Planting the First Seeds: How a Simple Idea Began to Grow
(Seeds of Knowledge: The Seeds Story Series — Article 2)
Every big idea begins as something small. A question. A moment of insight. A conversation that lingers.
Seeds of Knowledge was no different. It began not as a formal project, but as a quiet reflection on a simple truth: education is filled with potential, but too often we teach to the present while the world is racing toward the future.
I remember sitting one afternoon, after a long day of leading school improvement work, thinking about the conversations I’d had with teachers that week. The patterns were clear, so many were craving space to explore new ideas, to reconnect with why they had become educators in the first place. They wanted not just “professional development” in the traditional sense, but a deeper kind of growth, one rooted in curiosity, reflection, and purpose.
At the same time, I was watching the world change rapidly around us, the rise of AI, the shifting needs of the workplace, the growing calls for inclusion and belonging in education. It struck me: if we are to prepare learners for this emerging world, we as educators must also keep learning, questioning, adapting.
And so the metaphor emerged: planting seeds.
What if we approached educational change not as a top-down mandate, but as a process of planting ideas, seeds of curiosity, seeds of courage, seeds of compassion, in the minds and hearts of educators and leaders?
What if those seeds could take root in different contexts, growing in ways that fit each school’s unique culture and needs?
What if we created not a one-size-fits-all programme, but an evolving garden of ideas, a community of educators committed to reimagining what schools can be?
This was the original spark behind Seeds of Knowledge. No grand strategy. No polished brand. Just a quiet recognition that sometimes, the smallest seeds can lead to the most profound change.
In the months that followed, I began capturing these ideas, first in personal notes, then in blog posts, then in workshops shared with colleagues. The response was clear: others were feeling the same pull. There was a hunger for spaces where educators could step back, think differently, and grow together.
As Seeds of Knowledge has grown, one thing remains unchanged: it is still about planting seeds. Not imposing answers, but nurturing questions. Not prescribing practices, but inspiring reflection. Not chasing trends, but cultivating timeless values for teaching and learning.
In the articles that follow, I’ll share more of this story, how the first workshops were shaped, how the key metaphors emerged, how the community has begun to grow, and where we hope to go next.
But for now, I return to this simple truth:
Every big idea begins as something small.
In education, small seeds, planted with care, nourished with curiosity, and shared with others, can grow into forests of change.
