Dr Michelle Pledger on dream designing for liberatory futures

Amidst political instability, humanitarian and ecologies crises and social fragmentation, where do we begin to create space for designing our freedom dreams for ourselves and our communities? How do we give ourselves permission to dream of a liberated future within creatively restrictive systems? 

In this first episode of 2025, we bring onto the show Dr Michelle Pledger, the founder of Living for Liberation, an organisation that supports liberation of self, systems and society, and academic focusing her research on cultivating culturally responsive teaching and classroom management for culturally and linguistically diverse students.

Michelle is committed to disrupting inequity in education and cultivating a community of practitioners who honour the lived experiences of all their students and educators. Her book, LIBERATE! Pocket-Sized Paradigms for Liberatory Learning is a must read for any educator who aspires to design educational experiences that are responsive to culturally and linguistically diverse young people. Whether it is through the vehicle of project-based learning, culturally responsive-sustaining pedagogy, or freedom facilitation, her hope is to develop educators and students who think critically, act empathetically, and live a life of liberation.

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