Schoolutions: Curious Educators. Evidence-Based Strategies. Classrooms Where Every Child Thrives.

Science Busking: The Unexpected Teaching Method Schools Are Missing

• Olivia Wahl • Season 5 • Episode 35

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In part 1 of my S5E35 @schoolutionspodcast conversation, science busker and LAMDA-trained communicator, David Price of @ScienceMadeSimpleUK, takes us inside a live street performance, and YOU get to participate. We explore proprioception, the body science behind the busk you'll try in this episode, as a metaphor for how hands-on, student participation, and whole-child learning can transform classroom behavior, student motivation, and attention.

David shares how he trains researchers, new teachers, and school leaders in the art of captivating strangers and why those same skills are transformative for inspiring students and building student success in any setting.

In Part 1, you'll discover:
→ What science busking is and why it works for low engagement audiences
→ The "golden volunteer" principle and how it applies to classroom belonging
→ Why students at Rael Gate School started designing their own busks
→ How street performer techniques translate into effective teaching
→ The proprioception experiment you can try right now

Resources from David:

Some episode mentions:

Chapters
0:00 Intro — science on a street corner
1:30 Meet David Price: LAMDA science communicator & busker
3:00 Stefia Sini: the interplanetary engineer
4:00 How David found science communication (not planned!)
5:30 LIVE BUSK — try the proprioception experiment now
8:10 What science busking actually is
10:00 Busking in schools — the Rael Gate story
13:00 Materials: what's in a busking kit?
14:20 Capturing a transient audience — the ball trick
16:30 Lessons from the 2009 World Street Performance Championships
19:00 The "golden volunteer" and inclusive classroom strategies
20:45 Lightning round — David's hot takes

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🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl

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When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.

Olivia: [00:00:00] What if the best science lesson you ever had happened on a street corner with no desks, no worksheets, and a stranger rolling a ball at your feet? My guest today, David Price, is a LAMDA trained science communicator and the manager of Science Made Simple North, and he has taken science busking a street performance approach to STEM engagement to audiences across 26 countries. During part one of our conversation, we actually get to experience a science busk in action, and I promise your arms are going to be involved, so if you're driving, you may need to pull over first. Here is part one of my conversation with David Price.

This is Schoolutions, the podcast that extends education beyond the classroom. A show that isn't just theory, but practical [00:01:00] try-it-tomorrow approaches for educators and caregivers to ensure every student finds their spark and receives the support they need to thrive. 

I am Olivia Wahl, and I am so excited to introduce you to David Price on the podcast today. Let me tell you a little bit about David. David Price is a London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, or LAMDA trained science communicator. He's the manager of Science Made Simple North, which specializes in science busking. It's a street performance approach to STEM engagement, which he has taken to audiences across 26 countries.

Our conversation today will focus on David's work, training researchers, schools, and science centers in the art of captivating hands-on science communication. David, welcome from Hong Kong uh, we are 12 hours exactly apart, seven 30 my time in the morning, 7:30 PM your time. Thank you [00:02:00] for doing this. 

David: My absolute pleasure to be here, Olivia.

Olivia: I am so excited. I have followed your work and I just think you are a fascinating human and so I reached out. I wanted you to be on the podcast because I really want to make sure we are doing right by our students, their families, educators, everyone we can to build confidence when it comes to science education. Um, so let's start the conversation. Who is a researcher or a piece of research you lean on with your work when it comes to science busking? 

David: A researcher who I've been talking to or who I've been using, um, quite a lot recently is a lady called Stefania Soldini, and she is this incredible person who describes herself as an interplanetary engineer. How about that? An interplanetary engineer. I didn't know such things existed. I think Stefania might be the [00:03:00] first. 

Olivia: Yes. 

David: Uh, and she works for, uh, she works in planetary defense. Literally, she's a, she, so, so the NASA project, some people might have remember it from a few years back, DART Impactor, where we crashed a satellite into a moon around an asteroid. Essentially Stefania is the lead coder, um, for that project and other projects like it. 

Olivia: Wow. That's fascinating. 

David: So I've been in, in, I've been in Hong Kong last week. It was, um, the opening week of something called the Croucher, uh, Science Festival. And we do a schools tour in the first week of that. And Stefania was one of the people in the show that we brought along to the peoples. 

