Latest / WHAT I'VE LEARNT / Beyond Words - Episode Highlights (April 2023)

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Beyond Words - Episode Highlights (April 2023) · WHAT I'VE LEARNT

• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: Amazing People inspire us to challenge ourselves.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: This literacy story went global in many media outlets as it was just so inspiring.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: Amazing People Schools UK supports young people in both primary and secondary schools to harness these innate character strengths and believe in themselves and flourish.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: Strength of character is everything.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: We all possess amazing potential, and Amazing People's Schools help students recognize their own strengths and understand what they're truly capable of.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm thrilled to have these two very inspiring women who work with amazing people's schools to support young people like Jason.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: They work both in primary and secondary schools to harness these innate character strengths so that people believe in themselves, flourish, and embrace the literacy opportunity and the way it can change their lives.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: So, Francis and Selena, welcome to our Beyond Words Global Literacy Podcast.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: Thrilled to have you from the UK.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you over there.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: Here we are in sunny Australia, but you girls are getting ready for the World Literacy Summit, which is very exciting.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, we are.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's just next week.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: Looking forward to next week.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think it's going to be incredible.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: Well, firstly, I'd just like to touch on, and we'll get to the history of how the organisation started.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: But one of the things I noticed on your website, and I mentioned this in our chat, is I love your amazing people's library.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you can talk to me a little bit about how that came to be and why that reflects some of the mission that you are on.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, sure, Deb.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_02: Well, we've been on a really long journey.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, the kind of initial start of our story library started over 25 years ago with our founder, um, Dr.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_02: Charles Margerison.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_02: He's a psychologist, and he's spent a huge amount of time researching the stories of amazing people, um, looking not just at what they did, but but why they did it and how they did it.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_02: They're almost sort of like psychological retellings of their of their lives.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: So that's one of our really important points of difference.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um and from that, as a team, we began to think about um where these stories that he'd researched could have the most value.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, we all agreed that it was really in the classroom.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it was getting these stories into the hands of young people.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, over a number of years, we've curated this collection of stories of amazing people.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we've been very careful to make sure it's as it's as diverse as we can manage.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_02: As an organization, we talk a lot about um the fact that you can't be um if you can't see it.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_02: So for us, it's so important that when young people land in the site, you know, when they see the library, there's people there that they can relate to on some level.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: That's really interesting.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: So, talk to us about so you're talking about how um the organisation was founded.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: Talk to us about the the amazing historical library inside the website.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so as I was saying, um, the sort of research into this very wide collection of amazing people, actually, over 500 in total, was done over a number of years, and our team, um, our schools team worked really closely then on actually uh curating a collection of stories, historical stories that would be inspirational for young people in schools.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and another really important point of difference, I think, for Amazing People Schools is that we look at these life stories through the lens of character.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: So we're looking at you know who these people were and what they did, but but perhaps even more importantly, the character strengths.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, when I say character strengths, we're thinking about things like perseverance and resilience, empathy, you know, which character strengths help them um achieve what they did.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so yeah, you will feel and see those uh character strengths resonating through all the stories.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um and as I said, we are growing the library all of the time.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we add new people um throughout the year.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we love to take suggestions from schools.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_02: So if there's an amazing person that a particular school would like to see in, um, you know, we love to hear about that.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_02: And perhaps another really important thing just to quickly touch on is that we are evolving the library as well to also feature um contemporary role models as well.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_02: So they live in a slightly different area of the site.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's so important to us that these uh these inspirational people, you know, in essence, these role models are really accessible for for young people.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and there's obviously amazing stuff going on all the time, people doing stuff that you know really, really speaks to the character strengths that we champion in schools.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so we're yeah, we're always bringing in you know more contemporary role models as well.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: So that they can relate.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, one of the things that, and you know, you just showed me some of it, it's quite accessible, it's very user-friendly, and it's very easy to read, and I think that's important.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: Give could you just give us a little snapshot of some of the characters there or any any one that you'd like to highlight just to demonstrate who who you're talking about?
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like, for example, we you and I would we were just discussing, but maybe it'd be good to mention some names so that people can see the reference.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, sure.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_02: So we've got a huge range.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, one of the most popular characters in the site is Frida Carlo.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um, obviously had uh a massively challenging life, um, suffered injury and illness, um, and you know, came out the other road and challenging her perseverance and resilience and creativity to become, you know, one of the most inspirational artists in the world.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_02: You've got uh Wang Zhen Yi, who was a polymath, um, a Chinese poet from I think the 17th century, Selena.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_02: That's what 18th century, yeah.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: 17th century.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: 18th century, sorry.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_02: William Shakespeare.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I think a really important point to note is the fact that we've got some really, really well-known characters.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, the likes of Albert Einstein and William Shakespeare and Leonardo da Vinci, we've also got some some lesser-known names as well.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, what we often find is schools will weave these stories into the curriculum and day-to-day school life through particular character strengths that um they're really keen, their young people develop.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's wonderful and also uh very diverse, which I like.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: You've got you know a broad range of representation there, and that's really important.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's obviously something that you're continuing to expand on.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: And and so really, um, Selena, um, you referred to the fact that there's the historical library, which is the core, but we actually you actually have other library resources there.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: Can you talk to that for me?
