Future Learning Design Podcast
By Tim Logan
Future Learning Design PodcastSep 04, 2021
On Wisdom and Storytelling - A Conversation with Deepak Ramola
Deepak Ramola is the Founder and Artistic Director of Project FUEL. A two time TED Talk speaker & UN Action Plan Executor, he also previously served as the Kindness Ambassador for UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development.
Deepak is a storyteller and artist forwarding the understanding of life lessons of everyone from women of the Maasai tribe to young girls in Afghanistan and sex workers of Kamathipura, earthquake survivors in Nepal to Syrian refugees in Europe.
Founded in 2009, Project FUEL collects life lessons from people all over the world and turns them into interactive and performance activities, to pass on the learnings. The passing on happens by way of workshops, seminars, and sometimes even over coffee.
Every life is important and so is what each person's life teaches them. At FUEL, life lessons are continuously collected, documented, thought about deeply and then turned into performance activities. This ensures that you don't just hear someone's lesson in words but experience it tangibly, and apply it practically in your own life.
One way that the life lessons are shared globally is through the World Wisdom Map - a collation and exhibition of human wisdom that invites people to engage, contribute and learn from everyone's stories in an artistic and interactive way.
Project FUEL's methodology has been recognised as a world's top 100 innovations in education by Finland based organisation HundrED and has also been adopted by the Education Board of Antwerp in Belgium, and schools across Asia and the US.
A celebrated lyricist in Hindi Cinema, Deepak's songs have been voiced by Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar, Rekha Bhardwaj amongst others. His first collection of Hindi poetry titled Itna Toh Main Samajh Gaya Hoon received the prestigious Young Writer Award in 2020 at Jaipur Literature Festival. His latest book, 50 Toughest Questions of Life, has gone into a reprint two weeks after its release.
Social Links
LinkedIn: deepak-ramola
Twitter: @deepak1811
Instagram: @deepakramola; @projectfuel
On Warm Data in Education - A Conversation with Nora Bateson
This week's episode is a wonderful conversation with Nora Bateson (https://batesoninstitute.org/nora-bateson/). In my opinion, Nora is one of the most important thinkers working today to challenge the dominant paradigm of optimization, separation and machine-like efficiency that pervades our institutions. She does so in her own beautiful style and in deep continuity with the ideas of her father, Gregory Bateson, and her grandfather, William Bateson, among many others.
Nora's work with the International Bateson Institute (https://batesoninstitute.org/) brings the fields of biology, cognition, art, anthropology, psychology, and information technology together into a study of the patterns in ecology of living systems. She coined the term "Warm Data" and, as you will hear in our conversation, this was in response to the disproportionate credibility and authority given to information derived by decontextualizing. I have had the privilege of working with Nora and her team to explore what Warm Data means for the way schooling and education happens. If you would like to find out more, we are hosting some online sessions in early October and also visiting schools to run Warm Data Labs with young people, in partnership with International Baccalaureate.
Nora is the author of Small Arcs of Larger Circles (https://www.triarchypress.net/small-arcs.html), released by Triarchy Press, in 2016. Her forthcoming book, Combining, which she is launching at an event in New York on September 30. You can find out more about the event here: https://nysgs.org/event-5402217
In our conversation you can hear Nora read two excerpts from the book - 'Mama Now' and 'Harvest'.
Nora also wrote, directed and produced the award-winning documentary, An Ecology of Mind, a portrait of her father, Gregory. http://www.anecologyofmind.com/
Social Links
LinkedIn: @nora-bateson
Twitter: @NoraBateson
On Education as a Force to Unite - A Conversation with Faith Abiodun
Faith Abiodun is Executive Director at UWC International bringing a wealth of experience from his time spent as an education and social enterprise leader, international affairs analyst, writer and speaker.
Prior to UWC International, he spent nearly a decade at the African Leadership Academy (ALA) in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he served as an executive leading the recruitment of thousands of young leaders from all over the world for ALA’s programmes. He also headed the Communications, Marketing, Programme Recruitment and Partnerships departments, helping to build ALA’s global brand and developing strategic partnerships with governments, corporates, foundations, NGOs and schools. He also founded the ALA Model African Union, through which more than 1,500 young leaders from 58 countries participated in a simulation of the African Union.
Earlier in his career, Faith was a journalist with The Guardian in Nigeria; he also founded The Speech Academy, an elocution and public speaking institution and Future Africa, a public sector leadership organization with a network of emerging leaders spread across more than 30 African countries. Previously, he worked in Corporate Communications at the Bi-Courtney Group and served a sabbatical stint with the international secretariat of Catalyst 2030, a coalition of the world’s leading social enterprises working with national governments to accelerate progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Faith is a member of the Board of Trustees for News Decoder, a Paris-based global education news service. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Geography from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Syracuse University, New York. He is also an alumnus of the World Innovation Summit for Education’s (WISE) Learners Voice Executive Education programme.
UWC Harvard Impact Study: https://www.uwc.org/impactstudy
Social Links
Instagram: @UWCint
Facebook: @UWCint
LinkedIn: @UWC International @faithabiodun
Twitter: @UWCint
On Regenerating Economics Education - A Conversation with Jennifer Brandsberg-Engelmann
Jennifer Brandsberg-Engelmann has been teaching Economics, Business Management and Environmental Systems and Societies for 26 years in three countries, mainly in the International Baccalaureate. Jennifer is an expert in developing and executing educational strategies, projects, processes and curricula. Her core focus is training young people to take action for sustainable and regenerative societies. She has worked with student changemakers in the Sustainability Action Lab at Strothoff International School, Germany, developing their knowledge, skills and passions through the Youth Mayors Field Guide, a curriculum that she lead - developed with colleagues from other disciplines and other international schools.
Jennifer has co-authored Economics, Business Management and Environmental Systems and Societies textbooks integrating new economic thinking and social enterprise themes into those works. Jennifer has also delivered webinars on sustainability and works to shift curricular systems to new paradigms to address 21st century problems.
Recently, she has turned her attention to advocating for regenerative economics to be taught in secondary schools. You can find the regenerative economics syllabus she developed with Kate Raworth and other academics and teachers in an open letter posted on the Doughnut Economics Action Lab website. She is working on a prototype for the course in the coming months. If you would like to offer help or feedback on this emerging work please contact her via LinkedIn or through the form for the open letter here: https://doughnuteconomics.org/stories/259.
On Schools as Drivers of Innovation - A Conversation with Anna Pons & Leila Loupis
The Schools Plus Network was launched in May by the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills, led by Andreas Schleicher (previous guest on the podcast, Ep #38). The network is intended to position schools as the drivers of innovation and gather and connect the best innovative practices from schools around the world to share them with others. The network will work across three dimensions, to:
- Foster exchange between networks;
- Scale up learning and innovation;
- Inform policy, research and practice and the global education debate.
Anna Pons is project lead of the Global Teaching InSights at the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills. This initiative aims to use video to advance research on how teaching varies across countries and what practices are most effective for raising student outcomes, and to develop an online library to enable teachers to learn and share with their peers from across the globe. Previously, Anna co-ordinated the accession process of Costa Rica, Colombia and Latvia to the OECD in the area of education. Also, she co-authored in-depth reviews of the effectiveness and equity of nine education systems as well as the report Equity and Quality in Education, which identified system and school-level policies and practices for supporting disadvantaged schools and students. Prior to joining the OECD in 2010, Anna gained work experience in the Catalan government, a local government, and the private sector. Anna holds a BA in Economics and a BA in Political Science from University Pompeu Fabra, and a Master in Economics and Public Policy from Sciences Po, ENSAE and École Polytechnique.
Leila Loupis is the Schools Plus Network Coordinator and Analyst at the OECD. Previously she was a senior coordinator of the Teacher Task Force network for UNESCO and has worked as a Communications Specialist for the United Nations and on the UNESCO EFA Global Monitoring Report.
Links for further information
- Web: https://www.oecd.org/education/school/oecdschoolsnetwork.htm
- Email: OECD.SchoolsPlus@oecd.org
- Twitter: @OECDEduSkills; @OECDDev; @aponsv
On Slow Pedagogies in the Early Years - A Conversation with Prof. Alison Clark
Alison Clark is an Professor of Early Childhood Education and visual artist. She is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Thomas Coram Research Unit, UCL Institute of Education, London, UK. Her main academic work is currently in Norway where she is Professor of Early Childhood Education at the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN).
