Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama on the power of education and self-belief

In December 2018, former first lady Michelle Obama paid a special visit to Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School in Islington, London, to mark the publication of her memoir, Becoming. She spoke to pupils about empowerment through education and the importance of self-belief in achieving your goals.

Following the publication of a younger reader's edition of her number one bestselling memoir, former first lady Michelle Obama virtually reunited with London schoolgirls students in 2021, to discuss resilience, sisterhood, motivation and leadership, as well the impact of COVID-19.

You can find the clips and teaching resources for both events below.

2018 Penguin Talk Resources

Age: Key Stages 3 – 5

Subject: PSHE

Topic: Self-belief

The following activities give KS3-5 students the opportunity to identify and discuss personal barriers both they and others may face, how to overcome these barriers, as well as how to grow in self-belief. The following activities can be used as standalone activities, or used together with the starter and plenary to form a complete lesson (approx. 1 hour 30 mins in total).

Learning Objectives:

How do we overcome barriers?

How can we support ourselves and others?

How can we become ourselves

The full Penguin Talk

2021 Penguin Talk Resources

Age: Key Stages 3 – 5

Subject: PSHE

Topic: Resilience, social media and leadership

The activities give KS3-5 students the opportunity to identify and discuss how to build resilience, the qualities of a leader and how to engage positively with social media. The following can be used as standalone activities, or used together with the starter and plenary to form a complete lesson (approx. 1 hour 30 mins in total).

Learning Objectives:

1.    How do we build resilience?

2.    How can we be leaders?

3.    How can we positively engage with social media?