Rethinking Education: From Fractions to Feelings

When I left teaching, I thought I was kind of closing the door on education. No more reports, no more staff meetings, no more late-night laminating marathons. But the funny thing is — I never really left. I just stopped measuring education in attainment (the children's AND mine) and timetables, and started noticing it in the places that I think really matter.

These days, education looks less like “sit still and put your hand up” and more like:

• A child learning to articulate their feelings instead of exploding in the middle of the classroom.

• A teacher realising they don’t have to run themselves ragged to prove they’re good at what they do.

• A parent taking a deep breath in the car park before pick-up and calling it a small victory.

  
  

It turns out resilience, kindness, confidence, and creativity — the things that so often get squeezed into the edges of the school day — are the very things that carry us through life. They don’t come with marks out of ten, but they shape how we handle the messy, beautiful, unpredictable business of being human.

So no, I’m not teaching fractions anymore. But I am teaching how to pause when your mind is racing, how to spot your own character strengths, how to weave storytelling into wellbeing, and how to build communities where people feel seen. And honestly? That feels like the real curriculum.

In this week’s Green Heart Wellbeing Podcast (Episode 3), I’m talking about what education looks like for me now, beyond the four walls of a classroom. Spoiler: it involves less about adding two digit numbers together, more stories and making space to explore ourselves as human beings.

If you’ve ever wondered whether there’s more to learning than spelling tests and grammar, this one’s for you.

Listen here or watch here.

With a Green Heart,

Ashley

'Earth School'