Since 1999, Alison has been interested in the theoretical, methodological and ethical aspects of young children’s co-construction of knowledge using visual, participatory methods. This research theme has centred on the development and adaptation of the Mosaic approach with her colleague Professor Peter Moss - a multimethod qualitative research approach for working with participant perspectives that has contributed to a ‘listening to young children discourse’ in the UK and internationally.
Cross-national collaboration and exchange is central to Alison's work. She co-founded the Special Interest Group on Children’s Perspectives, as part of the European Early Childhood Education Research Association in 2004 (with Professor Deborah Harcourt). She has also contributed to the exhibition Remembrance of Swings Past - a collaboration between the University of South-Eastern Norway, early childhood centres in the municipality of Horten, and Preus Museum, the National Photography Museum of Norway.
Alison's recent two year research study, Slow knowledge and the Unhurried Child was funded by the Froebel Trust and published in 2022 by Routledge as the book Slow Knowledge and the Unhurried Child: Time for Slow Pedagogies in Early Childhood Education.
Alison's Blog: Slow Knowledge https://alisonclarkinthemaking.wordpress.com
Alison's artist website: http://www.alisonclark.co.uk
Social Links
LinkedIn: @professor-alison-clark
Twitter: @WestrayAlison
Email: alison.clark@ucl.ac.uk
On Contextual Well-being in Education - A Conversation with Dr. Helen Street
Dr Helen Street is a social psychologist and educator and has worked extensively with schools around the world since 1999. She holds a position as Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia, Graduate School of Education as well as adjunct research consultant for the health department of Western Australia’s Centre for Clinical Interventions.
Helen is the Founder and Co-Chair of the Positive Schools Initiative (PSI). Since it's launch in 2008, the Positive Schools Initiative has worked with over 26,000 educators from over 6000 schools and colleges; from around Australia and 15 other countries. Positive Schools Initiative is focused takes an evidence-based systems approach to building Contextual Wellbeing, positive mental health and resilience in school staff, parents and young people.
Helen is a bestselling author and speaker and her most recent book is Contextual Wellbeing: Creating Positive Schools from the Inside Out (2018). Her work has been met with international acclaim and has been endorsed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama among many others.
Social Links
LinkedIn: @helen-street
Twitter: @drhelenstreet
On Learning Design and AI - A Conversation with Dr Philippa Hardman
Dr Philippa Hardman is a learning scientist and affiliated scholar at the University of Cambridge. She is the creator of the DOMS™️ learning design engine - a groundbreaking evidence-based learning design process. She is a thought leader in the world of learning design and has spent 20+ years researching learning science & designing in-person, online & hybrid learning experiences. Phil has designed some of the world's most high-impact learning experiences, including the University of Oxford's first and most successful MOOC. She also successfully led the largest learning design project in history while VP of Learning at ed-tech start-up, Aula. More recently, Phil has started to consider the role of AI in learning design and delivery and recently delivered a TEDX Talk on AI and Education.
Phil's Substack: @LearningFuturesDigest
Connect with Phil on LinkedIn here.
On Slow Education - A Conversation with Carl Honoré
Carl Honoré is a bestselling author, broadcaster and the voice of the Slow Movement. His two main-stage TED Talks have been viewed millions of times. His TED Course is entitled How to slow down.
Carl travels the world to deliver powerful keynotes that put time and tempo in a whole new light. His counter-intuitive message is simple but game-changing: To thrive in a fast world, you have to slow down.
Carl’s first book, In Praise of Slow, chronicles the global trend toward putting on the brakes in everything from work to food to parenting. The Financial Times said it is “to the Slow Movement what Das Kapital is to communism.”
Carl’s second book, Under Pressure explores how to raise and educate children in a fast world and was hailed by Time as a “gospel of the Slow Parenting movement.”
Carl’s third book, The Slow Fix, explores how to tackle complex problems in every walk of life, from health and relationships to business and politics, without falling for superficial, short-term quick fixes.
Carl’s latest book, Bolder: Making The Most Of Our Longer Lives, explores ageing – how we can do it better and feel better about doing it. It’s a spirited manifesto against ageism.
Carl recently published his first children’s book: It’s The Journey, Not The Destination.
Published in 35 languages, his books have landed on bestseller lists in many countries. In Praise of Slow was a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week and the inaugural choice for the Huffington Post Book Club. It also featured in a British TV sitcom, Argentina’s version of Big Brother and a TV commercial for the Motorola tablet. Under Pressure was shortlisted for the Writers’ Trust Award, the top prize for non-fiction in Canada. Bolder was a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week and a Reader’s Digest (UK) Book of the Month.
Carl featured in a series for BBC Radio 4 called The Slow Coach in which he helped frazzled, over-scheduled people slow down. He presented a television show called Frantic Family Rescue on Australia’s ABC 1. He also spent three years on the Board of Trustees of Hewitt School in New York City.
Carl is a father of two and lives in London.
While researching his first book on slowness, he was slapped with a speeding ticket.
Going Beyond the Hype - Perspectives on Advanced AI and Education - Part 2
Following on from Part One, this episode brings together many different voices on generative artificial intelligence (AI), from students reflecting on the fragility and uncertainty of their future lives and careers through to system leaders responding to the hyperbole around the advances in AI. In this episode, Tim Logan speaks with:
- Given, Alice, Zak, Amerali, Gijs and Alex - Grade 11 students at UWC Atlantic College, Wales [starts at 01:54]
- Raja Rouissi - English Coordinator and English Language teacher at Al Durrah International School, Sharjah [starts at 30:23]
- Heather Beck - incoming Head of School at Awty International School [starts at 45:48]
- Dwayne Matthews - Chief Innovation Evangelist and Education Strategist at TomorrowNow Learning Labs [starts at 01:16:37]
- Gary Stager - Founder and CEO of Constructing Modern Knowledge [starts at 01:37:01]
- Matt Glanville - Director of Assessment at the International Baccalaureate [starts at 01:58:06]
Check out Part One in Episode #107, including:
- Martin and Rosetta - 13/14yr old students from the American international section of a public school in Bordeaux
- Chantelle Love - Grade 5 teacher at Australian International School of Phnom Penh, Cambodia
- Raj Bolla, Vice Principal at International School Ho Chi Minh City and Dr Tosca Killoran, Deputy Head at International School Ho Chi Minh City
- Bodo Hoenen - Co-Founder and CEO of edtech company Nolej AI
- Lord Tim Clement-Jones - Co-Chair All-Party Parliamentary Group on AI, Chair of The Institute for Ethical AI in Education and Chair of Council at Queen Mary University of London.
Going Beyond the Hype - Perspectives on Advanced AI and Education - Part 1
Generative advanced artificial intelligence (AI) has made significant developments in recent months, confounding all expectations of how quickly its capabilities and access will progress. In this episode Tim Logan speaks with people from across the education system to create spaces for conversations in which we can understand how people are responding and what the longer-term implications are for the way we teach and learn in schools, universities and beyond. Joining him in conversation in this episode are:
- Martin and Rosetta - 13/14yr old students from the American international section of a public school in Bordeaux [starts at 01:54]
- Chantelle Love - Grade 5 teacher at Australian International School of Phnom Penh, Cambodia [starts at 11:19]
- Raj Bolla, Vice Principal at International School Ho Chi Minh City and Dr Tosca Killoran, Deputy Head at International School Ho Chi Minh City [starts at 33:26]
- Bodo Hoenen - Co-Founder and CEO of edtech company Nolej AI [starts at 01:01:02]
- Lord Tim Clement-Jones - Co-Chair All-Party Parliamentary Group on AI, Chair of The Institute for Ethical AI in Education and Chair of Council at Queen Mary University of London [starts at 01:24:33]
The Philosopher & the Neuroscientist - A Conversation with Zak Stein and Mary Helen Immordino-Yang
Dr. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang studies the psychological and neurobiological bases of social emotion, self-awareness and culture and their implications for learning, development and schools. She is a Professor of Education at the USC Rossier School of Education, a Professor of Psychology at the Brain and Creativity Institute, a member of the Neuroscience Graduate Program Faculty at the University of Southern California, and Director of the USC Center for Affective Neuroscience, Development, Learning and Education (CANDLE).
Mary Helen was elected 2016-2018 president of the International Mind, Brain and Education Society by the society’s membership. She is serving as a distinguished scientist on the Aspen Institute’s National Commission on Social, Emotional and Academic Development and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Committee on the Science and Practice of Learning. Mary Helen is also associate Editor for the award-winning journal Mind, Brain and Education and for the new journal AERA Open, and sits on the editorial boards of the Journal of Experimental Psychology.
