As Manda Scott's BRILLIANT podcast suggests, "another world is possible… we have the power of gods to destroy our home, but we also have the chance to become something we cannot yet imagine." This week's special episode is a joint podcast with Manda on her Accidental Gods podcast (https://accidentalgods.life/).

In all of her shamanic work, bestselling novel-writing, podcasting and convening, Manda Scott is gathering people around the vital question, how we can create a future that we would be proud to leave to the generations to come?

Manda's new novel 'Any Human Power' is out on May 30th: https://linktr.ee/anyhumanpower

And you can find more of Manda's extensive and amazing work on her website here: https://mandascott.co.uk/

Other things we talk about in this conversation:

Nick Mulvey's performance at COP26: https://youtu.be/x-GBl6DeA50?si=8RgDivREYKZTa9I1&t=1273 Beautiful!

The Substack Manda reads from:  ⁠https://theconcernedbird.substack.com/p/elon-musks-and-xs-role-in-2024-election

Systems Transformation Pathway at UWC Atlantic College: https://www.uwcatlantic.org/learning/academic/systems-transformation-pathway

https://sites.google.com/uwcatlantic.org/transformingsystems/centre?authuser=0

Green School Bali:  https://www.greenschool.org/

School of Humanity: https://sofhumanity.com/

Festival of Hope: https://ibo.org/festival-of-hope/ Social Links

LinkedIn: @mandascottauthor - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mandascottauthor/

BlueSky - https://bsky.app/profile/mandascott.bsky.socialandMastodon - https://mastodon.scot/@Eceni Or you can write to Manda here: https://mandascott.co.uk/contact/

This week it was a huge pleasure to be able to welcome Carl Mika, Professor of Māori and Indigenous Philosophies from Aotearoa, the country now known as New Zealand. As you can probably guess from the title of this episode, this conversation with Carl went pretty deep pretty quickly! That's because underlying the most apparently basic concepts like learning or logic that people use all the time are some pretty fundamental assumptions about the way the world is. And they're certainly not universal to all humans. So what does educating our young people in how to read their worlds mean in this case?
Carl Mika is from the Tuhourangi iwi and is Professor of Māori and Indigenous Philosophies, and Head of School of Aotahi: School of Māori and Indigenous Studies, University of Canterbury. His published work includes Indigenous Education and the Metaphysics of Presence was published in 2017, Routledge), along with many articles and chapters, on the issues of colonisation and reductionism; Māori concepts of nothingness and darkness in response to an Enlightenment focus on clarity; mātauranga Māori and science. Carl teaches and researches in educational philosophy and mātauranga Māori, the law, and global studies, as well as aspects of Western philosophy.
In 2024, Carl was awarded the University of Canterbury Research Medal. Also In 2024, he was recipient of the University of Canterbury Faculty of Arts Kairangahau Māori Award for research in Māori philosophies (both traditional and contemporary) and Māori methodologies. He is also a Fellow of the Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia (PESA). You can find further links to Carl's work here: https://profiles.canterbury.ac.nz/Carl-Te-Hira-Lewis-Mika

“Perhaps the secret of living well is not in having all the answers but in pursuing unanswerable questions in good company.” This is a quote from the paediatrician, Rachel Naomi Remen, that my guest this week quotes in her fantastic new book The Impossible Question of Living Well: How do we hold on to what matters, while also knowing how to let go? Dr Helen Street has been banging the drum that living well should be a priority of educational institutions for years, but more importantly, that this is not a question of individual ‘hacks to happiness’ as she talks about in this episode, but a fundamental rethinking of how much context plays a role in enabling or preventing possibilities for living well. It’s Helen’s second time on the podcast and I was so happy to be able to chat to her again about her . She 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 The Impossible Question of Living Well: How do we hold on to what matters, while also knowing how to let go? She is also the author of the bestselling ⁠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

X: ⁠@drhelenstreet

Instagram: drhelenstreet

Web: https://www.helenstreet.com/

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

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

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

GAM Gonzagarredi Montessori

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

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

Teddy Pahagbia is the founder and Chief Executive Druid of BLVCK PiXEL, a design-led strategy firm that bridges the gap between technology & business, merging the realms of virtual and real worlds. As an expert in emerging technologies like AR/VR, Blockchain, AI and advanced data management, he designs new disruptive experiences based on the way we interact with technology. Teddy has been identified as one of the Top 30 most influential people in the metaverse. Known by many as Mr Metaverse, he is one of the "leading voices helping to evangelize, educate, advise, develop and create the successor to today’s mobile internet."  Teddy is a former Consulting Manager and has worked for mid to large size companies from various industries and government agencies in Western Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa.  Social Links LinkedIn: @teddypahagbia Twitter: @mr_metaverse; @blvck_pixel 

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!

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

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

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!

Something we often forget is how powerfully language shapes how we view each other and the world and how we interact as part of it. For that reason, it is a key part of how we help young people to understand their experiences, Both as a means of relating and communicating and as a set of skills that they acquire. This week it is a huge privilege to be able to welcome Kevin Belin onto the podcast who is the Director of the Diné Bizaad Institute and Navajo Language teacher at Navajo Preparatory School, in Navajo Nation in what is now known as the United States.

Kevin is also owner of Hashké – Hozhó Design and Collaborative.  Tódích’íinii nilį́įgo, Tł’ógí yashchíín, Ta’neeszhahnii dah bicheii, Chishí dah binálí. He is currently serving as Board member for Saad Kidilyé Language nest in Albuquerque. He also served as Adjunct Instructor with Diné College Navajo Cultural Arts Program. 

Kevin has been in the education field for over decade working with fellow teachers, consultants, and language instructors to perpetuate the Navajo Language and Culture through curriculum building, trainings, and presentations. Throughout the year, Kevin is consulted to work with youth and demonstrate hands on workshops in historical and cultural knowledge. “I don’t consider myself an expert, but I am the bridge that connects the knowledge banks that come from our elders, to the young and discouraged learners, using modern approaches to language learning and scaffolded instruction, to understanding the complex concepts of Sa’ah Naaghei Bik’eh Hozho.” 

