18 - 25 Nov 2024
INSPIRE
EDUCATION SUMMIT
THE PATHWAY TO TRANSFORMATION
Free to attend
Online live events
16 thought leaders over 6 days
Free to attend | Online live events | 16 thought leaders over 6 days
If you could design a new paradigm of education, how would it look?
We are celebrating the launch of a new membership platform for start-up schools and learning communities, with six days of webinars that will be addressing this question and painting a picture of how education should and could be reimagined for the 21st century.
Join our thought leaders in envisioning the future of education.
“Education doesn’t need to be reformed – it needs to be transformed”
- Sir Ken Robinson
“Education doesn’t need to be reformed – it needs to be transformed”
- Sir Ken Robinson
Why do we need the INSPIRE Education Summit?
The 2024 Good Childhood Report highlighted ‘school’ as an area of concern for children’s wellbeing.
- The Children’s SocietyReferrals to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) have risen by 50% since 2020.
- NHS England21% of pupils were recorded as “persistently absent” in 2022/23.
- House of Commons Library
After five years of teaching, almost a third of teachers leave the profession.
- Department for EducationThe top skills required by workers today include: Analytical thinking; Creative thinking; Resilience, flexibility and agility; Motivation and self-awareness; Curiosity and lifelong learning; Technological literacy; Dependability and attention to detail; Empathy and active listening.
- World Economic Forum ‘Future of Jobs Report’ 2023
Businesses have lost faith in exams. 89% believe it is important that students are assessed on more than academic attainment.
- Times EducationCommission 2023
Up to seven million workers in England may lack the Essential Employment Skills they need to do their jobs by the year 2035.
- National Foundation for Educational Research
Let’s create a new paradigm of education
At the INSPIRE Education Summit, listen to thought leaders who will be sharing with you their vision for the future of education.
Summit speakers and schedule
Sessions will last up to two hours and include:
A 30 to 60 minute presentation;
An interview with Limitless podcast host Alex O'Neill;
Networking with other INSPIRE Education Summit attendees.
Yumna Hussen
Mon 18 Nov 12pm GMT
About Yumna
Yumna is an 18 year old student at Brown University, studying International Relations and Environmental Sciences. She describes herself as a tenacious, enthusiastic and unconventional student, committed to influencing change to ensure that young people’s voices are not just tokenistic, but rather embedded directly within policy-making.
As a Youth MP for Birmingham and Chair of Birmingham BiteBack Youth Board, Yumna has been involved in a number of campaigns to improve life outcomes for young people.
Yumna has a passion for youth empowerment and transforming the education system through interdisciplinary thinking. This means building resilient, regenerative neighbourhoods, rooted locally through global visions; racial and economic justice; using the power of story-telling and creativity; and youth entrepreneurship utilising technology.
At just 16, Yumna received the Diana Award 2021 and gave an incredible TEDxYouth talk entitled "Re-Imagining Education To Create An Impact In The World". She is currently creating RESILIENCE, a youth-led organisation, dedicated to the holistic growth of young people, using the power of imagination to navigate global issues and transform the education system.
Iris Chen
Mon 18 Nov 7.30pm GMT
About Iris
Iris Chen is an unschooling mother, certified parenting coach, and founder of the Untigering movement. When her authoritarian attempts to raise obedient and high-achieving children only led to years of tears, tantrums, and conflict, she knew something had to change… and it wasn’t her children.
Through her writing and speaking, Iris now shares her healing journey of shifting from power-over to power-with in her relationship with her children. Her mission is to inspire generational and cultural transformation through conscious parenting, self-directed learning, and decolonization, especially among Asian communities.
You can read more about her adventures in her book "Untigering: Peaceful Parenting for the Deconstructing Tiger Parent" and on her blog at untigering.com.
Becky Carlzon
Tue 19 Nov 12pm GMT
About Becky
Becky Carlzon is the founder of two professional educational online learning networks, Learning Pioneers and PressPlay. Both of her platforms are based on research into collective efficacy, the power of community and teacher agency and collaboration.
As a classroom practitioner, the heart of Becky's practice is underpinned by the Design Principles of the Learning Power Approach (LPA) and are outlined in her book, "Powering up Children". Through staying connected with LPA schools and fellow practitioners in her learning communities, Becky is at the forefront of impactful, innovative practice across the globe.
Charlotte Church
Tue 19 Nov 7.30pm GMT
About Charlotte
Singer-songwriter, actress, TV presenter and political activist, Charlotte Church is the founder of The Awen Project, a pioneering new model for education, where young people are championed to be themselves and follow their passions as active participants in a democratic community.
Charlotte has led an extraordinary life, touring the world from the age of 12 to perform in opera houses and for some of the most powerful people in the world. She studied her academic subjects on transatlantic flights and did GCSEs in the White House.