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, well, we it was really a response to schools.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_03: So we we developed a diverse voices collection uh which was uh enabled us to to portray contemporary role models as well as historical role models.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_03: Um and it started off uh to meet topics that various schools do.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_03: So here in the UK we have Black History Month, uh, we have different focuses at different times.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_03: Schools might be looking at Diwali, they might be looking at different topics of different parts of the world.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_03: And it was a way of being able to respond to that uh with a collection of contemporary and historical role models who were inspirational, that they're really brightly coloured, they're they're really nice for students to read, to do further research on, um, and also to sort of uh weave those character strengths through the activities that are suggested.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um and to increase, as you say, diversity, but to increase inclusion and representation for people who might not reach the uh the main curriculum.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_03: So we develop that collection, and that's a growing collection of people.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_03: And then the third library we have, which is before you log into the site, is our today's amazing person.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_03: And uh we were chatting just before about Jason Arde, who we've just had on there.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_03: And and what the wonderful thing about the Today's Amazing Persons slot is that we can be as responsive as we we are able to be, that when something crops in the news that really inspires us and gets us, we we can quickly uh write a biography um and and and put that in and usually be able to quite easily sort of see the the character strengths that that amazing person demonstrated.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and also to give a way of giving some reflection questions, some critical thinking questions uh for students to be thinking about in form time first thing in the morning or you know at some point in the day when you've got that collective in the class and you're slightly outside of the curriculum time, but you're but you're you're talking about an important subject.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_03: So we've now got three libraries uh growing, which is uh which is really exciting.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: And the online platform obviously gives you great scope for many people to access it.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: How's that changed?
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: Has it always been um I mean you talk about when it was founded, Francis?
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, how much has it evolved and what has been the cornerstone of that evolution?
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, well, it's it, yeah.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_02: We've been on a real journey actually.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we started with um a pilot site over four years ago now, which featured just 15 amazing people.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_02: So we wanted to test, you know, does this approach work?
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_02: You know, how does this storytelling land in schools?
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: Is it something that schools can use easily?
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_02: The pilot went brilliantly.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_02: We had we had massive engagement.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_02: We did a campaign actually with with a BBC um focusing on inspirational scientists, which brought a lot of visibility to amazing people's schools.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_02: But what we really saw was um there was a real appetite for this kind of content.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_02: And I think while all that was happening, you know, there were a lot of different book series around the world which were becoming really popular.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_02: Now, I don't know if you've seen the Little People Big Dreams series, uh, The Rebel Stories for Girls.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_02: So it felt like globally there was a real sort of appetite for stories about um inspiration.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_02: I think during COVID, you know, obviously a difficult time globally.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, that sort of um, you know, thirst for sort of stories of inspiration to uplift us, you know, was really kind of built as well.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_02: So um yeah, COVID for us was was a really interesting time.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, just in that we're we're online, so teachers were suddenly thrown into this, you know, absolutely unknown.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: Chaos.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_02: And oh the stories we've heard from schools, you know, they yeah, had to contend with a huge amount.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_02: And I think amazing people schools as a way to you know support young people to develop coping skills, you know, um support to deal with challenge um was super useful, and we we really did grow quite substantially during COVID.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, we're we're really excited about the future and and where we can take this.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, because you know, obviously there's no limit to the stories of uh, you know, amazing people.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of amazing people.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um who who selects, so is it is it a you know, who who decides who's going into the library?
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: Is it a is it a you know collective, I'm assuming.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_03: Umsheet initially.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: I was thinking that it would have been quite quite an interesting board table to sit around, actually.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, well, we had, I mean, uh our founder sort of wrote over 500 uh initial uh first-person biographies of of a mate of the historical characters.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_03: Um so that was very much our starting place.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_03: But then what we needed to do was to sort of look across the world, see different countries were represented, have a good balance of men and women, um, and then see different walks of life being represented.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_03: Um so yes, it was it was uh it was quite a complex spreadsheet to do it and some interesting conversations between us.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_03: But one of the joys of the way that the site has evolved is that now with our uh diverse uh voices collection and our today's amazing person collection, it it can just it can just keep growing.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_03: It's it's much easier, really.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_03: Um whereas with the historical, there's a lot of attendant resources and there's a video and a timeline, and you know, there's lots and lots of um lots and lots of work that goes into adding an historical uh role model.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_03: So these other two libraries um can can can really develop at a much speedier pace, um, which is fantastic because it means that we can be really responsive.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_03: As we were saying, as we were with Jason Arde, we were able to get his story up within a few days of the story breaking.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: So you sort of in a way have a template that you can use that you can create and quickly upload, and that's the beauty of the online platform.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: So, in terms of um teacher response, um, what's you know, you talked about getting great engagement.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: What sort of response are you getting and and and why do you think it's resonating other than what you've outlined already?
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's interesting because there's a lot of competing elements online, particularly at the moment, you know, lots and lots of resources.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, do you think it's that you've made it quite a nutshell, like quite an accessible when I look at it, you know, it's a very quick, um, easy resource.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: Is that do you think that's the main reason that teachers are and others?
