Alex Beard, Senior Director at Teach For All, explores the complexities of education worldwide, stressing the need for alignment with community values. He discusses the tension between structured and project-based learning, advocating for diverse educational approaches to foster collaboration over competition. Beard delves into lifelong learning, emphasizing how relational dynamics shape meaningful outcomes. He also reflects on the implications of AI in education, cautioning against its use without a shared vision for purposeful integration.
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insights INSIGHT
Purpose-Driven Education Varies
Education serves different purposes depending on context and community values.
Excellence comes when purpose aligns well with the process and brings people together.
insights INSIGHT
Learning Versus Education
Learning is continuous from birth until death in a social context.
Education implies agency and purpose beyond passive absorbing of information.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Contrasting Education Models
Shanghai’s system emphasizes knowledge mastery using highly structured lessons.
Silicon Valley’s High Tech High emphasizes project-based, collaborative learning for different educational goals.
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Our incredible capacity to learn and how we can harness it
Alex Beard
In "Natural Born Learners," Alex Beard explores the innate human capacity for learning and how it can be effectively harnessed. He delves into various educational approaches and systems worldwide, highlighting successful strategies and emphasizing the importance of purpose-driven education. The book challenges traditional notions of learning, advocating for a more holistic and socially contextualized approach. Beard's insights offer valuable guidance for educators, parents, and policymakers seeking to improve learning outcomes and foster a love of learning. Ultimately, the book promotes a more human-centered approach to education, recognizing the importance of individual agency and collective effort.
Sentimental Education
Gustave Flaubert
Sentimental Education is a novel that chronicles the life of Frédéric Moreau, a young man from the provinces who arrives in Paris with ambitions and romantic ideals. The novel spans three decades, including the revolution of 1848 and the subsequent social and political changes. It is a sweeping panorama of French society, critiquing the hypocrisy and mediocrity of the Second Empire. Flaubert's narrative intertwines the personal and intimate lives of his characters with the broader political and social context, highlighting the failures and disillusionments of his generation[2][3][5].
Essays
None
Michel de Montaigne
Montaigne's *Essays* are a seminal work that introduced the essay as a literary form. The book is a personal and introspective exploration of various subjects, including the human condition, skepticism, and the importance of concrete experience over abstract learning. Montaigne's skepticism is reflected in the title *Essais*, meaning 'Attempts' or 'Tests', indicating a project of trial and error and tentative exploration. The essays cover topics such as the education of children, the role of the body, illness, aging, and death. Montaigne's writing style is characterized by multiple digressions, anecdotes from ancient and contemporary sources, and quotations that reinforce his critical analysis of reality[2][5][4].
There are very different ways of 'doing' education all around the world and my guest this week has spent many years exploring and deeply understanding many of them. As Alex Beard highlights in this conversation really powerfully, "does the purpose match the how or the process?" And how does this align with the values of the communities involved? When there is so much ideological warfare and polarisation around, we need more wise voices like Alex who are deeply expert and evidence-based but also oriented strongly around values and purpose.
After starting out as a teacher in a London comprehensive, Alex did his MA at the IOE before joining Teach For All, a growing network of independent organizations working in sixty countries to ensure that every child has access to an excellent education. while building collective leadership and driving systemic changes from within and outside of the education sector. He is the Senior Director at Teach for All (https://teachforall.org/) and leads the Global Learning Lab supporting a global network of leaders working to drive systemic change in the fields of social innovation, school leadership, teacher training and policy-making. He has written extensively about his experiences in search of the practices that will shape the future of learning in publications such as the Guardian, Financial Times and Wired. He is the author of Natural Born Learners: Our incredible capacity to learn and how we can harness it, published in 2018 and he wrote and presented The Learning Revolution, a three part series on the future of education for BBC Radio 4 (2020). I've also had the privilege of chatting to Wendy Kopp, Alex's colleague and founderand CEO of Teach for All in episode 79 so do also check that one out!
Alex's website: https://www.alexbeard.org/
The Learning Revolution documentary: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000h93c/episodes/player
The Missing Piece report: https://teachforall.org/MissingPieceBrief
Future Learning Design Podcast 
