Exploring Students Exploring in a "Week Without Walls"
As we start off our seventh season of Silver Lining for Learning (SLL), it is important to reflect back on all of our episodes to date. One of the SLL Co-Hosts, Punya Mishra from ASU did just that. He partnered with Claude to analyze our six years of podcasting and look for themes and trends over time. Take a look: Analyzing Silver Lining for Learning: Conversations on the Future of Learning; See https://punyamishra.com/sll/.
In addition, Punya brilliantly posted an additional reflection this past Saturday March 21 on the 6-year journey of Silver Lining for Learning (using some of the data generated by Claude). His blog post was titled, “Six Years, 266 Episodes, and One Persistent Question,” March 21, 2026, by Punya Mishra; https://punyamishra.com/2026/03/21/six-years-264-episodes-and-one-persistent-question/. Notably, SLL has had over 500 guests from 30+ countries and 265 shows during the past 6 years. These shows have generated 2.6 million words.
In Episode #267 of Silver, we continue our journey into Year #7 of Silver Lining for Learning. In particular, we will talk to students and teachers in a secondary school in Jeju Island, Korea about their a week-long educational program called a “Week Without Walls” (WWW).
A Week Without Walls is an annual program which allows students to step out of their traditional student roles in 4-walled classrooms and begin to engage in experiential, hands-on learning. Week Without Walls is one part community service, and one part adventure learning in outdoor learning environments. It is also one part a cultural immersion program which is intended to foster life skills like teamwork and collaboration, empathy and global perspective taking, resilience, self-directed learning, and overall personal growth and perhaps even transformation. Recently, there have been many different locations and environments for students to choose from for their adventures including Chiang Mai, Thailand, Japan, Bali, Indonesia, Italy, etc.
One of the people we will talk with during the hour is Tim Bray. A decade ago, he was Director of EdTech at a school in Incheon, Korea where he established the first Educational Technology Department. From 2020-2022, Tim was the Director of Professional Development at Cheongna Dalton School in the Seo district in Incheon, Korea. In 2022, Tim was an International Principal at Westview Cambodian International School in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Next, he was appointed Founding Principal of American STEM Prep (ASP) Daegu in South Korea where he served from 2022-2024. Currently, Tim Bray is Director of Technology at St. Johnsbury Academy, Jeju Island, Korea. He can be contacted via LinkedIn.
With several students and teachers from St. Johnsbury Academy in Jeju Island, this promises to be a rich and exciting show.
Week Without Walls (WWW): https://weareworldchallenge.com/international/week-without-walls/