Living Ideas
This series can be run for a leadership cohort on request.
Contact us to find out more: hello@thinklearning.org
'Thank you for such an insightful and reflective session. I will be going away with much to consider and appreciate the space that was created for meaningful dialogue today.'
Facilitators
-
Professor Nigel Tubbs and Dr Rebekah Howes
Duration
-
1 hour in-person or online conversations
Details
-
Up to 15 participants
Reconnecting thinking, values and practice
Overview
Our Living Ideas seminars are philosophical conversations for organisations who want to bring new ideas and deeper thinking into their working practices but without the pressure of longer courses or training.
Each 1-hour session takes a simple philosophical idea and makes it live in conversation with others, the kind of idea that opens us to new perspectives, that sparks curiosity, and that gives people a shared language for understanding and navigating the challenges they face in their work. In this way, each session creates the increasingly rare kind of learning moment where everyone slows down, sees something differently, and remembers why thinking matters.
Participants often tell us that these conversations stay with them long after the sessions end. They describe our conversations and courses as offering valuable breathing space: time to pause, talk things through and think carefully with others. Even when ideas are challenging, they say they experience the sessions as thoughtful, enjoyable, and a welcome change from the pressures of daily practice.
At the heart of our Living Ideas conversations is a simple conviction: that thinking and caring are not separate. When people are given space to reflect seriously on the ideas shaping their work, they find renewed understanding, confidence and purpose.
Reconnecting thinking, values and practice
Series Themes
Each interactive session uses a different philosophical idea or question to spark reflection on ourselves and our practice. The topics include:
- Plato’s Cave
- Socrates: Know Thyself
- Freire: What humanises and de-humanises our work
- Moral Injury
- Impact and Change
- Learning Freedom: Childhood and the Power of Play
- Living with Contradictions
- Power and Authority
- Connecting Carefully
- Living Well, Dying Well
- What is humanity?
You can choose individual sessions for team development or make up a bespoke series to suit your specific requirements.
Reconnecting thinking, values and practice
Testimonials
‘Just a huge thank you to both Dr Rebekah Howes and Professor Nigel Tubbs… you captivated my attention from the outset, the topic was so thought provoking… this was a real lift on social work week – from a social worker trying to change the world, one small step at a time’
‘Just a simple ‘thank you’ for a brilliant contribution to my learning experience’
‘Extremely engaging, educational and informative’
‘Wonderful rich exploration and application to practice – more please’
‘Thank you for such an insightful session. I came in knowing nothing about Paulo Freire, and I found the way you introduced his ideas really engaging and accessible. I left feeling much more informed.’
‘It was thought provoking and has prompted me to take this to our team for a reflective space. Thanks so much – you explained complex concepts clearly and with enthusiasm.
Ideas that matter
Recognition & Identity
2
3
Truth & Integrity
Impact & Change
4
5
Technology
Life & Death
6
7
Know Thyself
Philosophical Practice
How we work
Living Ideas seminars are carefully facilitated conversations rather than lectures or conventional training sessions.
Each seminar begins with a short philosophical stimulus; a question, idea, text or image. From there, structured questions guide reflective discussion, connecting the idea to participants’ professional and organisational realities.
We work with small groups to create an environment that is:
Thoughtful and inclusive
Intellectually serious but accessible
Respectful of experience and difference
Grounded in real practice
The sessions are not about finding solutions to problems. Instead, we cultivate habits of deeper thinking and listening in order to strengthen ethical decision making and professional confidence over time.
The sessions can be run for a cohort of participants drawn from across a single organisation or across multiple organisations as part of a professional development programme.
Contact us to find out more: hello@thinklearning.org