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_03: So I mean, yeah, no, I I mean I think the the the majority of teachers and senior leaders that I speak to are really interested in in using these diverse role models through the curriculum because they they're they're often aware that um that their curriculum uh is not as diverse as it might be, and that the role models that kind of go through, it's kind of the same old people that that are sort of being recycled if you if you like, who are great, and and they're also and they're also on the side, but it can be really interesting.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_03: So one of the things that we've been able to do is to map the curriculum and say, well, look, here's some here's some mathematicians, here's some scientists, here's some people that would fit into geography and and RE and music.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_03: And do you know what I mean?
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_03: So that you've actually got these alternative people um who alongside the the names that are already on the curriculum can be there to really enhance and um give a different perspective um to the curriculum.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_03: So I think teachers have have enjoyed that, but I think they've also enjoyed the fact that the students can access the site for themselves.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_03: The stories are differentiated between primary and secondary school, and there are supplementary materials.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_03: So there's an audio version of the story for uh reluctant readers or people who might need to listen to the story first before they they they can read it.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_03: Um there's a video which again sort of helps to to pull in the the key uh key elements of the life.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_03: There's a timeline.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_03: Um so I think all of that sort of helps the the schools that have got the pupils to be directly reading the stories for themselves and and using those stories.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_03: Um so yeah, I I think that's that's the main combination of reasons, I think, as to why people are really engaging with it.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_02: Just to add to what Selena was saying, you know, I think we're really aware of how time poor teachers are.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_02: You know, as we were saying earlier, sort of um, yeah, there are a huge demand put on on teachers um globally.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_02: And we have developed the site really carefully to be adaptable and flexible.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's not a sort of a prescriptive approach.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_02: We we really encourage schools to make it their own.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_02: And I think, you know, on a very regular basis, we're we're just totally inspired by um, you know, what we see schools doing with it.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we just had a thing actually last week a school um who, you know, financially challenged, you know, having real budget challenges, many schools are, and they are seeing an event where they're getting all the students to come in dressed as different amazing people.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um, that's wonderful strength they're working on, um, sharing it with parents, so to try and make it a bit more of a you know a wider dialogue across the school community as well.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_02: So um, so yeah, I think schools also love it because um they yeah, they they can own it a bit, and I think that's that's really important.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: That's a really good point, and that is a point of distinction, and also it's taking storytelling, which in a way what you're doing is actually as old as time itself, really, isn't it?
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_01: The the notion of the characters and it's it's almost going back ironically to the fundamentals of the stories that we tell and and the characters, and so in some ways, I suppose you're just giving an easy portal to that.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because sometimes I think it gets so multi-layered and complex that it becomes inaccessible.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_03: I think that's right.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_03: And I and I think just referring back to something Franz said earlier, you know, when when schools have really embraced this and and students have had the chance to really understand these stories.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, we've heard some really powerful stories of you know, somebody really being inspired by Einstein, not learning to read until quite late, not not speaking until he was quite late, and and being really inspired by I think also finding it out about the the struggles and the setbacks and the failures of some of these amazing people can just.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: Most of them actually.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly, exactly, absolutely.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_03: So beginning to recognise that that failure and setback is is is a part of life, it's it's not an either-or, you know, you that you need to go through that, and that doesn't have to mean the end of the world.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_03: And that's where the character strength comes in as well, is that you you have this inspiring person who has experienced failures and setbacks and adversity, and then you can look at the character strengths to think what helped them to get through those moments of difficulty um and and to sort of push on through.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_03: And then there's a lot of uh teaching resources to support that, support that development, I suppose, support that character strength development.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_03: And there's quite a lot on the side about students learning to recognise their own character strengths that they've already been developing and work out which areas they need to develop more and what they might be able to do to do that.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_03: And one of the ways is to find inspiring people who, you know, have the character strength that you're looking to develop and pull out those those lessons.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: In a way, it's like saying, well, first of all, I think there's a universality to a lot of, you know, it makes people not feel so alone.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that's something that's that's great about this this focus on character.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I also think from what I'm understanding, there's sort of it's a bit like you have to climb the mountain, and that's okay.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: And look at what these people have done, and it's okay if that's a challenge, is what you're saying.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um is that right, Frances?
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, definitely.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_02: And I think um, you know, we often talk about struggle being part of the journey, um, and you know, to celebrate that, you know, and I think it's often easy, isn't it?