In her research work, Mary Helen leads cross-cultural, longitudinal studies investigating adolescent brain and social-emotional development, academic success and relations to school and life achievement in urban contexts as well as the neural and psychosocial correlates of mindsets in low-SES adolescents from different cultural groups. She also serves as scientific adviser to several Los Angeles schools/districts.
Mary Helen’s 2015 book, Emotions, learning and the brain: Exploring the educational implications of affective neuroscience, is available from W.W. Norton publishers (author proceeds are donated to education-related causes).
In May 2020, Mary Helen wrote a must-read article in ASCD with Doug Knecht (Bank Street College of Education) entitled Building Meaning Builds Teens' Brains, if you're interested to find out more about the significant implications of Mary Helen's work this is a great place to start!
Social Links
LinkedIn: @maryhelenimmordino-yang
Twitter: @CandleUSC
Dr. Zachary Stein is a philosopher of education, psychologist, futurist, and author. He is a founding member of The Consilience Project, with Daniel Schmachtenberger, which is dedicated to improving public sensemaking and building a movement to radically upgrade digital media landscapes. Zak is also co-founder of Lectica, Inc. (with Theo Dawson, a non-profit dedicated to the research-based, justice-oriented reform of large-scale standardized testing in K-12, higher-education, and business), as well as the Civilizational Research Institute, and the Center for World Philosophy and Religion.
Zak is the author of Social Justice and Educational Measurement (2016) and Education in a Time Between Worlds: Essays on the Future of Schools, Technology, and Society (2019).
On Being Human: Reconsidering an African Philosophy of Education - A Conversation with Prof. Yusuf Waghid
Prof. Yusef Waghid, a leading African philosopher of education, holds three doctorates in the fields of education, policy, and philosophy from the University of the Western Cape and Stellenbosch University in South Africa, respectively. As a tenured professor since 2002 he was honoured with the title of distinguished professor (2014-2023) on the grounds of his research excellence at Stellenbosch University. He has been a prolific author with 419 publications to date of which 54 are academic books and edited collections and, 89 invited contributions to books. He received the Association for the Development of Education in Africa's prestigious Education Research in Africa Award: Outstanding Mentor of Education Researchers (2015). Throughout his tenure, he occupied leading management positions at Stellenbosch University, such as having been appointed Chair of the Department of Education Policy Studies (2003-2007, 2022); and Dean of the Faculty of Education (2007-2012; 2017-2018). In the main, his long-standing relationship with education began as a high school science teacher (1979-1996) before he joined higher education as a senior teaching advisor to advance his professional career in higher education (1996-).
His published works includeTowards an Ubuntu University: African Higher Education Reimagined (Palgrave-MacMillan, 2023, with Zayd Waghid, Judith Terblanche, Faiq Waghid, Lester Shawa, Joseph Hungwe, Thokozani Mathebula & Foreword by Carlos Alberto Torres); Education, Crisis, and Philosophy: Ubuntu within Higher Education (Routledge, 2022); Democratic Education as Inclusion (Lexington, 2022, with Nuraan Davids); Higher Teaching and Learning for Alternative Futures (Palgrave-MacMillan, 2021, with Zayd Waghid, Judith Terblanche & Faiq Waghid); Academic Activism in Higher Education: A Living Philosophy for Social Justice (Springer, 2021, with Nuraan Davids); Towards a Philosophy of Caring in Higher Education: Pedagogy and Nuances of Care (Palgrave-MacMillan, 2019); Education for Decoloniality and Decolonisation in Africa (Palgrave-MacMillan, 2019, with Chikumbutso Herbert Manthalu); Rupturing African Philosophy of Teaching and Learning (Palgrave-MacMillan, 2018, with Faiq Waghid & Zayd Waghid); and African Philosophy of Education Reconsidered: On Being Human (Routledge, 2014). In recognition of his high quality scholarly works that also appear in many leading education journals, the National Research Foundation in South Africa rated him as an internationally acclaimed scholar who provides exemplary leadership in advancing philosophy of higher education in Africa (B-1).
He pioneered a online course on Teaching for Change, selected by the Sustainable Development Goals Academy of the United Nations: Class Central as a free online international course to learn about the United Nation's sustainable development goals and he collaborated with renowned international scholars on a leading UNESCO pioneered research project, Education for Flourishing and Flourishing in Education initiated by the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development.
On Strategy in Education - A Conversation with Roger L. Martin
In 2017, Roger L. Martin was named the world’s #1 management thinker by Thinkers50, a biannual ranking of the most influential global business thinkers.
Roger is a trusted strategy advisor to the CEOs of companies worldwide including Procter & Gamble, Lego and Ford.
Roger Martin is a Professor Emeritus at the Rotman School of Management at University of Toronto where he served as Dean from 1998-2013, Academic Director of the Michael Lee-Chin Family Institute for Corporate Citizenship from 2004-2019 and Institute Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute from 2013-2019. In 2013, he was named global Dean of the Year by the leading business school website, Poets & Quants.
His newest book is A New Way to Think: Your Guide to Superior Managerial Effectiveness (Harvard Business Review Press, 2022). His previous twelve books include When More is Not Better (HBRP, 2020), Creating Great Choices written with Jennifer Riel (HBRP, 2017) Getting Beyond Better written with Sally Osberg (HBRP, 2015) and Playing to Win written with A.G. Lafley (HBRP, 2013), which won the award for Best Book of 2012-13 by the Thinkers50. He has written 30 Harvard Business Review articles.
Roger received his BA from Harvard College, with a concentration in Economics, in 1979 and his MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1981. He lives in South Florida with his wife, Marie-Louise Skafte.
Roger's I-Think initiative works with educators and students to bring integrative thinking, innovation and design into K12 classrooms.
Social Links
Roger's Medium page: https://rogermartin.medium.com/
Twitter: @RogerLMartin
LinkedIn: @Roger-Martin
On Culturally-Responsive Teaching - A Conversation with Zaretta Hammond
Zaretta Hammond is an international education consultant and the author of the best-selling book Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. She holds a Master’s in Education in English Education, with a concentration in Writing from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Zaretta is a former high school and community college expository writing instructor. She has also served as adjunct instructor at St. Mary’s College School of Education in Moraga, California, where she taught Foundations of Adolescent Literacy. As a consultant, she has advised and provided professional development to school districts and non-profit organizations across the country around issues of equity, literacy, and culturally responsive teaching for the past 25 years. In addition to consulting and professional development, she has been on staff at national education reform organizations, including the National Equity Project and the former Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (BASRC) and she sits on the Board of Trustees for the Center for Collaborative Classroom. She has published articles in Educational Leadership, The Learning Professional, and Phi Delta Kappan.
Zaretta brings a unique focus on neuroscience to the conversation about equity, literacy and culturally responsive pedagogy to make it understandable and practical for educators.
Social Links
LinkedIn: @zaretta-hammond
Twitter: @Ready4Rigor
On Pedagogies of Collapse - A Conversation with Ginie Servant-Miklos
Dr. Ginie Servant-Miklos is Assistant Professor at Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Previously she was a Senior Lecturer in the Humanities Department of Erasmus University College and held a visiting professorship in experimental pedagogics at Tyumen University, Russia.
She completed her post-doctoral fellowship at Aalborg University’s Centre for Problem-based Learning in Engineering Education and Sustainability under the auspices of UNESCO.
Her research focuses on the intersection between pedagogy, identity and sustainability issues. Her forthcoming book is called 'Pedagogies of Collapse'.
She is also the founder and Chair of the Board of the FairFight Foundation, a charity that aims to empower girls and women from underprivileged backgrounds through martial arts.
