Humanising Education: Forging bright partnerships in the US, Poland, and beyond!
By Dr Ryan Bramley
It’s safe to say I’ve never been the ‘jet-set’ type. My first time on a plane was to Portugal when I was 16, on my first family holiday abroad. The Algarve was lovely, but the following year, I asked if we could go back to the Isle of Wight instead — it was much more in my comfort zone!
Things are a little bit different now. In the past few years, my work has taken me to Australia, Iceland, and — in March this year — the US. As an early career academic, I’m not quite so travel-shy anymore!
The purpose of my trip to the States? I had been asked by Holistic Think Tank, a Poland-based non-profit organisation that promotes new ways of thinking about education, to give a talk at their ‘Interdisciplinary School Subject’ Summit in Columbus, Ohio. I had never been to America before — and I loved every minute of it.
Our partnership with Holistic Think Tank began in 2022, when Dr Sabine Little and I successfully applied for their $100,000 ‘Interdisciplinary Subject Development Program’ research grant. Alongside two brilliant US-based educational organisations — Human Restoration Project and The Fab Foundation — we were tasked with creating a new project-based curriculum that could be taught to primary school pupils in international contexts.
From the moment I stepped off the plane at John Glenn International, I felt at home. Prior to my flight, I had joked with our wonderful Summit hosts that I would be disappointed if they weren’t holding a sign up for me at the airport, ‘Love Actually’ style. I didn’t think they’d actually do it — but there was Nick and Maria, holding a sign that said: “Welcome to Ohio — Ryan, U of Sheffield”!
The Educational Summit was an equally welcoming environment to be in. This two-day event was held in the beautiful Students’ Union building at Ohio State University, in the heart of one of the largest university campuses in the world. It was a fitting venue for a meeting of international teachers and researchers to discuss the future of primary education. (I was interviewed about the Summit by Maria Mazurek — the full transcript can be found here.)
The Summit provided a brilliant opportunity to discuss our recent curriculum development work with attendees at the HTT Education Summit. Our new interdisciplinary subject, ‘My Media, My Power, My World’, centres on critical thinking and social justice, and aims to prepare young learners for their future engagement within ever-changing digital, virtual, and physical landscapes.
The subject was the product of our wonderful School of Education research team that included two Research Associates and former teachers, Hannah Raine and Adeline Choo; and creative support from Sheida Tanhai, our Digital Media Assistant.
As well as presenting, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to transformational educators at the Summit about their work:
- Pasi Sahlberg, a renowned Finnish educational expert, professor and policymaker;
- Justyna Pokojska, Sociologist and Executive Director of Holistic Think Tank, with a research background in digital competencies and gender inequalities;
- Chris McNutt and Nick Covington, Executive Director and Creative Director (respectively) of the groundbreaking non-profit, Human Restoration Project;
- and from The Fab Foundation — the organisation behind 2,500+ ‘Fab Labs’ worldwide — Sherry Lassiter (President & CEO) and Rodney Williams (Outreach & Education Program Manager).
The trip to Columbus was just four days long, but it also gave me the chance to forge new international partnerships which have continued long after the Summit ended.
One of the attendees — Teacher and Educational Consultant, Trevor Aleo — invited Sabine and me to host a Twitter ‘Live Chat’ on 31st May, on behalf of the AERA (American Educational Research Association) Writing and Literacies Special Interest Group. We had a wonderful time, discussing our hopes for literacies research and practice with newfound colleagues in the US and beyond.
And more recently, Holistic Think Tank have launched the second edition of the Holistic Think Tank ‘Interdisciplinary School Subject’ grant programme — providing us and Human Restoration Project with an additional $75,000 each to establish a series of interdisciplinary curriculum pilots in schools across the UK, US and Poland. This second phase of the research project is vital: enabling us to generate practical recommendations for developing the Interdisciplinary School Subject further afield.
I still pinch myself when I’m asked to travel overseas for work. This is my job! I’m not sure the novelty will ever wear off. There will always be a part of me that gets giddy at the thought of travelling to a brand new place and meeting new and interesting people.
Where will my job take me next? I have no idea — but I can’t wait to find out!
Dr Ryan Bramley is Lecturer in Education in The School of Education at The University of Sheffield.
