GOOD NEWS - GOOD EDUCATION GROUP AND THE GANDHI EXPERIMENT TEAM UP TO PROMOTE GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

Press Release Melbourne, Australia - 29 March 2018 Immediate Release

In a world often faced by overwhelm and despair for our young people, there is hope and optimism on the rise.

Good Education Group is excited to announce our partnership with The Gandhi Experiment. This initiative, founded by author and educator Margaret Hepworth, is based on the concept of world peace through education. The Gandhi Experiment teaches global citizenship through Gandhian principles of non-violence, relationship building and forgiveness, to resolve conflict and build a more positive future.

Margaret has lived and taught in Australia, China and the USA, building her expertise in teenage motivation and behaviour. The recipient of the 2016 Sir John Monash Award for Inspirational Women’s Leadership, Margaret has more than 30 years of experience in the education sector, including a period as Head of Campus at Preshil School. She has published three books: Clarity in Time (2012), Collaborative Debating (2016) and The Gandhi Experiment – Teaching Our Teenagers How to Become Global Citizens (2017). Her program ‘Global Citizenship – It Starts with Us!’ has been taken into schools across Melbourne, India, Pakistan and Indonesia.

Good Education Group CEO Chris Lester believes this collaboration will be a fruitful endeavour and highlights the importance of an education beyond the text books.

“Margaret has had a long and decorated career in the education sphere and we are thrilled to partner with her as she continues her work with schools in Australia and overseas. The Gandhi Experiment and global citizenship are important initiatives for our children, creating awareness and understanding of their responsibilities in a global community.”

— Chris Lester CEO Good Education Group

Margaret's recent visit to Bluebells School International, Delhi

Margaret is also excited about the opportunities that lie ahead.

“Partnering with Good Education Group will allow for a broader scope with my work. If we look out to our big, wide world, we can see that peace and values education are much needed right now. Working with Good Education Group will grow the possibilities for what we can achieve.”

— Margaret Hepworth The Gandhi Experiment

Margaret Hepworth is available for interviews +61422 154 875 margaret@margarethepworth.com

Speaking at the Gold Coast Compassionate City schools event, Qld, in 2017

'Global Citizenship - it starts with us!' student forum at Shelford Girls School, Caulfield, Vic

Announcing the Launch of The Gandhi Experiment's Collaborative Debating Manual: A New, Creative Curriculum Strategy for Your Constructive Classroom

Press Release

Melbourne, Australia
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A positively new framework for Debating, where the ‘win’ is the solution to the problem.

The Collaborative Debating Manual is the latest educational tool for social change developed by Australian educator and author, Margaret Hepworth, founder of The Gandhi Experiment.

Announcing: Online Product Launch October 24th, 2016

For Schools

Imagine a debate where an Affirmative team is being met with a Cooperative team; a Mindful Coordinator chairs the debate; and a Mentor who doesn’t judge, score or rate, instead meters out a series of Guidances.
Now you have a Collaborative Debate – a debate that may actually get us somewhere beyond the arguments, towards the solutions that we are seeking. These are debates where young people develop skills for real life that move beyond simply learning for the sake of learning. They will take these skills into their homes, their communities and lives.

Product Launch October 24th, 2016:
http://www.margarethepworth.com/new-products/collaborative-debating-manual 

With the Collaborative Debating framework already trialed across Melbourne schools and business groups, this is what people are saying:

Margaret's amazing debating techniques and skilled, insightful facilitation helped us all understand how we can turn a combative, competitive state to one of deep compassion and collaboration. She changed our view of how debating can be done for ever. Highly recommended and essential learning for schools and companies everywhere.
Carolyn Tate, Founder of The Slow School for Business
 
Collaborative Debating is a useful tool for our community to learn how to tackle the big issues in a way that promotes solutions over winning. This could help our leaders of tomorrow to become more active citizens and thoughtful decision makers.
Hannah, Teacher at Templestowe College

In Waleed Aly’s recent address to Media at the Andrew Olle lecture, he called for change in media debates: “the two guests might be talking past each other…We’ve all seen examples where some kind of performed, heated disagreement stands in for an actual debate where people engage each other’s ideas rather than simply roll out their predetermined talking points.”