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, to want to do the things that we're good at, but actually the way we grow and develop is through, yeah, sort of pushing ourselves and and being able to articulate these character strengths um is so important, you know, you become much more conscious of yourself as an individual, um, you know, you can talk more openly and freely about what you find difficult, you know, and and all this is so important.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and obviously there's such a big push on the sort of the academic side in schools, you know, um, and and to sort of balance that with you know the development of students, the whole person and you know what their dreams and aspirations are and and the strengths they maybe need to focus on to get to where they want to get, you know, that's what we're we're all about.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_02: And actually, just on the storytelling piece, you know, obviously they've got these very inspirational stories, but there's some really lovely resources in the site as well that prompt students to write their own story, you know, to catch their own journey.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: Wonderful, yeah.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: So that's really important, yeah.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I think it's you know, Selena was saying we we hear just stories of of inspiration from schools, you know, often um, you know, kids that have done brave, uh creative, you know, cool things, and and and this uh Amazing People Schools gives them a platform to talk about it, I think, a bit more widely, which is which is so good.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's important.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_03: Journaling is yeah, journaling is a really important area actually of how the site's developing.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_03: So we've got uh right the way through, actually, from from sort of reception early years, um, sort of pre-primary school age, right right the way through to 16.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_03: Um, there's different journals there to be, as I say, I think an awareness of the language of character strengths, an awareness of what that means, gathering the evidence of where you are now, thinking about where you want to develop some inspirational role models and some work on pulling out the strengths of that, but then journaling for yourself.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_03: And it's intended to be done over a year, over you know, over several years over a period of time, but to keep coming back to those journals to be to be making notes, because there can be a lot of toxic identities these days, you know, they particularly as you're going into adolescence, that um a lot of young people can be gathering really quite negative identities, um, and and identity can be a confusing area for all young people growing up.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_03: And I think if we can add character strengths into that mix um and give people the confidence to recognise when they've shown adaptability, when they've bounced back from difficulties and shown their resilience, when they've shown integrity, um, and and that's added to their mix of identity, I think that can only be be a good thing, really, whoever they are and whatever their situation and um you know, whatever else they're they're they're doing.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I think you also touch both of you on something important.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know if this is being discussed there, but certainly here, there's a lot of discussion around the changing education system and the way that we need to do things differently.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: And this is a very good example of a lateral and creative resource because I suppose and you referred to it before, Francis, the notion.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Of the pressure of the academic, which often, you know, if you look at when the system the way it is now was developed in the Industrial Revolution age, you know, it's really for some people it's quite anachronistic to try and navigate for many people.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that's a different discussion, but it is an interesting in a way.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like you're going back to the basics, to the things that your your on your platform is a very um, it's very organic and authentic.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that is where you get resonance, and and there's a lot of uh there's a big movement here towards that, to be honest.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if that's happening in the UK in the same way, but it's certainly being discussed a lot here.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, not as much as we'd like.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly, exactly, you know, because it paralyzes a lot of kids who get caught in a system.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, um whether it's public or private school, it's it's becoming a very big issue because you've got kids going through the tunnel.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I think the pandemic also made people go, wait, is this how I want to learn?
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_01: Is this how I want to be measured?
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um and and that's a really interesting.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: I wonder what education and this so I think your platform is a very um organic way to engage.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: And let's hope there's more of that because it it helps kids who may not find this, you know, the system is not, it's quite rigid, a lot of it.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_02: Well, it's I think the platform's very human, you know, it's driven by people.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly, that's right.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I love about it.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, and the strengths they need, you know, and it it yeah, we we've been talking a lot about um, you know, life beyond school and you know, young people sort of finding their way, you know, the careers, the paths that will will make them happy in the long run.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_02: And actually, when you look at you know, job descriptions, what employers are looking for, yeah, a lot of the stuff around you know, character strengths, being able to think creatively, you know, teamwork, um, being empathetic, being adaptive, you know, those the hundred percent strength.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_02: And 100% um that that's throughout Amazing People's Schools in a really um yeah, sort of an organic way.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_02: I like your use of the word organic.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, I really sense that.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: Tell me, in terms of its reach and in terms of, you know, I don't know if you have the the stats at hand, but have you got some some indication, um, either of you, of what sort of where you're being accessed, and you know, is it is it um UK focused?
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: Is it you know what what what's the where are you getting the most traction?
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we we launched in the UK, so we work with schools um right right across the UK.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_02: I think one thing we're really excited about, I mean we're obviously still a relatively young organisation, but what we're really excited about is um is the way it travels.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_02: So we've worked with a lot of schools in in Australia as well, New Zealand too.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but actually, I was just out in um in uh do in the UAE in Dubai and in Thailand, and I visited a number of schools, and there was character in all of them, you know.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_02: So I think this whole sort of um movement of character, it's it's almost always been there, but it's really, really gained momentum.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_02: As I said, I think COVID's really um added to that.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_02: So um, yeah, the potential for this to sort of be used globally.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_02: You know, character is a real global language, and you know, obviously the stories are stories that are representative of the of the whole world.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_02: So um, yeah, we're we're really excited to see where it can go.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um we're obviously doing uh some early work on the uh the World Literacy Task Force, which is which is focused on America.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um we've just partnered up with um an educational platform up in Scandinavia.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, we're we're looking globally, but um, but we did, as I said, our sort of our our core market certainly in the UK, and um and we're we're really keen to to keep pushing and growing and servicing our schools in the UK.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_03: Um I think what's really exciting is that um as Fran said, we're we're we we're still quite a new startup, but the schools that we that we are working in in the UK are are really different.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_03: Um so we've got you know state uh state primary schools, we've got state secondary schools, we've got independent schools, we've got um special education provider schools, alternative provision schools.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um and I think that that really uh is incredibly encouraging, um, that actually the method is working on really quite incredibly different school educational settings.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_03: Um and I find that really yeah, really inspiring um that I can be talking to really quite a high-achieving academic school, and they can absolutely see the sense of of why they need to use or you know, to add earth to what they're doing in schools.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_03: And then I can speak to just somebody from just an entirely different setup.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um and and for the for different reasons, or maybe for the same reasons, they can see sort of why uh why we can add real value.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, I think that that's that's really good.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_03: And that sort of links with the with the global reach that Fran was saying is that this really can work on a variety of different levels.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_03: Um and uh yeah, it's it can work because as for all young people, this is the toolkit for life.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_03: This is the toolkit that exactly to nourish and to take forward.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_03: So it makes sense that it would work, it would work across the board.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: Samantha recognised digital was fast moving and changing the world, and particularly young people and their attention span to sit down and read a book was often a challenge.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_01: These issues have sparked a journey for her to understand more and dig deeper.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_01: A successful entrepreneur, she also is a co-founder of global digital media company called Limited Space, which is based in the UK.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: She is passionate, using her business skills and connections to make a real difference both here and around the world.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_01: So is this he's obviously somebody high profile in the UK?