Kevin has been featured on Native America Calling, American Indian Republic, 21st Century Native leaders podcast and Indian Country Today as a cultural representative and is a Billy Mill’s Running Strong Dreamstarter. 

“Teaching the Navajo Language to our young leaders and helping them understand the complexity that is the Diné way of life is a lifelong endeavor” (Kevin Belin).

Dr Kevin House is Education Futures Architect at Education in Motion, a growing family of premier education brands, including Dulwich College International and Green School, with more than 11,000 students. As part of this work, Kevin is leading the development of a new and innovative high school concept called SE21. You can find out more about SE21 here. 

Kevin is also Associate Professor in Practice in the Education faculty at Durham University.

Prior to this, Kevin led quality assurance processes for the International Baccalaureate Organisation as the Head of IB World Schools. 

He was Head of High School at the German European School of Singapore, Director of Curriculum at Suzhou Singapore International School and Head of English at the International School of Valencia. 

Kevin completed his doctoral thesis in International Education at the University of Bath and has been working to align programme standards across awarding bodies such as CIS, WASC and IB. Kevin is also a qualified trainer for global safeguarding practices and protocols.

Social Links

Email: Kevin.House@eimglobal.com

LinkedIn: @dr-kevin-house

Twitter: @KevinHo17644986

AJ Juliani is the Founder/CEO of Adaptable Learning and serves as Faculty for the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education (PLN). Prior to his current role, AJ served as Head of Learning & Growth at NextLesson, Director of Learning and Innovation for Centennial School District, and Education and Technology Innovation Specialist for Upper Perkiomen School District. Previously AJ worked as a K-12 Staff Developer (Instructional Coach) in the Wissahickon School District where he also taught middle school and high school English/LA. Juliani's latest book is Adaptable: How to Create an Adaptable Curriculum and Flexible Learning Experiences That Work in Any Environment. Previously he authored EMPOWER, an education best-seller and the award-winning LAUNCH on bringing design thinking into K-12 classrooms. Juliani's previous books include "Learning By Choice" and "Inquiry and Innovation in the Classroom: Using 20% Time, Genius Hour, and PBL to Drive Student Success" available from Routledge Press. Juliani now speaks at conferences, organizations, universities, schools, and events around the world on innovation in learning, teaching, and leadership. Juliani spent two summers in South Africa and Swaziland, volunteering at clinics, running kids camps, preparing a community structure to be used for a medical clinic, church, school, and food shelter. Since then Comfort For Africa built a six-building school that has over 300 students! AJ received his MS Degree from Drexel University in “Global and International Education”. He founded –Project: Global Inform – a project that gives students the power to do something about human rights violations. Most importantly, AJ is someone who truly believes in the "inquiry-driven" education movement. He has five kids of his own and wants them to grow up in a world that values their ideas. His award-winning blog and website serve as a place to share ideas and thoughts around "Intentional Innovation" and the future of learning.

Social Links

LinkedIn: @ajjuliani

Twitter: @ajjuliani

Sir Michael Barber is a world leading expert on government delivery, education systems, systemic innovation and education reform.

Sir Michael led the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit for the Blair administration in the UK from 2001-2005. Since then, he has worked on delivery and system-wide reforms in more than 50 countries. He personally leads high-stakes engagements with political leaders, such as quarterly cabinet retreats in Canada with PM Justin Trudeau, to help them adopt the delivery approach.

Michael held the first Chair of the Office for Students in the UK from 2017 to 2021, and prior to that as Chief Education Advisor at Pearson, Michael led a worldwide programme delivering Pearson’s strategy for education in the poorest sectors of the world, especially in fast-growing developing economies.

Michael was a Partner at McKinsey & Company and Head of McKinsey’s global education practice. He is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Exeter. Before joining government he was a professor at the Institute of Education at the University of London.

Sir Michael has written extensively on education at all levels, government delivery and innovation. His most recent publication 'How Seventeen Secretaries of State for Education, through Thirty Years of Constant Change, Enabled the System to Improve' was published this month and is a synthesis of the reflections of the UK education ministers since 1986.

Michael's book Accomplishment: How to achieve ambitious and challenging things was also published earlier this year and sets out the ingredients for success based on the stories of many inspirational people and Michael's own experiences of delivering success for governments and education systems around the world.

Other books he has authored are Deliverology 101: A Field Guide For Educational Leaders and How to Run A Government: So that Citizens Benefit and Taxpayers Don't Go Crazy.

Social Links

LinkedIn: @sirmichaelbarber

Twitter: @MichaelBarber9

Professor Daniel T. Willingham earned his B.A. from Duke University in 1983 and his Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from Harvard University in 1990. He is currently Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia, where he has taught since 1992. Until about 2000, his research focused solely on the brain basis of learning and memory. Today, all of his research concerns the application of cognitive psychology to K-16 education. Daniel writes the “Ask the Cognitive Scientist” column for American Educator magazine, in which he has translated relevant cognitive science research for educators since 2003. He is also a prolific author whose writing on education has appeared in seventeen languages. His classic book, Why Don't Students Like School?, has recently been republished in its second edition with additional material. He has also written When Can You Trust the Experts?, Raising Kids Who Read, and The Reading Mind. His forthcoming book (set for release in August 2022) is entitled Outsmart Your Brain: Why Learning is Hard and How You Can Make It Easy, this time directed at students themselves to support them to develop their self-management and study skills.  In 2017, Professor Willingham was appointed by President Obama to serve as a Member of the National Board for Education Sciences.

Social Links

Twitter: @DTWillingham

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

Joshua Freedman is a leading expert on applying emotional intelligence (EQ) to optimize performance. He is the CEO of Six Seconds, the world’s most extensive EQ organization, now with offices and representatives in 25 countries. 

Josh teaches people how to increase EQ to be happier, stronger, and more effective professionally and personally. He works with leaders and teams around the world helping them use emotional intelligence to get better results.  His clients include FedEx, Microsoft, INTEL, Amazon, all branches of the US armed forces, and the United Nations.