Her vision for The Awen Project came as a mother balking at the unnatural way schools organise children and systematically deny them basic freedoms. She embarked upon an extensive research and development project to understand how education was being done in the best schools in the country, from Springwell Learning Community in Barnsley, to Eton College. Ultimately it was Sands School in Devon that provided the greatest inspiration, and she founded The Awen Project as a charity to support democratic learning communities in 2019.
Je'anna Clements & Sifaan Zavahir
Wed 20 Nov 12pm GMT
About Je'anna
Je'anna Clements is a mother, writer, and passionate advocate for children's rights. She is co-founder and facilitator of Riverstone Village, a Self-Directed Education (SDE) community in South Africa. With an Honours degree in Psychology, Je'anna went on to pursue self-education in SDE, becoming a specialist in the field. She offers international training and support for SDE facilitators and unschooling parents, focusing on empowering young people, including those with Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA).
Je'anna has authored several books, including "What if School Creates DYSlexia?", "Help, My Kid Hates School!", and the "Helping the Butterfly Hatch" series for SDE facilitators. She has served as an Oversight Committee member at EUDEC (European Democratic Education Community), and co-founded Fhree.org, and MyLifeMy.Education before becoming a Founding Member of the Rights-Centric Education network. With over 18 years of experience, Je'anna’s work reflects her commitment to helping others navigate and achieve best practice in the world of Self-Directed Education.
About Sifaan
Sifaan Zavahir managed to keep-alive into adulthood a common childhood skill that is often suppressed: insatiably asking discomfiting questions. That process took him through programming, engineering, leadership development for corporates to, eventually, education, where he identifies as a Dehegemonizer: in Sri Lanka at Kinder Republic, a Democratic School he co-founded in 2021, and internationally via Rights-Centric Education. He is also working on a new "operating system" for education where communities are learning "with" each other (instead of "from" experts) based on abundance, consent and trust.
Dr James Mannion
Wed 20 Nov 7.30pm GMT
About James
Dr James Mannion is the Director of Rethinking Education, a teacher training organisation specialising in implementation and improvement science, self-regulated learning and practitioner inquiry. He is the author of "Fear is the Mind Killer: Why Learning to Learn Deserves Lesson Time - And How to Make it Work For Your Pupils" (Mannion & McAllister, 2020) and "Making Change Stick: A Practical Guide to Implementing School Improvement" (Mannion, 2025; in press).
A former teacher and school leader of 12 years, James has an MA in person-centred education from the University of Sussex and a PhD in self-regulated learning from the University of Cambridge.
James is an Associate of Oracy Cambridge and a By-Fellow of Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge.
He is also the host of the popular Rethinking Education podcast and conference network.
Dr Naomi Fisher
Thu 21 Nov 12pm GMT
About Naomi
Dr Naomi Fisher is a clinical psychologist and author who writes about the intersection between education and child psychology. She has written two books on self-directed education, "Changing Our Minds" and "A Different Way to Learn". Her latest book (with Eliza Fricker) "When the Naughty Step Makes Things Worse" came out in October 2024.
She runs popular webinars for parents on helping children with their mental health and specialises in trauma, autism and alternative education.
Kate Robinson
Thu 21 Nov 7.30pm GMT
About Kate
Kate Robinson is a passionate advocate for unleashing human potential through creativity and education. She is the co-author of "Imagine if... Creating a Future for Us All", which serves as the manifesto for her father Sir Ken Robinson.
Kate is dedicated to continuing Sir Ken's legacy and champions creativity as an essential skill for navigating an uncertain future. She inspires audiences to radically rethink existing systems, envisioning a world rebuilt on creativity, collaboration, and compassion. Kate firmly believes in our collective power to recreate the worlds we inhabit.
Ellie Costello
Fri 22 Nov 12pm GMT
About Ellie
Ellie works nationally across policy and practice to effect cultural and systemic change on behalf of all children who experience barriers to school attendance. She gave evidence to the Education Select Committee in 2023 and has collaborated with broadcast news (BBC, Channel 4, ITN, Sky News) and documentaries (Panorama) to tell the stories of families and professionals struggling in the current system.
She is co-author of the critically acclaimed book “Square Pegs: compassion, inclusion and fitting in - a guide for schools” and is Parliamentary Vice Co-Chair for the Council for Disabled Children’s Special Education Consortium. She has been invited to join the Who is Losing Learning Solutions Council, convened by the IPPR and The Difference.
A Therapeutic Parent and carer, mental health, wellbeing, neuroscience and child development inform Ellie’s advocacy and campaigning. She is a critical thinker, curiosity geek and lifelong learner.
