Future Learning Design Podcast

What does it mean to help our young people understand all of the forces that have brought us to where we are, and also to take real responsibility for all of the benefits and harms that that has caused, in particular to indigenous communities around the world? What kinds of education might 'enable healthier possibilities of (co)existence that are viable, but are unthinkable/unimaginable within...

With so much talk about 'systems thinking' in education, sometimes it can become framework overload! Which one should I pick? What's the difference between them anyway?! This week, it is a huge privilege to chat to someone who has been doing this longer than most! Professor Ray Ison has been teaching systems practice for the Open University for the last 4 decades. He shares his wisdom...

This week I’m chatting with Jamilah Pitts, whose incredible work challenges us to root our educational practices in activism, healing and love. This is so that we tell the truth about the deep biases and harms that continue to persist within our societies and many of our educational settings. Jamilah’s work follows in the incredible tradition of bell hooks, Audre Lorde, James Baldwin and many othe...

In this week’s conversation, with Professor Rex Li and Dr Clara Cheng, we take a wide-ranging look at how we can take inspiration and ideas from past educational projects, such as those of John Dewey and Howard Gardner, as we develop education into the future. But also learning from their experience at GT College in Hong Kong, how can we use research and inquiry themselves as practices to enable s...

Homa Tavangar ( https://homatavangar.com/ ) is an incredible educator and leader. She is the co-founder of the  Oneness Lab with Eric Dozier  ( https://www.onenesslab.com/ ) where she helps schools and companies go ‘deeper than diversity,’ as well as the  Big Questions Institute , ( https://bigquestions.institute/ )  where, with her co-founder Will Richardson, she leads professional learning oppor...

How are the knowledge and skills that we choose to teach or not teach implicated in the power structures and political histories of the places in which we live? Professor Jonathan Jansen ( ⁠https://www.jonathanjansen.org/⁠  ) is Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. He is currently President of the South African Academy of Science and the Knight-Henn...

This week’s episode is a conversation about the importance of play and playfulness with the fantastic Dr. Jane Hession and Ronan Healy. Based on their extensive research and expertise of the Lego Serious Play method, Jane and Ronan are successfully reintroducing play to learning and work environments as an invitation to qualitatively different modes and types of experiences for teams. We also talk...

Professor Natalia Kucirkova is Professor of Reading and Early Childhood Development at the University of Stavanger. She researches children’s use of media and technologies. She is especially interested in children’s use of  e-books and literacy apps , particularly in relation to the use of personal data ( digital personalization ) and  evidence-based approach to EdTech.  Her latest project "S...

⁠Yong Zhao⁠ is a Foundation Distinguished Professor in the  ⁠School of Education at the University of Kansas⁠  and a professor in Educational Leadership at the Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne in Australia. He previously served as the Presidential Chair, Associate Dean, and Director of the Institute for Global and Online Education in the College of Education, University of Oregon, whe...

Alicia Juarrero, is Co-Founder and President of VectorAnalytica and Professor Emerita of Philosophy at Prince George’s Community College (MD). She is the author of Context Changes Everything: How Constraints Create Coherence, published last year : https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-monograph/5600/Context-Changes-EverythingHow-Constraints-Create⁠ Her other books are Dynamics in Action: Intentional Beh...

Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath is an award-winning cognitive neuroscientist, best-selling author and renowned keynote speaker with an expertise in human learning, memory, and brain stimulation.  Jared has published 6 books, including most recently with co-author David Bott: 10 THINGS SCHOOLS GET WRONG (and how we can get them right) Other books include: ⁠Stop Talking, Start Influencing: 12 Insights From...

It is increasingly clear that recruiting, developing and retaining teachers is a very real issue around the world. Dr. Rachel Lofthouse is at the forefront of thinking through how we might be able to address some of these challenges. Rachel is the Professor of Teacher Education in the Carnegie School of Education at Leeds Beckett University. She has established the Research and Practice hub, Colle...

