so I had spent the last five years in Hewendon in a little town in northwest Queensland, halfway between Townsville and Mount Isa. and for most of that time I was up there, I was sort of been heading down this pathway principal. I was working in two small schools out there And then certainly that ramped up last year. I was involved with your leaders' learning circle, which I highly recommend to anyone that's listening that hasn't done it. and also doing the education departments, aspiring small schools principal program. had been getting a lot of work experience in principalship last year. And Yeah, and then the end of towards the end of last year family circumstances sort of dictated that I needed to do something different, make a move from where I was. And yeah, so this year's been kind of at teaching on the front lines, taking a bit of a back seat. spending more time with family and yeah, I was kinda ironic ironic out of what we were doing in the leaders' learning circle where y you know looking at not just, what do we want to aspire to in education, but what are we doing to balance that in our personal lives. And I think that was really eye opening for me. And it's I've sort of realised that, you know, I needed to do something d different to achieve the things that I wanted to do personally. So yeah, I've really kicked some personal goals this year and in just waiting for the right opportunity, which seems like it's like it's gonna happen for me next year. to get back into teaching full time.
Trudy: Yeah, thanks Phil. And I must say though, even though you are not in full time teaching or leadership role at the moment, you have had a fascinating three quarters of the year. you know, s
Phil: Yeah, yeah.
Trudy: we're we're recording this in October. So yeah, I really want you to share some of the Pieces of work and the pro I guess you'd call them projects. Would you call them projects that you've taken on? Yeah.
Phil: Yeah, definitely been projects. Yeah. yeah, I was reading a post, a Facebook post. someone you may have heard of, Richard Kayasaki, who wrote Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I was reading one of his posts earlier in the year about someone that he knew that had made a lot of money out of using IA AI, to take his ideas into something that was real and tangible. And so it got me, yeah, really exploring that further. And it was something that you mentioned in your leaders' learning circle where you get sort of if you want to get to that top level, where you're using AI to to to sort of create tools further technology or further development and in terms of education. creating more efficiency and tools that that really help us in the classroom and you know, create more time for ourselves as well.
Trudy: Yeah. So Phil, what aspects of education and clearly you've had a long career, but what aspects of it feel most complex or demanding? And where have you noticed the greatest cognitive load in your roles?
Phil: so what I got out of my leadership path and and going down that principal pathway, I really felt like it was quite consuming. it's really something you've got to throw yourself into. you know, it's almost a twenty four seven tight role. and it seems to be in small schools that it, you know, it's even a greater load really because you're taking on so many things as well as teaching. but I find like the systems themselves that you know that form the processes and the expectations that go into educating children are not necessarily that complex in and of themselves. But when you combine them together, they're incredibly time consuming, repetitive, inefficient and overwhelming. yeah, and I think that's where if you can embrace AI, we can go a long way to solving some of those issues. in terms of the greatest cognitive load, I was finding was managing people and, you know, the different personalities that come with staff and priorities and the parents, who are focused and as you can understand, you know, mostly on what's happening around themselves. and trying to help them find where they fit into the you know, the bigger picture of what's going on in a school.
Trudy: Yeah, it's a human centered profession, absolutely, isn't it?
Phil: Yeah.
Trudy: So, Phil, have you intentionally changed the way that you have worked in response to those pressures? And what's prompted you to try something different?
Phil: yeah, I have intentionally changed. yeah, as I said, so this year it's it's really been a bit of a refocusing of doing life really, not just work. I've been away from family, so I was really feeling a need to be closer to family, for them but also for myself in terms of support. and really trying to understand what my strengths and weaknesses I've done a lot of reflection. and for me, I'm not someone who can be consumed that sort of twenty four seven with with work, with education. I need other things that I do outside of that. So AI for me is really something that can help give back time that I need for myself. yeah, so I've I've really intentionally looked at, you know, what do I want in my life and what do I want to achieve in it. and I think, yeah, as I said, strength and weaknesses are really important to identify and I've sort of trying to find out, you know. What am I really suited to? So yeah, I think again, ironically, out of last year I sort of the more the year went on, I felt like, you know, my strengths were in a different area. So, and I yeah, I think this AI and technology is is something I have great strengths in. I was a web developer before I became a teacher. So I have a multimedia degree, so it's an area that I think I can bring leadership and great insight into.
Trudy: Wow, I I didn't know that. That's that's awesome. I love
Phil: Yeah.
Trudy: finding out about people's backgrounds, right? What what they've done before teaching. Mine's non existent. 'cause I was went straight from school into teaching. But
Phil: From school, yeah. Yeah.
Trudy: Phil, from all our work together last year, that hadn't that has never come up in a conversation. So
Phil: Yeah.
Trudy: look what you're sitting on. Holy dooley. And as you
Phil: Yeah.
Trudy: were talking, I can't help myself thinking back to your work with me last year. And you one of the things that you just dived into was using AI for curriculum planning, right? 'Cause
Phil: Yeah, yeah.
Trudy: it's it's just an obvious tool and the work that you were creating, you took places you were sharing with other people. you also wrote up and I I I just grabbed my little copy of AI in action, you wrote up a little anecdote that was shared in here, designing a differentiated poetry unit in record time. So remember that one?
Phil: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. I forgot about that. Yeah, yeah.
Trudy: It was so last year.
Phil: Yeah, yeah.
Trudy: but those well we call them early experiments or explorations in terms of the potential of the technology. were exciting, are still exciting.