Josh is the bestselling author of At the Heart of Leadership, as well as Inside Change, the Handle With Care EQ Activity series, the SEI EQ Leadership Assessment, and the Organizational Vital Signs and coauthor of The Vital Organization.

Michael Eatman is an experienced inclusion strategist, educator, and coach. He is the Founder of Culture7 Coaching, blending expertise on emotional intelligence and EDIB (equity/diversity/inclusion/belonging) to build leadership capacity and organizational culture for a diverse and inclusive workplace. 

Previously Michael was Director of Community Life at The Pike School, Director of Diversity and Community Life at University School of Nashville and Director of Intercultural Programs at Spring Arbor University

Michael's is a Certified Diversity Professional for Organizational Leadership from Diversity Training University International and Advanced Certified Personal & Executive Coach from the College of Executive Coaching. He is Preferred Partner and Certified EQ Advanced Practitioner from Six Seconds EQ Network.

Social Links

LinkedIn: @michael-eatman / @freedman

Twitter: @EatmanatPike / @eqjosh

Jonathan James is a teacher, education consultant and doctoral candidate at the UCL Institute of Education.

Jonathan's own doctoral research investigates how policies developed in response to the threat of terrorism are being implemented in schools in England and France in light of the two countries’ policy traditions, and educators’ pre-existing values and practices.

Jonathan has written extensively on the role of schools in anti-terrorism policy and is an expert on values education and countering radicalisation. His book, co-authored with Dr Jan Germen Janmaat, Civil Disorder, Domestic Terrorism and Education Policy: The Context in England and France was published in 2019.

At the UCL Institute of Education, Jonathan has taught on the 'Minorities, Migrants, and Refugees in National Education Systems' and 'Comparative Education: Theories and Methods' Master's courses.

Since 2020, Jonathan has provided consulting services to the OECD’s Education Policy Outlook.

Social Links

LinkedIn: @jonathan-james

Twitter: @JonathanJames30

Sharath Jeevan is one of the world’s leading experts on reigniting our inner drive (intrinsic motivation). He founded and led STiR Education – arguably the world’s largest intrinsic motivation initiative. STiR has re-ignited the motivation of 200,000 teachers, 35,000 schools and 7 million children in emerging countries. 

Sharath is currently the Executive Chairman of Intrinsic Labs, which supports organizations all around the world to solve deep motivational challenges, from governments to leading UK universities and high-profile corporations. He was elected an Ashoka Fellow in 2014 and was recognised as one of the UK’s ten leading social entrepreneurs in 2019.  

His work has been featured in the New York Times, the Economist, NPR, CNN, the Hindustan Times and the Times of India. Sharath holds degrees from Cambridge University, Oxford University and INSEAD. 

Sharath's first book Intrinsic is out now on Amazon and other retailers. It is a book which takes readers on a journey around the world to find practical and inspirational answers to solving our motivational crisis. It harnesses ground-breaking research, from psychology and economics to philosophy and behavioural science. Sharath helps us to see how we can achieve more lasting fulfilment and success in our work, careers, relationships, parenting, and as citizens. Intrinsic has received glowing testimonials from global thought leaders, the CHROs of leading companies and bestselling authors.

Social Links

LinkedIn: @sharathjeevan

Twitter: @sharathjeevan_

Andreia Mitrea is the CEO of Colina Learning Center - a new educational project seeking to change the way people think about learning. As part of the Colina Nouă residential development in Romania, Colina Learning Center is developing a new educational concept in response to the question: “How might we use school to serve the learning of both children AND adults?" As the residential development and school grow, Andreia is leading the development of an innovative "integrated adult-child curriculum". Andreia believes that “It doesn’t take a village, it takes a GREAT village to raise a child.” 

With a background in the corporate sector, Andreia is now an experienced educational entrepreneur. In 2007, she co-founded the Avenor College and Foundation, which has now become one of the best-reputed private schools in Bucharest, Romania.

As a leader and manager, Andreia saw her role as a ‘partner’ and a ‘critical friend’ to the educational team, constantly connecting them to our vision, values and strategic objectives and enabling them to create policies, processes, standards which created a sustainable, high-quality organization.

Andreia is passionate about organizational learning and systemic approaches and has a Master’s in Educational Leadership from the Institute of Education, London.

Social Links

LinkedIn: @andreiamitrea

Dr. Samah Karaki is a neuroscientist, and the founding director of the Social Brain Institute. SBI is an NGO based in Geneva and operating in Europe and the Middle East where it implements research-based strategies to support individual and organisational change.

Samah's research focuses on the neuronal basis of stress affecting emotional and social behaviours. She is also interested in the neural basis of memory and unconscious processes, empathy, behavioural change and creativity. Combining scientific outreach and consultancy experience with neuroscience insights, Samah has delivered tailored seminars to over 2000 academics, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, scientific institutes as well as universities, teenagers at schools and consulted on change management programs for leaders in various organisations.

Samah also works on bridging the gender and racial gap in the field of STEM and is active in outreach and public communication of science. She has written about the psychology of empathy, creativity, implicit bias and gendered leadership.

In October, Samah's book Le travail en équipe (Dunod, 2021) was published, which addresses the factors that allow human groups to collaborate effectively, from the perspective of cognitive science.  

Samah received her BA in Biology at Saint Joseph University in Beirut, her Masters in Neuroscience from The University of Lyon, and earned her PhD in Neuroscience in 2011 from the University of Montpellier.

She also holds an Masters degree in Ecology and Evolution from the University of Montpellier and Max Planck Institute.

Social Links

LinkedIn: @samah-karaki

As you will have heard in previous episodes for example with Ray Ison, Mette Böll and others, there is a lot of interest currently in systems thinking approaches in education as a key competency for our young people. But what systems thinking means once you scratch the surface is a question that we need to ask. And if we’re supporting our young people (as well as teachers and leaders) to navigate complexity, Dave - from his background in Anthro-Complexity (https://cynefin.io/wiki/Anthro-complexity) - will definitely have something to say about that! 