Social Links
LinkedIn: @ginie-servant-miklos
On Global Bildung - A Conversation with Lene Rachel Andersen
The Global Bildung Network is a network run by volunteers and convened by Lene Rachel Andersen. It is a project under Nordic Bildung. Nordic Bildung is an association based in Copenhagen, Denmark and can be found at www.nordicbildung.org. If you would like to know more, you can contact them at info@nordicbildung.org
Global Bildung Day, on the March Equinox of 2023, is a worldwide gathering of bildung advocates, experts, teachers, and students; all united to support the quality of life, human and nonhuman, through universal education for daily life for all ages. Join us on March 21st as we explore Bildung, Globalization, Nation, and Peoplehood in the 21st Century: https://www.globalbildung.net/gbd2023-march-21/
European Bildung Day Conference 2023 - European Identity: Who are we? Who could we become? Join the drafting of a European Bildung Manifesto May 8-9 2023 in Vilnius: https://www.globalbildung.net/ebd2023/
On Preventing Polarisation - A Conversation with Michelle Blanchet and Brian Deters
Michelle Blanchet is co-author of The Startup Teacher (Times 10, 2020), co-author of Preventing Polarization (Times 10, 2023), and an educator and social entrepreneur striving to improve how we treat, train, and value our teachers. After ten years of experience working with young people, she founded the Educators’ Lab, which supports teacher-driven solutions to educational challenges. Michelle earned a master’s in international relations from Instituto de Empresa in Madrid. She has taught social studies in Switzerland and the U.S. and has presented at numerous events, including SXSWedu and TEDxLausanne. Michelle is a part of the Global Shaper Community of the World Economic Forum. She has worked with organizations like PBS Education, the Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning, Ashoka, and the Center for Curriculum Redesign.
Brian has been in education for twenty-seven years teaching social studies and coaching varsity soccer in the US and abroad. Brian, a co-host of the 4 A Better Tomorrow Podcast, flew back and forth from Switzerland to run in the 2018 election as a US Congressional primary candidate from the 18th District of Illinois.
Brian holds a master’s degree in educational administration from Illinois State University, where he also served as an adjunct professor working in the field with student teachers in 2018 and 2019. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. He currently teaches sociology and civics at Morton High School in Morton, Illinois.
Brian is the co-author of Preventing Polarization (Times 10, 2023) where he and Michelle Blanchet show how all educators can equip our youth with skills to become active and engaged citizens.
Social Links
LinkedIn: @michelle-blanchet-edulab / @brian-deters
Twitter: @educatorslab /
On Limitless Learning - A Conversation with Professor Jo Boaler
Dr Jo Boaler is the Nomellini & Olivier Professor of Education at Stanford University. Former roles have included being the Marie Curie Professor of Mathematics Education in England, and a maths teacher in London comprehensive schools. Her PhD won the national award for educational research in the UK. She is an elected fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (Great Britain), and a former president of the International Organization for Women and Mathematics Education (IOWME). She is the recipient of a National Science Foundation ‘Early Career Award’, the NCSM Kay Gilliland Equity Award (2014) and the CMC Walter Denham Mathematics Leadership award (2015). She is the author of eighteen books and numerous research articles. She is a White House presenter on women and girls.
Jo co-founded www.youcubed.org to give teachers, parents and students the resources and ideas they need to inspire and excite students about mathematics. Her work has been published in the New York Times, TIME magazine, The Telegraph, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal and many other news outlets. Her latest book is: Limitless Mind: Learn, Lead & Live without Barriers, published by Harper Collins.
She is currently co-leading a K-12 Data Science Initiative and was named as one of the 8 educators “changing the face of education” by the BBC.
Social Links
LinkedIn: @dr-jo-boaler
Twitter: @joboaler
On Educating Polymaths - A Conversation with Aksinya Samoylova
Aksinya Samoylova is both a pioneering HR professional, and a passionate progressive educator. She saw that versatility is often overlooked or ignored in the hiring and management process, and that the same issue is endemic to international educational practices. Aksinya felt compelled to investigate polymathy and how it impacts education and work. The result was her book, Why Polymaths?
Aksinya’s keynote speeches and public talks, delivered in English and German draw on a unique combination of the original research she has compiled over many years, and her passion for Philosophy, Psychology, World History, Art History, Science, Asian Studies, and Indian Classical Dance. She is fluent in four languages and knows three others at different levels.
As a graduate in linguistics and pedagogy, she created a concept for a polymathic approach to learning for both individuals and educational insitutions.
Aksinya manages a polymath agency, the first talent acquisition service in the world to specialize in working with companies seeking multidisciplinary professionals.
Aksinya lives with her husband and daughter in Vienna, Austria.
Social Links
LinkedIn: @aksinya
Twitter: @aksinyaPolymath
Instagram: @polymathhistory
On Transformative Rites of Passage - A Conversation with Abby Falik
Abby Falik is an award-winning social entrepreneur committed to launching the generation of leaders our world needs now.
In 2010 she founded Global Citizen Year, a non-profit that uses the transition after high school to teach the REAL 21st century skills: resilience, empathy, agency and leadership. As CEO, she raised and deployed over $65M in scholarships and equipped thousands of diverse, emerging leaders to change the world — for good.
In 2022 she joined the Emerson Collective as an Entrepreneur in Residence to incubate new models to transform how young people learn, launch and lead. Using Global Citizen Year as a blueprint, she is on a mission to reinvent the “gap” year as an accessible, purposeful and transformative rite of passage.
A recognized expert on social innovation, leadership, and the changing landscape of education, Abby has been profiled by The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR and The Chronicle of Higher Education. Abby is a frequent speaker and has been featured at forums including the Aspen Ideas Festival, the Obama Foundation Summit, the Fast Company Innovation Festival, PopTech, and The Nantucket Project. In 2018, Abby was named one of America's Top 25 Philanthropy Speakers by The Business of Giving.
Fast Company named her one of the Most Creative People in Business, and Goldman Sachs has selected her as one of the 100 “Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs” four times. For her achievements as a social entrepreneur she has been recognized as an Ashoka Fellow, a MindTrust Fellow, and a Draper Richards Kaplan Entrepreneur.
She currently serves on the Advisory Boards of World Learning, Teach for All, and Harvard Business School, as well as on Fast Company’s Impact Council.
Abby received a B.A. in International Relations and an M.A. in International Comparative Education from Stanford University. She received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
She lives in Oakland, Ca. with her husband Joel Segre and their two young sons.
Social Links
LinkedIn: @abbyfalik
Twitter: @abbyfalik
Instagram: @abbyfalik
On Educating Changemakers - A Conversation with Alex Budak
Alex Budak is a Berkeley Haas professional faculty member, a social entrepreneur, and the author of the very popular book, Becoming a Changemaker: An Actionable, Inclusive Guide to Leading Positive Change at Any Level.
Alex believes everyone has the potential to lead positive change, and he dedicates his life to helping people from all walks of life become changemakers. He co-founded StartSomeGood.com, a platform that breaks down the barriers that prevent people from enacting change. StartSomeGood.com has now helped over 1,000 changemakers in 50 countries raise over $12 million to catalyze new initiatives.
Alex previously ran Sweden’s leading social innovation incubator, Reach for Change, and worked at Change.org.
At Berkeley Haas, Alex puts his heart and soul into teaching students and executives from around the globe the mindset, leadership skills and action steps required to become changemakers. He also serves as Executive Director of the Berkeley Haas Global Access Program and Faculty Director of The Berkeley Changemaker Gateway.
Alex has given lectures on changemaking, entrepreneurship, and leadership in venues ranging from Ukraine to Cambodia, Los Angeles to the Arctic Circle, and at the White House and UN agencies.
Published in 2022, and following the same structure as his UC Berkeley courses, “Becoming a Changemaker” gives readers the tools and confidence required to become changemakers.
Alex is a graduate of UCLA and Georgetown University and the recipient of UCLA’s Recent Alumnus of the Year Award.
Social Links
LinkedIn: @alexbudak
Twitter: @alexbudak
On Transformative Education for Displaced Youth - A Conversation with Holli Ghaisen, Louie Barnett and Amala students, Christine & Motasim
Amala has developed the first international high school curriculum for young people who are displaced. They also offer Changemaker Courses in areas such as Peace-building, Ethical Leadership, and Social Entrepreneurship. Formerly known as Sky School, Amala was conceived in 2017 in response to the gap in quality education provision for displaced youth.
Holli Ghaisen is the Learning Lead for Amala in Kakuma, Kenya. Holli believes Amala’s High School Diploma is not only the answer to the high demand for education in Kakuma, but that it is also offers solutions to the community’s problems. He joined Amala to be part of that solution. Holli has worked for organisations such as Jesuit Worldwide Learning (JWL) and Lutheran World Federation (LWF).
Louie Barnett is Amala's Education Lead, based in Singapore. Louie got involved with Amala as the course leader for 'Peace-building in your community' in 2018. As Education Lead, he is responsible for leading the development and delivery of Amala’s educational work and improving the impact Amala programmes have on student outcomes. Louie is an experienced chemistry teacher and Theory of Knowledge teacher and helped facilitate the Initiative for Peace programme at UWCSEA for several years. As a graduate of the Teach First programme in the UK, Louie has also worked on projects with Teach for Malaysia and Teach for Cambodia, part of the Teach for All network.