Phil: Mm.
Trudy: and tell me a little well tell me, 'cause I can't wait to hear about how this has all unfolded. And everyone listening w what you've done since
Phil: Yeah, it's been really exciting. so I've developed a a website portal called Lesson Kit, lessonkit.com.au. It's out there now. We've got I've got years two, three, and four, term one for people to have a look at. so it's taking I AI from you know, maybe a a daily or a weekly thing where you're interacting with an AI agent to I I see it now where the next step is to use AI to which I mentioned before is creating tools from AI. So you're not necessarily interacting with an AI agent to to find out things, but you can use it to build things to help your work life, your personal life, whatever it is. And so yeah, the idea with Lesson Kit was to I didn't think there was really anything out there like it at the moment where you can you can put in your year level, your learning area, so whether it's English, math, science, has whatever. and within seconds you've got a whole year plan that you can submit to your administrators. You've got your unit plan, lesson sequencing, If you're gonna be sick for the day and you wanna leave your relief teacher a day plan, it's really easy to just hit a button and it's all there for them. we've got a c calendar in there. so that all links to your lesson. So you that you might be lessons you might be doing for the day. so you can click on your Monday third session or whatever and open your lesson straight up and it's there for you. your principal or your deputy principal to have a look at if that's, you know, an expectation in your school. yeah, so it's really exciting. and I've been able to personalize it as well. So I it I've been working on this since March this year. So, you know, like the first iteration of it was using AI to link with the Australian curriculum codes and create lesson sequencing out of that, but I've been going through one lesson at a time in in different learning areas to where the point now where it it's basically feels like it's working like me. It's it's creating lessons that I would want to teach and I feel like other teachers would want to teach. It's it's not meant to be a, you know, put up a PowerPoint slide. It's to get teachers back using real materials and and working with kids in interactive ways rather than putting a PowerPoint slide up on a screen. It's not that. yeah, so I've been able to over this period, you know, six months or so is to educate the AI agent to think like me and yeah create these lesson sequences and these units that I think are really exciting to teach, so
Trudy: on your point about it's not about creating slide decks, and I am so excited to hear that there's there's tools out there for that if that's what you're looking for.
Phil: Yeah, yeah.
Trudy: personally, if I was back in the classroom, that's not me either. so that's that's a real problem.
Phil: And it's not worksheets, again, it's yeah s it's staying away from slides and worksheets and y using real materials and yeah, hands on activities, so
Trudy: Yeah. And real context, Phil? Or or real you know, real life or lifelike context for kids, putting them in different roles or experiences.
Phil: Yeah, absolutely. There is. Yeah, there's a lot of role play. One of my r key things I wanted to do was with everything from learning intentions and success success criteria and and in particular like lesson names, like having really interesting like there's stuff to do with like big kids becoming detectives and you know, being storytellers and and and all that sort of stuff where it's yeah, the idea is to the teacher and the students to to feel excited about these lesson sequences. so yeah, it's really wanting to get the kids involved and the teacher. So yeah, real life context, real hands on practical activities. yeah, that I hope I think that I would be excited to teach and I'm I'm sure that other teachers will as well.
Trudy: And Phil, was there a specific point in time or a moment where it became really evident that this was a s a thing that could be useful for teachers?
Phil: yeah, I think a certain point in time, you know, last year in the cluster that I was involved with and the poetry plan that you mentioned before, like I wasn't even teaching English at the time, but I was asked to be involved in collaborating on English units for the cluster. It was still, I wouldn't say necessarily a a collaborative effort. It was collaborative in terms of everyone sort of ideally helping with the load. but it was still a fairly individual, isolated thing. So the there was not s necessarily consistency or every unit plan was different, you know, every lesson sequencing was different. And then I yeah, as she said, I was I did a poultry plan using AI to to help me with that. yeah, and pumped it out quite quickly. And again, it wasn't taking the first iteration of what AI gave me. I think that's really important to understand that don't just take what it
Trudy: Yeah.
Phil: gives you first time, you know, allow it to to develop and allow yourself to be to come out in that in that process. your own personality and style. so yeah, that that was, you know, there's certainly realizations of the inefficiencies before that. And I really like planning. It's it's a strength of mine, I think. so, but yeah, I think that was certainly a moment for me seeing the comparison of the time difference, especially in in what I was able to produce compared to what it was taking other people to produce. So you know, when you look at at that, just that alone, it's quite significant.
Trudy: Yeah, and one of the things that I remember really clearly in our conversations too, linked to time, is the the load when you are planning for a multiage class, which was exactly what you were required to do. And I'll also throw in now shifting interstate, 'cause you're right now
Phil: Yes, yeah.
Trudy: in New South Wales, last year you're in Queensland. So even I'd you know, the role of AI in being able to make those pivots quickly and seamlessly between two different systems and their curriculum requirements. So yeah, I'd love to hear your comments on that, Phil.
Phil: Yeah, well New South Wales and Victoria, I'm sure it's linked to the Australian curriculum in some way, but they have, you know, their own syllabus and own curriculum codes. yeah, so Lesson Kit incorporates those as well. so it's it's relevant to New South Wales and Victoria. again it's it Every lesson is is linked to the relevant curriculum codes for the r the state. and each state, even the Australian curriculum states, you know, for Queensland, for example, have the QCAA, which have their own policies that need to be incorporated as well. So that's been in involved in in this process of building lesson kit is to have a look at each state body and what they're policies and their direction and
Trudy: Yeah.