Dave is the creator of the Cynefin Framework (https://thecynefin.co/about-us/about-cynefin-framework/) and originated the design of SenseMaker®, the world’s first distributed ethnography tool. He is the lead author of Managing complexity (and chaos) in times of crisis: A field guide for decision-makers, a shared effort between the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission’s science and knowledge service, and the Cynefin Centre.

He divides his time between two roles: founder and Chief Scientific Officer of The Cynefin Company and the founder and Director of the Cynefin Centre. His work is international in nature and covers government and industry looking at complex issues relating to strategy and organisational decision-making.  He has pioneered a science-based approach to organisations drawing on anthropology, neuroscience, and complex adaptive systems theory. Using natural science as a constraint on the understanding of social systems avoids many of the issues associated with inductive or case-based approaches to research. 

Dave holds positions as an extraordinary Professor at the Universities of Pretoria and Stellenbosch as well as visiting Professor at the University of Hull. He has held similar positions at Bangor University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Canberra University, the University of Warwick and The University of Surrey. He held the position of senior fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies at Nanyang University and the Civil Service College in Singapore during a sabbatical period in Nanyang.

A few additional resources that might be of interest:

• An article Brad Carter and Tim wrote about Cynefin in education: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leading-educating-complexity-overview-cynefin-framework-tim-logan/?trackingId=X8hDDv8ITCaDeafLUlcUHg%3D%3D
• A reflection Tim wrote after attending a Triopticon facilitation at a Cynefin Centre retreat: https://thecynefin.co/education-is-entangled-retreat-reflections/?srsltid=AfmBOoq8tOFBrNmTHkhYA3bxUsoM9BKjFlMwLjMxWj5b2Ae7fxz-dQuD
• A great article Dave wrote about getting over our obsession with 'mindsets': https://thecynefin.co/a-melange-of-potential-not-a-mindset/?srsltid=AfmBOor3ecAlfbHUmbN47NtJ8g6KaRfhi80JfZf5unAxLDueX22QB1Kj
• Dave and the team's work on Estuarine Mapping framework: https://cynefin.io/wiki/Estuarine_framework

Social Links

Great thinking on the Cynefin blog: https://thecynefin.co/our-thinking/

LinkedIn: @dave-snowden - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-snowden-2a93b/

X: https://twitter.com/snowded

This podcast is an inquiry into the role that education needs to play in navigating the complex times we are all living in. Over the last four years, some of the world's most active entrepreneurs and eminent thinkers have chatted with Tim Logan about "what the world is asking of us" (Biesta, 2021).

If you enjoy listening, do subscribe and share a positive review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Find out more about Future Learning Design at https://www.goodimpactlabs.com/podcast and follow us on Instagram @futurelearningdesign (https://www.instagram.com/futurelearningdesign/) or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/future-learning-design/.

As Dean of the African Leadership Academy, Hatim Eltayeb leads the Diploma Program, enabling the rich community of colleagues bringing the leadership learning program to life.

Hatim is a life-long educator with pan-African and south-south tendencies. Sudanese by spirit and nationality; born in Kuwait; reared in Oman; raised in Cairo and flourishing in Johannesburg. 

Alongside a committed team, Hatim works to translate ALA’s mission into the daily work of building, learning, innovating and leading school community. He has represented ALA’s work at conferences and convenings across the continent as well as in Singapore, Japan, the US and at the European Parliament in Brussels.

Between 2012 and 2016, Hatim was back in his formative home of Cairo, Egypt. With two partner educators, he founded Symposium, a school services and consulting company. Symposium’s flagship product, sympoSAT, grew to serve hundreds of students at 15 leading independent schools in Cairo. He left his executive position in 2016 to return to the Academy. Outside of ALA, Hatim serves on the board of Streetlight Schools, an organization working to make world-class education accessible to every South African child.

Social Links

LinkedIn: @hatim-eltayeb

Twitter: @ALAcademy

Mart Laidmets is the General Director of Education and Youth Board of the Republic of Estonia. Previously, from January 2019 until August 2021, he held the position of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Education and Research of the Republic of Estonia, responsible for directing the work of deputy secretary generals and departments of the Ministry as well as co-ordinating the work of state institutions and government bodies under the Ministry’s sphere of administration. 

In addition to this, Mr Laidmets has been board member of Foundation Innove, and has been working for the non-profit association Universities Estonia and the University of Tartu. He has been a Researcher at the Uppsala University, Advisor to the Chancellery of the Riigikogu (parliament) and an Advisor to the Prime Minister of Estonia. 

Mr Laidmets has a degree in history from the University of Tartu.

Social Links

LinkedIn: @mart-laidmets

Twitter: @Harno_ee

Julia Middleton is passionate about helping people from all backgrounds to develop as leaders and make an active and tangible contribution to their communities and to wider society. 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

Jessica Cavallaro is an innovative educator and curriculum designer who brings the agile mindset into the classroom. She is a champion of project based learning and creating purposeful educational experiences both in and out of the classroom. Jessica has delved into applying Agile and Scrum to keep students connected, collaborating and creating while teaching in a hybrid setting. She is passionate about developing better systems that put students first in education.

Roslynn Jackson is an educator that believes failures are the stepping stones to success. She is a co-founder of the Agile Mind, which strives to help teachers learn to use an Agile mindset to help students acquire the skills they need to solve real world problems while learning educational concepts. She is passionate about making education engaging and meaningful for teachers and their students.  She believes the best strategies for doing so involve  “organized chaos” and getting your hands dirty- this means using systems that provide opportunities for authentic hands-on learning. Roslynn believes that using Agile skills with students, and helping other educators to do the same, is the way to transform our education framework into one that truly prepares our learners for the real world challenges ahead of them, and gives them the tools to do it.

