Peter Hyman, ex-senior advisor to Keir Starmer and founder of School 21, on what politicians and teachers can learn from one another
“The future needs ‘hard tech and hard human’ – deep technical skill and deep human skill.”
Next to join us on Heads & Tales is Peter Hyman, whose story and career reads like a play of three acts. For the first of these acts, Peter was at the heart of the New Labour project as Tony Blair's speechwriter and senior strategist through the 1997 and 2001 elections – "Education, education, education" – how can anyone forget? His second act saw him make one of the most radical pivots in political history: he left Downing Street to become a teaching assistant in one of London's toughest schools. Though many thought the move to be reckless; Peter thought it absolutely necessary.
In conversation with Walter Kerr, Peter outlines the divide between political power and classroom reality: how students ran rings around him he first started, how the art of questioning reshaped his perception on teaching and how it all led to him helping to create new models altogether. He discusses his third act, founding School 21, a pioneering and novel school in Stratford, launching Voice 21 UK to put oracy in the limelight, his return to politics as Keir Starmer's senior advisor and his new Substack, Changing the Story.
🎙️ Episode highlights
His leap from Downing Street to classroom: why Peter left the heart of government to become a teaching assistant and the scary moments in his early days.
The birth of School 21 and Voice 21: how a drama teacher, a circle of chairs and an obsession with questioning techniques started a national oracy movement.
What politicians get wrong about schools: why policy needs fewer think tanks and more frontline listening.
Rows vs circles in the classroom: what the layout of a classroom reveals about hierarchy and student voice.
Peter's blueprint for the future: he calls for young people to be equipped with the skills to navigate AI whilst enriching their creativity, collaboration and communication skills.