Phil: guidances towards what needs to happen in the classroom. yeah, so there there's there's some key differences. the c lesson content itself generally stays the same and and all the lessons that I've have in lesson kit you know pretty much stay the same at this point, but they're all set up so that they meet the curriculum that of each state and the and the policies that that are involved as well.
Trudy: Thanks, Phil. So can you tell me what's changed a result of working with AI and particularly lesson kit?
Phil: I think what I'm looking to change is to give time back to teachers, which we've been speaking about, and give them clarity and confidence in their planning and lesson sequencing. yeah, I think there's there's a whole lot of different methods and a whole lot of different products that are out there that schools are using and there's there's not consistencies, there's not necessarily support for all of those things. yeah, so though the the two key things that I'm I'm looking for and to give in lesson kit is to I think by having these units, these lesson sequences ready to go at the click of a button. They can change them if they want to, they're easily editable. but they've got real clarity and real confidence that this planning and this lesson sequencing meets the Australian curriculum. but it also gives admin, you know, some clear overview by, you know, seeing that there's consistency in the classroom, you know, on a daily basis or a weekly basis. Yeah, so they're they're probably the key things that I'm I'm looking to change out of lesson kit, if that makes sense.
Trudy: Yeah. So Phil, I believe that you've soft launched lesson kit. So if
Phil: Yes.
Trudy: there's people listening, are they able to access this in some way? And and how would they do that?
Phil: Yeah, so you can jump on to lessonkit.com.au, create a a free account. and that will give you as at this point year two, three, and four f for term one. and you can also contact me at hello at lessonkit dot com dot au if you've got any questions. There's also a a a community forum in there where I'd like to get, you know, teachers and Other invested people interacting on there and talking about what Lesson Kit provides. maybe there's things I haven't thought of that you know, other people might be able to suggest. yeah, so there's that ability to create community within Lesson Kit as well. And yeah, so yeah, jump on a lessonkit.com.au and have a have a play, see what you can produce and have a look at the lesson sequences. I'm really excited, particularly English. I've put a lot of work into the English lesson lesson sequencing and I'm I'm feeling like that's you know, really engaging stuff that it's on there. And so the the roadmap so I will have November I'll be looking to release prep and year one as well. And then in December year five and six. So by term one next year, the primary year levels will be ready to go for term one and then release throughout the year the the whole, you know, term two, term three, term four. And then twenty eight I'll be looking at high school.
Trudy: Wow. Yeah, so it really sounds like you're open to educators trying it, giving it a test run and giving you feedback on how it's working or not for them. Yeah, lovely. Fantastic.
Phil: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I've been in touch with as many teachers in my network that I can. cohorts that I've studied with and taught with or done professional development with. So yeah, really keen for some feedback on it.
Trudy: Yeah, so people listening, like Phil said, if you head to the website, start an account for yourself and you're off to the races. It's it's very easy and intuitive to navigate. and in fact, Phil it kind of blows me away that you said you started in March, we're now talking in October, you sent me screenshots mm probably a month ago. It just is It's I said at the beginning the word was mind blowing. how fast you've been able to develop this and and that's that's the world we live in now, right?
Phil: Yeah, and like I said, I was a web developer. Well, I'm still do a little bit. for fifteen years before getting into teaching. and so I could build all this myself without using AI. And that sort of was the seed was to go, what can I do with my own lesson plans? You know, there's things out there like I don't know, there's yeah, there's there's different products out there where you can sell your own stuff, I think. but yeah, I was like, I want to go bigger than that. yeah, so I mean for me to to to build this as a web developer would you know, it would be you know, a couple of years you would you know, to get this where it is now. So yeah, what what I can do with AI, so I mean What I would like to influence people is, AI doesn't have to be impersonal. I've felt like this is really a a reflection of me, this product. I've put a lot of myself into it. I've lots of drafts, lot of different iterations, you know, lots of no, that's not what I want co type conversations that you can have with AI. And going over it and over it with a fine tooth comb where I where and now I'm releasing it because I'm happy with where it's at and what it's producing and and and now I can just go, I want you to produce a ten week unit on this year level, blah, blah, blah. And it does it you know, in a matter of minutes in in a way that I am really excited about. So
Trudy: Yeah. Fabulous. Well I hope that there are people listening in that are in interested and eager to to give it a try, see what what the tool can do for them and and give you some feedback on what you've built. Now, Phil,
Phil: Yeah.
Trudy: I love to wrap up the podcast with three ritual questions that are not about the work, but just about you. Are you happy to play along with those?
Phil: Sure.
Trudy: So Phil, what is the best kept secret? About where you are.
Phil: well, where I am currently, as you said, I have been in New South Wales. I I've just been in Queensland the last couple of weeks 'cause I'm not sure I've told you this or if you've seen it, but I've just had my first grandchild, Tilly. And so we've had a few weeks up near to my son and my granddaughter in a place called Narain Bar, north of Brisbane. so it probably looks like it's gonna be the place where I might be next year. to be close to them, and a work opportunity that has come up to be nearby. so that's one thing. It could be where I am next year. so I I did I've used AI to Look up something that people might not know about Narangbar. in early to mid-twentieth century, Narangbar railway station gained local fame across southeast Queensland for an unusual horticultural landmark. The name Narangbar was planted directly into the station grounds using vibrant, brightly colored iris flowers. Each letter was boarded and framed using old motor tyres painted bright green.
Trudy: How?