Social Links

Jessica - LinkedIn: @jessicacavallaro; Twitter: @JesGilbert5

Roslynn - LinkedIn: @roslynn-jackon; Twitter: @RoslynnJackson

Kiran Bir Sethi is a designer who became a teacher, a principal who grew into an education reformer and subsequently morphed into a social entrepreneur. A trained graphic designer from the National Institute of Design, she comfortably uses the language of design – iteration, prototype, design specs – to develop not only curriculum innovation, but also community-based social programmes.

Kiran founded the award winning Riverside School in Ahmedabad, India, in 2001. Riverside, is viewed as a laboratory to prototype design processes that uses a systems approach to build a culture of empowerment, graduating young citizen leaders with an ‘I CAN Mindset’ – using their agency for the greater good.

Riverside Learning Centre (RLC) started in 2016, has codified the practices and processes of The Riverside School and designed training programmes around the 6 Pillars of Curriculum, Parent Partnership, Personal & Professional Development, Community, Administration and Leadership that empower more schools to become user centered.

Kiran is also the founder of aProCh—an initiative to make our cities more child friendly, for which she was awarded the Ashoka Fellow in 2008.

In 2009, Kiran launched Design for Change which uses a simple 4 step design framework – FIDS (Feel, Imagine, Do, Share) to cultivate the I CAN mind-set in all children. Today, DFC is the world's largest movement of change - of and by children, and is in 60+ countries—impacting over 2.2 million children and 65,000 Teachers.

Kiran is a judge for the prestigious YIDAN Prize and a Visiting Global Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In 2019, she was awarded the Earth Prize in Luino, Italy, the Lexus Design Award for 2019, in Pune, India, and DFC has been recognised as one of the 100 most innovative educational programmes in the world by HundrED.org in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020.

Social Links

Twitter: @kiranbirsethi

LinkedIn: @kiranbirsethi

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

Cathryn Berger Kaye, M.A., president of CBK Associates, and ABCD Books, travels throughout the United States and globally providing professional development programs, conference keynotes, in-depth institutes, and exceptional education and learning resources on service learning, 21st century competencies, social and emotional realms, climate and culture, youth engagement, effective teacher strategies, and environmental sustainability.  Cathryn is the author of The Complete Guide to Service Learning: Proven, Practical Ways to Engage Students in Civic Responsibility, Academic Curriculum, & Social Action (Free Spirit Publishing, 2010), and two books with Philippe Cousteau and EarthEcho International: Going Blue: A Teen Guide to Protecting Our Oceans and Waterways (Free Spirit Publishing, 2010), and Make a Splash: A Kid’s Guide to Protecting Our Oceans and Waterways (Free Spirit Publishing, 2012). In addition to her extensive consulting in public education, Cathryn also has been consulting with the International Baccalaureate for five years, infusing her dynamic service learning model into CAS, MYP, IBCC and exploring advancements in PYP, and establishing alignment with Approaches to Learning. Cathryn is described as “lively,” “astounding energy,” with the “ability to both inspire and inform, offering practical ideas teachers can put to use immediately.” Find articles, blogs, Cathryn’s international calendar and more at www.cbkassociates.com. Here is Cathryn's article on Meaningful Reflection, which we discuss in our conversation. Social Links Twitter: @cbkaye Instagram: @documentar_

Raya Bidshahri is a serial education entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and award-winning educator.

Raya is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the School of Humanity, a revolutionary online high school with a progressive model and skill-based curriculum.

Raya is also the Founder of Awecademy, an award-winning organization offering future-focussed & wisdom-based education. She has served on the founding teams of multiple organizations including SciFest Dubai, and SheWorks.

Raya serves as an advisory board member to multiple EdTech companies and is a member of the Bett Future Education Council. She was named one of the BBC's 100 Women for 2019.

Raya has spoken at many conferences including the G20/Y20 Summit, Global Education Forum, UNESCO Expo-Sciences, GESS Leaders, HR Tech Summit and much more.

She has been sharing her expertise as a keynote speaker for over a decade – since the age of 16 – and brings a much-needed youth perspective to discussions about the future of education.

Social Links

LinkedIn: @rayabidshahri

Twitter: @raya_bid

Dave Snowden is the founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Cognitive Edge. His work is in the area of naturalising sense-making, seeking to base social science research and practice in the natural sciences. He is generally considered to be a pioneer in the application of complex adaptive systems theory to a range of social issues, and in the development of narrative as a research method. His work extends across government and industry in a variety of fields including knowledge management, strategic planning, conflict resolution, counter terrorism, decision support and organisational development. 

Snowden, then of IBM Global Services, began work on a Cynefin framework in 1999 to help manage intellectual capital within the company. He continued developing it as European director of IBM's Institute of Knowledge Management, and later as founder and director of the IBM Cynefin Centre for Organisational Complexity, established in 2002. Cynthia Kurtz and Snowden described the framework in detail the following year in a paper, The new dynamics of strategy: Sense-making in a complex and complicated world, published in IBM Systems Journal.

Snowden holds a variety of academic positions. He is a visiting professor at the University of Canberra, Hong Kong Polytechnic University and University of Pretoria and is a visiting fellow at Warwick University, Nanyang University, the Universita' Cattolica in Italy and the Singapore Management College. He was Director of the EPSRC (UK) research programme on emergence in 2006 and was appointed to the NSF (US) review panel on complexity science research in 2007. He is also on the editorial boards of several knowledge management journals and is an Editor in Chief for Emergence: Complexity and Organisation. His HBR cover article with Mary Boone A Leader’s Framework for Decision Making was selected as the 2007 Best Practitioner-Oriented Paper in Organizational Behavior by the Organizational Behavior Division of the Academy of Management.

Earlier this year, Dave Snowden (and Friends) published the book Cynefin®: Weaving sense-making into the fabric of our world (2021: Cognitive Edge Pte Ltd).

Dave lives in the UK where he pursues his passions of Welsh Rugby, Wagnerian Opera and walking.

