Topical Talk

Teacher Advisory Group and Student Ambassadors

Polaroid photos of students and teachers in a classroom having animated discussions about the news

At Topical Talk, we’re committed to serving the teachers and students that we reach each week. We want to hear feedback, make improvements and see lessons in action so that we can truly understand what works and what doesn’t.

As such, we’ve got two groups that advocate on behalf of the communities we reach.

The two groups

Teacher Advisory Group

The Advisory Group is made up of Topical Talk teachers who care deeply about media literacy, oracy and improving students' life chances through discussions about current affairs. It represents a cross-section of teachers from different regions, countries and phases in order to share a breadth of knowledge and experience.

The Group’s job is to advise, inform and guide the future of our core programmes in a network of passionate and inspiring colleagues who can share experiences and best practice.

The teachers feed their experience and ideas into the following areas:

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    Topic selection

    The stories we cover and why they matter to your students

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    Resource design

    What works and where to make improvements

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    Teacher development

    What support we give teachers to successfully implement our programmes

  • Student impact

    The best way to develop and measure Topical Talk knowledge and skills

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    Growth

    How and where the Foundation should work next

They also champion The Economist Educational Foundation in local community networks and host a visit to their classroom for The Foundation and its supporters to see the programme in action

14 educators join our termly conversations, from eight countries:

  • Misha Thompson, Mount Zion Elementary School, United States
  • Iona Rawls, Church Street Elementary School, United States
  • Echo See, Lee Street Elementary, United States
  • Marina Hurtado Alvarado, IES Al-Qázeres, Spain
  • Marie-Hélène Fasquel, Lycée Raoul Dautry, France
  • Gemma Papworth, Meridian High, United Kingdom
  • Lorna Clifford, Boutcher Primary School, United Kingdom
  • Dr Graham Ford, The Mayflower Center, Romania
  • Anandhi Mani, Shri Natesan, India
  • Agha Egwu Michael, Kassie Braun Memorial Schools, Nigeria
  • Bosede Obdende, Bomas Academy, Nigeria
  • Josh Turner, Warblington School, United Kingdom
  • Helen Wilford, St George's School Rome, Italy
  • Liana Georgescu, The Mayflower Center, Romania

Student Ambassadors

Students attend the first Student Ambassador virtual meeting

Our student ambassadors are a hand-selected group of students who have excelled during the Topical Talk Festival.

In lessons, they share opinions and arguments and are listened to, and heard by, their teachers and peers. We want to amplify their voices further. We’ve created an international community of young people who are passionate about the news.

18 young people join our termly conversations, from seven countries.

World map showing locations of Egypt, India, Germany, United States, United Kingdom, Romania and Spain

How we engage

The group meets for three online workshops over the course of the year and feed into three key areas of the Foundation’s work:

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    The topics we choose

    What types of news matters to young people and how it should be covered

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    The lessons we design

    The activities and styles of learning that make the most impact

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    How we involve student voice

    How young people can shape the Foundation’s future