Motasim is 18 years old, from Sudan and currently living in Jordan. Motasim is a member of Amala's forth diploma programme cohort. Christine is from Uganda and currently living in Kakuma, Kenya. She is in the second cohort of the Amala diploma programme.
On Financing Transformations in Education - An Inquiry
This week's episode is a special selection of conversations with some amazing educators and entrepreneurs who are creating vital educational spaces that tackle social, spatial and environmental injustice, build individual and community well-being and livelihoods, and develop personal agency. All three of them are achieving this, in part, by radically rethinking approaches to the way that education has historically been funded and seeking out alternative innovative approaches that create leverage points for educational systems change with very exciting potential.
Dr. Akira Drake Rodriguez writes about race, cities, and space in the US. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Weitzman School of Design. Akira’s book, Diverging Space for Deviants: The Politics of Atlanta's Public Housing (University of Georgia Press 2021), examines the dialectic between black feminist politics and public housing policy in Atlanta from 1936 to 2010. She was recently awarded a grant from the Spencer Foundation to study critical participatory planning strategies in school facilities planning in Philadelphia.
Akira was the convener and lead author on Transforming Public Education: A green new deal for K–12 public schools, an initiative of the Climate + Community Project, sponsored by The McHarg Center and Socio-Spatial Climate Collaborative.
Ana Aguirre is a co-founder and worker owner at TAZEBAEZ S.Coop where she leads the cooperative development area. She is the Vice President for the International Cooperative Alliance Youth network in Europe, where she also serves in the youth executive committee. Among many other projects, she currently co-leads the course on Platform Cooperatives NOW! with The New School (NYC) and Mondragon. Ana studied at Mondragon Team Academy in the first class of the Leadership Entrepreneurship and Innovation (LEINN) degree.
Lucy Stephens is the founder, Co-Headteacher and Charity Director of The New School in south London, UK. With experience gained from a background in teaching, degrees in social psychology, nutritional therapy and herbal medicine, time spent working at the Prince’s Trust with marginalised young people, and having two of her own children, Lucy has focused her attention on what an alternative democratic model of education could look like. She founded The New School to put research into practice, to challenge the current paradigm, and to address the many deeply entrenched problems in education and society.
Connecting School with Life - Getting students involved in curriculum & learning design
This week is a really special episode where we get to hear from some incredible students and teachers from around the world with one thing in common! They are all doing amazing work to explore the possibilities that come when we invite learners to be much more involved in who directs the learning process, what gets learned and what the role of the educators is in our schools.
We will hear from Amalia, Mehrbanoo, Bruno and Ollie at International School of the Hague, Natalia, Bryant, and Mark at Avenues School, New York, Michaela, Lauren, and James at Northern Bay College in Geelong, and lastly Charlie, Josie, Dylan and Nathan at Prahran High School in Melbourne.
Despite working in very different contexts and being at different stages of the process, what you'll hear is that many of the challenges and successes are the same! How much structure is the right amount to give learners freedom but also support at the right time? What skills and approaches to learning do students need and quickly develop as part of this work? How do we reduce the 'fear-factor' of these changes among parents, teachers, school leaders and sometimes amongst students themselves? How do assessments and curriculum structures also need to develop to make sure that these shifts are well-supported rather than working against the system? Because when you hear these students tell their stories, there is NO QUESTION about how significant and real the benefits are of giving them more ownership and control over their learning.
For more background on the theory and practices around supporting student agency, you can check out episode 86 with Larissa Raymond and Jayne-Louise Collins.
The schools featured in this episode are:
International School of the Hague: https://www.ishthehague.nl/academic/myp/pathfinder-curriculum
Contact - Pathfinder Programme Lead: Anne Tabak
Avenues, New York: https://www.avenues.org/open-ed/what-do-students-really-learn-in-mastery
Contact - Global Academic Dean: Mark Gutkowski
Northern Bay College, Geelong: https://www.nbc.vic.edu.au/
Contact - Year 9 Learning Community Leader: James Bayard
Prahran High School, Melbourne: https://prahranhighschool.vic.edu.au/
Contact - Executive Principal: Nathan Chisholm
On Metrics and Virtuous Cycles of Learning - A Conversation with Dr. Theo Dawson
Dr. Theo Dawson is the founder and CEO of Lectica, Inc. Since the early 1990s, Dawson's research has focused on developing and building an alternative assessment infrastructure and the technologies to support it. She received her Ph.D from the University of California at Berkeley's Graduate School of Education. Her award-winning dissertation presented a new approach to measuring learning and describing learning pathways.
She is the author of numerous articles, book chapters and papers on issues related to human development in journals such as Cognitive Development, Mind, Brain, and Education, The European Journal of Developmental Psychology, Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, The Journal of Applied Measurement, and Developmental Review, has contributed chapters to several edited books, has made many presentations at professional conferences and events.
Dr. Dawson has run several successful organizations, including Lectica, Inc., and its predecessor, the Developmental Testing Service, LLC. She has secured more than $1.5 million in grants from funding agencies like the Spencer Foundation, the NSF, and IES, and has held appointments at the University of California at Berkeley, Hampshire College, the Medical Center at Louisiana State University, and the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University. Dr. Dawson has also acted as a consultant to institutions like the U.S. Federal Government, Harvard University, the University of Texas at Arlington, JFK University, the University of Ireland, the University of Cyprus, and a variety of businesses and schools, both in the US and abroad.
Social Links
Twitter: @theodawson
LinkedIn: @theo-dawson
On Open Learning - A Conversation with Prof. Sanjay Sarma
Sanjay Sarma is the Fred Fort Flowers and Daniel Fort Flowers Professor of Mechanical Engineering. From 2012 until 2021, Sanjay led MIT Open Learning, first as director, then as dean, and finally as vice president. MIT Open Learning includes the Office of Digital Learning, the MIT Integrated Learning Initiative (MITili), the Center for Advanced Virtuality, and the Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab (J-WEL). In 2020 Sanjay published Grasp: The Science Transforming How We Learn, which he co-authored with Luke Yoquinto.
Previously, Sanjay co-founded the Auto-ID Center at MIT and developed many of the key technologies behind the Electronic Product Code suite of radio frequency identification (RFID) standards now used worldwide. He was also the founder and CTO of OATSystems, which was acquired by Checkpoint Systems in 2008. Sanjay has authored over 100 academic papers in computational geometry, sensing, RFID, automation, and computer-aided design, and is the recipient of numerous awards for teaching and research, including the MacVicar Fellowship, the BusinessWeek eBiz Award, and InformationWeek’s Innovators and Influencers Award.
Social Links
LinkedIn: @mit-open-learning
Twitter: @mitopenlearning
On Transfer and Conceptual Understanding - A Conversation with Julie Stern
Julie Stern has nearly two decades experience facilitating adult learning, and feels lucky to partner with educators to take their practice to the next level. She is passionate about synthesizing the best of education research into practical tools that support educators in breaking free of the industrial model of schooling and moving toward teaching and learning that promotes sustainability, equity, and well-being. She is a four-time best-selling author of Learning that Transfers, Visible Learning for Social Studies, The On-Your-Feet-Guide to Learning Transfer and Tools for Teaching Conceptual Understanding, Elementary and Secondary. She is a certified trainer in Visible Learning Plus and Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction.
Julie is also a James Madison Constitutional Fellow and taught social studies for many years in Washington, DC and her native Louisiana. She moves internationally every few years with her husband, a US diplomat, and her two children.
You can find further info and resources at Julie's website is edtosavetheworld.com.
Social Links
LinkedIn: @julieharrisstern
Twitter: @JulieHStern
On Ethical Thinking - A Conversation with Sara Khan and Meredith Harbord
Meredith and Sara taught Design & Technology at ABA Oman International School, with a focus on students learning about and engaging with real word issues and the ethical challenges that arise. From this teaching collaboration they established Harbord & Khan Educational Consultants. Meredith and Sara are curious about what it is to be human from personal, community and global perspectives, and how this impacts student learning. Their unique approach of embedding ethical dilemmas in curriculum encourages deep inquiry about DEIJ and promotes empathy and expansive thinking, while being fun for students.
The Harbord & Khan Ethical Modelⓒ is grounded in ethical approaches, drives inquiry and is compatible with all curriculums. Areas of interest include sustainability, community building and biomimicry. Recent projects include a PBL inquiry based summer school project for SPARC, Fort Worth and STEM curriculum and resources for DATTA (Design and Technologies Teachers Association, Victoria, Australia). Harbord & Khan present regularly at international conferences and are available for professional development. Their publications include ‘Interdisciplinary Thinking for Schools: Ethical Dilemmas MYP 1, 2 & 3’ and ‘Interdisciplinary Thinking for Schools: Ethical Dilemmas 4 & 5’ (2020) and they are regular columnists for Intrepid Ed News.
