Whilst many students encounter obstacles along their educational journey, only a few look to redesign that journey for those who follow, constantly trying to find ways to make it easier, more inclusive, and more enjoyable for all concerned. Former SPAIS student Will Carter is one of those students, as became clear to Jonathan Floyd, SPAIS Senior Lecturer in Political Theory, back when they first met back in 2016. Although they were never formally matched as personal tutor/tutee, they quickly formed a strong relationship, regularly discussing politics, political theory, educational reform, and more besides, building up to working on Will’s successful application for both a Fulbright Scholarship and a PhD place at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2019. Now, their regular chats, in addition to the usual subjects, are increasingly about the ambition of bringing political philosophy teaching into secondary schools. Talking today to Ian Wright’s podcast, Everyday People, Jonathan discusses his long-time work with Will, as one of three key mentors in his life’s journey to where he is today, how mentoring can turn into collaboration, and how 1st year undergraduates can become 1st class change-makers. Just a few weeks after the success of winning the Political Studies Association Jennie Lee Prize career prize for outstanding contribution to the teaching of politics, Jonathan’s work with Will reflects values central to that prize, and dear to both of them, as well as the SPAIS community more broadly: Intellectual curiosity, widening access to ‘elite’ education, and the promotion of ever-changing experiments in engaged and collaborative learning. To see more about the reasons behind Jonathan’s receipt of the Jennie Lee Prize, see here (https://www.psa.ac.uk/psa/news/psa-announces-its-academic-prizes-2020-21). To hear him talk recently about the importance of political philosophy in general, and John Rawls’ Theory of Justice in particular, see here (www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000rd97).
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/ian-wrights-everyday-people/id1549385121?i=1000521211585