Future Smart Parent

About Future Smart Parent

The Future Smart Parent podcast provides resources for parents and kids who want to be ready for all the ways in which the future is going to be different from today.We will explore this future together, bringing insights from top futurists, resources from smart people working on making our lives better, and most importantly, stories of parents who are parenting a little differently, yet very much intentionally, for a changing world. These stories, insights and resources are all there to provide you with the tools needed to parent in the 2020s, and beyond.

Publisher

Jude Foulston

Category

kids & family

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

19 May 2021

Latest episode

27 Jul 2026

Latest episodes

40 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   27 Jul 2026

   The Four Things Every Child Needs - Tamryn Batcheller-Adams on why belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity helps your child thrive

   About This Episode I'll be honest, at the start of this year, I very nearly wrote my own son off as "just being a teenager." Miles had started high school, the homework wasn't happening, the pushback was constant, and that explanation was sitting right there, easy to reach for. You know the one. But there's this framework I'd come across a while back that kept nudging at me. And instead of asking "what's wrong with him?", it made me ask something different: what does he actually need right now? When I looked at it that way, it was obvious. New school, new faces, everything unfamiliar; his sense of belonging was on the floor. I don't think I'd have seen it without the Circle of Courage. That's really where this conversation starts. The Circle of Courage is a way of understanding what children need to thrive - four things, held in balance: belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity. It draws on Indigenous First Nations child-rearing wisdom and pairs it with developmental psychology. And once you've seen it, you honestly can't unsee it. So I sat down with Tamryn Batcheller-Adams to talk it through - a psychologist, author, and my colleague at TomorrowToday. Tamryn has two master's degrees in psychology, she's a mum of two, and she has this rare knack of taking something that could sound very academic and making it feel like a chat over a cup of tea. She's also refreshingly honest about how hard this is to actually do – including in her own home, with her own five-year-old, this very week. What I love most is that it isn't about fixing what's broken. It's a strength-based way of asking where a child is struggling, and why, and then quietly building from there. It's not a marker of success. It's the pathway to it. In This Episode We Talk About Why "what's wrong with this child?" is the wrong question and the one worth asking instead. The four things every child needs in balance: belonging, mastery, independence, generosity. How one quadrant quietly gets over-invested in while another goes neglected and why the whole wheel starts to wobble. Tamryn's honest story about her own five-year-old falling apart over spilled juice and what was really going on. Why belonging has the biggest ripple effect of the four, and the huge opportunity that hands to schools. The difference between a child being seen and a child being known (it's bigger than it sounds). Why "hey, we missed you yesterday" from a teacher can land harder than the loudest war cry on the field. What real co-creation with students actually looks like and why it's freeing for kids but quietly threatening for the adults. Why giving your child chores was never really about the chores. Where a school or a family might actually start with all of this. A Moment That Stuck With Me "I'm getting frustrated with her behaviour, but her behaviour is a communication to me about something else that's going on for her." – Tamryn Batcheller-Adams She was talking about her own daughter – normally so steady, suddenly in tears over the smallest things. Her instinct, like any tired parent's, was "stop it, what is going on?" And then she caught herself. The behaviour wasn't the problem to be fixed. It was the message about the thing underneath it - a move on the horizon, a brother with a complicated medical history, something she'd sensed but couldn't put words to. Such a simple reframe. And yet we fall into the trap constantly. Mentioned in This Episode The Circle of Courage – the framework at the heart of this whole conversation. Four needs: belonging, mastery, independence, generosity – drawn from Indigenous First Nations child-rearing philosophy and paired with developmental psychology. Worth a look if you've ever watched a struggling child and sensed the usual explanations weren't quite it. Reclaiming Youth at Risk: Our Hope for the Future – the book that put the Circle of Courage on the map, by Larry Brendtro, Martin Brokenleg and Steve Van Bockern (1990). Worth knowing: the framework came first, and the book followed. And while the title points to youth "at risk," the ideas apply to every one of us – those four needs don't stop mattering when you grow up. TomorrowToday Global – where Tamryn and I both work. She consults and coaches on leadership internationally, and brings this same psychology into schools, families and organisations. About Tamryn Batcheller-Adams Tamryn is a psychologist with two master's degrees, and she's spent her career working right where psychology meets real life – with clinical patients, with parents, in schools, and with leaders across more than twenty countries. She's based in Cape Town, she's a registered Enneagram specialist, and she's a co-author of Mavericks: How Bold Leadership Changes the World. What makes her perspective so unusual is how easily she moves between the theory and the lived reality of it. She'll explain the developmental psychology behind a framework and then, in the same breath, tell you about the morning she and her husband sat down to work out why their daughter kept dissolving into tears. She knows the research, but she parents in the same messy trenches as the rest of us, and she's generous enough to say so out loud. She's also clear-eyed about schools, and unafraid to name the hard part: that building a place where every child feels known, not just seen, asks a lot of teachers who are already stretched thin. She holds both things at once - the ambition and the compassion. Connect With Tamryn 🌐 tomorrowtodayglobal.com 💼 LinkedIn: Tamryn Batcheller-Adams 📖 Mavericks: How Bold Leadership Changes the World (co-author) – available here Connect With Jude & Future Smart Parent 🌐 www.tomorrowtodayglobal.com/schools 📸 Instagram: @judefoulston 💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/judefoulston 🫶 Community: Raising Tomorrow Some conversations change the question you carry around with you, and this was one of them for me. If it shifted something for you too, share it with a parent or teacher who could use a gentler way of looking at a struggling child. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2. 

