S2E2: Yumna Hussen and Lottie Cooke on Pupil Power, mental health and ableist attendance awards

Earlier this year, through connecting with people in the Mighty Network, I hosted a series of six "campfire conversations". In contrast to the podcast, which features long-form, pre planned, recorded conversations with individuals, the campfire conversations were an attempt to bring more people into the conversation. These were live-streamed, shorter, more spontaneous conversations that usually included between 6 and 12 people at a time - always including young people, as well as parents and carers, psychologists and so on. If you haven't seen any campfire conversations, they're all archived on YouTube, along with one or two juicy clips - there’s a link below. The fact that those campfire conversations included the voices of young people was absolutely wonderful, and kind of rare. The idea that we should include young people in discussions about education shouldn't really be a radical thing, should it. But, we are where we are. Anyway, I am delighted to be able to say that in this episode, I speak with Yumna Hussen and Lottie Cooke from Pupil Power, an absolutely brilliant youth organisation dedicated to: * raising awareness of young people’s perspectives on education; * educating young people on how funding cuts have affected education provision in recent years; and * campaigning for changes to educational policy and practice that take account of the experiences, views and desires of young people. The very thought, listeners! Whatever next! Yumna Hussen is currently studying A levels in Biology, Chemistry and Politics. in the lower sixth. She is the Youth MP for Birmingham, and the author of a wonderful book called Struggles of War, which she wrote when she was in Year 8. Like you do. She's also done a fabulous TEDx talk entitled 'Re-Imagining Education To Create An Impact In The World'.(Links below) Lottie Cooke is currently a first year undergraduate at the University of Warwick. She is a young journalist and has published some brilliant articles and appeared on many a podcast setting out her vision for the future of education (link to article below). It was an absolute joy and privilege to be able to spend a few hours in the company of Lottie and Yumna. There is so much wisdom and insight packed into this conversation that I had to keep pausing it and re-listening to whole sections. I think it will take me a couple more listens at least before I can take it all in properly. And although many of the issues we spoke about are deeply concerning and challenging, when you speak with young people like Lottie and Yumna you come away feeling like the future is in safe hands. LINKS: Mighty Network Welcome Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47xZ73YPTNs&t=3s Rethinking Education Campfire Conversations playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ6mCUmebHJNC-qrWX9gMBCQJtHxoGNh2 James’s secret teacher article: https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2012/sep/08/secret-teacher-political-control-education-innovation-fatigue The secret teacher archive: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/the-secret-teacher Yumna’s book, Struggles of War: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Struggles-War-Yumna-Hussen-ebook/dp/B07FPS2PGF Yumna's TEDs talk, 'Re-Imagining Education To Create An Impact In The World': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkpeN64AuLU&ab_channel=TEDxTalks Article by Lottie Cooke setting out her vision for the future of education: https://www.getrevue.co/profile/innovatejournal/issues/innovate-journal-issue-2-485387?utm_campaign=Issue&utm_content=view_in_browser&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Innovate+Journal The Rethinking Education Mighty Network: www.rethinking-education.mn.co/feed Become a Patron of the Rethinking Education project: www.patreon.com/repod Buy James a pint, a coffee - or perhaps even a pint of coffee: www.buymeacoffee.com/repod