Podcast Transcript
Speaker 1: John Walsh
Welcome to see C4L. The Community4learning podcast. I’m John Walsh, the founder of Community4learning, and I’ll be your host for the podcasts. Today, I would like to introduce you to us and give you an idea of what you can look forward to in the upcoming episodes.
Community4learning is a new organization. We developed it to support school staff in providing enriched educational opportunities for students by leveraging real world experience through the school stakeholders and their local community.
Education is rapidly evolving, and innovation in the world and schools has never been greater. We at Community4learning think it is important for you to hear from the people who are working in the schools, the people who are working with the schools, the people who are the stakeholders, and those who have vested interest in raising the educational bar to new heights.
Let me start by introducing myself. I’ve been in education for 30 years, the first 25 in the classroom as a secondary school science teacher, the last five as the head of a program called Community Partnerships. That program was devised and developed by me with the help and support of a very forward thinking principal. My mandate was to take the students to the world and bring the world to the students. A practice that I started as a science teacher. I wanted to integrate classroom theory with real-world practice. Essentially, experiential learning.
Partnerships came down to building relationships. And the people that I met at other schools, in industry, or educational conferences were fascinating, very passionate about education, and had terrific ideas. Everything that I’m going to pass on in the podcasts, the blogs or on social media will be aimed at educators and improving the educational landscape.
Let’s face it, education should be on the cutting edge and all of us want to know what is current and engaging. I’m looking forward to introducing new ideas to educators by speaking with innovative individuals who have a passion for education and ideas on how to improve learning for students. These conversations may spark some ideas, which might lead to changes and enhance learning opportunities for your students. Or you may hear conversations which validate some of the ideas that you are presently trying out in your classroom.
As an educator, I understand that you are busy and time is valuable. So the episodes will be short and to the point. I look forward to introducing you to respected people in the educational environment with the intent to inform and inspire you.
From my experience, there were many terrific things that happened for the students and the school through local partnerships. But there are so many more opportunities, opportunities that we would like to share and develop with you. It was definitely a steep learning curve for me and the partnership program. Fortunately, I was able to utilize quite a bit of what I learned from other educators and people in the business world. Much of this I’m hoping to pass on to you through Community4learning.
If there is somebody in education that you think would be interesting, and we should have on the podcast, or if there’s some way we can help you please let us know. Use the Connect With Us button on the website. We look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for listening, and until the next time. Let’s keep education on the cutting edge. Have a wonderful day.
