“Arrrr” ya ready for a rockin’ good time aboard a podcast that’s sure to make a splash in your professional learning?
There are certain invitations that just hit differently.
When we got the call to join The Dave Burgess Show, it felt less like booking a podcast appearance and more like stepping back into a story that’s been unfolding for nearly a decade.
Michael and Dave go way back — all the way to the publication of Explore Like a Pirate in 2016, one of the very first titles in the “Like a Pirate” series under the Dave Burgess Consulting umbrella. That book wasn’t just another release. It helped define what the Pirate movement would become: bold, student-centered, curiosity-driven learning with real energy behind it. It set a tone.
And in many ways, that spirit still animates everything we do: both here in the resources that we create at EMC² Learning, and in each of the chapters we’ve proudly put pen to paper to in the books that we’ve written in the years since Michael and Dave first met… right up through the release of Playing with Purpose just a few short weeks ago.
So sitting down with Dave wasn’t just about swapping talking points. It was a full-circle moment. A chance to reflect on where playful pedagogy has been, where it’s headed amid these stranger tides of AI-powered futures and more, and what it looks like to keep evolving without losing your edge.
We talked about:
Why engagement can’t just be noise and novelty
How to build classroom experiences that are both joyful and demanding
The tension between AI, authenticity, and human connection
What it means to give students the mic — not just the worksheet
It was honest. It was energetic. It was reflective. And it reminded us why this work matters.
The Pirate ethos has always been about permission: permission to take risks, to teach boldly, to break out of compliance culture and build something unforgettable for kids. That conversation is just as urgent now as it was in 2016. In fact, with all this artificial intelligence swirling in the waters around us? You might even make the case that authentic engagement matters all that much more now than ever.
We’re grateful to Dave for the invitation and the conversation. And we’re excited for you to listen in.
Climb aboard the podcast by giving a click right here!
The activities we discuss on this podcast are just a handful of the 1,100+ resources available and on their way to arrive shortly in the EMC² Learning library. This entire library is available to all members with an active Engagement Engineer or Engagement Engineer PLUS account, and is included with your annual site membership. We hope you’ll consider joining us as an Engagement Engineer to unlock a full year of site access. For complete details including our exclusive limited time offer for annual site membership, click here.