   15 Jun 2026

   Why Frankie Comes to School - Laurelle Fry on Dogs in Schools, Belonging & What Helps Kids Feel Safe Enough to Learn

   About This Episode I have a friend whose teenage daughter has a support dog. I've watched that dog quietly and consistently support a young person navigating a world that wasn't always built for her. And I'll be honest, I've probably rolled my eyes at the idea before. But then I saw it. And I thought, who's the one who should be rolling their eyes now? That's really where this conversation begins, not with a research paper, but with a moment of honesty. And it's the perfect introduction to Laurelle Fry, who doesn't talk about dogs in schools the way you'd expect. No grand claims. Just real stories - a boy who spent an entire school break playing with Frankie because he couldn't find his way into a friendship group. A child who jumped onto his chair in fear the first time Frankie walked in, and now runs over to say hello. Laurelle is Head of Pre-Prep and Junior Prep at Western Province Prep School in Cape Town, and she's been bringing her rescue dog Frankie to school for years. But this conversation is really about what schools are for. Culture, belonging, regulation, and why the thing that helps a child feel safe enough to learn sometimes has four legs and a wagging tail. She has a phrase she keeps coming back to, "home away from home." After this conversation, I couldn't stop thinking about what it actually takes to build. In This Episode We Talk About How "Frankie Fridays" started and what happened on the Fridays when Frankie didn't show up. The difference between a therapy dog and a dog who just shows up and makes things better. Why the best learning doesn't happen in the quietest classroom. The moment a child's shoulders drop, and what that actually means for their ability to learn. How dogs help neurodiverse children regulate in ways that are hard to engineer any other way. What happened when Frankie crashed a formal chapel assembly (and why nobody flinched). The practical stuff nobody talks about - allergies, bathroom duties, what to do if a dog nips. The quiet boy, his Border Terrier puppy, and the small moment in morning drop-off that meant everything. Why choosing a school is really about choosing a community, and what that has to do with dogs. Laurelle's honest advice for any school or teacher thinking about introducing a dog into their environment. A Moment That Stuck With Me "As soon as he's happy, then he wants to be at school. When he wants to be at school, he wants to learn. When he wants to learn, he feels confident because he's succeeding and things are happening. So it's got this snowball effect that just happens." - Laurelle Fry Mentioned in This Episode Western Province Prep School - the Cape Town school where Laurelle is Head of Pre-Prep and Junior Prep, and where both Frankie and Apalefi have the run of the place. A school building something real around culture and belonging. Bishop's - where Laurelle taught for 13 years and where Frankie Fridays first began. The SPCA - where Frankie came from. Her previous owner was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and chose to rehome her while she was still young enough to be adopted. Worth knowing, because it shapes who she is. Reading aloud research - the science behind children reading aloud to dogs: fluency increases, and the mechanics of reading come more easily. It's the reason Apalefi came to school in the first place. Georgette, the head of learning support, brought her in so boys could read to her instead of a teddy bear. About Laurelle Fry Laurelle Fry comes from a family of educators, which probably explains why she talks about school the way she does, not as a place where curriculum gets delivered, but as a living community that children either feel part of or don't. She spent 13 years at Bishop's before moving to Western Province Prep, where she's now Head of Pre-Prep and Junior Prep. She's spent most of her career in boys' education, and she brings to it an instinct for what children actually need, not just academically, but as small humans trying to find their feet in a big world. She talks about creating a "home away from home." You can tell she means it. She is also, it must be said, completely besotted with Frankie. I follow her on Instagram, and I can confirm there is photographic evidence of Frankie being pushed in a pram. There was a very good reason. Torn ligaments. The boys loved pushing her around. Of course they did. Connect With Laurelle Fry LinkedIn: Laurelle Fry (https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurelle-fry-79a4562b4/) Connect With Jude & Future Smart Parent 🌐 www.tomorrowtodayglobal.com/schools (www.tomorrowtodayglobal.com/schools) 📸 Instagram: @judefoulston (https://instagram.com/judefoulston_family) 💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/judefoulston (https://linkedin.com/in/judefoulston) Some conversations make you want to be a little more patient, a little more present. This is one of those. Know a parent or teacher who'd appreciate it? Send it their way.