Collaborative Debating eliminates the adversarial nature of debate. It is designed to teach our young people critical thinking, reflection and cooperation. It is cutting-edge education that builds the framework for change.

Bringing the creative genius of Margaret Hepworth into schools across Australia.

Recipient of the 2016 Sir John Monash Award for Inspirational Women’s Leadership, Margaret Hepworth is the founder of The Gandhi Experiment, a social enterprise, whose vision is ‘World peace through education.’ Her drive and commitment for social justice has grown and flourished through her secondary teaching of 30 years. Margaret is the author of the forthcoming book: The Gandhi Experiment – Teaching our teenagers how to become global citizens. (Rupa, January 2017). Margaret is a former Head of Campus (Vice-Principal) at Preshil School in Melbourne, Australia, and an international educator.

“If our young people learn this as a tool to use in any aspect of their lives – in arguments with friends, conflict at home, tension in a workplace – can you imagine what this would mean for their futures?”
- Margaret Hepworth, Educator and Author          

Margaret Hepworth can be contacted at margaret@margarethepworth.comor on +61422154875 or www.thegandhiexperiment.com. 

The Gandhi Experiment: proudly educating for a non-violent world

The Monash Leader Article | Community Champions

"The annual Sir John Monash Awards have been handed out... ... Margaret Hepworth won the Inspirational Women's Leadership award..."

BeneConnect Event Publicity Flyer | The Gandhi Experiment | Peace Building in Schools

This month's BeneConnect forum welcomes Margaret Hepworth, an internationally acclaimed educational facilitator whose work involves moving teenagers from apathy to action.

Margaret will lead us on a journey into her work and how we can equip our upcoming generation of decision-makers, problem solvers, community builders and global citizens with the tools and strategies to create peace. This presentation will be followed by an open discussion and Q&A session. We then invite you to stay and enjoy a delicious afternoon tea with like-minded company in the lovely surrounds of Benevolence House.

DATE: Sunday 30th August 2015
TIME: 2:00pm - 4:00pm
VENUE: Benevolence House - 125 George Street, Doncaster
East VIC 3109
SPEAKERS: Margaret Hepworth (Author, Educator & Facilitator)
For more information visit www.margarethepworth.com

COST: Gold coin donation

REGISTRATION IS ESSENTIAL. Please register at http://bit.ly/BeneEvents

We look forward to seeing you there.

To learn more about becoming a Benevolence Member and information on other events please visit www.BenevolenceAustralia.org

Check out the Facebook post of the event here: https://www.facebook.com/BenevolenceAustralia/photos/a.146534098752474.35610.131385443600673/892561407483069/?type=3&theater

Initiatives of Change | Australian Newsbriefs Article | Together at the Indo-Pak border

February 2015

Melbourne educator Margaret Hepworth has returned from a 34 day program set up by an IofC India team of teachers to facilitate 25 workshops in four cities with 1,200 teachers and over 1000 student from 65 schools:

The IofC India team of educators, working through Education Today, Society Tomorrow, believes that change will come through education. When taking this message across India last October-November through peacebuilding workshops in schools, something extraordinary happened: I found myself connected with a team of Indian educators and others working towards building peace bridges between India and Pakistan. My own vision began to form: of Pakistani and Indian children coming together at the Wagah border to which I was taken while running workshops in Amritsar.

Unexpectedly, I met Chintan Girish Modi, in Mumbai. Chintan is a joy-filled, tenacious character, whose community initiative, Friendships Across Borders, is a testimony to his life-long dream of bridging the divide between India and Pakistan. Through it, Chintan and his team create email-pals between the separated peoples of these tense and wounded nations. When the massacre of school children took place in Peshawar, their immediate call for letters of love and support to the people of Pakistan from India generated a flood.

What grew from my visions has taken flight with an initiative called ‘When the Sword becomes Words’. We are creating a music video that incorporates school children from Pakistan, India, Australia, Fiji and China united in singing the inspiring song One Day.

Yesterday I received my first email from a Pakistani teacher confirming that the dream has begun. Our intention is that Indian and Pakistani children will “come from their hearts”, to use Chintan’s words, so that when they finally meet, hatred and ignorance will unravel.