As an elementary teacher by training, Dr. Gary Stager has taught students from preschool through doctoral studies. In 1990, Gary led professional development in the world’s first laptop schools and played a major role in the early days of online education. Gary is the founder of the  Constructing Modern Knowledge  summer institute for educators. Gary is co-author of  Invent To Learn – Making, Tink...

Today’s guest has been doing amazing work in this areas alongside Peter Senge, Daniel Goleman and colleagues at the IB, through the Center for Systems Awareness at MIT. Dr Mette Miriam Böll is the is the Co-founder and Executive Director of the centre, as well as the co-founded of The MIT Systems Awareness Lab with Peter Senge.  Her academic background is as a biologist specialized in the evolutio...

Professor Barbara Oakley is a Distinguished Professor of Engineering at Oakland University. Barbara’s research has been described as “revolutionary” in the  Wall Street Journal . She is  New York Times  best-selling author who has published in outlets as varied as the  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , the  Wall Street Journal , and  The New York Times . Her book  A Mind for Number...

Nicole Dyson is a multi-award-winning educator and entrepreneur, and a global authority on project-based learning and youth entrepreneurship. With an extensive background in school teaching and leadership in the public education system in Australia, she is the founder of Future Anything , an award-winning education provider that works with 15000+ young people (and their educators) each year. Nicol...

Formerly Principal of an award-winning international school in the Middle East, and with a long and varied career in school leadership both in the UK and internationally, Matthew Savage now works closely with premium schools and school groups worldwide, helping them to use data wisely and well. In recent years, he has worked face-to-face or remotely with thousands of educators across hundreds of s...

It’s hard to disagree that critical thinking is an essential skill for young people faced with a complex and uncertain future. And yet, everyone from everywhere on the pedagogical spectrum says that they’re developing it in their students!  So are they all succeeding? What are the specific and explicit thinking moves that you are asking and guiding your learners to make?  How does this also develo...

Odunayo Aliu is an Education Specialist and Development Practitioner with experience in transforming the education landscape in rural and marginalized communities. She is the Founder of Bramble Network , a nonprofit organization that provides equitable educational opportunities to children and youth in rural and marginalized communities. Through her leadership, Odunayo has also been instrumental i...

Dor Abrahamson is Professor of Secondary Mathematics Education in the area of Cognition and Development at University of California, Berkeley and a member of faculty at UC Berkeley’s  Graduate School of Education . Dor has been pioneering a design-based approach to research called embodied design. In his Embodied Design Research Laboratory ( https://edrl.berkeley.edu ) Dor and his team look at cog...

In this episode, Ms Liew Wei Li, the Director-General of Education for the Ministry of Education in Singapore shares her insights into the many reasons for this success, including Singapore’s restless commitment to improvement and innovation.  Ms Liew has been the appointed Director General since April 2022, overseeing K-12 education in Singapore. She had school experience as a Chemistry teacher a...

Dr. Brad Kershner is a school leader and independent scholar, currently serving as the Head of School at Kimberton Waldorf School . His research, teaching, and writing cover a wide range of interdependent topics, including education, leadership, parenting, cultural diversity, technology, integral theory, meditation, complexity, and developmental psychology. He received his graduate education at Th...

Daniela Papi-Thornton is an educator, facilitator, and author whose work focuses on  systems-led leadership : an approach to social innovation that centers on systems understanding. Daniela has served as a Lecturer at Yale School of Management, Watson Institute, and Oxford’s Saïd Business School where she was also the Deputy Director of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship. She designed an...

Inquiring into the many changes happening across the K12 education sector in India, I am joined by four fantastic guests, all working to shift the system in various ways: Dr Priti Ojha - School Consultant & Education Influencer | Global Peace Ambassador | LinkedIn Spotlight | CBSE Resource Person | British Council School Ambassador LinkedIn: @drpritiojha Vardan Kabra - Co-Founder & Head of...

Kirstin Coughtrie is the Founder & Chief Innovation Officer of Gaia Learning. Teacher & tech lover passionate about SEN, accessible learning and creating scalable solutions to global challenges. As an ambassador for teaching the UN SDGs and as a mum of children with additional needs and challenges, Kirstin has seen first-hand how important personalised learning is to their wellbeing and ho...