Episode description
Episode description
Meghan Gardner is the founder of Guardian Adventures, which provides consultation and development of innovative and educational online and live events, training programs, and STEM programs. Her company specializes in story-based and emotionally immersive experiences where participants are highly engaged and readily transfer their education from the learning environment into practical use. Guardian Adventures also provides curriculum and training development for making education exciting and memorable for adults and employees (including an OSHA training program for corporate lab safety which involves a zombie invasion). Translating High Tech media and Transmedia into In-Person and High Touch experiences are the company's core competencies by developing innovative and educational training or adventures that engage participants in a manner that improves understanding, retention, and transfer.
Meghan is also a STEM Curriculum Designer for ST Unitas (the parent company of The Princeton Review), a story-based adventure designer and staff trainer for Royal Caribbean Cruises (providing onboard educational adventures for their 6 million clients a year), a guest lecturer at Harvard Graduate School of Education and other major universities, and an international speaker on the topic of Immersive Experiences in Education, Learning, and Training for all ages.
In her free time, Meghan mentors women and minority entrepreneurs in the USA and Uganda and volunteers for hospice where she works with terminally ill patients of all ages as well as their families.
- How being a hospice volunteer helped create a non judgmental leadership approach.
- Creating emotionally engaging cultural educational experiences.
- Masterclass on empathy, listening, and powerful storytelling for leaders to use.
- Decision making requires enough time to be uncomfortable with time
- Fantasy and games create commonality and open up necessary possibilities for students
- How to cause good trouble in the world
- Before you can make a ruckus, you've got to create a sense of belonging.
- Inspire the idea of challenging what we think.
- Decision making is about mistakes and the outcome. Own any outcome.
“One of the hardest things to do is to give that kind of compassionate listening when you are being judged. When the person you're listening to is having a hard time listening to you. It's tough because as a leader, you're in a position of authority. By that very nature, you are the one who has power over them or over the outcome. It can be very challenging when that emotional burden is in your chair because it is upon you to give more compassionate listening. Boy it can feel lonely. There can be days when you're human too, and you just don't want to hear yet another reason why someone thinks you're wrong.”
-Meghan Gardner
Meghan Gardner’s Resources & Contact Info:
- The Catalyst Event: July 15: Integrating Cultural Education into Schools
- The Cultural Educator and Diversity & Inclusion Specialist Database
- Guard Up's Guardian Adventures & STEM Summer Camps
- Culturaled.net
- Guardian Adventures
- Instagram.com
Looking for more?
SHOW SPONSORS:
HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
Transform how you lead to become a resilient and empowered change agent with Harvard’s online Certificate in School Management and Leadership. Grow your professional network with a global cohort of fellow school leaders as you collaborate in case studies bridging the fields of education and business. Apply today at http://hgse.me/leader.
School leaders know that productive student talk drives student learning, but the average teacher talks 75% of class time! TeachFX is changing that with a “Fitbit for teachers” that automatically measures student engagement and gives teachers feedback about what they could do differently.
Learn more about the TeachFX app and get a special 20% discount for your school or district by visiting teachfx.com/blbs.
Organized Binder is the missing piece in many classrooms. Many teachers are great with the main content of the lesson. Organized Binder helps with powerful introductions, savvy transitions, and memorable lesson closings. Your students will grow their executive functioning skills (and as a bonus), your teachers will become more organized too. Help your students and staff level up with Organized Binder.
Copyright © 2021 Twelve Practices LLC