James Crawley

Community Engagement Lead

he/him

Mobilising young people and their communities to tackle overconsumption while promoting wellbeing

James has been working at the intersection of arts, education and climate justice throughout his career in both paid and voluntary roles. He has a BA Honours in English Literature & Modern History, a Diploma with Friends of The Earth in Community Organising, a diploma in Montessori Pedagogy & Philosophy: Early Years Childhood Education & Care (level 4), and completed the first year Clown & Actor training at Ecole Philippe Gaulier.

In 2017, James worked with a group of parents to co-found a Montessori Childcare setting (ages 4 - 12) called ‘Bright Montessori,’ developing a curriculum from Maria Montesori’s “cosmic education” while ensuring all aspects of the setting adhered to the EYFS and Key Stages. By “following the child,” James worked closely with his team to create a constantly evolving favourable environment that used the unique child’s point of interest to design a personalised curriculum incorporating English, Geography, History, and STEAM subjects. Bringing the outside in was essential to James’ nature based approach, as well as taking the child outside as much as possible, to their community allotment, to forest school and to community farms. Curiosity, critical thinking and project based learning were key pillars of the approach. James went on to become a consultant at Montessori Centre International, developing a webinar series to a global audience of educators, parents and school leaders called, ‘Talking Montessori,’ supporting their global network to stay connected, inspired throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

James is passionate about creating grassroots solutions to the climate & ecological crisis, transformative pedagogies & philosophies in education and long distance cycling. He’s developed a philosophy for life based on five Cs: curiosity, care, compassion and community. Throw a clown in there too, to make the difficult work feel fun even when we know it’s no fun at all. An ethic of care is the foundation for how James approaches both his personal and professional life, which has been devoted in large parts to intentional community building and creating positive behaviour change in our society.