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: In the UK, yeah.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: And he shares his story, and it's not, and I think that's that's wonderful because I think you know, i i if I think people would shy away, um, you know, uh and potentially feel ashamed.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_00: Feel embarrassed or ashamed.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: And that's yeah, I think it's interesting too.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: I think the a very important point that you've raised is that you know, when I speak to people about illiteracy and the and the issue, they go, Oh yeah, but that's in underdeveloped countries.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, Well, actually no, because what you've just highlighted, and I know in the US it's a huge issue, and I think that is something that we need to change that that perspective or that perception because it's not just in underdeveloped countries, it's it's everywhere.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I I I think that's why, and and so it's sort of like this hidden issue, which as you say, uh many people are ashamed to admit.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_00: It completely.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I I mean I know, you know, from from you know, from school, sometimes you know if you didn't know something or you felt embarrassed, or you just, you know, oh, I'm not good enough, or I'm you know, and it's just we we we shouldn't.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_00: We you know, we should make it, you know, kind of like we should make it acceptable, and we no one should feel ashamed to be able to talk about you know things that they struggle with, and we should help one another, and that's really what human nature should be about, is you know, we should be, you know, if you should.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's what we should be doing.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: We shouldn't be making one another feel um, you know, ashamed about not being able to do something because we've all got strengths, and I think that's the key factor.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_00: We all have strengths, and I know within my business it's something that you know, myself, my husband, my co-founder, um, that you know, that we embrace within our team.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like every single person in our business has a strength, and they're not necessarily the same, but that's the beauty because when you bring them all, when you bring all those strengths together, that's when you create something pretty special, and I think we that's what we need to do.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_00: We need to ever, you know, we should like help one another to recognise what your strengths are.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_00: We're not all brilliant en masse, we're not all brilliant English, actually, might not even be that interesting subject, but we could be creative, you know.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: So I just think it's like celebrating our strengths, and and that's what we should do, you know, for one another and lift each other up and do what we can.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I do I just find it fascinating statistically here in the UK and developed nations worldwide, you know, Australia, the state we we all have the same, we all have the same issues, these exist.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: So I think like reverting back to your question with regards to the task force, like like what does this mean?
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: So we know that I think for the task force, our goal is aligning it with the United Nations sustainability goals.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: So 17 sustainability goals, one of which is to ensure that everyone has a right to an education that illiteracy doesn't exist by 2030.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: Big task, big ambition, completely up for the challenge because you've got to you've got to aim high.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_00: Even if we don't hit that, we're gonna come blim and close.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_00: We make it too realistic goal, we still might not even get there.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_00: I'm always in, you know, aim aim high.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_01: So I agree.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we know as a task force to be able to look at this in its entirety is going to be too big.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_00: So what we what we wanted to do, and this was kind of like the the programme was spearhead by Andy Kay, the CEO and founder of the foundation, um, and which is uh you know led by um like my colleague who I'm working with, uh Joseph, um who is kind of like you know, leading the task force, and then there are three others who kind of like joined as the founding members, and then we have uh multinationals that have come on board also as founding members, which is just wonderful.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_00: What the idea is we incubate this, so we we've gone like let's look at 12 to 19 years, because 12 to 19 years, they're going to be entering into adult life.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: We really need to make sure they've got a really good start.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_00: So why not?
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: Let's just make sure that this age group, when they go into adult, you know, they enter into the their world as an as an adult, that they can read and write, that they've got these basics.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_00: Basic equipped, yeah.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_00: They just need to be equipped.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: So we're incubating that.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's the age group.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_00: Then we need to go right, we need to apply this to the world.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_00: So we've gone right 50 cities.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's 50 cities globally, and it's going to be all different, you know, it's going to be from you know, the poorest nations to the richest nations because the issue does lie everywhere.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_00: How we're approaching our methodology is we know that it's going to be an exponential um approach.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like we know the first two years of the project are going to be the slowest years because we're just like, you know, putting all our chess pieces um in place.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_00: In a row.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_00: Then once we've got the proven methodology and we've done a few, like, you know, proof of concepts, then we'll be able to roll it out more quickly.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_00: But the first two years are kind of really about incubating the project and bringing our partners on board.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, today, um, you know, we're successfully, you know, in the in the US, um, there's 10 cities that are being selected.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: There's some incredible uh partners that have come on board.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not sure if I'm allowed to disclose them just yet.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but huge names, huge names.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, and they just they joined the meeting at the start, and you know, just absolute credit and thanks to them, because this is this, you know, they came to a meeting, it was an idea and it's a mission statement.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_00: And we kind of gave an outline of what we're doing, but we were saying, but we need your help to make this even more real.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: And so there's a huge leap of faith, and that was also which was really magical about the summit, because many, many of us all came together, and it was just that energy, you know, like you know, we're everyone's really energetic about the project, and you know, we really want to get it down and put our sleeves up.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's a very um impressive project, and actually, that's what I'm hearing when I'm interviewing on the podcast, the enthusiasm and also the uniting, as you say, everyone's bringing different things to the table.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: And this task force, which I know you you know, you presented at the UN trying to get some sort of traction.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_01: Tell me a little bit about that, because I know that that takes a little navigating.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_01: And and was that how was that in September?