Phil: yeah. It was in nineteen thirteen it was constructed specifically to pump water to steam locomotives chugging along the North Coast line. If you walk along the trail nearby today, you can still see an enormous early nineteen hundred steam locomotive boiler that was actually dredged directly out of a creek bed by local historians in the year two thousand and put on display.
Trudy: That's fascinating. Yeah. So brilliant place for rail enthusiasts by the sound of it. And
Phil: Yeah.
Trudy: got some great historical sites.
Phil: Yep. And you can see the glasshouse mountains from here too. which is good. Yeah.
Trudy: thank you. Yeah. Yeah, they're they're yeah, they're fascinating, aren't they? Phil, what's a book or film you'd recommend and why does it matter to you?
Phil: yeah, well something I've been watching lately. It's not real highbrow, but on Netflix I've been watching well my wife and I've been watching a series called SEAL Team about an American Navy SEAL team, which yeah, I I've we've really got into it. It's it's explores a lot of relationships and I it I'm sure it has a a reasonably authentic perspective of what it's like for a Navy SEAL teams. yeah, the relationships between the Navy SEAL team and then their personal lives and all this sort of stuff. It's actually yeah, I've kind of found it quite fascinating. So Yeah, th that that that's a good watch I'd recommend.
Trudy: Thank you, I can imagine. high stakes role that or job that that is and work environment. Yeah.
Phil: Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Trudy: Yeah. Great. And Phil, what's something that brings you comfort and joy at the end of a long week?
Phil: this sounds like probably brown nosing a little bit, but I had a a period during this year where my wife and I were living 'cause I was having to work away from where she was, a few hundred kilometers. So I had a three hour drive every Friday back to where she was. So that was actually something that was really comforting while I was working there in term two for several weeks. get back to her at the end of a long drive each Friday afternoon. So Yeah, sounds a bit sucky, but yeah, no, that
Trudy: Yeah.
Phil: was that that that's probably been the the the comforting thing at the end of a hard week in a school when you're on your own away from support. That was that was really nice. Yeah.
Trudy: Yeah, it's it's a version of fly in, fly out, isn't it? And it surprises
Phil: Yeah, yeah.
Trudy: me how many educators do that. You know, once
Phil: Yeah.
Trudy: upon a time it was the mining sector, but well across rural and regional Queensland and and clearly, you know, other states and territories as well, people do work away from family and have to do the the the travel and the commute to get home, however that happens.
Phil: Yeah. Yeah, I know where where I was teaching last year at Cameron Downs, Shim Prairie as well, but yeah, they'd struggled to replace me, so they've had to use the fly in squad for that at times. So it's definitely a need in in rural areas rural areas. So yeah. If you're listening
Trudy: Yeah.
Phil: to this and you haven't done rural or regional, give it a go.
Trudy: Yeah. Yeah. It's like a a tree change or a well mine I felt like a an amazing life adventure and yeah, best best professional experience.
Phil: Mm.
Trudy: I look back on. you just learn so much, don't you, when you take yourself out of your comfort zone. Yeah. Well thank you, Phil. Thank you for sharing your experiences over the last two years and your experiments and developments with AI and lesson kit and like we said if anyone wants to experiment with that and give it a run, see what it can do for them in terms of saving time, getting more consistent lessons. And it's not about I loved how you said that it's not about producing a slide deck, it's actually about
Phil: Mm.
Trudy: authentic, shall we call it, authentic teaching and learning.
Phil: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah,
Trudy: Yeah.
Phil: yeah.
Trudy: Lovely. Thanks so much for your time, Phil. Really appreciate it.
Phil: Thanks for having me.
Trudy: Welcome to the Trailblazing Schools podcast. Phil Warburton. Great to have you join me today. A big welcome.
Phil: Thanks for having me, Trudy. Good to speak with you again.
Trudy: Yeah, I am really looking forward to this conversation 'cause because since we last spoke you have been up to some fascinating things and I can't wait to share them with everyone that listens in. so Phil, in the usual Trailblazing Schools way, I'm curious, did you give AI a prompt to do an introduction about you?
Phil: Yeah, I did. yes, I use Google Gemini quite a lot these days and so it's got a lot of a lot of me in it. And yeah, so it says, I'm a curious mind with a practical streak. You are someone who thrives on meaningful ideas, smart solutions, and thoughtful conversation. Whether untangling a complex problem or exploring new perspectives, you approach life with focus, humor, and a genuine desire to learn. Driven by creativity and grounded by logic, you balance big picture ambition with everyday precision. You value authenticity, clarity, and continuous growth, making you the kind of person people turn to for insightful advice or an engaging discussion. Always looking ahead, you bring warmth, sharp focus, and a unique spark to everything you dive into.
Trudy: Wow. So how did that how did that resonate with you, Phil?
Phil: yeah, I thought it was quite accurate. Yeah. it was interesting, yeah, based on it's got a lot of conversation history in in there now. So yeah, thought it was a a pretty cool perspective.
Trudy: Yeah, and it I love it's contrasting you to the practicality but also the big picture, right?
Phil: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Trudy: Yeah. So Phil, as a guest on the show on Trial Blazing Schools podcast, what does Gemini say your message would be or should be for those listening in?