Harbord & Khan Educational Consultants - www.harbordandkhan.com
Social Links
Twitter: @harbordkhan; @sara_riaz_khan
LinkedIn: @meredith-harbord; @sarariazkhan
On Bildung - A Conversation with Lene Rachel Andersen
Lene Rachel Andersen is an economist, author, futurist, and Bildung activist. After studying business economy, and theology, she wrote entertainment for Danish television before becoming a full-time writer, focusing on technological development, big history, and the future of humanity. Since 2005, Lene has written 20 books and received two Danish democracy awards: Ebbe Kløvedal-Reich Democracy Baton (2007) and Døssing Prisen, the Danish librarians’ democracy prize (2012). Among her books are The Nordic Secret (2017), Metamodernity (2019), Bildung (2020) and Libertism (2022) and a publicly available paper on Bildung commissioned by the Erasmus+ Programme for the European Union. She is a full member of the Club of Rome, president of the Copenhagen based bildung lab Nordic Bildung, and initiator of Global Bildung Network, Global Bildung Day, and European Bildung Day.
This season's Global Bildung Day is approaching on 21st September and you can sign up and find out more here: https://www.globalbildung.net/gbd2022-september/
On Education's Role in Technological Revolutions - A Conversation with Carlota Perez
Carlota Perez is a British-Venezuelan researcher, lecturer and international consultant. She studies the mutual shaping of technical change and society and the lessons provided by the history of technological revolutions for economic growth and development.
In Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital: The Dynamics of Bubbles and Golden Ages (Elgar 2002), Carlota put forward her theory of the emergence and diffusion of technological revolutions and of the role of finance in the process. She is currently working on a sequel, Beyond the Technological Revolution, funded by Anthemis UK, which will analyse the roles that government, business and civil society play in the deployment of the potential of each revolution.
Carlota is Honorary Professor at the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) at University College London, UK and at SPRU, the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex, UK; Adjunct Professor of Technology and Socio-Economic Development at the Ragnar Nurkse School of Innovation and Governance at TalTech, Estonia.
Her long career has spanned civil service, consultancy, academic research and teaching, beginning in the 1970s with an investigation into the structural causes of the energy crisis in her home country of Venezuela. After working on international technology transfer at the Institute of Foreign Trade in the 1970s, she became the founding Director of Technological Development at the Ministry of Industry (1980-83) – where, alongside other policy instruments to promote innovation, she created the first venture capital fund in the country.
Carlota has acted as consultant for several Latin American governments and for international organisations and multilateral agencies such as UN Industrial Development Organisation, United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL), the Andean Pact, the World Bank, the OECD and the EU, where she chaired the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Expert Group for Green Growth and Jobs.
Social Links
Twitter: @CarlotaPrzPerez
Youtube: @CarlotaPerez
On Student Agency - A Conversation with Larissa Raymond and Dr. Jayne-Louise Collins
Dr. Jayne-Louise Collins is Co-director and lead designer and researcher at EdPartnerships International. Her interests include organisational and system learning through a regenerative and ecological paradigm of change.
Jayne-Louise’s work is focused on educational research and building learning capacity in organisations through a partnering approach. She has had extensive experience in partnering with a range of education systems and schools across Australia to build connected leadership capacity, creating the conditions for regenerative change, and in turn flourishing and hopeful cultures of learning.
Jayne-Louise also brings a depth of knowledge and understanding of recent research and practice in the field of learner agency – for both young people and adults. Her learning designs privilege internal research processes that activate the voice of young people and adults and invite collaborate analysis and collective sense making; an important anchor for ongoing co-design with partners.
Larissa Raymond is a designer and leader of professional learning at EdPartnerships International. Prior to joining EdPartnerships she was Head of Teaching and Learning at Caulfield Grammar School.
Larissa has a wealth of experience and insight in partnering with young people and adults in primary and secondary school contexts and local communities. She recently designed, researched and published the outcomes of a longitudinal research project exploring the structural, material, and cultural challenges encountered by a secondary school when conceptualising and enacting learner agency: Beyond Student Voice: Navigating Challenges in a Time of Neoliberalism (co-authored with Anne Cloonan).
Jayne-Louise, Larissa and their EdPartnerships colleagues completed a two-year qualitative research project exploring learner agency in partnership with young people, their teachers and principals (2019-2021).
This resulted in the publication of a series of papers and a conceptual framework which continues to shape learner agency initiatives in various education sectors: Learner agency as a living ecology: A way of being in the world and being in the world with each other.
This is the introduction in a series of short podcast spotlights on schools around the world who are putting many of these ideas into practice in which we speak with young people, teachers and leaders.
Social Links
LinkedIn: @dr-jayne-louise-collins / @larissa-raymond
Twitter: @Jayne_Louise_C / @PartnershipsEd
On Mind, Brain, (Body) and Education Science - A Conversation with Glenn Whitman
Glenn Whitman is a History teacher and Executive Director of the Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning (CTTL) at St. Andrew's Episcopal School. Glenn is the co-author of Neuroteach: Brain Science and the Future of Education, the co-designer of Neuroteach Global and Neuroteach Global Student and co-editor of Think Differently and Deeply, the international publication of the CTTL. Glenn earned his MALS from Dartmouth College and a BA from Dickinson College and has shared the work of the CTTL through publications such as Edutopia, ASCD Express and EdSurge and presented around the world at public, private, and international school conferences including: Learning Forward, New Teacher Center, Learning & Brain and SXSWedu.
Social Links
Twitter: @gwhitmancttl
LinkedIn: @glenn-whitman
On Educating for Peace - A Conversation with Dr Nandini Chatterjee Singh
Dr. Nandini Chatterjee Singh is a cognitive neuroscientist and currently Senior Project Officer at UNESCO MGIEP (Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development), in New Delhi, India. UNESCO MGIEP focuses on achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4.7 towards education for building peaceful and sustainable societies across the world by developing programmes that promote social and emotional learning, innovate digital pedagogies and empower the youth. Their mission is to 'build kinder brains.'
After receiving a PhD in physics from the University of Pune in India, Nandini studied auditory learning mechanisms in songbirds at University of California Berkeley. She returned to India in 2002 and the first cognitive and neuroimaging laboratory in India at the National Brain Research Centre (NBRC) in India, where she set up SALLY (Speech and Language Laboratory). Using behavioral and functional neuroimaging experiments, her laboratory sought to understand neurodiversity especially children with autism and dyslexia. Her research laboratory at NBRC also conducted research on how Indian ragas elicit distinct emotions.
Since 2017, Nandini has been at UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) where she has led the development of EMC², a neuroscience-based framework that builds SEL competencies of Empathy(E), Mindfulness (M), Compassion (C) and Critical Inquiry (C). She is focused on designing new interactive curricula using innovative digital pedagogies like digital games, digital dialogue to cultivate SEL and she conducts cross-cultural research to assess their efficacy in school education systems.
Social Links
LinkedIn: @nandini-chatterjee-singh
Twitter: @nanchatter; @UNESCO_MGIEP
On Knowledge and the Curriculum - A Conversation with Prof. Dylan Wiliam
Dylan Wiliam, PhD, is one of the world's foremost education authorities. With partners Paul Black and Siobhan Leahy, Dylan has developed and helped to successfully implement classroom formative assessment in thousands of schools all over the world, including the United States, Canada, Singapore, Sweden, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
Wiliam is Professor Emeritus of educational assessment at UCL Institute of Education (IOE), London, UK and Executive Director of the Learning Sciences International Dylan Wiliam Center. After a first degree in mathematics and physics, Wiliam taught in urban public schools for seven years, during which time he earned further degrees in mathematics and mathematics education.
He has served as dean and head of the School of Education at King's College London, senior research director at the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, NJ and Deputy Director of the Institute of Education, University of London. Since 2010, he has devoted most of his time to research and teaching.
Wiliam's most recent publication, Creating the Schools Our Children Need: Why What We're Doing Now Won't Help Much (And What We Can Do Instead), analyses the approaches that American schools have taken in order to improve student achievement, and shows why they are unlikely to succeed, while at the same time, providing clear advice about the steps that schools need to take to raise student achievement and close achievement gaps. His other works focus on the profound impact strategic formative assessment has on student learning. He is co-author of Inside the Black Box, as well as Embedding Formative Assessment, the Embedding Formative Assessment Professional Development Pack, and Leadership for Teacher Learning.