3. 

   1 Jun 2026

   Let's Meet Under the Tree - Tebogo Maneli on Indigenous Knowledge, Brave Conversations & What Our Kids Actually Need

   About This Episode I'll be honest - I found today's guest because of a conference theme. And I know that sounds like a strange place to start, but when the theme is "Let's Meet Under the Tree," you just have to stop, don't you? That's what happened when I came across the Embrace Symposium, happening at St Benedict's College in Johannesburg this month. And it led me straight to Tebogo Maneli - history teacher, DEIBS practitioner, and great podcast guest :) This conversation goes deep... into Indigenous Knowledge Systems, what representation actually feels like (versus just understanding it intellectually), why language is one of the most powerful tools of connection we're currently underusing, and what it really means to raise children who know who they are. In This Episode We Talk About What Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) actually means - and why every single person in the room carries one The "Meet Under the Tree" metaphor, and why Tebogo thinks it might not just be a metaphor Why she prefers the word educationalist over transformation practitioner - and how language shapes whether people open up or shut down The difference between representation and transformation, and why Tebogo believes in one far more than the other What happened when Jude worked alongside a woman in leadership for the first time - and the moment she felt what representation means, not just understood it Why white teachers aren't being replaced, they're being invited into a bigger conversation The real reason African languages aren't being taken by white students in South African schools (hint: it's systemic, not about difficulty) Why parents and teachers are partners in this ecosystem - and how a single positive message home can shift everything A Moment That Stuck With Me "We don't know what we do not know. And this is where I think the tree metaphor lives - you didn't even know you were wounded before, right? Through experiencing her as a system, using her indigenous knowledge, you were changed. You were healed in a way that maybe you might not have been before." - Tebogo Maneli Mentioned in This Episode The Embrace Symposium 2026 Let's Meet Under the Tree: Using Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Pedagogy as Pathways to Social Healing in Education 📅 4–5 June 2026 📍 St Benedict's College, Johannesburg This is not a sit-and-listen kind of event. It's practical, it's dialogic, and it's designed so that every delegate leaves with tools they can actually take back to their school community. If this conversation moved something in you, that's probably your sign to look it up. 🔗 (https://www.stbenedicts.co.za/)St Benedict's College - Embrace Symposium (https://www.stbenedicts.co.za/) About Tebogo Maneli Tebogo Maneli is an Upper School History teacher at Lebone II College of the Royal Bafokeng, based in Phukeng village, North West. With over 15 years of experience in education across South Africa and Mauritius, Tebogo holds a Bachelor of Education from the University of the Witwatersrand and is currently completing a Postgraduate Diploma in Inclusive Education through UNISA. In 2023, her passion for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in schools was formalised at St Stithians Girls' College, where she became a DEIBS practitioner and went on to convene the DEIBS Cluster in Gauteng - bringing together transformation practitioners from private schools across the province. She has facilitated Teachers' Roundtables for the Apartheid Museum, presented on Girls' Education at St Mary's DSG, and spoken on innovative AI teaching strategies at the 2023 History National User Group Conference. Tebogo describes herself not as a transformation practitioner, but as an educationalist - and once you hear this conversation, you'll understand exactly why that distinction matters. Connect With Tebogo LinkedIn: Tebogo Maneli (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tebogo-maneli-990a381b6/) Connect With Jude & Future Smart Parent 🌐 www.tomorrowtodayglobal.com/schools (https://futuresmartparent.com/) 📸 Instagram: (https://instagram.com/judefoulston_family)@judefoulston (https://instagram.com/judefoulston_family) 💼 LinkedIn: (https://linkedin.com/in/judefoulston)linkedin.com/in/judefoulston (https://linkedin.com/in/judefoulston) If this episode resonated with you, please share it with another parent or educator who needs to hear it. And if you haven't subscribed yet - now's a good time. We've got a lot more conversations like this one coming.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

3.7 / 5

3 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Contact Future Smart Parent

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.