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_01: And what was the sort of I suppose the challenge, but also you're going, I think you're going back, well, yeah, the plan is to go back at this year, yeah?
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_01: And to yes.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: So we're so annually an annual meeting in New York, and that would all that always aligns um like with the general uh UN General Assembly, because it's aligned goals.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_00: So we want to prove our concept and then then then present this.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_00: The I ideally what we want this, what we want to happen is for uh for the method to be uh adopted by other countries and potentially with governments, etc.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so yes, it's an annual and then uh and then we will always meet kind of like halfway through the year, um, and that will rotate around the different members.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: So obviously this year the the last meeting was when we were all in Oxford.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_00: So there's like basically two meetings, face-to-face meetings a year, and then everything else is done on um, you know, on Zoom.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's such a brilliant concept, but also it's just I think it's one of those.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_01: I can't actually believe that people haven't got on board with this before because to me it's such a monolithic issue, and it affects such a diverse range of people.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_01: For you, I know that you work in the education, but also the digital space, you're quite progressive.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_01: Tell me a little bit about your business, limited space, and and because obviously you have entrepreneurial and business skills, but also a passion for dealing with the illiteracy issue.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_01: How do these align for you and what sort of uh resources can you access that help in this space?
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_00: So um, so I got involved with the foundation in 2014.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and this actually um was as a result of my business limited space.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_00: So uh myself and husband, we co-founded the company 22 years ago.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, my background was in newspapers, uh, and we we basically journalist?
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_00: Are you a journalist?
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_00: I was um I was we created research programs.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_00: So I actually started out in community newspapers and loved it.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_00: I trained out.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_00: I did publish, I did train to stockbroker, and then I joined, yeah, my my father passed away and I just needed some time out.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_00: So I I joined a community newspaper and I developed my own publication and I loved every minute of it.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_00: And uh and then I was headhunted.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_00: Publishing.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, so much fun.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my goodness, just the creativity, yeah, yeah.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_01: I also, yeah, publishing's my background too.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's the I so hear you and I can see your eyes light up when you talk about it.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's very so that so that gave you that sort of, I suppose it does give you that essence of community and storytelling, but I was so I then um I was headhunted and joined Use International, and I actually went into the agency sales side of the business, so working with all the big brands with the publicate with broadsheet and tabloid um publications.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_00: And from there, I then got involved in the research department.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_00: I was fascinated.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_00: We were really trying to understand just what our readers, you know, reader behaviours.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_00: And what one of the studies that we did was um um we created a methodology to quantify a value on time spent reading.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_00: And in a nutshell, I took that methodology and applied it to our own business, limited space, um, which is outdoor advertising.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like billboards.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_00: What we focus on is advertising in shopping malls.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_00: So we're a national business, we've, you know, we've kind of, you know, typical entrepreneurial story, like risk everything for what you believe in.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and we yeah, we have a multitude of products of advertising products in in shopping malls all over the UK.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_00: In 2014 is when I mean we'd been within the digital space for a couple of years at that point, but at 2014 it was becoming a lot more aggressive.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_00: And even like now, as as we are, you know, our business is you know 60% digital.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and there's a massive like rollout plan over the next two and a half years where um you know we're gonna have a lot of digital screens uh in the ground, and you know, and digital just creates just you know, just so many other options and flexibilities, um, and just you know, different ways that you can can communicate and engage with consumers.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_00: But at that point of 2014 and you're having children and being around kind of like other parents, you know, mothers that and fathers that you know concerned about digital and their children, and that could be from their phone, from seeing digital screens, you know, outside of their home, uh, to gaming.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_00: Real concern for a lot of parents.
• 39:39
  unknown: Yes.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_00: Do I stop it?
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_00: You know, do I tell them no, you're not allowed to, you know, all of those things.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm sitting you know, I'm kind of like sitting there listening to these concerns and thinking, well, I I've got a conscience because like we have a media company and we're we have digital screens and we're putting more digital screens and we want people to look at our digital screens.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's what we do.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_00: So we have a responsibility, a moral responsibility, and actually it's like you know, a personal responsibility to find out the effects.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, is digital good?
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, and also how much is too much digital, and actually, and how much is not enough?