Social Links
Twitter: @dylanwiliam
LinkedIn: @dylanwiliam
On the Future of Smart - A Conversation with Ulcca Joshi Hansen
Ulcca Joshi Hansen is an author, educational thought leader and social change advocate with a twenty-year career dedicated to shifting the foundational values and approaches that underpin America’s education system. She currently serves as the Chief Program Officer for Grantmakers for Education, a partner organization for education philanthropists as they adapt to the changes impacting our world.
Ulcca began her career as an elementary school teacher in Newark Public Schools. Over the last twenty years she has gained experience across the non-profit, public, and philanthropic sectors, in the US and abroad, leading programs, conducting research and crafting policy.
In her most recent roles as Chief Strategy Officer at Boundless and Vice President at Education Reimagined, she built partnerships between schools, districts, non-profits and higher education institutions committed to expanding access to relationship-based, relevant and real-world learning experiences in the K-12 and post-secondary spaces. As Vice President of the Public Education and Business Coalition she expanded the Colorado Teacher Residency to become the first residency-based preparation program in the country to serve both urban and rural districts. She also redesigned the residency curriculum, grounding new teachers in the fields of learning science, human development and human well-being.
Ulcca’s recently released book, The Future of Smart: How Our Education System Needs to Change to Help All Young People Thrive, traces the roots of America’s dominant approach to education, illuminates why so many reform and innovation efforts over the last three decades have fallen short and proposes a path forward.
Ulcca earned her Ph.D. in Education and Philosophy from Oxford University and a JD from Harvard Law School. She has been recognized nationally for her work in education as a Harry S. Truman Scholar; a British Marshall Scholar; and a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow.
Social Links
LinkedIn: @ulcca
Twitter: @ulcca
On Indigenous Knowledge and Radical Psychotechnologies - A Conversation with Tyson Yunkaporta
Tyson Yunkaporta is an author, academic, educator, Indigenous thinker, maker, arts critic, researcher and poet. He is a member of the Apalech Clan in far north Queensland and has ties in the south. His born-country is Melbourne and adoptive and community/cultural ties all over, from Western NSW to Perth. Tyson carves traditional tools and weapons and also works as a senior lecturer in Indigenous Knowledges at Deakin University in Melbourne.
Tyson is the author of Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World (2021) a remarkable book about everything from echidnas to evolution, cosmology to cooking, sex and science and spirits to Schrödinger’s cat.
In the book, Tyson looks at global systems from an Indigenous perspective and asks how contemporary life diverges from the pattern of creation. How does this affect us? How can we do things differently?
Tyson is also an advisor to the Consilience Project, founded by Daniel Schmachtenberger and Zak Stein.
Social Links
LinkedIn: @tyson-yunkaporta
On Living Curriculum - A Conversation with Gregory Biggs and Tristian Stobie
Gregory Biggs is the Director of Fieldwork Education, the organisation that develops a range of International Curriculum for learners aged 2-14 across Early Years, Primary and Middle Years, known by many as the IEYC, IPC, and IMYC. These curricula are learnt and taught in over 1,000 schools and more than 90 countries worldwide. Fieldwork Education provides schools the International Curriculum, accompanied by their professional learning pathway and their accreditation services to schools working with the International Curriculum around the world.
Prior to leading the team at Fieldwork Education, Gregory was the global product manager for the IB’s Diploma and Career-related Programmes, located in Singapore. Before which he worked with governments and ministries on structuring national education reform efforts across the Middle East and South East Asia, out of Abu Dhabi. With a Master’s from the University of London’s Institute for Education in Education and International Development, Gregory has spent the last 12 years supporting institutions delicately balance global perspectives with local contexts.
Tristian Stobie's career has spanned a wide range of educational contexts. Starting as a teacher, and then Secondary Principal, he has worked in New Zealand, UK, Lesotho, Monaco, Austria and the Netherlands.
He has also worked in a number of roles for the International Baccalaureate Organisation. He was involved in the early development of the International Schools Association Curriculum, which became the IBMYP, and later he became Head of IB Diploma programme curriculum development.
Tristian joined Cambridge International as Director of Education in July 2011, and was appointed Director of Curriculum & Qualifications Development in February 2020. He leads the design and development of Cambridge programmes and qualifications for learners aged 5 to 19.
Tristian completed a Master’s and a Doctorate degree at the University of Bath with research interests in curriculum and pedagogy. He has written various articles and contributions to books as well as presented widely at educational conferences and events.
Social Links
LinkedIn: @tristian-stobie / @gregory-biggs
Twitter: @CambridgeInt / @gregory_biggs
On Teaching as Collective Leadership - A Conversation with Wendy Kopp
Wendy Kopp is CEO and Co-founder of Teach For All, a global network of independent organizations working to develop collective leadership to ensure all children have the opportunity to fulfill their potential.
Prior to launching Teach For All in 2007, Wendy founded and led Teach For America – which has proven to be an unparalleled source of long-term leadership for expanding opportunity for children in the United States – for 24 years. Wendy led the development of Teach For All to be responsive to the initiative of social entrepreneurs around the world who were determined to adapt this approach in their own countries.
Wendy is the author of A Chance to Make History: What Works and What Doesn’t in Providing an Excellent Education for All (2011) and One Day, All Children: The Unlikely Triumph of Teach For America and What I Learned Along the Way (2000). She holds honorary doctorate degrees from 15 universities and is the recipient of numerous awards including the Wise Prize for Education (2021), Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship (2008) and the Schwab Foundation’s Outstanding Social Entrepreneur Award (2003).
Wendy holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and resides in New York City with her husband and their four children.
In the news
- Quartz, “The World in 50 Years”
- Diplomatic Courier, “To Remake the World, Let’s Rethink Education”
- NPR’s How I Built This With Guy Raz, “Teach For America: Wendy Kopp”
- The Wall Street Journal, “Copying Singapore’s math homework”
- TIME, “How to help national school systems succeed”
- The Economist, “High fliers in the classroom”
- Financial Times, “Philanthropy must shift its focus to the global education crisis”
- World Economic Forum, “Why it’s time for International Development to Put People First”
Social Links
LinkedIn: @wendy-kopp
Twitter: @wendykopp
On Montessori Education - A Conversation with Michele Dal Trozzo
Michele Dal Trozzo is currently in charge of the Montessori department of GAM Gonzagarredi Montessori.
GAM Gonzagarredi Montessori is an Italian company based in Gonzaga, Mantua. GAM Gonzagarredi Montessori is well known worldwide for its unique history in the manufacturing and marketing of Montessori materials and furniture. Its origins in the early twentieth century are strongly connected to the presence of Maria Montessori in Gonzaga, as a friend of Maria Maraini Guerrieri Gonzaga, who started one of the first Casa dei Bambini. Nowadays GAM designs, manufactures and markets furniture for nurseries, schools, libraries and cultural centers.
Michele started working for Gonzagarredi in 1996, right after graduating in Business and Economics at the University of Parma. In more than 25 years, he has been involved in several different areas of the company business - sales, customer care, logistics, purchasing and manufacturing, product development, classroom design, including the design of the Montessori Museum located in the company headquarters. He also has been attending conferences, trade shows, visiting schools meeting teachers and customers in more than 30 countries, keeping constantly in touch with people deeply committed to provide excellent education to children.
Social Links
On High Performance Learning - A Conversation with Prof. Deborah Eyre
Professor Deborah Eyre is a global educational leader, academic researcher, writer helping good schools become world class through a focus on student performance. Using her 25 years researching into how gifted students think and learn and then creating frameworks to help schools and enrichment providers to enhance provision for these students, she created High Performance Learning with the aim of enabling all students to reach that same advanced performance.
As well as being a widely published author, Deborah's career has included a variety of senior education roles both globally and in UK and she has advised governments and educational foundations in UK, Hong Kong, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, USA and Singapore. From 2010-2014 she was Global Education Director for Nord Anglia Education and prior to that served as Director of the UK government’s innovative National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth (NAGTY), based at the University of Warwick, where she published Room at the Top: Inclusive education for high performance (2016).
