Melissa Leighty, MEd
Melissa is an education content specialist with over 15 years of experience as a classroom teacher and deep expertise in education research and leadership. She holds two postgraduate degrees in education, including a Master’s in Educational Leadership. As Content Marketing Specialist at Learnlife, she writes about learner autonomy, wellbeing, and meaningful learning experience design.
What Is Learner Autonomy — and Why Does It Matter for Your Child’s Future?
Why does learner autonomy matter in today’s world? Discover how building confidence, resilience, and self-direction prepares young people not just for exams — but for life.
Why we talk about learning methodologies
In discussions with our learning community we often hear the phrases “learning styles” and “teaching methodologies” used almost interchangeably with “learning methodologies”. These are not the same, though they can sound similar. Here’s why we talk about learning methodologies and why the difference really matters.
The neuroscience of unlearning
We had a lot of comments and discussion around our article on learn, unlearn and relearn. It seems that many in our community have personal experience around this process, and the diversity of these experiences fascinates us. So what is unlearning really about and why do we need to talk about it with learners?
As Learning Guides, are we truly ready for personal learning?
Psychotherapists go to therapy and surgeons rarely operate on themselves. As Learning Guides, should we not be asking ourselves whether we are truly ready to support personal learning? Just how deep does that role take us into our own sense of place and purpose?
Cultural diversity and the gap between schools and learners
Kristin Leong’s Roll Call project in 2017 was a stark statement on the diversity gap between learners and teachers. Conducted in the USA, the project looked at the differences between public school teachers and learners, and asked two questions.
Bringing Learner Agency into the Spanish Curriculum: A Case Study with Acesco
How can a school working within the Spanish state curriculum increase learner autonomy? This case study explores how a concertada school near Barcelona introduced project-based learning and maker spaces without changing the official curriculum.
The Changing Role of Educators: From Teaching to Guiding Learning
The role of teachers is changing. Learn how learner-centred education and learning guides help children develop critical thinking, autonomy, and real-world skills in modern education.
The word and the why - the broken language of learning
At Learnlife, we are conscious of how we use words to describe learning, because we believe we have a responsibility to be part of something better. Join us on an exploration of the word, and the power it has to take us forward.
What is Your Ikigai?
We talk a lot about Ikigai at Learnlife, as a way of distinguishing something beyond passion or purpose. Ikigai is really your reason for being, and the thing that gives you direction and motivation, but we thought we would take this opportunity to zoom in a little bit more on the concept, and why it is at the heart of what we do.