Phil: so it says the most powerful message you can leave listeners with is that true educational leadership isn't about providing a complete map for the unknown. It's about building a culture brave enough to navigate it together. when stepping into uncharted territory, leaders often feel pressured to have every answer. But real trade trail blazing happens when you trade rigid certainty for collaborative courage. Innovation is caught, not taught. If we want students to become resilient, adaptable problem solvers in an unpredictable world, they need to see educators and administrators actively embracing uncertainty, testing new ideas, and viewing failure as valuable data rather than a defeat. To make this message resonate deeply, you can anchor it around three essential ideas: culture over curriculum, co-creation over command, and agency over compliance. Your final
Trudy: Ooh, I love those last three.
Phil: your final takeaway for listeners should remind them that the point of venturing into the unknown isn't to be radical for the sake of it, it's to prove that a better, more human centered vision of education is entirely possible.
Trudy: wow. I love that.
Phil: Mm. Yeah, so some yeah, good thoughts there.
Trudy: And as you reflect back on the last couple of years, what it's saying about trailblazing and particularly the word innovation jumped out to me, how does that ring for you?
Phil: yeah, I think we're at the precipice of innovation. you know, AI and we're gonna probably talk a lot about that, is obviously something that's quite new and people are unsure about. but yeah, I think it's got a lot of potential for creating a lot of efficiency in education which needs it. but yeah, it It's gonna take some some bravery and courage to to explore that.
Trudy: Yeah. Bravery and courage, that is for sure. And especially when the future's so unknown.
Phil: Mm.
Trudy: It's it's exactly that, right? Taking those initial steps forward into that space. Yeah.
Phil: Yeah.
Trudy: Phil interesting about what Google Gemini said about you in the first part in terms of introducing you, gave lots of personality traits and what you stand for and your values, but it didn't actually explain what you do. So maybe we should t tell people a little bit about
Phil: Yeah, yeah.
Trudy: Phil Warburton's education career and what you do and where you are and all of that kind of stuff. So yeah, d tell describe a little bit about your current context and what you're up to.
Phil: Yeah, so I had spent the last five years in Hewendon in a little town in northwest Queensland, halfway between Townsville and Mount Isa. and for most of that time I was up there, I was sort of been heading down this pathway principal. I was working in two small schools out there And then certainly that ramped up last year. I was involved with your leaders' learning circle, which I highly recommend to anyone that's listening that hasn't done it. and also doing the education departments, aspiring small schools principal program. had been getting a lot of work experience in principalship last year. And Yeah, and then the end of towards the end of last year family circumstances sort of dictated that I needed to do something different, make a move from where I was. And yeah, so this year's been kind of at teaching on the front lines, taking a bit of a back seat. spending more time with family and yeah, I was kinda ironic ironic out of what we were doing in the leaders' learning circle where y you know looking at not just, what do we want to aspire to in education, but what are we doing to balance that in our personal lives. And I think that was really eye opening for me. And it's I've sort of realised that, you know, I needed to do something d different to achieve the things that I wanted to do personally. So yeah, I've really kicked some personal goals this year and in just waiting for the right opportunity, which seems like it's like it's gonna happen for me next year. to get back into teaching full time.
Trudy: Yeah, thanks Phil. And I must say though, even though you are not in full time teaching or leadership role at the moment, you have had a fascinating three quarters of the year. you know, s
Phil: Yeah, yeah.
Trudy: we're we're recording this in October. So yeah, I really want you to share some of the Pieces of work and the pro I guess you'd call them projects. Would you call them projects that you've taken on? Yeah.
Phil: Yeah, definitely been projects. Yeah. yeah, I was reading a post, a Facebook post. someone you may have heard of, Richard Kayasaki, who wrote Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I was reading one of his posts earlier in the year about someone that he knew that had made a lot of money out of using IA AI, to take his ideas into something that was real and tangible. And so it got me, yeah, really exploring that further. And it was something that you mentioned in your leaders' learning circle where you get sort of if you want to get to that top level, where you're using AI to to to sort of create tools further technology or further development and in terms of education. creating more efficiency and tools that that really help us in the classroom and you know, create more time for ourselves as well.
Trudy: Yeah. So Phil, what aspects of education and clearly you've had a long career, but what aspects of it feel most complex or demanding? And where have you noticed the greatest cognitive load in your roles?
Phil: so what I got out of my leadership path and and going down that principal pathway, I really felt like it was quite consuming. it's really something you've got to throw yourself into. you know, it's almost a twenty four seven tight role. and it seems to be in small schools that it, you know, it's even a greater load really because you're taking on so many things as well as teaching. but I find like the systems themselves that you know that form the processes and the expectations that go into educating children are not necessarily that complex in and of themselves. But when you combine them together, they're incredibly time consuming, repetitive, inefficient and overwhelming. yeah, and I think that's where if you can embrace AI, we can go a long way to solving some of those issues. in terms of the greatest cognitive load, I was finding was managing people and, you know, the different personalities that come with staff and priorities and the parents, who are focused and as you can understand, you know, mostly on what's happening around themselves. and trying to help them find where they fit into the you know, the bigger picture of what's going on in a school.
Trudy: Yeah, it's a human centered profession, absolutely, isn't it?
Phil: Yeah.
Trudy: So, Phil, have you intentionally changed the way that you have worked in response to those pressures? And what's prompted you to try something different?