Social Links

LinkedIn: @dave-snowden

Twitter: @snowded

Keeping educational experiences alive, responsive and moving with our young people is a key piece of what the best educators do, even more impressive as it is often in stark contrast to the rigid, static institutions in which they live, work and learn. This week it’s such a pleasure to be talking with Dr Gholdy Muhammad whose amazing work on Historically Responsive Literacies supports teachers in creating spaces for mutual empowerment, confidence, and self-reliance in students. Her elaboration of the five pursuits of curriculum is a fantastic framework for enabling young people to both critically and joyfully read the world and connect with who they are and where they’ve come from.

Dr. Gholnecsar (Gholdy) Muhammad is an Associate Professor of Literacy, Language, and Culture at University of Illinois Chicago College of Education. She studies Black historical excellence within educational communities with goals of reframing curriculum and instruction today. Gholdy’s scholarship has appeared in leading academic journals and books. She has also received numerous national awards and is the author of the best-selling book, Cultivating Genius: An Equity Model for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy. She is also the co-author of Black girls’ literacies: An Edited Volume. Gholdy has previously served as a classroom teacher, literacy specialist, school district administrator, curriculum director, and school board president. Her Culturally and Historically Responsive Education Model has been adopted across thousands of U.S. schools and districts across Canada. In 2022 and 2023 she was named among the top 1% Edu-Scholar Public Influencers due to her impact on policy and practice. She was named the American Educational Research Association Division K Early Career Award and the 2021 NCTE Outstanding Elementary Educator in the English Language Arts. She has led a federal grant with the United States Department of Education to study culturally and historically responsive literacy in STEM classrooms. Her latest book, Unearthing Joy: A Guide to Culturally and Historically Responsive Teaching and Learning, is the sequel to Cultivating Genius and provides a practical guide for putting culturally and historically responsive education into curricular practice. 

More information about Gholdy’s work go to https://hillpedagogies.com/ 

You can also find her on social media at:

LinkedIn: @dr-gholdy-muhammad - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-gholdy-muhammad/

Instagram: @gholdym - https://www.instagram.com/gholdym/

Professor John Hattie is an award-winning education researcher and best-selling author with nearly 30 years of experience examining what works best in student learning and achievement. His influential 2008 book Visible Learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement is believed to be the world’s largest evidence-based study into the factors that improve student learning. Hailed by the Times Education Supplement as “teaching’s Holy Grail”, this ground-breaking study involved more than 80 million students from around the world and brought together 50,000 smaller studies.

Since 2011, John Hattie has been Director of the Melbourne Education Research Institute at the University of Melbourne. He is also the Chair of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL). He is also past-president of the International Test Commission and Associate Editor of the British Journal of Educational Psychology and American Educational Research Journal.

John Hattie was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2011 Queen’s Birthday Honours, is a Fellow of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders and the American Psychological Association, and has published and presented over 500 papers, and supervised 190 thesis students.

John's notable publications include Visible Learning, Visible Learning for Teachers, Visible Learning and the Science of How We Learn, Visible Learning for Mathematics, Grades K-12, 10 Mindframes for Visible Learning and, most recently, 10 Mindframes for Leaders.

Social Links

Twitter: @john_hattie

Conrad Hughes (MA, PhD, EdD) is Campus and Secondary Principal at the International School of Geneva, La Grande Boissière, the oldest international school in the world. He has been School Principal, Director of Education, International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme Coordinator and teacher in schools in Switzerland, France, India and the Netherlands.

Conrad, who is also a member of the advisory board for the University of the People, senior fellow of UNESCO's International Bureau of Education and research assistant at the University of Geneva's department of psychology and education, teaches philosophy.

His PhD (2008) is in English literature: The Treatment of the Body in the Fiction of JM Coetzee. His EdD thesis (2018), written at Durham University, is on the relationship between prejudice and education with specific focus on how education can reduce prejudice.

He is the author of numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and as Director of Education at the International School of Geneva he led the publication of Guiding Principles for Learning in the 21st Century with UNESCO. He has been chief editor for special editions of Springer’s Prospects Journal with entries by leading academics such as Sugata Mitra, Steve Higgins, Doug & Lynn Newton, Scilla Elworthy, Paul Black, AC Grayling and Juan Carlos Tedesco.

Conrad's most recent books are Elitism and Education: Challenges and Opportunities (2021, Routledge), Educating for the 21st Century: Seven Global Challenges (2018, Brill) and Understanding Prejudice and Education: The Challenge for Future Generations (2017, Routledge).

Social Links

LinkedIn: @conrad-hughes

Twitter: @conradhughes0 

Valerie Hannon co-founded Innovation Unit and leads Innovation Unit’s international education work. She has supported education change programmes in numerous systems, including the UK, Europe, USA, Australia and Africa, and is a founding member and Co-Chair of the Global Education Leaders Partnership (GELP).

Valerie Hannon’s career spans leadership of education systems, research, teaching, and capacity building. In the UK, she was Director of Education for Derbyshire and an advisor on creativity in the Department for Education. She has led many Innovation Unit education programmes, including Next Practice projects, Learning Futures (in the UK), and Learning Frontiers (in Australia). She has been consultant adviser to Finland, South Africa and British Columbia, Canada and is an established thought leader in the field of education innovation.

Valerie is an expert adviser on education to the OECD, and a frequent contributor to the World Summit on Innovation in Education (WISE). She is a regular keynote speaker and facilitator at international conferences and workshops. Valerie’s new book, published by Innovation Unit Press, is called Thrive: The Purpose of Schools in a Changing World (2nd Edition, released Feb. 2021), co-authored with Amelia Peterson.

Social Links

Twitter: @valeriehannon

George Couros is an Innovative Teaching, Learning, & Leadership Consultant and speaker and the author of The Innovator’s Mindset and Innovate Inside the Box, co-authored with Katie Novak - and co-owner of IMPress Books. He has worked at all school levels, from K-12 as a teacher, technology facilitator, and school and district administrator. He is currently an Adjunct Instructor with the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. 

George is the father of two wonderful children, Kallea and Georgia, and is driven to ensure that they and every student have amazing experience in their K-12 schooling. He is not focused solely on preparing students for the “real world” but wants them to make the real world better.

