In this episode, I’m excited to share my conversation with Erin Bailey, Vice President of Literacy Programs and Research at Reading Is Fundamental. This episode is part of our National Literacy Month series of podcasts, presented in partnership between the Be Podcast Network and Reading Is Fundamental (RIF).

You’ll hear about the latest in literacy research, bringing joy to the classroom, the greatest successes in developing readers, and more.

About the host

Richard Gerver is a sought-after speaker, world-renowned thinker, and bestselling author of books including Change and Simple Thinking. His career began in education, first as a teacher and then as a school principal, when he turned the fortunes of a failing school and its pupils around in just two years.

Now regarded as one of the world's leading thinkers on human leadership and organisational transformation, Richard has worked with an extraordinary range of people, from elite athletes to former US President Barack Obama. Named UK Business Speaker of the Year three times, Richard has been invited to speak on the world’s most recognised stages, including TED, the RSA and the BBC.

Follow Richard on Twitter @richardgerver and on LinkedIn.

About today’s guest

Erin Bailey, Ed.D., joined Reading Is Fundamental in 2021 and currently serves as the Vice President of Literacy Programs and Research. Her role includes serving as the subject matter expert and developing, curating, and managing content and professional learning for educators and families on literacy. Dr. Bailey has been an educator in U.S. and international classrooms. Her teaching experience spans from PreK-8 including roles as a classroom teacher, literacy specialist, English language learning specialist, and university instructor.

Explore more BE Podcast Network shows:

• Leading Collaborative Response: https://bit.ly/4dkzMlG
• The Fabulous Learning Nerds: https://bit.ly/3OOoDiu
• Transformative Principal: https://bit.ly/3vPSMY3
• The Authority Podcast: https://bit.ly/48dhakQ

We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL.

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

In this special episode, we welcome award-winning actress, author, producer, and activist Sheetal Sheth to the show. She is the author of the best-selling and award-winning Always Anjali children's book series (Penguin Random House), the first picture book series centering an Indian American hero. Her book Making Happy is an ode to mental health and she is a contributor in Rebel Girls’ latest title Dear Rebel.

This conversation is part of our National Literacy Month series of podcasts, presented in partnership between the Be Podcast Network and Reading Is Fundamental (RIF).

Tune in to hear an insightful discussion about finding your people, creating diverse bookshelves, and Sheetal’s journey to acting and writing.

Connect with Sheetal on social media:

• IG: @beneaththesheetz
• X: @sheetalsheth
• https://www.facebook.com/OfficialSheetalSheth
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheetalsheth

About the host

Richard Gerver is a sought-after speaker, world-renowned thinker, and bestselling author of books including Change and Simple Thinking. His career began in education, first as a teacher and then as a school principal, when he turned the fortunes of a failing school and its pupils around in just two years.

Now regarded as one of the world's leading thinkers on human leadership and organisational transformation, Richard has worked with an extraordinary range of people, from elite athletes to former US President Barack Obama. Named UK Business Speaker of the Year three times, Richard has been invited to speak on the world’s most recognised stages, including TED, the RSA and the BBC.

Follow Richard on Twitter @richardgerver and on LinkedIn.

Explore more BE Podcast Network shows:

• Leading Collaborative Response: https://bit.ly/4dkzMlG
• The Fabulous Learning Nerds: https://bit.ly/3OOoDiu
• Transformative Principal: https://bit.ly/3vPSMY3
• The Authority Podcast: https://bit.ly/48dhakQ

We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL.

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

At the conclusion of The Learning Bridge's first season, I’ve reflected on the many key learnings we’ve uncovered. More of the same is simply not enough if we wish to create a better system and a better future. We need a much tighter narrative link between education and the wider world. Further, it’s time to find the untapped human potential in all of us.

In this episode, I recap the conversations we’ve had over the past months and share my 10 provocations for the future.

The crucial questions to consider in future-focused education policy:

1. How do we remove education from the fragility of political control?
2. How do we broaden the voices that help define the future developments in education?
3. How can we move away from the restraints of trying to develop a new education system when the existing outcomes are always the focus?
4. Have we spent too long debating how our schools should be managed, rather than how they should be led?
5. How do we move away from the belief that schools improve by primarily focusing on industrial efficiency models?
6. Do we not need to learn far more from how young children learn and think? To devise systems that are more bottom up than top down?
7. Is it not time to move beyond the misinformed debate of “skills vs. knowledge?”
8. If it takes a village to raise a child–and I firmly believe it does–then how do we do it?
9. How do we recruit and train the right people to lead our education system?
10. What is the place of technology?

Thanks for joining The Learning Bridge journey this season! Stay subscribed for more episodes coming in the future.

To learn about more great podcasts covering education and leadership, visit https://bepodcast.network

We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL.

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.