Dr Gina Riley
Fri 22 Nov 7.30pm GMT
About Gina
Gina Riley, Ph.D., is an educational psychologist, Program Director, and Clinical Professor of Adolescent Special Education at CUNY – Hunter College. She has conducted significant research on homeschooling and unschooling, an educational method and philosophy that advocates student intrinsic motivation as a primary means for learning.
In addition to her research on self-directed learning environments, Dr. Riley has expertise in Supported Decision Making, an alternative to guardianship for students with disabilities. Dr. Riley also has extensive experience in online, hybrid, and HyFlex education, having been actively involved in the field since 1998.
Her contributions to educational psychology and alternative education models have been influential in shaping contemporary discussions about personalized and flexible learning approaches.
Dr. Riley is the author of numerous academic articles and three books, including "Unschooling: Exploring Learning Beyond the Classroom" (Palgrave, 2020), "The Homeschooling Starter Guide" (Simon & Schuster, 2021), and "The Joys of Self Determined Learning: A Collection of Essays" (Ricci Publishing, 2022).
She is the current President-Elect of the New York State Association of Teacher Educators.
Zoë Neill Readhead
Mon 25 Nov 12pm GMT
About Zoë
Zoë Neill Readhead has been the principal of Summerhill School in Suffolk, UK, since 1985, when she took over from her father, education pioneer, author and Summerhill founder, A.S. Neill.
Summerhill School is the oldest democratic school in the world today. Founded over 100 years ago, their aim is to allow children to grow naturally, to experience personal freedom, to play and develop at their own pace and to go in their own direction whilst taking responsibility for their own actions and the community around them.
Zoë is also the author of "Barefoot in November. Parenting the Summerhill Way".
Could you set up your own school or
learning community?
We hope that the talks above will be a source of inspiration to those who are striving to create something new.
'Ask the Expert' Q&A
Monday 25th Nov, 7.30-9.30pm GMT
You are invited to join a panel of experts who have been there and done it, to learn how they set up their own innovative schools and learning communities.
Come and find out how these founders are paving the way for a new paradigm of education, which places children’s rights, 21st century life-skills, social justice and mental health right at the core.
Our panellists
Sophie Christophy
The Cabin and The Lodge
About Sophie
Sophie Christophy is the co-founder of consent-based, self-directed learning communities, The Cabin and The Lodge on the Hertfordshire/Essex border, England.
Sophie is an education visionary and innovator, bringing Consent-Based Education to life in theory and practice. With years of practical experience in creating and holding consent-based, self-directed learning community, her in-depth theoretical, philosophical and personal understanding of the transition to this new education paradigm means Sophie can not only paint a clear picture of this change in action, but answer your ‘how to?’ questions too.
The Cabin & The Lodge
The Cabin (ages 5-11yrs) and The Lodge (ages 10-16yrs) are part-time learning communities catering for home educated young people.
This setting describes self-directed education as, “listening to your self, and exploring the world in the way that is meaningful to you and your own sense of curiosity and purpose. Being able to choose what, when and how you want to learn and do things, based on what feels right to you.”
They describe consent-based education as, “understanding your own agency and autonomy, and the freedom and boundaries that come with that. Being able to say an authentic yes, no or maybe, and respecting the boundaries and consent of others.”
Their other guiding principles include:
(Ed)ucation Positivity;
Shared Decision Making, Risk Management and Conflict Navigation;
Children’s rights, social and environmental justice.
Melissa Kendall
Lumiar / Griffin Club
About Melissa
Melissa Kendall is the co-founder, and formerly director, of the first Lumiar school in the UK. She is now the Managing Director of Griffin Club, a community-led education initiative in Wiltshire, England.
Melissa is a pioneer in innovative education in the UK and says:
“I believe that much of the current education system is too narrowly focused on exams and external affirmation, and that young people need to be given more space and freedom to make mistakes, be creative and follow their own interests. This is the key to developing a lifelong love of learning.”
Lumiar & Griffin Club
At Melissa’s learning community, Griffin Club, young people are empowered to learn from real-world experience and personal mentorship.
Previously, she co-founded Lumiar UK, an independent primary school for children aged 4-11 years, which is based on a working farm in Wiltshire, England.
Lumiar say:
“We’ve reimagined education. We believe it should be an exciting adventure where young people feel engaged and empowered to learn, where curiosity is celebrated, and where asking difficult questions is encouraged.
We aim to send children out into the world with a strong sense of who they are, what they love, and how they are going to make a difference in the world! We do this by inspiring and supporting them – while giving them the space to figure things out for themselves.
We want them to leave our school filled with self-belief and a sense of purpose, ready to rise to the challenge of life in the twenty-first century and excited about whatever the next stage of their adventure looks like.”
Dr Ian Cunningham
Self Managed Learning College
About Ian
Ian chairs the Board of Trustees of the Centre for Self Managed Learning. He created the Self Managed Learning approach in the late 1970’s and founded the Self Managed Learning College (SMLC) in 2001.
