Season 2 of “On Educating Girls: The Connected Girl” Podcast
The International Coalition of Girls’ Schools is proud to present Season 2 of The Connected Girl. This compelling six-episode On Educating Girls podcast series continues to offer expert insights to address issues that impact the lives of girls.
Last season, we gathered expert guests to explore girls’ connections to themselves and the world around them. The episodes provided deeply researched guidance for girls on setting boundaries, handling heartbreak, navigating life online and using their voices.
The new season of The Connected Girl is a must-listen if you know, love and champion girls. Once again, explore the connections that shape girls’ lives and help them thrive. From navigating AI, neurodiversity and emotional intelligence to knowing you matter, embracing body confidence and the science behind spirituality, this season is one you don’t want to miss!
We invite you to tune in, to distribute broadly as an “all-school listen” opportunity, and to share your observations and feedback with us. The Connected Girl is available on Iono, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify, and each episode will be linked below as it is released.
Be sure to rate, review, and drop us a line with questions, comments, or ideas at podcast@girlsschools.org.
Series Trailer:
Episode 1:
The Power in Knowing You Matter
with Jennifer Wallace
“It is our job as humans to unlock each other’s magic.”
—Jennifer Wallace
Around the world, young people are grappling with unprecedented levels of anxiety and depression. The struggles we witness in the girls we know and love are part of a broader challenge. So the real question is: what can we do about it?
The good news is there is a lot we can do to tackle this epidemic head on. We can start by letting girls know they matter; that they are valued for who they are deep in their core. In the words of Jennifer Wallace, “We can help them unlock their magic.”
In “The Power in Knowing You Matter,” the first episode in season two of The Connected Girl podcast, we speak with Jennifer Wallace, author of Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic—and What We Can Do About It. An award-winning journalist and mother of three adolescents, Jennifer brings deep research and real-world insights to the conversation. As she reminds us, we are the “first responders” in our children’s struggles. Her optimism is contagious as she offers practical ways to show up for the girls in our lives.
Listen to the episode wherever you get your podcasts:
To read the episode transcript, click here.
Episode 2:
Guidance for Girls in The Age of AI
with Tyler Gaspich
“I definitely feel concerned about how in the process of girls applying to college or looking for career paths that AI might displace or replace jobs in companies wanting to cut costs and automate processes.”
—High School Student
Artificial Intelligence. Machines and systems that can imitate human cognitive function. It is both terrifying and exciting at once. Some happily exclaim it is the future; others warn it will change the world as we know it. AI, no longer confined to the realm of science fiction, is ubiquitous; embedded in nearly every facet of our daily lives. And that reality means AI is a new force to be reckoned with in the lives of the girls we know. Their knowledge of it matters in their lives today and far into their future. Yet, even as AI connects the girls in our lives to a world of unimagined possibilities, the adults responsible for helping them on the journey struggle to wrap their heads around this new kind of intelligence.
In this episode we learn about AI from Tyler Gaspich, an educator at the frontlines of this technology tsunami. Tyler, Director of Information Resources and Technologies at the Academy of Notre Dame de Namur near Philadelphia, PA, is personally and professionally steeped in the AI arena as a teacher, administrator, and task force member studying AI with other school technology professionals. Using concrete examples, Tyler demystifies the language of AI, providing guidelines and wisdom for parents raising daughters in a world in which AI plays an increasingly larger role—for both good and bad.
Listen to the episode wherever you get your podcasts:
To read the episode transcript, click here.
Episode 3:
Navigating Neurodiversity
with Emily Rushton
“Neurodiversity doesn’t need fixing. It’s just your brain. It is your state of existing. There is nothing to fix. It is wonderful the way it is.”
—Emily Rushton
Neurodiversity manifests differently in girls, so may not be diagnosed as quickly as it is in boys. And research tells us that girls who are neurodiverse are even more at risk to suffer mental health issues. In fact, often the neurodiversity in girls masquerades as a mental health issue complicating the diagnostic process further. The journey for a neurodiverse girl is not only challenging for her; it is equally hard for the adults who love her and know her to be wonderful just as she is. How can they ensure that she will confidently turn her neurodiversity into her superpower?
