David Bott, being. with Lael Stone | Education Is Not Broken ♥︎

In this hopeful and honest conversation, I sit down with David Bott, best-selling author and education consultant, and a man who still gets choked up about a teacher who was there for him when he was thirteen. I'll put my hand up here... for a long time I was one of the loudest voices saying the system was broken. David gently invites me to look at the other side of that story. He's worked with over a thousand schools around the world, and what he sees is a lot of magnificence. Educators doing extraordinary things, often despite everything we keep piling on them. In this conversation, we talk about grades and who they really serve – homework, and what it costs a family at the end of a long day. Teachers performing like elite athletes with no time to recover. And the kids we worry about least, the quiet ones who often slip through unseen. We explore: Why the "education is broken" story can harm the very people holding it together The best teacher David ever saw, and why a whole system can't run on heroes Grades, homework, and the old Latin question David keeps asking: who does this really serve? How AI might be nudging schools back towards the most human skills of all When I ask educators about the teacher who changed them, they talk about the one who noticed them, who believed in them, who helped when things were hard. None of that shows up in a test score or a headline... and it's happening in classrooms everywhere, every single day. [Recorded May 2026] About David Bott: David Bott is a best-selling author, education consultant, and former teacher who co-founded The Wellbeing Distillery, helping schools around the world build wellbeing into the way they actually run. He was a founding member of the UAE Government's Dubai Future Council for Education, sits on the board of the Positive Education Schools Association, and co-wrote 10 Things Schools Get Wrong (And How We Can Get Them Right) with Dr Jared Cooney Horvath. He's also a dad to a ten-year-old who is just discovering homework. Connect with David: Web: thewellbeingdistillery.com Instagram: @thewellbeingdistillery — Lael's eight-week Parenting Immersion starts October 19th, working through themes like trust, boundaries, anger and repair to help you understand your own patterns and respond instead of react. Join the waitlist or sign up now .