Interview: Kate O’Donnell (Exploratorium)

Posted on by Kit Marie Rackley (they/she)

On Thursday 11th June, Discover The World Education ran an online TeachMeet, hosted by David Rogers. The theme was “International Connections”, and given that both personally and professionally I have links all over the globe, I thought I’d contribute!

I teamed up with the amazing Kate O’Donnell from the Exploratorium, and we chatted about a few examples of teaching and learning activities that teachers in the UK and around the world can do, if they can’t quite get around to visiting the Exploratorium itself! The edit broadcast via the TeachMeet was kept to 7 minutes, but here is the full edit (10 minutes). NB – a correction to Kate’s job title, which is “Senior Project Specialist”:

Links to resources mentioned in the interview:

More about the exploratorium

Find out more about the Exploratorium in my May video blog entry about examples of sustainability in San Francisco.

I loved my time at the Exploratorium (in 2018) so much that I wrote and produced a piece of performance poetry:

“For The Curious!” A Tribute to the Exploratorium. Full lyrics and background here.

Full DtWE TeachMeet Video

Watch the full Discover The World Education TeachMeet, broadcast and recorded via their YouTube channel, here:

Geographers interviewing geographers

If you enjoyed my first foray into conducting an interview to raise awareness of potential resources, ideas and events for Geography teachers, then I’ll certainly look to do more!

But if you like this sort of thing then someone who is already way ahead and does an amazing job is The Curious Geographer, Ellie, who has started running weekly interviews with geographers of all-sorts on Thursdays. Do check her YouTube channel, and get your students to subscribe.

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Published by Kit Marie Rackley (they/she)

Kit Marie Rackley (they/she) is an award-winning ex high-school Geography teacher in the UK. Throughout that time and continuing today, Kit Marie provides teacher continuous professional development (CPD) and training, which previously included a role as Associate Tutor for the School of Education at the University of East Anglia. Kit Marie has worked as an education consultant and project manager with climate and energy scientists, including researchers based at NOAA Boulder, Colorado and as an educator and trainer at the Exploratorium Museum in San Francisco, California, and is now freelance consultant with the UKā€™s Geographical Association and the National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers (NASBTT). They are a published educational author, including works with National Geographic Kids and Diverse Educators. Kit Marie is a strong and passionate advocate of youth voice and empowerment, decolonising the curriculum, and inclusive and intersectional education. Much of their work revolves around the climate crisis, focusing around framing it as a school safeguarding issue. Kit Marie runs an educational resource blog at Geogramblings.com, and is host and producer of the Coffee & Geography podcast.

2 thoughts on “Interview: Kate O’Donnell (Exploratorium)”

  1. Pingback: The Anthropocene: Does Arrogance Outlast Decay? – Geogramblings
  2. Pingback: 2020 vision: through a geographical & personal lens – Geogramblings

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