Phil: yeah, I have intentionally changed. yeah, as I said, so this year it's it's really been a bit of a refocusing of doing life really, not just work. I've been away from family, so I was really feeling a need to be closer to family, for them but also for myself in terms of support. and really trying to understand what my strengths and weaknesses I've done a lot of reflection. and for me, I'm not someone who can be consumed that sort of twenty four seven with with work, with education. I need other things that I do outside of that. So AI for me is really something that can help give back time that I need for myself. yeah, so I've I've really intentionally looked at, you know, what do I want in my life and what do I want to achieve in it. and I think, yeah, as I said, strength and weaknesses are really important to identify and I've sort of trying to find out, you know. What am I really suited to? So yeah, I think again, ironically, out of last year I sort of the more the year went on, I felt like, you know, my strengths were in a different area. So, and I yeah, I think this AI and technology is is something I have great strengths in. I was a web developer before I became a teacher. So I have a multimedia degree, so it's an area that I think I can bring leadership and great insight into.
Trudy: Wow, I I didn't know that. That's that's awesome. I love
Phil: Yeah.
Trudy: finding out about people's backgrounds, right? What what they've done before teaching. Mine's non existent. 'cause I was went straight from school into teaching. But
Phil: From school, yeah. Yeah.
Trudy: Phil, from all our work together last year, that hadn't that has never come up in a conversation. So
Phil: Yeah.
Trudy: look what you're sitting on. Holy dooley. And as you
Phil: Yeah.
Trudy: were talking, I can't help myself thinking back to your work with me last year. And you one of the things that you just dived into was using AI for curriculum planning, right? 'Cause
Phil: Yeah, yeah.
Trudy: it's it's just an obvious tool and the work that you were creating, you took places you were sharing with other people. you also wrote up and I I I just grabbed my little copy of AI in action, you wrote up a little anecdote that was shared in here, designing a differentiated poetry unit in record time. So remember that one?
Phil: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. I forgot about that. Yeah, yeah.
Trudy: It was so last year.
Phil: Yeah, yeah.
Trudy: but those well we call them early experiments or explorations in terms of the potential of the technology. were exciting, are still exciting.
Phil: Mm.
Trudy: and tell me a little well tell me, 'cause I can't wait to hear about how this has all unfolded. And everyone listening w what you've done since
Phil: Yeah, it's been really exciting. so I've developed a a website portal called Lesson Kit, lessonkit.com.au. It's out there now. We've got I've got years two, three, and four, term one for people to have a look at. so it's taking I AI from you know, maybe a a daily or a weekly thing where you're interacting with an AI agent to I I see it now where the next step is to use AI to which I mentioned before is creating tools from AI. So you're not necessarily interacting with an AI agent to to find out things, but you can use it to build things to help your work life, your personal life, whatever it is. And so yeah, the idea with Lesson Kit was to I didn't think there was really anything out there like it at the moment where you can you can put in your year level, your learning area, so whether it's English, math, science, has whatever. and within seconds you've got a whole year plan that you can submit to your administrators. You've got your unit plan, lesson sequencing, If you're gonna be sick for the day and you wanna leave your relief teacher a day plan, it's really easy to just hit a button and it's all there for them. we've got a c calendar in there. so that all links to your lesson. So you that you might be lessons you might be doing for the day. so you can click on your Monday third session or whatever and open your lesson straight up and it's there for you. your principal or your deputy principal to have a look at if that's, you know, an expectation in your school. yeah, so it's really exciting. and I've been able to personalize it as well. So I it I've been working on this since March this year. So, you know, like the first iteration of it was using AI to link with the Australian curriculum codes and create lesson sequencing out of that, but I've been going through one lesson at a time in in different learning areas to where the point now where it it's basically feels like it's working like me. It's it's creating lessons that I would want to teach and I feel like other teachers would want to teach. It's it's not meant to be a, you know, put up a PowerPoint slide. It's to get teachers back using real materials and and working with kids in interactive ways rather than putting a PowerPoint slide up on a screen. It's not that. yeah, so I've been able to over this period, you know, six months or so is to educate the AI agent to think like me and yeah create these lesson sequences and these units that I think are really exciting to teach, so
Trudy: on your point about it's not about creating slide decks, and I am so excited to hear that there's there's tools out there for that if that's what you're looking for.
Phil: Yeah, yeah.
Trudy: personally, if I was back in the classroom, that's not me either. so that's that's a real problem.
Phil: And it's not worksheets, again, it's yeah s it's staying away from slides and worksheets and y using real materials and yeah, hands on activities, so
Trudy: Yeah. And real context, Phil? Or or real you know, real life or lifelike context for kids, putting them in different roles or experiences.
Phil: Yeah, absolutely. There is. Yeah, there's a lot of role play. One of my r key things I wanted to do was with everything from learning intentions and success success criteria and and in particular like lesson names, like having really interesting like there's stuff to do with like big kids becoming detectives and you know, being storytellers and and and all that sort of stuff where it's yeah, the idea is to the teacher and the students to to feel excited about these lesson sequences. so yeah, it's really wanting to get the kids involved and the teacher. So yeah, real life context, real hands on practical activities. yeah, that I hope I think that I would be excited to teach and I'm I'm sure that other teachers will as well.
Trudy: And Phil, was there a specific point in time or a moment where it became really evident that this was a s a thing that could be useful for teachers?
Phil: yeah, I think a certain point in time, you know, last year in the cluster that I was involved with and the poetry plan that you mentioned before, like I wasn't even teaching English at the time, but I was asked to be involved in collaborating on English units for the cluster. It was still, I wouldn't say necessarily a a collaborative effort. It was collaborative in terms of everyone sort of ideally helping with the load. but it was still a fairly individual, isolated thing. So the there was not s necessarily consistency or every unit plan was different, you know, every lesson sequencing was different. And then I yeah, as she said, I was I did a poultry plan using AI to to help me with that. yeah, and pumped it out quite quickly. And again, it wasn't taking the first iteration of what AI gave me. I think that's really important to understand that don't just take what it
Trudy: Yeah.