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's the biggest thing.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_00: So that was my motivation.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_00: It was I was concerned with the effects of digital communication, and I wanted to find out the effects of it for in particular for children.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_00: And that's when I came across the World Liberty Foundation, and there was an actually an advert in the evening standard, and uh it and it was at the first summit at Oxford, and I was just fascinated, and it was like talking about you, yeah, just sharing some crazy stats about the UK in particular, and I was like, oh my word, and I was just you know, this there is a problem.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_00: I want to go and find out about this.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_00: So my quest was understand the effects of digital as a responsibility as a parent and a media owner.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then how can we use it for good?
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's that's how I got involved, and that's where the two marry up.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, my takeout makes a lot of sense.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_01: That's your breach.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_00: So your your takeouts are my takeout of digital digital is not going anywhere.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_00: I think we all know that.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, obviously, I was about to say the horse is bolted there, like it's it's it's here to stay.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_01: You know, digital is here to stay.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_01: It's just what you're weighing up and and exploring is how can it be used for good and how can it be managed effectively.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm assuming that I mean there's a lot of benefits.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of the people I've interviewed on this podcast have a strong digital role or they have they have great digital resources that make reading and literary opportunities accessible, yeah, because you can actually know.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm assuming that's sort of the bridge that you also have yeah realized is a connector.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's exactly it.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_00: And and then and but then also kind of you know, stress testing that because and this is also, you know, again, like wearing my like my business hat, you know, and and actually if by if I have some like real life examples, if we look at you know what happened with COVID, and I think that you know, there's a real test there as well on like just evolution of humans with digital, and it's like we like humans, humans want to be around humans, like digital has its place, but it's not taking over.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_00: And this is what these takeouts can be applied to education.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_00: It you cannot learn just through digital mediums, there has to be a physical connection that there must be.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um that learning may maybe you know, in the future, maybe in the future, when we all become, you know, we're all aliens and don't have a gender and everything else.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_01: What's the difference when that's happening?
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_01: But no, I take your point.
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's it's interesting what you say because some of these people, obviously, that I speak to, I can see amazing work they're doing with digital animation, for example, that that acts that sort of gives access to some of these people that would otherwise find learning and reading challenging.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_01: But what you're pointing out, which I also resonate, is that we have to monitor, manage, and contain it and ensure that there's a strong human element as part of that story and part of that teaching.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_00: I I I yeah, I wholeheartedly feel particularly just you know, for the moment, absolutely.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_00: As I said, maybe in the future that you know that's gonna change, but at the moment, absolutely.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I think you're gonna get you know more success stories for in in context to learning um by having that blended mix.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's right.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's a blend, it's a hybrid.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's it's a hybrid of resources, and it's and also you coming from obviously having strong digital expertise and having a company that that fosters that, I think it's also.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_01: um very pertinent that you're reflecting on that and obviously you know with your own children and people speaking to parents that you think that people learn much better when there's a connection that's human and there's a story that's human and I suppose that's the question is how you how we make sure that we manage that without digital taking over but also becoming a resource that we can all use or that we can teach with because it's happening.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know yeah absolutely and so for you what do you see as the greatest challenge moving forward because the task for the task force is huge but it's also exciting that it's on the agenda and that you're getting great support.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_01: Do you feel that there is traction and that I mean obviously the summit is a wonderful portal for that traction.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_01: Do you see traction elsewhere?
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_01: Do you I mean do you think it's something like even with this podcast I'm getting a lot of feedback and a lot of traction because people are like what I didn't realize it was such a big problem you know people who would otherwise not know about it.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_01: You know because if you're not in the space you don't know about it.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_01: Which is why this is such a great platform to to highlight things like what you're doing.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think is the biggest challenge moving forward?
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_00: Probably many probably the biggest challenge I think it's all gonna it's all in stages and I think it's like I mean the way I the way I I I don't really see the necessarily the biggest challenges.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's just about being organized and having a plan because it's like you know if you fail to plan you plan to fail kind of thing.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_00: So um I think I I'm so obviously with our business you know we we have to go we we we have to I mean we've got a plan for the next four years a better clear plan you know we've brought a plan past that we've got a very clear plan and obviously you know the next two years are very specific and then we have an outline past those two years of where of where we're going.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's using kind of that those business skills and applying it to the methodology and that's where you know I feel like I can assist you know with with our with our project is that I just think you know we if we we've if we've got a map if we've got a map and if we're realistic to you know things like the challenges which you you you know which you're saying then you know it's it's all absolutely doable.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_00: So I would say in answer to your question with regards to the I think the biggest the biggest challenge but you know at the start was always going to be how do we physically get this off the ground?
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_00: And that's right that's what I would have thought yeah yeah that's that was the biggest one because it's like that the the mission statement the objective is crystal clear but how are we going to do it?
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_00: Because every single well for the states everything every single state has a different issue and it needs its own tailored approach um every country is different as its different problem and needs a different approach.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_00: Every continent you know we've got language differences we've got cultural differences there's so many different variables that we have to embrace it is not a one size fits all.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I think our biggest challenge or the most overwhelming challenge was so how do we how do we start this?
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_00: What's going to be the approach?
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I think there's just been a lot of faith in one another and I think you know and just being calm about it not looking at the not looking at the the whole thing as in we've got to get this all done overnight because we're not going to we've got to break it down into bite-sized we've got to break it down into what's realistic.
