Ben’s Story.

Ben has always tried to make sense of the world through relationships. As a young activist, he threw himself into climate and social justice campaigns, driven by urgency but also carrying the weight of the world. The intensity nearly burned him out. Teaching became the place where he could channel that energy differently through children, stories and the small daily practices of belonging.

In the classroom, Ben discovered that the most powerful learning doesn’t come from what’s written in a lesson plan, but from what emerges when imagination is given space. He remembers building a cardboard time machine with his pupils. By the next day it had transformed into a rocket ship, a castle, a den. For Ben, this was learning at its best: when play is trusted to lead the way, and children surprise even themselves with their creativity.

He worries about the arts and creativity being squeezed out of schools, treated as extras rather than essentials. For him, they are what keep us human. “Play,” he says, “is not a luxury but a foundation.” What matters most is not content delivery, but the conditions for joy, connection and independence to flourish.

The Fellowship came at a time when Ben was close to questioning whether he could stay in education. He describes it as “a circle of digital hands to hold” a community that reminded him he wasn’t alone. Through its structure and support, he found permission to pause, to reflect and to bring new practices into his classroom: from active listening to creative inquiry, instilling wellbeing into the everyday life.

Ben dreams of schools where the urgency to care for the planet is matched by the joy of belonging within it. Places where children grow up not only knowing facts, but knowing themselves and feeling part of a bigger story.

Listen to the full conversation with Ben.