Phil: gives you first time, you know, allow it to to develop and allow yourself to be to come out in that in that process. your own personality and style. so yeah, that that was, you know, there's certainly realizations of the inefficiencies before that. And I really like planning. It's it's a strength of mine, I think. so, but yeah, I think that was certainly a moment for me seeing the comparison of the time difference, especially in in what I was able to produce compared to what it was taking other people to produce. So you know, when you look at at that, just that alone, it's quite significant.
Trudy: Yeah, and one of the things that I remember really clearly in our conversations too, linked to time, is the the load when you are planning for a multiage class, which was exactly what you were required to do. And I'll also throw in now shifting interstate, 'cause you're right now
Phil: Yes, yeah.
Trudy: in New South Wales, last year you're in Queensland. So even I'd you know, the role of AI in being able to make those pivots quickly and seamlessly between two different systems and their curriculum requirements. So yeah, I'd love to hear your comments on that, Phil.
Phil: Yeah, well New South Wales and Victoria, I'm sure it's linked to the Australian curriculum in some way, but they have, you know, their own syllabus and own curriculum codes. yeah, so Lesson Kit incorporates those as well. so it's it's relevant to New South Wales and Victoria. again it's it Every lesson is is linked to the relevant curriculum codes for the r the state. and each state, even the Australian curriculum states, you know, for Queensland, for example, have the QCAA, which have their own policies that need to be incorporated as well. So that's been in involved in in this process of building lesson kit is to have a look at each state body and what they're policies and their direction and
Trudy: Yeah.
Phil: guidances towards what needs to happen in the classroom. yeah, so there there's there's some key differences. the c lesson content itself generally stays the same and and all the lessons that I've have in lesson kit you know pretty much stay the same at this point, but they're all set up so that they meet the curriculum that of each state and the and the policies that that are involved as well.
Trudy: Thanks, Phil. So can you tell me what's changed a result of working with AI and particularly lesson kit?
Phil: I think what I'm looking to change is to give time back to teachers, which we've been speaking about, and give them clarity and confidence in their planning and lesson sequencing. yeah, I think there's there's a whole lot of different methods and a whole lot of different products that are out there that schools are using and there's there's not consistencies, there's not necessarily support for all of those things. yeah, so though the the two key things that I'm I'm looking for and to give in lesson kit is to I think by having these units, these lesson sequences ready to go at the click of a button. They can change them if they want to, they're easily editable. but they've got real clarity and real confidence that this planning and this lesson sequencing meets the Australian curriculum. but it also gives admin, you know, some clear overview by, you know, seeing that there's consistency in the classroom, you know, on a daily basis or a weekly basis. Yeah, so they're they're probably the key things that I'm I'm looking to change out of lesson kit, if that makes sense.
Trudy: Yeah. So Phil, I believe that you've soft launched lesson kit. So if
Phil: Yes.
Trudy: there's people listening, are they able to access this in some way? And and how would they do that?
Phil: Yeah, so you can jump on to lessonkit.com.au, create a a free account. and that will give you as at this point year two, three, and four f for term one. and you can also contact me at hello at lessonkit dot com dot au if you've got any questions. There's also a a a community forum in there where I'd like to get, you know, teachers and Other invested people interacting on there and talking about what Lesson Kit provides. maybe there's things I haven't thought of that you know, other people might be able to suggest. yeah, so there's that ability to create community within Lesson Kit as well. And yeah, so yeah, jump on a lessonkit.com.au and have a have a play, see what you can produce and have a look at the lesson sequences. I'm really excited, particularly English. I've put a lot of work into the English lesson lesson sequencing and I'm I'm feeling like that's you know, really engaging stuff that it's on there. And so the the roadmap so I will have November I'll be looking to release prep and year one as well. And then in December year five and six. So by term one next year, the primary year levels will be ready to go for term one and then release throughout the year the the whole, you know, term two, term three, term four. And then twenty eight I'll be looking at high school.
Trudy: Wow. Yeah, so it really sounds like you're open to educators trying it, giving it a test run and giving you feedback on how it's working or not for them. Yeah, lovely. Fantastic.
Phil: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I've been in touch with as many teachers in my network that I can. cohorts that I've studied with and taught with or done professional development with. So yeah, really keen for some feedback on it.
Trudy: Yeah, so people listening, like Phil said, if you head to the website, start an account for yourself and you're off to the races. It's it's very easy and intuitive to navigate. and in fact, Phil it kind of blows me away that you said you started in March, we're now talking in October, you sent me screenshots mm probably a month ago. It just is It's I said at the beginning the word was mind blowing. how fast you've been able to develop this and and that's that's the world we live in now, right?