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_00: We need to be realistic with our time as well because everyone you know has full-time jobs careers um and so you know you're you're you're you're donating your time and you're doing that in your own you know if you have your own time you you're kind of you're that's what you're that's what you're doing.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_00: So it it it's kind of just being realistic with your with your diaries and realistic with your expectations um and just breaking it down to bite-sized chunks.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_00: So I think yeah the biggest challenge definitely was that starting point but I think as you know we've got a roadmap we've got an outline of what we're doing it's going to be exponential we we we achieve you know one part of the chapter then the second chapter is going to be a little bit easier and it will go on like that and then it'll get quicker and quicker.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's a really valid point.
• 48:20
  SPEAKER_01: I also think it's just the logistics, you know, getting into the areas I would imagine that you're trying to target to ensure that what it's like anything it's like if there's a hurricane you want to make sure that you get the food to the right spot to ensure that the people are getting what they need.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_01: So that's sort of probably not a dissimilar you've got a crisis of people not being able to read and write.
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_01: So getting to the people that need that is probably also the most paramount mission I suppose is to ensure that it's getting to the right people in the right way.
• 48:51
  SPEAKER_00: And that's probably quite working out the motivations you know working out who who is our audience you know who who exactly yeah yeah what motivates them.
• 49:02
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's this no you know trying to get someone to do something they don't want to do I mean it's just I mean that's just a hard task.
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_00: So we need to our methodology you know has to be our approach has to be bespoke you know by city or by school that we're working with you know and we and and by individual you know what motivates you because if we can find the common thing what motivates you then that's your bridge that's your link to kind of you know get through and have success.
• 49:30
  SPEAKER_00: But you know if if you you know if you're laboring something to someone and they're completely disinterested well it's just a waste of time.
• 49:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's where we want to be different with our approach to learning is we really want to be considered considered about the individual and if we can create programs you know that that work and are more tailored to the individual needs but in the most efficient way then we're gonna we're gonna win um because it isn't a one size fits all.
• 49:59
  SPEAKER_01: I actually agree with you and I think it's wonderful work and I'm so thrilled to be involved with the foundation and to learn from all of the extraordinary people like yourself doing wonderful work and really trying to build the bridge you know across the literacy space.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_01: I mean I call it like a literacy revolution because that's how I see it.
• 50:17
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's a very I think you know people need to realize it's on a massive scale and it's across the board and it's developed and undeveloped countries and I think that's where you're shining the light on this very important issue.
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry you were just saying also um there's some interesting projects that you're wanting to highlight.
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_01: Tell me what you that was interesting.
• 50:38
  SPEAKER_00: So we're looking at just you know different initiatives to um kind of you know with our cause on improving literacy um levels um here in the UK and um one of them is just you know the basics of just read just reading in general um how a small you know or however much time you want to spend reading but one of the things one of a campaign that we're working on at the moment is bringing um story time into shopping malls.
• 51:08
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously you know this is the the space that I that I work in and my business works in and um you know that's huge demographics massive audiences big demographics really take out just to do a story you know a story time kind of like once a day and encouraging reading and having those stats around you know what reading can do like for you.
• 51:33
  SPEAKER_00: So that's one of the things that we're looking at with with the task force um and we're actually I I can't announce details yet but we have a a sponsor that's going to come on to do that which is absolutely wonderful.
• 51:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then we've got you know kind of like a few um uh kind of like awareness campaigns that we're working on as well again you mentioned earlier on just about you know raising awareness to this issue because I I was exactly that in in 2014 I just presumed that the whole of the UK can read and write of course they can and yeah you know actually you're so ignorant.
• 52:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I and I and it's it wasn't that I was being like ignorant in a rude way it was just I just didn't know.
• 52:16
  SPEAKER_00: So I think creating awareness um and then we can build on that in context to like the global picture.
• 52:21
  SPEAKER_00: So what does this what does a literacy look like or functional literacy look like by country so we can just share more of these real life statistics what is really happening to like resonate what the problem is and then we can get quicker with our solutions.
• 52:41
  SPEAKER_01: Well at the World Literacy Foundation we believe in literacy is the foundation of lifelong learning and education.
• 52:47
  SPEAKER_01: People who cannot read or write experience difficulties with simple everyday tasks such as reading the label of a medicine bottle, filling in a job application or understanding a traffic sign.
• 52:58
  SPEAKER_01: When we help someone to acquire literacy skills we're empowering them to access to better opportunities in life to break the poverty cycle.
• 53:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's a global organisation in Africa, Latin America, the United States, United Kingdom and in Australia.
• 53:13
  SPEAKER_01: The World Literacy Foundation is on a mission to ensure that every child regardless of geographic location has the opportunity to acquire literacy skills and books to reach their full potential.
• 53:24
  SPEAKER_01: We're striving to eradicate literacy by 2040.
• 53:27
  SPEAKER_01: Reading and writing should just be a basic right not a privilege.
• 53:32
  SPEAKER_01: So please if you're interested head to our website at the World Literacy Foundation to see what is happening globally, this extraordinary organisation when we realise that there are 750 million people who cannot read and write so see if you can contribute and make a difference.