George believes that meaningful change happens when you first connect to people’s hearts and then their minds, and he does his best to model this through his speaking, writing, and daily work.

Social Links

LinkedIn: @georgecourosim

Twitter: @gcouros

Girish Menon joined STiR Education as CEO in January 2021 after five years as Chief Executive at ActionAid UK. He brings more than 30 years’ experience as a leader in the international development sector, having previously held roles as International Programmes Director and Deputy CEO at Water Aid UK, where he was responsible for programmes in 22 countries across sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia.

Girish was born and brought up in India, and started his career with the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme. He has also worked at Action Aid, Plan International and DFID in India. Since moving to London in 2005, he has served on the boards of various non-profit organisations. He is currently on the board of Hope and Homes for Children.

John McIntosh is the Director of Design and Programme Readiness and oversees the design of STiR’s programmes for teachers and government officials. He has worked as a teacher trainer and an advisor to professional development programmes in India, Sri Lanka, and China.

Social Links

LinkedIn: @stireducation

Twitter: @STIReducation

Dr. Abdulla Al Karam, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director General of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), is responsible for a wide spectrum of education in Dubai’s private sector, spanning early learning, school, and higher education and training Institutes. Dr. Abdulla has the distinction of holding key positions across the United Arab Emirates, as well as being a Board member of the National Qualifications Authority, of the UAE Federal Government. He was also appointed to the Board of the Social Sector, Government of Dubai. He has recently been nominated a member of the Higher Committee for Protection of the Rights of People with Disabilities in the Emirate of Dubai. 

Previously, Dr. Abdulla held positions in various government sectors, including: Vice Chairman and Secretary General, Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Distinguished Academic Performance; Chairman of the Dubai Government’s Human Resources Committee, which was set up as the link between human resources programmes and initiatives and Dubai’s goals and strategic priorities; Board member, Dubai Knowledge Fund, which seeks to effectively participate in developing Dubai’s knowledge capital through profitably managing funds. 

He was also a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Education 2010. Prior to the formation of KHDA, Dr. Abdulla held the post of CEO of Dubai Knowledge Village, which ushered in the International Branch Campus, with a remit to diversify the educational landscape in Dubai. Before that, Dr. Abdulla headed the Research Unit at Dubai Internet City and began his career working as a software engineer in the United States and France. 

Dr. Abdulla holds a PhD in computer engineering from the University of South Carolina.

Social Links

Twitter: @khda

LinkedIn: knowledge-&-human-development-authority

Brad Carter has spent 20 years exploring the role of education in society and the way we go about educating people. A former leadership development executive with Apple Inc. and head of the innovative THINK Global School, his work has taken him across Europe, Australia, China, and North America. A highly creative thinker with a talent for finding clarity in complexity, he brings his global expertise to innovative curriculum building and a deep study of the learning process, whether in formal school settings, communities or enterprise. A former teacher and school administrator, Brad was Director of the Centre for Innovation at Mulgrave School, Vancouver and Assistant Head of School at Island Pacific School on Bowen Island.

Social Links

LinkedIn: @bradfordrcarter

Twitter: @Braddo

Andy Hargreaves is Director of Chenine (Change, Engagement and Innovation in Education) at the University of Ottawa and Research Professor in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College. He is Past President of the International Congress of School Effectiveness and Improvement, recent Adviser in Education to the Premier of Ontario and currently to the First Minister of Scotland, and founder of the ARC Education: a group of nations committed to broadly defined excellence, equity, wellbeing, inclusion, democracy and human rights www.atrico.org

Andy has consulted with the OECD, the World Bank, governments, universities and teacher unions worldwide. Andy’s more than 30 books have attracted multiple Outstanding Writing Awards – including the prestigious 2015 Grawemeyer Award in Education for Professional Capital (with Michael Fullan). He has been honored with the 2016 Horace Mann Award in the US and the Robert Owen Award in Scotland for services to public education. Andy is ranked by Education Week in the top scholars with most influence on US education policy debate. In 2015, Boston College gave him its Excellence in Teaching with Technology Award. He holds Honorary Doctorates from the Education University of Hong Kong and the University of Uppsala in Sweden. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. His most recent book, Moving: a memoir of social mobility and education, is published by Solution Tree. His two upcoming books in 2020 with Dennis Shirley are Five Paths of Student Engagement: Blazing the trail to learning and success (Solution Tree), and Well-being and Socio-emotional Learning: How to Build Everyone Back Better (ASCD).

Social Links

LinkedIn: @HargreavesBC

Twitter: @HargreavesBC

Dr. Katie Martin is the author of Learner-Centered Innovation and Chief Impact Officer at Altitude Learning. She teaches in the graduate school of Education at High Tech High and is on the board of Real World Scholars. Dr. Martin has worked in diverse contexts to learn, research, and support deeper learning for all students. She has served as a middle school English language arts teacher, instructional coach, and led the district’s new teacher mentoring program.

At the university, district and school level, Katie Aspires to create experiences that empower all learners to develop the knowledge, skills, and mindsets to thrive in a changing world. As a mom, she wants her kids to have learning experiences in school that build on their strengths and interests, and as an educator; she is passionate about making sure we do the same for all kids.

Social Links

LinkedIn: @katie-martin

Twitter: @katiemartinedu

Matt Barnes is the co-founder of The Education Game with Dr Scott Van Beck

Matt believes that “normal” is broken in traditionally structured schools and wants to make “weird” the new normal. Over 25 years, Matt has distributed $500m in philanthropy, led an education reform nonprofit, served on nine educational boards from pre-K to university, and coached thousands of parents on education system navigation. In 2020, Matt launched “The Education Game,” a platform that inspires parents to embrace a Future-Ready learning model that shamelessly deemphasizes grades and academic compliance while radically emphasizing learning, problem-solving, and student-engagement. He is the father of three teens who were educated in alternative models.

