Nick Covington and Kate McAllister on Restoring Humanity to Education
- Sophie Dean
- 46 minutes ago
- 2 min read
AUDIO
SHOW NOTES
What does it mean to restore humanity to education?
In this rich and wide-ranging three-way conversation, James is joined by Kate McAllister – co-founder of The Human Hive and lead educator at The Hive in the Dominican Republic – and Nick Covington, co-founder of the Human Restoration Project in the US.
Together, we explore:
The dehumanising effects of traditional schooling models
What human-centred education looks like in practice – both inside and outside the mainstream
Self-regulation, executive function and building trust with students
The role of flow in learning, and why it's missing from most education policy discussions
The Third Coast Learning Collaborative – a US-wide, government-funded project using project-based learning, portfolio assessment, and student-led exhibition
The power of authentic audience and interdisciplinary learning
How progressive educators can embrace data to strengthen their case for change
The importance of courageous school leaders and communities of practice
We also talk about Ozzy Osbourne's funeral procession, mangled chicken coops, flow states, poetry circles, grant funding, and catapults launching frisbees across middle school campuses.
Education doesn’t have to be this way. Across the world, a quiet revolution is taking place – one built on trust, flow, curiosity and care. This episode offers a glimpse of what’s possible when we restore humanity to learning.
CREDITS
Outro track: How it is and how it should be by Grit Control
DON'T BE A STRANGER
The Rethinking Education podcast is hosted by Dr James Mannion and produced by Sophie Dean. You can contact James at rethinking-ed.org/contact, or via a social platform of your choosing: