Noble Conversations:

Epizodes

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  No 21 Rethinking Education with Professor Mick Waters and Neil Hawkes 08.07.2026 54min

  In this podcast you will hear inspirational Mick Waters talk about what really matters in Education. Mick is in great demand as a speaker at conferences. He spends a lot of his time directly helping school think about their curriculum. A former head teacher, Mick Waters works closely with teachers and leaders in schools, MATs and local authorities in the UK, to support the development of teaching approaches and curriculum to ensure the best learning outcomes for children. F...
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  No 20 How to create a meaningful life with Thomas Nielsen and Neil Hawkes 09.06.2026 1h 8min

  Thomas Nielsen, is an Associate Professor at the University of Canberra, Australia. Born in Denmark Thomas brings to this podcast his deep humanity and scholarly understanding about how to create a meaningful life. He has served in several of the Australian Government's values and wellbeing education projects across Australia. His publications have been peer reviewed and published by high impact journals and esteemed book publishers (www.thomaswnielsen.net), and he is the r...
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  No 19 Guided by Integrity. Fabienne Vailes with Neil Hawkes 11.05.2026 1h 10min

  In this revealing Noble Conversation, Fabienne Vailes talks openly about her personal journey and the development of her views about life and education. Fabienne is a parent, educator, and someone who could no longer ignore what wasn’t working in education. First and foremost, she's a mother of two teenage boys. Like many parents, her journey hasn’t been straightforward. It has involved questioning, unlearning, and rethinking what education really means. At one point, she home educated one of...
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  No 18 Inspire, Inform and Entertain! Sir John Jones with Neil Hawkes 19.04.2026 1h 12min

  There is a small and select band of educational professionals in the UK who have not only had their achievements recognised in the New Year’s Honours List, but who are also able to inspire others with their outstanding knowledge, passion and enthusiasm – Sir John Jones is one. Knighted in 2003 for his services to education, Sir John worked most of his professional life in challenging schools across the North West of England, his last post being the head-teacher of a large secondary school in ...
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  No 17 Plant and Care for Peace! With Mika Vanhanen and Neil Hawkes 02.04.2026 44min

  Mika Vanhanen – Ambassador of Knowledge, Peace builder and Founder of Peace Circle® inspires Neil Hawkes during this heartfelt conversation. Mika Vanhanen is a Finnish educator, peace builder and leader in human-centred transition work. For over 30 years, he's worked across schools, municipalities, civil society, business and global networks to understand how real change happens — and why it so often fails. In 2000,Mika founded ENO – Environment Online, which grew into a global school n...
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  No 16 Relax Kids! With Marneta Viegas and Neil Hawkes 27.02.2026 45min

  In this Noble Conversation Neil talks with Marneta Viegas (Netti) who calls herself the Queen of Creativity. She is the creative genius behind Relax Kids, which she founded a decade after running her clowning business in the 90s. Netti says: "I had no idea when I came up with the idea of relaxing children that it would be so mainstream and so vital. Creativity is the driving force in my life and all my work. Every time I swim or shower, ideas come to me. I love being able to suppo...
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  No 15 How to find your purpose with Floyd Woodrow and Neil Hawkes 15.01.2026 42min

  Inspirational Floyd Woodrow has a CV that includes military leader, head of counter terrorism in the SAS, director, consultant, and negotiator, it’s fair to say that Floyd is a real leader who will hold you spell bound with his dynamic personality. Floyd began his career as a soldier in the Parachute Regiment, spending four years with the 1st Battalion before being one of the youngest ever individuals selected for the SAS at the age of 22. Floyd went on to win the second-highest gallantry awa...
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  No 14 Cultivating the Global Sustainable Self with Craig Shealy and Neil Hawkes 03.01.2026 32min

  In this engaging podcast, Neil is delighted to be in conversation with Professor Craig Shealy. Craig's transformational research has so many practical outcomes, especially helping us to understand ourselves and how we form our identity.. Craig is Executive Director of the nonprofit and nonpartisan International Beliefs and Values Institute or IBAVI, a Nehru Chair Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, and deve...
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  No 14 Personal Reflections with Gladson Chikwa and Neil Hawkes 10.12.2025 38min

  Dr Gladson Chikwa is an experienced education professional who has worked in Higher Education for more than 15 years. In this personal reflection he gives us insights into his growing up in Zimbabwe and his academic journey to the UK. Gladson led institutional learning and teaching enhancement projects in different Higher Education Institutions in China, Oman and the UK. He proudly holds Fellow status of the Staff & Educational Development Association (FSEDA) and is a Senior Fellow of the...
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  No 13 Research behind Values-based Education (VbE) with Terry Lovat and Neil Hawkes 28.11.2025 36min

  In this enlightening podcast Neil is in conversation with Professor Terry Lovat who lives in Australia. Neil first got to know Terry when he was a Headteacher running the first explicitly Values-based state school in the UK. Terry was looking for examples of excellent practice in Values Education, which he was researching in Australia. In 2010 he published an incredible large-scale piece of research for the Federal Government, which evidenced conclusively the incredible impa...
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  No 12 SELF-Led Learning. Tim Amaral with Neil Hawkes 16.11.2025 28min