Social Links

LinkedIn: @matthewcbarnes 

Twitter: @mattbarnes4kids

Too often simplistic arguments against educational change are that providing more opportunities for increased agency for young people (following their own questions, inquiries, cares etc) means less rigour, depth and intellectual stretch. Anyone who has been involved in these approaches in sustained ways knows that this isn’t the case. However, the myth persists. This week it is my great pleasure to be in conversation with Michael Strong who has had an extensive career in many different educational systems and approaches, but with a fascinating mix of classical practices such as Socratic Dialogue and entrepreneurial skills.

Michael Strong is one of the most experienced innovative school program designers in the U.S. He is the Founder/CEO of Socratic Experience (an online academy blending Classical and entrepreneurial education), Flourishing Adolescent Cultures Initiative at the University of Austin, and the Academy of Thought and Industry (ATI), a network of Montessori-aligned high schools with campuses in Austin, San Francisco, New York City, and St. Louis. His projects include Montessori secondary school program design for Montessori schools in San Antonio, Palo Alto, and Pleasanton, California prior to launching ATI. He also created The Winston Academy, where middle school students passed AP exams, and Moreno Valley High School, a Paideia charter high school in Angel Fire, New Mexico, ranked the 36th best public high school in the U.S. by Newsweek in its 3rd year of operation and continued to outperform other New Mexico high schools. 

He is the author of The Habit of Thought: From Socratic Seminars to Socratic Practice and lead author of Be the Solution: How Entrepreneurs and Conscious Capitalists Can Solve All the World’s Problems. He introduced the expression “Startup Cities” in a 2013 Voice & Exit talk which has led to a vibrant “Startup Societies” movement around the world. He is also a co-founder of FLOW, Peace through Commerce, Conscious Capitalism, and Radical Social Entrepreneurs. He serves on the boards of Radical Social Entrepreneurs and Social Evolution. He is the only “Michael Strong” married to the powerful and beautiful Senegalese entrepreneur Magatte Wade.

Michael writes and can be found in the following places,

Substack: https://substack.com/@michaelstrong 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michael.strong.144/ 

X: @flowidealism - https://x.com/flowidealism 

LinkedIn: @michaelstrong1 - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelstrong1/ 

Olli-Pekka Heinonen is the Director General of the International Baccalaureate.

Previously he held the position of the Director General at the Finnish National Agency of Education. Mr Heinonen has been the Minister of Education and Science (1994-1999), Minister of Transport and Communication (1999-2002) and Member of the Finnish Parliament (1995-2002). He has also been the Television Director at the Finnish Public Broadcasting Company and State Secretary in five different ministries. Mr Heinonen has held various positions of trust within different sectors of society. 

Mr Heinonen is a member of the Education Advisory Group for the United Nations Technology Innovation Labs. 

Mr Heinonen holds a Master’s Degree in Law. He is married and has three children.

Social Links

LinkedIn: @olli-pekka-heinonen

Twitter: @Heino1Olli

Liz Nilsen’s passion is for creating programs that nurture the next generation of thinkers and doers, through the development and growth of innovation and STEM education ecosystems.  As the Associate Director at the University of North Alabama Agile Strategy Lab, Liz shepherds the expansion of the Lab’s programming and manages the Strategic Doing Institute on behalf of that organization, including partnerships with other universities interested in deploying Strategic Doing.

Liz was senior program director at the Purdue Agile Strategy Lab; she is also a former senior program officer at VentureWell, where she provided leadership to the Pathways program for the National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation (Epicenter), an effort to engage with 50 colleges and universities to redesign undergraduate engineering education.

Prior to joining VentureWell, she led STEM initiatives at the Penn State Center – Pittsburgh, was the southwest regional coordinator for the Pennsylvania STEM Network, and served as Director of Outreach and New Economy Program Development at the Institute of Advanced Learning & Research, a Virginia Tech initiative. She earned her BA from Stanford and an MBA from Northeastern University.

Ed Morrison is Director of the Agile Strategy Lab at the University of North Alabama, and was the founder of the Purdue Agile Strategy Lab. Ed’s work emphasizes the strategic value of focused regional collaborations and open innovation, network-based models in today’s global economy.

Ed is the developer of Strategic Doing to accelerate collaborations, now widely used across the U.S. and is now gaining attention internationally. His work won the first Arthur D. Little Award for excellence in economic development presented by the American Economic Development Council.

Prior to starting his economic development work, Ed worked for Telesis, a corporate strategy consulting firm. In this position, he served on consulting teams for clients such as Ford Motor Company, Volvo, and General Electric. He conducted manufacturing cost studies in the U.S., Japan, Mexico, Canada, Italy, Sweden, and France.

Ed started his professional career in Washington, D.C., where he has served as a legislative assistant to an Ohio Congressman, staff attorney in the Federal Trade Commission, and staff counsel in the US Senate. He holds a BA degree cum laude with honors from Yale University and MBA and JD degrees from the University of Virginia.

Social Links

LinkedIn: @liznilsen; @efmorrison

Twitter: @STEMetc; @edmorrison

Dr Siva Kumari was appointed seventh Director General of the International Baccalaureate (IB) in January 2014 based in the Netherlands office, becoming the first woman to hold the post.

Dr Kumari joined the IB in April 2009 as Asia Pacific Regional Director in the Singapore office. In May the following year she was appointed first Chief Operating Officer based in the Washington office, with global responsibility for research, university recognition, school improvement and professional development and relationships with schools, governments and foundations across the three IB regions: Americas, Asia Pacific, and Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

Prior to joining the IB, Dr Kumari ended her 15-year tenure at Rice University, USA as the first Associate Provost for K-12 Initiatives. In her career at Rice she won competitive US National Science Foundation funding, local and national corporate foundation funding, and national and regional awards for her research and work in teaching and learning.

She has a bachelor of science degree from India, a master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, and a doctorate in education from the University of Houston, Texas, USA in online learning. For her work in international education, she has been awarded an honorary doctorate from Amity University, India.

Social Links

LinkedIn: @sivakumari

Twitter: @siva_kumari