Mayo director of outdoor education and training centre in spotlight on new podcast
MICK Kane, director of the Achill Outdoor Education and Training Centre, will feature in this week’s episode of ‘OMG! What a Complete Education!’, a new podcast series co-hosted by ‘Oh My God, What a Complete Aisling’ authors Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen.
The eight-part series, created by Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI), features learners from across a range of programmes and initiatives within Further Education and Training (FET).
In this week’s episode, Kane discusses his love for the outdoors and the natural environment with McLysaght and Breen, who both studied and met at Ballyfermot College of Further Education in Dublin.
Kane loves surfing, sea kayaking, windsurfing, walking and traditional Irish music.
He lives on Achill with his wife and four children. He currently works as the director of outdoor education at Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim ETB and has previously worked with the Local Authority Waters Programme specifically on freshwater ecology, and community engagement on the Water Framework Directive with the EPA and other national agencies.
Throughout the series, learners of all ages and backgrounds will share their experiences of Post Leaving Cert courses, apprenticeships, outdoor education and returning to education as adult learners.
Commenting at the launch of the podcast series, Emer McLysaght said: “The wonderful thing about co-hosting this podcast has been hearing so many different people’s stories and experiences from colleges and training centres right across the country. There are so many people, like us, who didn’t know for sure where they wanted to go or how to get there, and found a way through a FET course and with the support of the staff behind those courses.”
Added co-host Sarah Breen: “It may sound cliché to say, but the people on this podcast are inspirational because they are regular people who have found a way to change their lives and get where they want to be through education. We all know someone who didn’t have a great experience in school or didn’t get the points they needed for a particular course, or who never got any qualifications at all. But hearing Mick’s story, it shows listeners just how many opportunities there are out there!”
Said Dr. Fiona Maloney, director of further education and training at ETBI: “We initially had the idea for this podcast as we were aware, through our work with ETBs across the country, that there were thousands of learners and people involved in education who had really interesting and inspiring stories to tell about their education journey. Through this podcast we hope that people of all ages and backgrounds can see that there are education options available to suit everyone – no matter what your age, background or interests are.”
OMG! What a Complete Education! was created by ETBI in partnership with SOLAS. The third episode of the podcast is available from today (Tuesday) on Spotify, Apple and all other podcast platforms.