  In this amazing podcast Tim Amaral will challenge you to think about how we should relate to young people in the education system. Shame is OUT and self-worth is IN! Tim is an award-winning adult educator and teacher trainer from Salinas, USA. He specialises in the teaching and application of trauma-informed practices, social-emotional skills and needs-based responsiveness, for use in the classroom, workplace, and home. He is the creator of the SELf-Led Learning model. Tim inspires educ...
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  No11 Giving Voice to Values - Mary Gentile with Neil Hawkes 06.11.2025 52min

  I think you will gain so much about how you can give voice to your values by listening to MARY C. GENTILE, Ph.D having a Noble Conversation with me. Mary is the creator and director of Giving Voice to Values, and consults on management education and values-driven leadership for academic, business, government and non-governmental organisations. She served as Richard M. Waitzer Bicentennial Professor of Ethics at University of Virginia-Darden School of Business from 2016-2022. She was also fac...
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  No 10 The Self-led Educator Joanna Curry-Sartori with Neil Hawkes 27.10.2025 45min

  In this transformational podcast, Joanna inspires us to embrace Self-leadership, based on the theory of Internal Family Systems (IFS), in schools and other settings. Joanna gives us lots of practical ideas and takes us through a PAUSE experience which will fascinate you. After working with leadership in schools and organizations for over 15 years, Joanna recognized that many programs and initiatives teaching emotional regulation and interpersonal skills weren’t addressing the root issue...
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  No 9 Learning Power Scientist Ruth Crick with Neil Hawkes 19.10.2025 47min

  In this incredible episode you will hear from Ruth Crick, one of the world's leading thinkers on learning power. In schools, businesses and indeed all settings we need to discover our learning power, which then drives our ability to develop the human intelligences needed in a possible future dominated by AI. This is truly revolutionary thinking which is helping to transform what and how young people learn. Ruth is the founder of WILD https://www.wildlearn.co/who-we-are. She is the...
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  No 8 Trailblazing Global Teacher Gavin McCormack with Neil Hawkes 10.10.2025 51min

  This is a podcast you will share with your friends and colleagues. This is because you will be uplifted and inspired by Gavin McCormack, co-founder of Upschool.co, a platform that inspires children to develop real-world skills and take action that creates genuine impact. With more than 25 years of experience in education – including a decade as a trained Montessori teacher – Gavin has taught in classrooms across the globe and championed innovative, purposeful learning. He is the Montessori Au...
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  No 7 Enlightened Enterprise Academy's Paul Barnett with Neil Hawkes 06.10.2025 45min

  In this inspiring and life-enhancing episode you will hear about the visionary mission of Paul Barnett. He is strategy and systems thinker, passionately advocating for a far more enlightened approach to enterprise, in business and all other sectors, to confront the pressing global crises of our era. He has founded an international collective of scholars and seasoned professionals across a wide array of fields, all united in their desire to form cross-disciplinary teams that drive tangible ch...
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  No 6 Harmony Project's Richard Dunne with Neil Hawkes 19.09.2025 33min

  Richard Dunne is inspiring! He is someone who is making a huge contribution in the world of education. He founded The Harmony Project after developing the Harmony approach to learning in his previous role as Headteacher. This approach brings together subject-specific skills and knowledge around projects or enquiries of learning that take learning beyond the classroom and apply it to the real world. Each enquiry references a principle of Harmony in Nature – Interdependence, ...
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  No 5 Ethicist Dr Ann Marie Mealy with Neil Hawkes 14.09.2025 41min

  You will love listening to Dr Ann Marie Mealey who is a very engaging person with an infectious positivity. She is known as an eminent ethicist at Leeds Trinity University in the UK. Ann Marie has occupied multiple teaching and leadership roles at Leeds Trinity University for a total of 19 years in the UK. She is known for her leadership and scholarship in ethics and recognised nationally (through networks and in the press) for designing the first Catholic Mission Strategy ...
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  No 4 Cognitive Neuroscientist Prof Mark Williams with Neil Hawkes 05.09.2025 25min

  Dr Mark Williams This is a life enhancing podcast with Mark who has worked with thousands of students, teachers, health professionals, and leaders keen to understand how their brain works, how to perform optimally and maintain a healthy brain. He says: “I regularly run programs on the neuroscience of learning, the neuroscience of emotions, how to hack your habits, how our brains create our reality, and the impact of modern technologies on our brains.” Mark has an extensive academic background...
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  No.3 IFS Founder Dr Richard Schwartz with Neil Hawkes 18.08.2025 40min

  Richard C. Schwartz, Ph.D. - The Founder of Internal Family Systems (IFS) method of PsychotherapyThis inspirational Noble Conversation could change your life, as it features Richard Schwartz the creator of IFS, which is used by psychotherapists worldwide. Dick developed Internal Family Systems (IFS) in response to clients’ descriptions of various parts within themselves. He focused on the relationships among these parts and noticed that there were systemic patterns to the way they were organi...