Tiny Voices Talk

When tiny voices talk, three amazing things happen: they share surprising ideas and insights; they realise they are not so tiny; and they empower other tiny voices to talk too.Drawing on the winning formula of her Tiny Voice Talks podcasts, Toria Bono has compiled a great resource full of top tips and actionable advice from a range of tiny voices across the educational spectrum. The assembled voices speak on a broad range of topics relating to education and learner development - from mentoring, metacognitive skills and period education, to trauma-informed practice, nurturing curious learners and finding flow in the classroom.But above all, this book is a call to action for all those in our schools who have yet to find their voice to find it - and use it. There are big people with big voices (and big egos) in education, yet they are the minority. The majority consists of great people just getting on with doing great things - more often than not with people, not data, at the heart of their practice. This book inspires such people to find and use their voice; and when tiny voices talk to tiny voices, everyone wins. Suitable for teachers, teaching assistants and school leaders in all phases.;

An engaging and insightful take on how educators can deliver more outdoor- and nature-oriented learning opportunities for the benefit of their pupils' mental and physical well-being.

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#TinyVoiceTalks is an extraordinary movement that started on Twitter. It hinges around giving confidence and opportunity to the many unheard voices in education to find their voice, to have their say and pass on what they have learned. It hinges around the importance of active listening so that we learn from other people's viewpoints and experience; the importance of being tentative about what we know, recognising and respecting other ideas.

What is obvious from this collection of essays is that we have more than enough experience in the profession to raise everyone's game. If only we were better at sharing, listening and learning from each other.Twitter can be a scary place. Strident voices and bragging egos boom with certainty and we have all seen what can happen if someone puts out a view that is unpopular. This sort of aggressive posturing is destructive and Twitter is too often like a corrosive virus.

Toria Bono set up #TinyVoiceTalks as a respectful, safe space for professionals to share experiences and ideas, listen generously to different viewpoints and learn from each other. The essays cover varied topics and offer surprising insights: 'Ooh, that's interesting.' The longest is 10 minutes; most take 3 minutes to read, a smorgasbord of teaching nuggets.

I explored unfamiliar, fascinating subjects, some perhaps irrelevant to my education role. The book is about kindness as well as education; many teachers would agree its main aim is kindness towards others and ourselves. Our work is never finished and often unsatisfactory; resilience lets us care for ourselves, colleagues and children.

Reading felt like a little treasure box of intriguing stories about teachers' lives and what they learned; sharing professional realities holds gems. Sections start with 'that teacher', the special teacher who saw something in a child and changed their life. They cover inclusion, teaching, professional and personal development, telling our story, and finding our voice to contribute quietly and confidently to education's general movement.