Olivia: Brilliant. Oh, this is so exciting. I'll talk links to everything you're sharing in the show notes as well, so people will have access. Um, let's start off because you began this work in 1998 and [00:04:00] there is this, um, precipice where you researcher or street performer, and you really had to decide - why did you choose to go the route of communications instead of researcher?

David: I was going to become a teacher - an actual fact, I was going to become a teacher and I had a, a six week period where I had no money and no job. So I had to get a job of some description, anything. And I went into, um, the employment office, which we sort of had, had then. And there was a note on the wall, written on the wall, little card on the wall. Um, uh. Exhibit maker, part-time exhibit maker, maker required, uh, for the Museum of Science and Industry. And I didn't go for six weeks, I stayed for 10 years. 

Olivia: Amazing. Ah, that's amazing.

David: Um, and, and, and, and moved from, um, building [00:05:00] exhibits really to, if you like, building performances and shows. 

Olivia: So let's get right into it. What is science busking? 

David: Ooh, you ask question. I'm a veteran of failed funding bids where we have found a way not to answer that question. Um, if I can show you, maybe if I can show you, it'll give you it'll, and, and then I can talk a little, a little bit about it. So here is, here is a busk that I learned off an amazing science communicator called James Piercy, James Piercy. Um, so what we've gotta do, we've gotta do this. Everybody can, and, and if you can see me, fantastic. If you can hear me, no worries. A commentary will come along with this, okay? So I want you to give yourself a little bit of space and put one hand in front of one index finger out in front of you. I'm sorry, that is not being rude. And one index finger out behind you. 

Olivia: Okay. 

David: And we have three attempts to bring that back finger forwards and hit. The top of our front finger. [00:06:00] 

Olivia: Oh boy. Okay. 

David: Okay. Do it in time with me. Maybe do it in time with me. So bringing back finger over and it hits tip of front finger. Wait one. 

Olivia: We have to do it three time? 

David: And again.

Olivia: Okay. 

David: Bringing back finger over and it hits tip of front finger again. Whoa. Two outta two. 

Olivia: I've gotten two. 

David: One last one. Here we go. And here it comes. 

Olivia: Yay. I did it. 

David: Give your arms a bit of a shake.

Olivia: Shake, shake, shake. 

David: Now, that's fantastic. Okay. Okay. Well now we're gonna do the same thing with our eyes closed.

Olivia: Oh gosh. Okay. 

David: Eyes closed. So exactly the same deal. Uh, you can do it with me. I'll do the commentary again, but we do it with our eyes tight shut. 

Olivia: Same arm. Same. Okay, here we go. Oh boy. 

David: And a one and a missed little miss from me. 

Olivia: I did it. 

David: Well done. Oh, close. Oh, I, I usually manage to get at least one. Here we go with another [00:07:00] one. Oh, I missed all three. 

Olivia: I got all three. I got all three. 

David: That's fantastic. Now you can do that because of a piece of science called, it's got a fantastic name. I always struggle to spell it. It's called proprioception. Body science called proprioception, and our brains and our nerves and our muscles can work out roughly the relation of one piece of our body in relation to another part of our body, and I can prove that to you.

So eyes closed again, finger up in front of you, just one finger up in front of your face about level with your nose. 

Olivia: Okay? 

David: And on 1, 2, 3 you're gonna move that finger around, up and down, backwards and forwards, round and round in a circle. Any which way you want to be careful you don't hit anybody near you, right?

Olivia: I hit my nose. Okay. 

David: 1, 2, 3, go. Circle anticlockwise clockwise. Do the [00:08:00] diagonals. Everybody forgets the diagonals in, out, up, and down. Running and running and running round. And put your finger on your nose. 

Olivia: Oh boy, that was hard. 

David: And you open and we got our fingers on our nose. We have our fingers on our nose because of a branch of science called proprioception. So it works. 

Olivia: It does, it does. Wow. 

David: And that is what busking is.  I mean, that one is fantastic. It doesn't use any materials other than the human body. Um, but it's that joyful playing with phenomena, using the skills of street performers to help people relax and not worry too much about the facts and, and, and just enjoy the moment of STEM, that, that, that positive cultural footprint of stem, STEM capital, cap science capital people, more and more people are calling it these days.

