Future Learning Design Podcast

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...

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...

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...

This strange thing called ‘knowledge’ has always been a battleground in educational conversations - for example, in lots of loud calls for “knowledge-rich” curricula! Personally I’m very much in favour of knowledge and knowing, part of the buzz of following curiosity and inquiries! It’s just the KIND of knowledge and knowing that we have been conditioned to value over others that I have an issue w...

We need to ask ourselves some really tough questions about what our education systems are really doing to support young people to live in a climate changed world of at least 2 degrees of warming. What are the hands-on skills that they will need, but also how are we supporting them to regulate difficult emotions, and build community as we relocalise. This week, Ginie Servant-Miklos is returning to...

If you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while now, you will know that creating conversational spaces full of possibility as an antidote to polarisation and crisis is something I really value, whether that’s on a podcast, online, or even better, in person!  So it was such a joy to sit down with Doline Ndorimana to talk about her amazing work doing just that with young people and fellow educat...

For new parents and early years educators, there’s a wealth of guidance and support for how to understand what’s happening for our babies and toddlers, but when it comes to the stories we tell about adolescence, an equally important period of significant change, sometimes it’s more just get your head down and get through it! As millions of young people make the big transition to Middle School, I w...

Carol Sanford ( ⁠⁠https://carolsanford.com/⁠⁠ ) is one of the most important thinkers of the last few decades. Like no-one else, her work calls out the deeply damaging effects of Behaviourism on all aspects of our lives, especially learning and education, and advocates for a living systems approach to business, education and community. Carol’s latest book, ‘No More Gold Stars: Regenerating Capacit...

As you will have heard on previous episodes with Sandra Milligan, Yong Zhao, folks from Mastery Transcript Consortium and Rethinking Assessment, standardised tests and assessments are often one of the biggest barriers to change in education as these credentials and school-leaving certificates often hold the key that opens up the next door or higher education for many young people. This week I’m so...

Welcome back to the first episode in the new series of the Future Learning Design podcast. The podcast now has a lovely new home at Good Impact Labs ( goodimpactlabs.com ).  The first guest in this new series is the social philosopher and internationally best-selling author, Roman Krznaric In his book, The Good Ancestor, Roman challenged us all to consider the rights of future species and future c...

What does it really mean to have 'agency' and how might we create more opportunities for young people to step into their agency in meaningful ways? Indra Adnan has been exploring this concept in communities around the world as well as in grassroots political organising. For over twenty years, Indra Adnan has been writing, consulting, network-building and event-organising on the themes of f...

Wakanyi Hoffman is a storyteller, author, keynote speaker specialized in ubuntu philosophy, a scholar of indigenous knowledge, and narrative weaver of wisdom in AI. She was born and raised in Kenya before embarking on an adventure around the world and has so far lived in 8 countries on 4 continents.  In response to the limited presence of African stories by African storytellers in children’s liter...

Simply trying to avoid or remove uncertainty and complexity from the lives of our young people (and our own) just isn't a viable strategy anymore! So what do we do instead? How might we intentionally build our adaptive capacity to thrive in the face of these dynamics? Dr. Glenda Eoyang works with public and private organizations to help them thrive in the face of overwhelming complexity and un...

Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner are internationally renowned social learning theorists and consultants. Their pioneering writing and consulting is influential in diverse fields including learning theory, business, government, international development, healthcare, and education.  They founded the Social Learning Lab to host events on theory, practice, and leadership. Their more recent writing u...

What does it mean for those in culturally Eurocentric school systems around the world to learn from and with indigenous peoples about the role of education in community and connected with place? Should we even, after the horrors inflicted upon indigenous communities by settlers? These are delicate but important questions and it was a huge privilege to be able to sit down with Dr Marie Battiste to...

What are the 'future skills' our young people need, and will the university of the future be unrecognisable from the universities of today? Laura Eigbrecht and Professor Ulf-Daniel Ehlers have gathered some of the top thinkers around the world who are creating the university of the future. They join Tim this week to share some of these powerful ideas. 'Creating the University of the Fu...

Information and connection were once scarce resources. But no longer! So what does this mean for the way education happens? This week, Dave Cormier, author of the fantastic new book 'Learning in a Time of Abundance: The Community is the Curriculum' joins Tim. https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/12862/learning-time-abundance With 25 years of experience as teacher, researcher and author, D...

What would it mean for ALL of our young people to feel safe and that they belong in our schools? This week, it's fantastic to have Dr Emily Meadows with us on the podcast to talk about creating spaces of belonging for everyone, but in particular for LGBTQ+ young people. Dr. Emily Meadows (she/her) is an LGBTQ+ consultant and published author specializing in international schools. Emily creates...

There are many myths that hold teaching back. But more than any 'trad' or 'prog' debates about pedagogy, perhaps the most powerful one is the mind-body split. This week we welcome Professor Guy Claxton to talk about his forthcoming book on the importance of 're-membering' our learning bodies and reconnecting our ideas about education! Guy Claxton is Emeritus Professor at Wi...

With the recent release of her book 'Every Child Can: Riverside School's Design-Led Approach to Empower Children', the wonderful Kiran Bir Sethi is joining us again on the podcast this week. 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 Nationa...

This episode will hopefully give you a sense of where the most promising organisations in the world who are innovating around assessment are at, and what the prospects are looking forward for significant assessment change. You can also check out Episode #72 with Sandra Milligan. I am joined by Prof. Sandra Milligan from Melbourne Metrics, Bill Lucas from Rethinking Assessment and Mike Flanagan and...

Kevin Simpson is one of those rare special people who thrive on connecting others And bringing people together around shared causes and visions of a different kind of education system free from injustice and discrimination. Kevin is founder of the Association of International Educators and Leaders of Color ( ⁠https://aieloc.org/ ), and through AIELOC, one initiating partners of the International S...

All the talk about systems change in education is great, and a topic we cover lots on the podcast. But the current reality for many educators might feel very removed from such visions. And yet, when you get into the details of what really deep and energised inquiry looks like with curious and questioning young people in classrooms, the two worlds feel a lot closer. And there are few people that kn...

Over the last decade, there has been a surge of interest in the evidence and research-backing that support choices that educators and leaders are making in schools. In an effort to prove “what works” they reach for the Cognitive and so-called learning sciences. Personally, I’ve always felt a bit uncomfortable about how narrow these discussions are, focusing only on memory, cognitive load, retrieva...

Eric Dozier (https://www.ericdozier.com/) is not only an incredible musician and, as he calls himself, itinerant blues preacher, but also a cultural activist and anti-racism educator.  We talk about the power of music as a social force that brings people together to learn, builds community and holds space for transformation, in particular in Eric’s critical work challenging white supremacy culture...