Yesterday at the #digicon15 education conference in Melbourne, I had the pleasure of presenting a couple of sessions with my son Kalani.

Kalani is 15. For the last five years, whenever I have spoken at conferences, I have used him and stories from his life as examples to support the points I have been making. Then, about two months ago, I wondered why I was speaking on his behalf rather than just inviting him onto the stage with me to tell his mind.

The first time he chose to get on stage and be a part of the presentation, we keynoted a large education conference in Eastern Melbourne.

I spoke for about twenty minutes, then introduced him, and off he went. It was remarkable to watch him talking so articulately and passionately about a subject that meant a lot to him – his education.

Yesterday we presented again at DLTV’s conference #digicon15 and then had the opportunity to do an interview with Roland and Amanda of ACCELN fame. Roland and Amanda asked the questions, and Kalani spoke entirely off the cuff. My job was to try and shut up. This interview helped remind me how often we speak on children’s behalf, believing we have their best interests at heart because we have put so much thought into the topic we are speaking. Kalani and I imagine most other kids would probably like to be part of the conversation. If you are interested in hearing a child’s perspective on how schools should work, what is important to them when it comes to learning and what potentially needs to change, please watch the video below and feel free to share.