Reflective Questions: Deepening the Impact of UNLEARN

On this journey towards creating gender-inclusive belonging in education, reflection could be a vital step. That seems to play a crucial role in no matter what I am teaching or preaching about. That’s why the most recent episodes of the UNLEARN podcast now include reflective questions. These questions are designed to spark personal and professional growth for educators, encouraging us to examine our own biases, values, and teaching practices.

Why Reflective Questions?

I hope reflection helps us move beyond passive listening and into active learning. By integrating reflective questions into each episode, the podcast might become not just a source of information but also a tool for transformation. These prompts could guide listeners to think critically about what they’ve heard, connect it to their lived experiences, and consider practical ways to foster more inclusive classrooms.

Each of the episode pages includes the reflective questions, together with all the links to the sources mentioned in that episode. 

How Can You Use These Questions?

I am hoping these reflective questions can be good for:

  • Individual Growth: Take time to journal your responses after each episode.

  • Team Discussions: Share the questions with colleagues in staff meetings or professional development sessions.

  • Classroom Practice: Adapt the prompts to create a reflective culture with students, promoting critical thinking about gender inclusion.

Your Turn

Have you listened to the latest episodes? If so, how have the reflective questions impacted your understanding or teaching practice? I’d love to hear your thoughts - send those as comments or private messages through the @unlearnpod Instagram account.

Together, let’s keep unlearning and building spaces where everyone belongs.

If you haven’t caught up yet, now’s the perfect time to tune in and reflect with us. Find the UNLEARN podcast on your favourite platform, or visit https://unlearnpod.blogspot.com/ to explore all episodes and resources, such as those reflective questions! 






Popular posts from this blog

The UNLEARN podcast has four episodes out and is available now also on Apple Podcasts

Image
I am thrilled to share that the UNLEARN podcast now has four episodes available, and you can listen to them on Apple Podcasts too ! Reaching this milestone has been a journey of passion and learning—and yes, jumping through a few hoops to get the podcast onto Apple Podcasts, but it’s worth it to make it easier for educators like you to tune in. A quick recap of the episodes so far: Episode 1: Who am I, and why do I want to support teachers in gender inclusion? This episode introduces the UNLEARN podcast and my personal journey—why I am passionate about gender inclusion in education and how I hope to inspire teachers to create inclusive classrooms. Episode 2: How Can Our Common Values Help Us Unlearn and Embrace Gender Diversity? In this episode, I explore how shared values and mental models can guide us in challenging biases and fostering a more inclusive mindset, offering practical examples for educators. Episode 3: How Can Gender Statistics Challenge and Inspire Teachers? with Sylvia...
Read more

The first episode of the UNLEARN Podcast is now published

Image
After running the 'Let’s Talk About Supporting Teachers in Gender Diversity and Inclusion' webinar for educators, we got together for a debrief with Rachel who co-ran the session with me. We tried to ideate what would work better - getting teachers in one place simultaneously is tricky, even if PD is what they clearly wanted. Even based on the survey I'm now analysing the results of. Those results were what the webinar content was also based upon. We then ideated that we could create videos about topics that we'd love to share knowledge about, and then we realised that podcast would be even a better way to do that. That become the starting point of designing the UNLEARN podcast as a support solution for educators.  When you are excited, things move fast, so the first episode is out! Publishing the first episode of my podcast, UNLEARN , was deeply rewarding but also uniquely unsettling. I haven't felt this vulnerable in a long time. It wasn’t just about sharing conte...
Read more

My Design Principles for Supporting Gender Inclusion in Education: Insights from Practice-Based Research

Image
When I first began exploring how to better support educators in developing gender-inclusive mental models, I knew that creating resources alone wouldn’t be enough. The way support was designed and the values and assumptions embedded in it would matter just as much as the content. Through a practice-based, design-driven research journey, I came to understand that meaningful change in education needs tools that are not only informative but also relational  and  reflective. Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all solution, these design principles I have been working with create a flexible foundation. My goal has been to provide guidance rooted in real-world needs while leaving space for adaptation. In this project, developing design principles helped ensure that the tools I created, such as the UNLEARN podcast episodes, remained aligned with the diverse realities of educators and gender-diverse students across Aotearoa New Zealand. Here are my Design Principles 1. Flexible, Low-...
Read more