Deborah holds an Honorary Professorship at the University of Warwick and Professorship from Oxford Brookes University. She is a practical academic and writes for a variety of audiences from policy makers to parents but her first love is teachers and teaching. Deborah had served on many board and is currently is Board Member of the Council of British International Schools (COBIS), a Trustee of the Swan Multi-Academy Trust (Oxford) and the Inspiring Futures Foundation, a Board member at Centre for Talented Youth, Ireland (CTYI) a Freeman of the City of London and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Social Links
LinkedIn: @deborah-eyre
Twitter: @eyre_deborah
On Teaching Life - A Conversation with Todd Shy
Todd Shy has taught for more than twenty-five years in Cary, North Carolina, San Francisco, California, and New York City. He is currently Head of Upper Division at Avenues The World School in New York. His writing has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Raleigh News and Observer, where he was a regular contributor, the Harvard Divinity Bulletin, Salmagundi, and numerous other publications. In 2008 he was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing. His recent book Teaching Life: Life Lessons for Aspiring (and Inspiring) Teachers was described by the founder of the Academy for Teachers as a “an eloquent love letter to teaching and to life.”
Social Links
LinkedIn: @todd-shy
Twitter: @avenues_org
On the Metaverse in Education - A Conversation with Teddy Pahagbia
A Question of Freedom - A Conversation with Gert Biesta
This is the second conversation that I have had with Prof. Gert Biesta, and it is a special episode reflecting on the current crisis in Ukraine and the wider context of this - that some call the meta-crisis. Our first conversation earlier this year, on World-Centred Education, can be found here: https://anchor.fm/futurelearningdesign/episodes/On-World-Centred-Education---A-Conversation-with-Prof--Gert-Biesta-e1cqcj5.
For more information on Gert - he is Professor of Public Education in the Centre for Public Education and Pedagogy, Maynooth University, Ireland, and Professor of Educational Theory and Pedagogy at the Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, UK. He holds Visiting Professorships at the University of Agder, Norway, and Uniarts, the University of the Arts, Helsinki, Finland. Gert is a prolific author and has written many books on the theory of education and educational and social research, and his work has appeared in 20 different languages. He has particular interests in national and global education policy, curriculum, teaching and teacher education, democracy and citizenship education, religious education and arts education. His latest book is World-Centred Education: A View for the Present (2021) and this is a good overview of the key ideas in this seminal book. A selection of his previous books are The Rediscovery of Teaching (2017); Beyond Learning: Democratic Education for a Human Future (2015); The Beautiful Risk of Education (2015); Good Education in an Age of Measurement: Ethics, Politics, Democracy (2015) and Complexity Theory and the Politics of Education [edited with Deborah Osberg] (2010) Gert is co-editor of the British Educational Research Journal, co-editor of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, and associate editor of Educational Theory. He co-edits a two book series with Routledge: Theorizing Education (with Stefano Oliverio), and New Directions in the Philosophy of Education (with Michael A. Peters, Liz Jackson and Marek Tesar).
Social Links
LinkedIn: @gert-biesta
Twitter: Gert suspended his Twitter account only to return when Donald Trump was no longer on the platform!
On Regenerative Education - A Conversation with Bas van den Berg
Bas van den Berg is the educational coordinator of the Centre of Expertise Mission Zero at the Hague University of Applied Sciences where he leads large scale educational innovation projects such as The Challenge, coordinates the Mission Impact minor and lectures in courses related to sustainability, circular economy, ethics and regenerative futuring. Bas is also the host of The Regenerative Education Podcast (available on all major platforms). Bas was awarded the accolade of Sustainable Higher Educator of the year 2021 in the Netherlands and he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts since 2021.
Bas is an external PhD-candidate at Wageningen University in Education & Learning Sciences. His research interest focuses on how higher education can be redesigned to tackle wicked eco-social problems and what this type of regenerative learning asks from educators and educational design. Exploring how ecologies of learning can be designed that connect societal learning-based change with the transition towards more regenerative futures.
Social Links
Medium: @bvandenb
LinkedIn: @bas-van-den-berg
Email: B.vandenBerg@hhs.nl
On Learning as Service - A Conversation with Cathryn Berger Kaye
On Assessing Complex Competencies - A Conversation with Prof. Sandra Milligan
Enterprise Professor Sandra Milligan is the Director of the Assessment Research Centre at the University of Melbourne. She specialises in research on assessment, recognition, micro-credentialing and warranting of hard-to-assess capabilities and is a lead on the New Metrics for Success: Transforming what we value in schools research project. Sandra is also the Director of the Australian Council for Educational Research. Sandra convened the Melbourne University MOOC targeting professional learning for teachers in the area of assessment and teaching of 21C skills, which has to date enrolled over 30,000 teachers worldwide. Originally a teacher of science and mathematics, Sandra trained in educational measurement and is a former Director of Curriculum in an Australian state education department, and has held senior research, management and governance positions in a range of educational organisation. She also has a background in software, digital media and publishing. Sandra has co-authored the excellent report Future Proofing Students (2020) and is a contibuting author to the book, Re-imagining University Assessment in a Digital World (2020).
Social Links
LinkedIn: @sandra-milligan
Twitter: @SandraMilligan3 @ARCMelbourne
On Cultural Intelligence in our Schools - A Conversation with Julia Middleton
Julia is the author of two bestselling books: Beyond Authority: Leadership in a Changing World and Cultural Intelligence: The Competitive Edge for Leaders Crossing Boundaries.
In the autumn of 1989, Julia founded Common Purpose, which has grown to be one of the biggest leadership development organizations in the world. Julia stepped down from the position of Chief Executive in 2019.
In 2015, Julia gave a very well-received talk at TEDxEastEnd on Cultural Intelligence: The Competitive Edge for Leaders.
In April 2020 she launched Women Emerging from Isolation which she now leads. Julia is also a member of the Advisory Group of Common Purpose in Pakistan and is a Patron for Common Purpose of the Europe101 initiative.
She is on the board and chairs the investment committee of Alfanar (delivering Venture Philanthropy in the Arab World), is on the International Advisory Council for Fundação Dom Cabral, business school in Brasil, is a Senior Fellow of Babson College, is a trustee of The Wren Project and is a Goodwill Ambassador of the Aurora Forum.
Julia was born in London and educated at French Lycées around the world. She worked for the Industrial Society after receiving an economics degree from the London School of Economics.
Social Links
Twitter: @JuliaMiddleton
LinkedIn: @juliamiddleton
On World-Centred Education - A Conversation with Prof. Gert Biesta
Gert Biesta is Professor of Public Education in the Centre for Public Education and Pedagogy, Maynooth University, Ireland, and Professor of Educational Theory and Pedagogy at the Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, UK. He holds Visiting Professorships at the University of Agder, Norway, and Uniarts, the University of the Arts, Helsinki, Finland. Gert is a prolific author and has written many books on the theory of education and educational and social research, and his work has appeared in 20 different languages. He has particular interests in national and global education policy, curriculum, teaching and teacher education, democracy and citizenship education, religious education and arts education. His latest book is World-Centred Education: A View for the Present (2021) and this is a good overview of the key ideas in this seminal book. A selection of his previous books are The Rediscovery of Teaching (2017); Beyond Learning: Democratic Education for a Human Future (2015); The Beautiful Risk of Education (2015); Good Education in an Age of Measurement: Ethics, Politics, Democracy (2015) and Complexity Theory and the Politics of Education [edited with Deborah Osberg] (2010) Gert is co-editor of the British Educational Research Journal, co-editor of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, and associate editor of Educational Theory. He co-edits a two book series with Routledge: Theorizing Education (with Stefano Oliverio), and New Directions in the Philosophy of Education (with Michael A. Peters, Liz Jackson and Marek Tesar). Social Links LinkedIn: @gert-biesta Twitter: Gert suspended his Twitter account only to return when Donald Trump was no longer on the platform!
On Decolonizing Education - A Conversation with Estelle Baroung Hughes
Estelle Baroung Hughes is the Founding President of Africa Learning International, focused on SDG 4 (Quality Education for All) in Africa. As a Cameroonian citizen, Estelle is passionate about the cultural wealth of her 250 languages country. The focus of her NGO is to honour the diversity of African nations by supporting culturally responsive education on the continent. ALI provides teacher professional development, Master Teacher programs, shares educational resources and opportunities and organizes conferences and teacher exchanges.
As an educator, Estelle specializes in international education. She is a teacher, a researcher, and an educational coach. She is a teaching and talent development consultant to Enko Education (where she was part of the founding team) and she is also a Language & Literature teacher at the Ecolint: International School of Geneva.
Estelle is also a blogger and a musician.
Social Links
Twitter: @EstelleHughes20
LinkedIn: @estelle-hughes