Um, and I think, you know, [00:09:00] I think busking isn't the only game in town, it is isn't the only technique to hold and attract and inspire audiences. But particularly for transient audiences, particularly for people who you have never met, who do not know you are going to be there talking about science and using those skills as street performers, it becomes a really, really useful skillset.

Olivia: That was a fantastic example and I, you know, if people are listening in the car, obviously they'd have to pull over to, to join in. 

David: Just don’t let go of your steering wheel be steering, 

Olivia: Don't do that while you're driving. But, but it was beautifully narrated as well, and I, I did pretty well. I've had a nice amount of coffee so far this morning. Um, so here's the coolest thing though, because you and Science Made Simple, you're winning award after award after award. I want to make sure I'm saying this right, but you've won the Josh Award for Outstanding Innovation and Science Communication, [00:10:00] for developing and popularizing these techniques, which is amazing.

Um, I also would say I feel like busking is really peer-led learning as well. And that's what I love about it because I can see this so beautifully being, um, very engaging in schools, in the classrooms. So when you are not in town squares, busking, what does this look like within a school setting? 

David: Within a school setting very often uh, so I was busking in a school once to tell you a little story, a wonderful, amazing school in Durham, uh, in the northeast of of, of Eng, of England called Framwellgate School. And I was working at one of the festivals as a street performer. Uh, and they came to me and they said, David, we love all of that. But when you go all of that freedom and that play and that self-expression through STEM and around STEM, it leaves with you, can you train our pupils how [00:11:00] to do this?

Um, and, and that really made me think, and they set me a, a, a goal, which was an absolute joy. And we created a training program to help pupils um, run with little bits of science and, and Framwellgate was so successful at it that eventually the, the teachers who ran the program got in a little bit of trouble because they were taking pupils outta lessons so much and, and they won a whole bunch of awards, um, in the local area for busking at fates and festivals, and became these incredible ambassadors for the school. But what really pleases me most about it, it, it went beyond that. So eventually the pupils came - we, I mean, we train to a set series of busks really, that we know are really accessible, made outta really accessible materials that that people can pick up quickly and run with the [00:12:00] ideas, but they came back to the teachers and said, yeah, but can't we do this? Can't we try that? Can't we do this? They were getting a little bit salty, you know, they were pushing the boundaries of what they were doing. 

Olivia: I like that. Yeah… 

David: And I love that. Absolutely adored that. Yeah. 

Olivia: It's brilliant. Uh, and so let's talk materials then, because we just used our own bodies to have that relationship between the movement, the hands-on, and the actual science. What else do you usually have with you as you're setting up in the middle of a town square? 

David: You wouldn't believe you because I've been rehearsing today, all of the stuff that I would usually bring, that I could have shown you little bits and pieces is in the theater where I'll be working. 

Olivia: Of course, 

David: Where I'll be working on on Wednesday, so I can describe to you anyway. Uh, but it's things like cardboard tubes, balloons. We tend to use balloons a lot, although there are some places in the world that really [00:13:00] struggle to get balloons. Um, we, we struggle to find balloons, string things that you could go into your local 711 or, or, or maybe your local, um, hardware store if you make your kit. That's not to say that we only use everyday materials, but we like to have versions of pretty much everything we have that use everyday materials because then you are maximizing the chances of people being able to do it themselves to watch that you live or online or whatever and actually have a go safely themselves. Yeah. 

Olivia: That makes so much sense. And therein lies the ripple effect, the beautiful ripple effect. And so you may create this beautiful performance and you're standing in the square, what do you do? Like take us into the moment with you. How do you captivate people's attention right out of the gate because that's so daunting to me to think [00:14:00] about this doing this?

David: And it is, it it, when we train I, when we train pupils, we train teachers, we train researchers on these techniques and it is frankly terrifying. 

Olivia: Yeah.