SMLC operates as a learning community and has 67 students aged 9 to 17. The community has no curriculum, no imposed lessons, no imposed timetable, no classrooms and no uniform. Students can learn anything they want and in any way that they want!
Ian has published nine books and over 150 articles and papers in areas such as education, learning, leadership and organisational change.
All those who attend this session live, will be entered into a prize draw to win one of Ian’s most recent books, ‘Self Managed Learning and the New Educational Paradigm’.
He has been a Visiting Professor at several universities and has also acted as a learning consultant to most of the world’s largest international companies as well as to the UK National Health Service, Government departments and local authorities.
SMLC
The Self Managed Learning College (SMLC) is a democratic, freedom-orientated learning community for home educated young people aged 9-17yrs, based near Brighton in England. Founder, Dr Cunningham says:
“There’s a lot we know about how children and young people learn, for instance they are all different. Yet school assumes that children and young people will learn the same things, in the same way, at the same time, through a fixed curriculum.
The essence of the Self Managed Learning approach is that we provide a structure within which young people can plan, organise and carry out learning activities. We treat each young person as an individual, so we don’t have classrooms or an imposed curriculum. Each student is able to work out for themselves what and how they want to learn.”
SMLC research has shown that this is the most effective way for people to learn. Taking responsibility for one’s own learning, and learning to learn, are vital skills in a fast-changing world. SMLC prepares young people for the test of life, not a life of tests!
Lucy Stephens
The New School
About Lucy
Lucy Stephens is the founder and director of The New School, a democratic, non-fee-paying independent school in London.
This innovative educational charity exists to shape a new approach to education and the student experience, to create better outcomes for children, teachers and the wider community, and to explore ways to expand impact through online resources.
With a background in teaching, degrees in social psychology, nutritional therapy and herbal medicine, and experience working with marginalised young people at the Prince’s Trust, Lucy is determined that The New School will act as a catalyst to evolve the education system in the UK as well as building and sharing an evidence base so that more young people have the chance to fulfil their potential and go on to lead happy lives.
The New School
The New School, which caters for both primary and secondary aged young people, was founded upon the principles of:
Democratic Governance;
Student Voice;
Respectful Relationships;
Authentic Learning;
Inclusion;
Community.
They collaborate with partners, including education leaders and universities, to conduct ground-breaking research that interrogates the building blocks of the current education model and explores avenues to improve it, in order to build a strong case for policy change.
The charity convenes interested parties from connected sectors, like health, likeminded educators, local and national authorities, and funding partners, to facilitate peer to peer learning and collaboration towards a common goal. Together, from a foundation of shared values and beliefs, the aim is to drive this movement forward and catalyse system change.
Exciting News!
During this webinar, we will be launching our new membership community for start-ups. This is your opportunity to sign up for ongoing support and gain access to further advice and guidance from our network of experts.
Recordings
All sessions (apart from networking sessions) will be recorded. Recordings of the summit talks and the ‘Ask the Expert’ Q&A will be sent out to all those who register. They will be available to view for free until the end of November 2024, after which they will be available to purchase.
Attend live to be in with the chance of winning!
All those who attend the live sessions will be entered into a prize draw to win some great prizes, including signed books from some of our speakers!
Those who attend the live sessions will be entered into a prize draw to win some great prizes, including signed books from some of our speakers!
About Us
The INSPIRE Education Summit is brought to you by Jo Symes at Progressive Education and Alex O’Neill from Limitless. We are education activists who have a shared passion for raising awareness of alternatives to mainstream school.
Alex and Jo first teamed up in 2022 to create events and resources to support those who want to set up learning environments where young people can thrive outside of the conventional education system.
We decided to organise the INSPIRE Education Summit to celebrate the launch of our new membership community for start-up schools and learning communities, which will be announced at the Q&A panel on Monday 25 November. We hope that these events will paint a picture of how education could be reimagined, in order to inspire attendees to create something new.
Introducing Alex O’Neill
Alex is the driving force behind Limitless, an organisation dedicated to igniting social change with a special emphasis on revolutionising the education sector.
Through the Limitless podcast, she shares expert insights and neuroscience tips to empower changemakers to tackle the world's most pressing issues.
Alex is committed to uniting individuals who are driven to advance education and supporting them in overcoming obstacles that stand in their way.
Introducing Jo Symes
Jo is the founder of the social enterprise, Progressive Education. Her website is an inspiration hub for exploring alternatives to conventional schooling and campaigns to bring about change. She is building a
global directory of jobs, events and progressive schools and learning communities.
It began with the launch of the Progressive Education Group on Facebook in 2019, which is an international community of almost 10k parents/carers, educators, academics, researchers, psychologists, education innovators, changemakers and young people.
