An interview with Remy Grangien by Carolyn Tate
The inaugural Is there a TED talk in you? course was held in late 2014 in Melbourne with 18 participants. The course culminated in a graduation night where each of the participants gave their five-minute talk to an audience of 120 people. This series of interviews with participants, shows just how powerful the experience was for each of them and how they’re using their talk to further their cause in 2015. For more info on the Feb 2015 program Click Here
I first met 16 year-old Remy Grangien and Simon Harman at the Hub one Friday evening some six months ago. Feeling marginalised and disempowered by the education system, these two young men were on a mission to do something about it. The Co Learners was born with a big purpose; to help youth achieve their greatest potential by offering them collaborative and self-directed learning alternatives to the conventional schooling system.
Fast track six months and Simon and Remy were sharing their big idea along with 16 others at the inaugural 2014 Slow School, Is there a TED talk in you? course. (Check out their talks below.)
Carolyn: What is The Co Leaners all about? Why do you exist?
Remy: We have a generation of youth that are largely uninspired and just going through the motions of life because the current education system doesn’t really support them to find their true passion and purpose or reach their greatest potential. Also, technology has enabled us to learn whatever we want, whenever we want and with whomever we want to learn it with. Learning can now be more self-directed and collaborative. The education system hasn’t yet adapted and we’re still stuck in the competitive, standardised testing model that was born out of the industrial world. The Co Learners was started by Simon and myself to help the youth that are feeling disenfranchised by the system – to help them channel their learning energy into their passions and interests so they can end up doing meaningful work while solving some of the world’s biggest problems.
Carolyn: What led you to this point? What is your story?
Remy: I was always a high achiever at school. I jumped up two levels during my school years and I was put into extension programs so that my learning would progress according to my ability rather than my age. Even though I was much younger than my classmates, there always seemed to be an age gap. I was also much taller and I looked older. Eventually I just lost all motivation for school, what I was learning and how I was learning it and I felt quite isolated. That’s when the idea for The Co Learners was born and I decided to leave school at the start of year 12 – thankfully with my parents support.
Carolyn: What’s your vision for The Co Learners?
Remy: We want the youth of the world to be able to come together in creative spaces and environments where they have the freedom to learn whatever they want with peers that share their passions. We want to bring mindfulness, purpose and entrepreneurialism to education.
Carolyn: Who has been your greatest inspiration?
Remy: My inspiration has come from brilliant educators like Sir Ken Robinson (‘How schools kill creativity’), Sugata Mitra (‘The child-driven education’) and Peter Hutton, Principal of Templestowe College in Melbourne who spoke at the last TEDx Melbourne conference on ‘What if students controlled their own learning’.
Carolyn: What motivated you to do the Is there a TED talk in you? course?
Remy: As a start-up enterprise, we’ve been grappling with the answers to what The Co Learners is really all about and why we exist. It was a great opportunity to get some clarity, to fine-tune our message and improve our public speaking skills. TED talks were my prime form of education as I grew up and they’ve been significant in shaping my view of the world so I was excited to be learning what it really takes to do a TED talk.
Carolyn: What was the most rewarding and enjoyable part of it all?
Remy: Doing the talk itself on the final graduation night was brilliant. It was such a great night and the energy in the room was electric. The facilitators were superb and they really challenged us. There was a great balance between content and practice. It was accelerated (yet mindful) learning over four weeks and there was rapid improvement in us all. There were also lots of great connections made and people collaborating and helping each other out with their talks.
Carolyn: So what were the challenges you faced?
Remy: I always hated public speaking at school and I was never any good at it because I was so nervous, so I found it very challenging to get over my fear and step on to the stage. Also it was tough trying to put all I wanted to say into just 5 minutes. I had to cut a lot out and refine it over and over again which was an exasperating process. I was still figuring it all out the night before, which was a little scary.
Carolyn: How have you personally gained from it and how will your business gain?
Remy: My increase in confidence has been huge. My speaking skills are vastly improved and I learnt how to tell a great story that inspires people and gets them talking and taking action. I became even more passionate about our work and even more committed. From a business perspective, we’re much clearer on our purpose and our message to students and parents. We also have a great video that we can share that helps people understand why we do we what we do. It was actually the best learning experience I’ve ever had and I learnt a lot that we can integrate into our own business.
Carolyn: What has come out of the talk? How are you using it to further your cause?
Remy: We’ve got a lot to do in 2015 to make the most of our talks. We’ll be using the video on our new website and on social media of course. We’ve been sending it to organisations that might be interested in supporting us. We met with the Vice President for Marketing and Strategy at Pearson Education through one of the other participants, Adam Posner and we’ll probably be doing something with them. Also I’ll be mentoring an amazing young guy John Strentz who is doing the 2015 program. That will be great for us both. It will be wonderful to pass on the legacy of my experience to him.
Carolyn: What advice would you give to people thinking about doing the 2015 Is there a TED talk in you? program?
Remy: Just do it. We pay more money for the latest electronic gadgets than we do on really important things like this course. You’ll develop lifelong skills to give you the confidence to speak to anyone, anywhere, anytime about your idea, including those people that can help make your vision a reality like investors. You go from a vague idea of what you might talk about to a brilliant talk in a very short period of time. You gain clarity and you get to nail down your purpose, which is pretty much the most important thing you will ever do for yourself and your business. It’s a pretty small investment when you think of it like that.
Carolyn: What have you learnt from being involved in Slow School this year?
Remy: I’ve learnt that it’s vital to have a purpose, clear values and to keep the vision strong. It’s been really fun seeing the school evolve and develop without attachment to long-term business plans and strategies. I’ve enjoyed seeing it unfold and connecting with some of the most amazing entrepreneurs and business people. We all share the same purpose to make the world a better place, so it’s a pretty inspiring school to be involved with.
For more information on the Is there a TED talk in you? February course, click here or contact Carolyn to find out more on Carolyn@carolyntate.co or phone 0412 806 950.