Phil: Yeah, and like I said, I was a web developer. Well, I'm still do a little bit. for fifteen years before getting into teaching. and so I could build all this myself without using AI. And that sort of was the seed was to go, what can I do with my own lesson plans? You know, there's things out there like I don't know, there's yeah, there's there's different products out there where you can sell your own stuff, I think. but yeah, I was like, I want to go bigger than that. yeah, so I mean for me to to to build this as a web developer would you know, it would be you know, a couple of years you would you know, to get this where it is now. So yeah, what what I can do with AI, so I mean What I would like to influence people is, AI doesn't have to be impersonal. I've felt like this is really a a reflection of me, this product. I've put a lot of myself into it. I've lots of drafts, lot of different iterations, you know, lots of no, that's not what I want co type conversations that you can have with AI. And going over it and over it with a fine tooth comb where I where and now I'm releasing it because I'm happy with where it's at and what it's producing and and and now I can just go, I want you to produce a ten week unit on this year level, blah, blah, blah. And it does it you know, in a matter of minutes in in a way that I am really excited about. So
Trudy: Yeah. Fabulous. Well I hope that there are people listening in that are in interested and eager to to give it a try, see what what the tool can do for them and and give you some feedback on what you've built. Now, Phil,
Phil: Yeah.
Trudy: I love to wrap up the podcast with three ritual questions that are not about the work, but just about you. Are you happy to play along with those?
Phil: Sure.
Trudy: So Phil, what is the best kept secret? About where you are.
Phil: well, where I am currently, as you said, I have been in New South Wales. I I've just been in Queensland the last couple of weeks 'cause I'm not sure I've told you this or if you've seen it, but I've just had my first grandchild, Tilly. And so we've had a few weeks up near to my son and my granddaughter in a place called Narain Bar, north of Brisbane. so it probably looks like it's gonna be the place where I might be next year. to be close to them, and a work opportunity that has come up to be nearby. so that's one thing. It could be where I am next year. so I I did I've used AI to Look up something that people might not know about Narangbar. in early to mid-twentieth century, Narangbar railway station gained local fame across southeast Queensland for an unusual horticultural landmark. The name Narangbar was planted directly into the station grounds using vibrant, brightly colored iris flowers. Each letter was boarded and framed using old motor tyres painted bright green.
Trudy: How?
Phil: yeah. It was in nineteen thirteen it was constructed specifically to pump water to steam locomotives chugging along the North Coast line. If you walk along the trail nearby today, you can still see an enormous early nineteen hundred steam locomotive boiler that was actually dredged directly out of a creek bed by local historians in the year two thousand and put on display.
Trudy: That's fascinating. Yeah. So brilliant place for rail enthusiasts by the sound of it. And
Phil: Yeah.
Trudy: got some great historical sites.
Phil: Yep. And you can see the glasshouse mountains from here too. which is good. Yeah.
Trudy: thank you. Yeah. Yeah, they're they're yeah, they're fascinating, aren't they? Phil, what's a book or film you'd recommend and why does it matter to you?
Phil: yeah, well something I've been watching lately. It's not real highbrow, but on Netflix I've been watching well my wife and I've been watching a series called SEAL Team about an American Navy SEAL team, which yeah, I I've we've really got into it. It's it's explores a lot of relationships and I it I'm sure it has a a reasonably authentic perspective of what it's like for a Navy SEAL teams. yeah, the relationships between the Navy SEAL team and then their personal lives and all this sort of stuff. It's actually yeah, I've kind of found it quite fascinating. So Yeah, th that that that's a good watch I'd recommend.
Trudy: Thank you, I can imagine. high stakes role that or job that that is and work environment. Yeah.
Phil: Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Trudy: Yeah. Great. And Phil, what's something that brings you comfort and joy at the end of a long week?
Phil: this sounds like probably brown nosing a little bit, but I had a a period during this year where my wife and I were living 'cause I was having to work away from where she was, a few hundred kilometers. So I had a three hour drive every Friday back to where she was. So that was actually something that was really comforting while I was working there in term two for several weeks. get back to her at the end of a long drive each Friday afternoon. So Yeah, sounds a bit sucky, but yeah, no, that
Trudy: Yeah.
Phil: was that that that's probably been the the the comforting thing at the end of a hard week in a school when you're on your own away from support. That was that was really nice. Yeah.
Trudy: Yeah, it's it's a version of fly in, fly out, isn't it? And it surprises
Phil: Yeah, yeah.
Trudy: me how many educators do that. You know, once
Phil: Yeah.
Trudy: upon a time it was the mining sector, but well across rural and regional Queensland and and clearly, you know, other states and territories as well, people do work away from family and have to do the the the travel and the commute to get home, however that happens.
Phil: Yeah. Yeah, I know where where I was teaching last year at Cameron Downs, Shim Prairie as well, but yeah, they'd struggled to replace me, so they've had to use the fly in squad for that at times. So it's definitely a need in in rural areas rural areas. So yeah. If you're listening
Trudy: Yeah.
Phil: to this and you haven't done rural or regional, give it a go.
Trudy: Yeah. Yeah. It's like a a tree change or a well mine I felt like a an amazing life adventure and yeah, best best professional experience.
Phil: Mm.
Trudy: I look back on. you just learn so much, don't you, when you take yourself out of your comfort zone. Yeah. Well thank you, Phil. Thank you for sharing your experiences over the last two years and your experiments and developments with AI and lesson kit and like we said if anyone wants to experiment with that and give it a run, see what it can do for them in terms of saving time, getting more consistent lessons. And it's not about I loved how you said that it's not about producing a slide deck, it's actually about
Phil: Mm.
Trudy: authentic, shall we call it, authentic teaching and learning.
Phil: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah,
Trudy: Yeah.
Phil: yeah.
Trudy: Lovely. Thanks so much for your time, Phil. Really appreciate it.
Phil: Thanks for having me.