David: I agree. When I think about it, it still says, whoa, do we, do we actually do this? But I think when you look at the skillset of street performers, it's actually like baby steps. The things that they do. Everybody does. It's just that they're very, very good at them. The eye contact, the body language, the vocal modulation, all of the, all, all, all of these things. The, they're just, but so that, okay, they've done it, they've done this, they've done these particular routines for 20 years, but if you break down, if what they do, it's actually really simple and it's really can do and we can go into it and cherry [00:15:00] pick the things that help who we are. So for example, if I'm starting off, if I'll give you, very often my start off on a routine is I either have a basketball or a tennis ball and I just roll it at people. That's it. I just roll it a bit and, and you have to be made of stone not to react to that object. In some, in some way, even if you avoid it… 

Olivia: Yeah.

David: You're still reacting to that object, you know? And so often that's the part and then, but more and often, so again, people are, pick that ball and either throw it back to you, kick it back to you, or carry it back to you. Already you've captured an audience because until you let them give you that ball back, they're not gonna go anywhere.

Olivia: That's, that is so interesting. And the ball, it's almost building that rapport and relationship right out of the gate. 

David: Oh, maybe you have that rapport, that thing between you, and then you have a little story about that ball and why we were using it. That leads to something else, and this [00:16:00] is what street performers are so amazing at doing, you know, is, is they, they from, from really small beginnings like that, they build these enormous stories and, and attract sometimes by to put money in a hat know with no contract. Um, yeah, yeah. They're incredible people and the skills are really accessible. 

Olivia: So let's go a little bit deeper because I know you attended the 2009 World Street Performance Championship in Dublin. What did you take after attending that, that you use all the time in your busking?

David: I think wow. Were, were, were, were, were to start. Well, I mean, there was one guy, there was one guy there who, he was a balance act. He was a balance act. Incredible man. I think he came third or Australian gentleman. And [00:17:00] he, I took a picture as he was starting his act with pretty much only a few people standing around him. And then I took a picture, eight, I took an image eight minutes later, uh, as much as I could, standing in exactly the same spot and it, it, and, and, and he, it attracted something like, I dunno, it was over 2000 people anyway. Um and that these people can do that. 

Just absolutely blew me away. And I'm not the only person who's looked at their skillsets. There are, there are other science communicators, many, probably lot, lots of science communicators who've actually looked at that skillset and thought, wow, wow. We could actually. We could actually, and, and the, the ball, the ball routine that I use, I've quite literally, I saw a few people using that at the World Championships and that led me to start using it.

And, but, but thinking, I mean, they were leading it down the [00:18:00] route of, of magic or juggling, particularly juggling, uh, or, and not that there isn't a bunch of whole bunch of science within juggling and magic and, and whatever else they do, but, uh, start. Here's an interesting thing. One of the things that street performers say to me, uh, and I bump into street performers all the time. I, I, and I know quite a lot of, quite a few of 'em, quite well. They say, we love your act, David, but why do you explain things? We don't understand why you have this need to explain things, and that this whole conversation about what science communication is, comes out. 

Olivia: Yes. Well, and that is, it's so interesting because that's the juxtaposition between magic - keeping the science secret from your audience versus the science communication and giving the why. Children, adults alike, love to know the why behind what's happening is and why it's [00:19:00] happening. So then here's the thing. I'm sure you know performances, they have a tendency to go one way or go another, and you really have to flow with it. So have you ever been in a situation where someone is really not into it or an experiment goes not well and you, you are kind of stuck?

David: What street performers are looking for…the really good ones when you get into a street set. Of course they'll have lots of volunteers in the shows, but they're looking for that special volunteer that often described as that golden volunteer. That volunteer who answers back, who's a little bit cheeky. Who maybe doesn't do things exactly the way that you would want, you know, because they know that if that, that is massively attractive to transient audiences. And transient audiences will [00:20:00] stop, you know, hugely because of that interaction between you and that, that slightly cheeky volunteer.

So, and, and street performers have a, have a, a ridge, lots of them will give themselves three attempts. To find that golden volunteer. And if a volunteer comes up and, and they're not quite what they're looking for, then they'll still give that volunteer a great experience and have a good talk with them. But then relatively quickly, you know, within a couple of minutes they'll probably do something and then they'll go back and they'll pick somebody else. And, and what they're doing is, is, is searching for that, that, that golden volunteer. 

Olivia: So we're going to end part one. With a lightning round and I am so excited to just hear your gut responses to these questions. Um, do you find more joy in science busking or the festival stage? 