In this episode, Emily Rushton, the go-to source on neurodiversity in girls for the Girls’ Day School Trust, a family of 25 exceptional girls schools in the United Kingdom, shares insights with host Trudy Hall. Emily couples the practical with the theoretical to ensure support for neurodiverse girls is both grounded in recent research and can be applied in real life.
This episode is especially compelling as Emily herself is neurodiverse, bringing her humor, common sense, and passion in equal amounts to this important conversation.
Listen to the episode wherever you get your podcasts:
To read the episode transcript, click here.
Episode 4:
The EQ Advantage
with Rosalind Wiseman
“Two things are true: girls need a voice and need to have that voice celebrated….and they also need to be able to create space for other people, their peers, to be able to listen to them.”
—Rosalind Wiseman
Perhaps, emotional intelligence, or EQ, the critical skills used to get along in a world full of others who don’t think–or feel– like we do, should get more attention. The reality is that as we manage our lives, it is our EQ that helps us navigate relationships and express our feelings productively. The good news? Emotional intelligence can be strengthened through reflection, practice, and experience. The further good news? This is important work that we can do in partnership with the girls in our lives; we can and should help them be smart about being emotionally smart as it will matter to their ability to get along in the world.
This conversation with Rosalind Wiseman focuses on why and how a girl’s EQ is critical to her meaningful engagement with the world around her. Rosalind, a bestselling author and thought leader, works on the global stage helping parents, educators and students understand the fascinating realm of EQ and its impact on our lives. Rosalind has a unique ability to capture challenging concepts in compelling, “sticky” phrases, and she is on a quest to help us do this important work in our lives and the lives of our girls.
Listen to the episode wherever you get your podcasts:
To read the episode transcript, click here.
Episode 5:
Becoming Body Confident
with Dr. Phillippa Diedrichs
“What we know from the research is that up to 80% of girls will struggle with body confidence.”
—Dr. Phillipa Diedrichs
It is estimated that young girls are exposed to nearly 600 media images per day, unable to escape the barrage of messages about the perfect look, the perfect weight, the perfect size, the perfect skin tone. Research tells us they are internalizing these images, likely to start believing their body image defines who they are. Far too many girls are held hostage by their own negative body image issues and need powerful counter messaging that reminds them they are so much more than their weight on the scale.
In this episode, Dr. Phillippa Diedrichs, a professor of Psychology at the Center for Appearance Research at the University of the West of England, in Bristol, England, shares research-based strategies to build body confidence in girls. Dr. Diedrichs, who delights in smashing beauty stereotypes, is the Founder of Everybody Consulting, a global consulting group of thought leaders and social scientist experts in body image, appearance diversity and mental health. She believes we all play a role in helping girls become “body confident” and offers an abundance of resources to empower us.
Listen to the episode wherever you get your podcasts:
To read the episode transcript, click here.
Episode 6:
Building Resilience through Spirituality
with Dr. Lisa Miller
“For a girl, spiritual life is even more important as the mooring, the deep embedded compass through which she guides and governs her life.”
—Dr. Lisa Miller
Spirituality is often misunderstood and ill-defined. Yet those who have studied it through the lens of brain research and understand the scientific truth behind its role in our lives offer compelling data of the power of developing our “spiritual brain.” It turns out that, especially for girls, a girl’s spiritual core shapes her sense of meaning, purpose, calling and connection. It turns out that a girl’s relationship to her spiritual core is a substantial tool in her arsenal of well-being strategies.
Skeptics may find the evidence supporting this claim too compelling to ignore.
In “Building Resilience through Spirituality,” learn about the game-changing role spirituality can play in a girl’s life from Dr. Lisa Miller, founder of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute at Columbia University. A foremost scientist on spirituality across the lifespan, her research has focused on the quantifiable effects of spirituality on our lives, and she has evidence that “children who are raised with a robust and well-developed spiritual life are happier, more optimistic, more flexible and better equipped to deal with life’s ordinary (and even extraordinary) traumas than those who are not.” She urges us to engage on this journey with the girls in our lives.
Listen to the episode wherever you get your podcasts:
To read the episode transcript, click here.