Al Kingsley and Matt Jessop interview Richard O’Neill MBE – Author, master storyteller, founder of Lumberjunkers, visiting professor at Durham, campaigner for men’s health.

• Storytelling as the heart of communication: Richard shares how his Romany upbringing shaped his love of oral storytelling and literacy. He argues that storytelling develops oracy, confidence, and resilience—vital human “soft” skills often overlooked in education and business.

• Woodwork + Word work = Learning through making: His Lumberjunkers project combines woodworking with storytelling. Children build physical items (like shelves or mirrors), developing pride, persistence, teamwork, and creativity. It’s particularly impactful for girls and students who don’t always shine in traditional classrooms.

• Storytelling in business and digital age: Richard explains how storytelling makes data and business pitches more relatable and memorable, as well as how it helps children critically evaluate narratives in our information-rich, tech-driven world—an important element of digital citizenship.

• Useful tech vs. gadgets: All three agree technology should serve a clear purpose rather than being used for its own sake. Human connection and practical skills remain key in an increasingly digital society.

• Broadening the curriculum: Discussion about how narrowing education to core subjects sidelines creativity, arts, and practical skills—areas that foster resilience, innovation, and career pathways in creative industries.

• Mental health & initiative: Richard recounts how he founded National Men’s Health Week, stressing the importance of taking initiative and showing children they can lead change in their communities.

• Hybrid learning & flexibility: Richard draws parallels with nomadic communities who’ve embraced hybrid learning for decades, suggesting schools could learn from this model to support experiential education.

1. Paperwork/data nobody ever looks at.

2. Overly rigid systems that restrict teacher and student agency.

3. “Useless” tech that serves no real learning purpose.

“Storytelling isn’t just a skill; it’s the beating heart of human connection. Stories build resilience, empathy, and pride—and help us make sense of our world.”

🎙️ Joining the Dots: Challenging the Rhetoric of AI in Education with Bianca Farthing

In this thought-provoking episode of Joining the Dots, Al and Matt are joined by Bianca, founder of AI Edify, history teacher, and digital leader — to explore how education can rise above the hype of AI and technology to truly serve learners.

Together, they dive into: ✨ Why education must prioritise ethics, safeguarding, and humanity over efficiency when adopting AI. ✨ The dangers of letting commercial agendas drive how children experience technology — from grief bots to Snapchat AI. ✨ How schools can use AI responsibly to deepen learning, not just save time. ✨ What a truly balanced, future-ready education system should aim to develop: kindness, resilience, critical thinking, and agency. ✨ Why personalised learning risks being more about platforms than learners, and how to reclaim it.

Bianca shares her motivation for founding AI Edify, a teacher-led consultancy and toolkit provider designed to challenge assumptions, put pedagogy first, and keep the teacher at the heart of the classroom.

She also reflects as a parent on what she hopes education will look like when her young son enters secondary school, and her fears that little may change without more courageous leadership and investment.

💡 “AI should help us think deeper, not just work faster,” Bianca reminds us, calling for evidence-informed, sustainable, and truly learner-centred innovation.

📍 Find Bianca and her work at: www.aiedify.com or here on LinkedIn.

In this thought-provoking episode of Joining the Dots, Al Kingsley and Matt Jessop are joined by global education innovator and learner-centred strategist Carla Aerts. With decades of experience in EdTech, AI, and digital learning, Carla brings a passionate, challenging, and compassionate lens to the big question: what is education really for?

🧠 From soft skills (or rather, “power skills”) to digital equity, learner agency, neuroplasticity, and the troubling persistence of high-stakes testing, this episode is a tour de force through the most pressing issues facing education today. The trio tackle:

• Why education should be the catalyst for children’s potential, not just a pathway to employment

• The hidden dangers of retrofit EdTech and surface-level AI use in schools

• Why teachers must be supported to experiment safely with AI, not excluded by fear or poor infrastructure

• The critical need for curriculum reform beyond political cycles — and why tweaking around the edges won’t do

• How teaching kids about how their brains work can supercharge motivation and learning

• The growing assessment crisis, and why we should stop trying to monitor broken systems with new tech

• The risks of inequity if we fail to provide digital access as a basic right

💬 Carla calls for a new kind of education—adaptive, co-created, scaffolded for safe experimentation, and deeply human. Expect challenging takes, energising provocations, and plenty to reflect on long after the episode ends.

🔁 As ever, grab a notebook – or better yet, gather your team – because this one’s packed with ideas to take back to your school or trust.