David: I love them both dearly, and spend [00:21:00] a lot of time in both, but the thing is with the festival stage is you already have a secured audience. You know, convention says that when you sit down in a seat in such a show, you probably don't move. Um, whereas in the busking side of things, you have to win. You have to own, you have, you know, you know that audience. And, and when that works, and I'm not saying it works every time for me, but when that works, it is such a satisfying thing. I I, it's hard to put it into words. Yeah. 

Olivia: Yeah. Okay. Um, what's a topic every science communicator should stop trying to make exciting.

David: Well, now I'm gonna answer, I'm gonna be cheeky here and answer this question in a… 

Olivia: I figured you may. 

David: …in a different way. Very often. What you, you're doing something in a street, in a street scenario and somebody sees you doing it and then you end up, so you end up in this linear line of doing the same experiment again and again and again. [00:22:00] Because as the public approach you all they're seeing you doing is that experiment. So that's the thing they want to do. Um and sometimes particularly with researchers, um, at, at festivals, it can get a little bit boring to have the same explanation. So one thing we try to say to any busker, to any performer is just give yourself a few different ways of talking about the phenomena you using that day. Because what it does, it keeps it fresh for you. And if it keeps it fresh for you, it keeps it fresh for your audience as well. 

Olivia: That is phenomenal because I live the same thing when I am presenting or coaching around a topic. If I know I have people in the audience that have sat in a session before, I always make sure to have a few different ways of addressing a topic, and I never related that. That works for everything, but it really pushes you as well as a [00:23:00] presenter. That, that, that's so interesting. 

David: It really does. Yeah. 

Olivia: Yeah, it does. Um, who is a scientist that you would love to teach to be a street performer? 

David: Wow. It's the lady I already mentioned in actual fact. Um, so Stefania, because I've, I, she's all over social media, um, particularly LinkedIn, which is something I I, I tend to, I tend to look at, look at quite a lot. Uh, and I just think she'd make a great street performer. She'd absolutely wow audiences with her enthusiasm for what she does for, for trying to save planet Earth, really. Which is a, which is a, which is a great, uh, showstopper.

Olivia: It is, it is a good showstopper. Um, if you could busk anywhere in the world, which street corner would you love to land on? 

David: Somewhere in a major city in India. 

Olivia: Ah, why? 

David: Because I've worked in India a few times. I love to work there more. Uh, [00:24:00] and the street settings, you know, are so colorful and so full of curiosity. So maybe there's a barber and he is working outdoors because it's so warm and he's shaving somebody with a, with a cutthroat razor and, um, and there are 20 people, good naturedly watching what's going on. And, and, and for a, for a, for a street performer, that's, that's, that's like heaven, um and I've being able to experiment on that theme of only, only for short periods of time. And it really had it in science festivals, what I've been working for in, uh, in, in India. And it does work like that. And it, it's, I I just think if busking, if street, if, if science, communication, street performance science, busking is gonna work anywhere than, then I think India is, uh, is is a, a really good place for it. We're gonna have a really good chance of success. 

Olivia: David, this has been absolutely fascinating [00:25:00] and I cannot wait for part two of our conversation. We're going to be really talking about the global implications that your work has. Um, I'm also excited in part two to circle back. I mean, you are a jet setter and it, it must be a fascinating life and yet exhausting, so I'm excited for you to share a little bit about that with us too. Thank you for this part one conversation, David. 

David: My very great pleasure.

Olivia: That wraps part one of my conversation with remarkable David Price. We laughed, we moved our arms around on camera, and we talked about golden volunteers, cheeky students, and why the best science communicators are just really honest humans who love a good phenomenon. Make sure to head to the show notes for links to Science Made Simple, the British Interactive Group and the Singapore National Science Busking Championships.

If you're a funder, a school leader, or someone sitting on resources looking [00:26:00] for work that genuinely matters, David's team is doing it. Share this episode. Tag a science teacher. And if you have a child nearby, try the busking exercise from today's episode and then ask them why it worked. Come back for part two where we are going global language barriers, busking kits built around what's actually available in Ghana, the heartbreak and hope around a wordless theater show called Visualize and what David still dreams of building. You do not want to miss it. See you Friday.

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Olivia Wahl

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