Revillaging Adele Jarrett-Kerr

“I’ve begun to understand that when you’re making radical decisions with your life…it’s so countercultural that in order to, I guess, do it in a really sustainable way, you need to bring in as much support, as much cheerleading, as much intention, in your own heart as you possibly can.” – Lucy Aitkenread
Lucy AitkenRead is an unschooling thought leader, living in New Zealand. Through her online community Disco Circle, she offers unschooling support for parents looking for more information and connection around the radical decision to protect their children's freedom in education.

In this episode Lucy Aitkenread and I talk about:

The need for support in radical living
The kindness of strangers on the internet
The validity of internet support
Doomscrolling!
Connecting with people through rage
The risks involved in taking conversations online
Talking and listening as a way of learning to trust ourselves
Embodied online practices – leaning into the body as guide

“We do not have to raise kids in this ‘power over’ way. We do not have to have institutions where they learn how to control and be controlled, how to judge and be judged. You don’t have to. There is another way.” Lucy Aitkenread
Important links:

Disco Circle
Lucy’s YouTube
Lucy’s Instagram
Adele Jarrett-Kerr’s Patreon (for journal prompts and access to the virtual fireside chat on Sunday 29th May at 7pm BST, and to support the podcast)

To chat more, follow me on Instagram and Twitter.

In this episode of Revillaging, Adele Jarrett-Kerr chats with Ravideep Kaur, a presence coach and anti-oppression consultant who lives in Scotland and invites others to mindful activism. Her special focus is on decolonisation and reclaiming power and her approach is underpinned by her Sikh spirituality.

They talk about activism and activation as the still, ordinary and contemplative actions that change the world through authentic connection with the people around us, like our children. The idea that big equates effective is colonial.

Conversation touch points include:


Listening to the body’s wisdom
Questioning why we’re in a rush and why we’re being rushed
The challenges of discussing complex topics on social media
Our need to be “the best in class”
The invitation to be vulnerable
The role of spirituality in our activation

“Being biracial and my sexual identity and also being a survivor of sexual abuse as a child, there are many times where I’ve tried to escape my body and just longed to be a spirit that was floating around in this world without any visible markers other than how people feel around me. And being a mother has really, especially birthing a life and growing a life really has challenged me on how I not just see my form but how I love and adore this body that I not just see my form but how I love and adore this body that I have.” – Jonie Broecker
Adele Jarrett-Kerr chats with artist, musician, bodyworker and unschooling mother Jonie Broecker about meditation practice, ancestral reconnection and embodied spiritual healing.

Read the full show notes

“For me, certainly, [unschooling is] about leaning in as far into authenticity as is possible with as big a compassionate heart as is also possible.” – Essie Richards
In this episode Essie Richards talks with Adele Jarrett-Kerr about how deconditioning from religion and deschooling has supported her self-trust. Essie is an unschooling parent of two, an intersectional environmental activist and founder of a project that provides food for people experiencing food poverty. This is a conversation about shame, finding our way of being in the world, how we learn to heal and to deal with conflict, and about meeting our own needs. Essie’s story is such a gift, whether or not you’re a parent or whatever education path you and your people are taking.

Read the full show notes

Episode 7 of Revillaging features social psychologist, author, activist and public theologian Dr Christena Cleveland, chatting about decolonising our spirituality.

This episode is a reflection on community and how it is distorted by the colonial imagination and white patriarchy. We need to ask why we might show up in communities and feel no belonging. The conversation is also about becoming more self-directed in our spirituality and practising to discern and meeting our own needs, which includes asking, what divinity do we need?

Read the full show notes

Adele Jarrett-Kerr and Dr Ian Cunningham talk about a new way of thinking about education that doesn't separate body, thoughts and feelings. Check out the show notes and support the podcast on Patreon. Music by Les Haydn.