This interview is part of the Democratic Education Network’s online magazine and forthcoming book, Transforming Education: Innovation for Sustainability in the AI Era. It centres student voices and lived experience as vital forms of knowledge in shaping more just, democratic, and inclusive education systems.In this conversation, we discuss how ethnicity, culture, and migration affect education....
In December, I had the privilege of travelling to Thailand with students from Westminster University. I wrote a previous blog describing how excited I was to experience every small aspect of this trip, and it certainly taught me things that will make me a better person. This journey marked the beginning of many personal reflections....
Having taught for over thirty years, I have long believed, much like Paulo Freire, that education rarely transforms the lives of learners when it is confined to the classroom. I have never viewed education as a “banking model,” in which educators simply deposit information into passive students. Instead, I have always aimed to engage students...
My friend summed up our field trip perfectly when she said, ‘We lived as locals, not tourists.’ That is precisely what our ten days in Bangkok felt like. We stayed on the campus of Kasetsart University, which provided us with a genuine insight into the daily life of the students there. The university itself was...
This trip really opened my eyes in a way I could not have imagined. Being able to be in Thailand alongside my peers made the learning feel more active, shared, and way more engaging than abstract. Exploring unfamiliar places and encountering new cultural practices, the experience was intense but paced, allowing me to absorb and...
In the famous city of London, there lived a group of students not connected by much. They all led their own unique lives and were experiencing a relatively average University experience. Then, a man with a mission brought these students into something that can only be described as an epic daydream full of friendship, adventure,...
One of the first things that struck me whilst driving through Bangkok was not the heat or the little traffic, but the greenery. Although London was crowned as the “world’s first National Park City”, green spaces here often feel carefully designated and bounded by fences, in parks and woods, but for me, Thailand feels lush...
Where do I even begin? The trip I’ve been nonstop talking about since choosing this module has come and gone. Not only did it exceed my expectations in every way, but I have the people I shared this experience with to thank for that. It has provided me with integral life lessons that I will...
Thailand is a trip that’ll forever stay with me. Every single person I spent time with and made memories with on this trip holds a special place in my heart for their own beautiful reasons, including Farhang Morady and Kyoko Murakami. I’ve acquired a new family into my life, and I couldn’t be any more...
When reflecting on the most significant aspects of the Thailand field trip, it is challenging to narrow them down to just one or two experiences. This field trip felt like a true leap into the unknown, as it was my first time ever leaving Europe and my first time experiencing Thai culture. Despite the leap,...
From the moment I arrived in Thailand, surrounded by unfamiliar streets, new faces, and a completely different culture, I knew this field trip would push me beyond my comfort zone. What I didn’t expect was how quickly connections would form-not only with my classmates, but with the Thai students who welcomed us as if we...
Going to the other side of the globe with people I barely knew from class took an unexpected turn that I never imagined. This trip to Thailand was more than just travel; it was a transformative experience. The journey began at a London airport, where we waited for one another, discovered our seatmates, and slowly...