

Designing Schools
Dr. Sabba Quidwai
Cultures of innovation begin with a culture of empathy. As you navigate today’s changing world the question remains how do you create these cultures? How do you scale them? And how do you help people develop the mindset and skills to thrive within them?
These are the questions people ask Dr. Sabba Quidwai, researcher, educator and storyteller. Each week we’ll explore the answers with stories and strategies from researchers, education leaders and today’s young people as we explore how might we design schools.
These are the questions people ask Dr. Sabba Quidwai, researcher, educator and storyteller. Each week we’ll explore the answers with stories and strategies from researchers, education leaders and today’s young people as we explore how might we design schools.
Episodes
Mentioned books

21 snips
Mar 29, 2023 • 33min
EP#90 | The Human Advantage in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
The podcast explores the power of human skills in the age of AI. It emphasizes curiosity and imagination in creating innovative solutions and reflects on the need to prioritize human skills in the workplace. The importance of showcasing skills, strengths, and values is discussed, along with strategies to navigate income inequality and the rise of AI. The chapter highlights the benefits of vulnerability and the incorporation of technology in teaching methods.

6 snips
Mar 15, 2023 • 22min
EP#89 | The AI Revolution: How Four Human Traits Can Help You Thrive in a Tech-Driven World
Former head of creativity and innovation at Disney, Duncan Wardle, discusses the four human traits - curiosity, creativity, imagination, and intuition - that will give us a competitive edge over machines in a tech-driven world. These traits are innate and will be the most employable in the next decade due to their difficulty to program into AI. Wardle explores the concept of design thinking, its impact on education and innovation, and showcases examples from Disney.

Feb 22, 2023 • 32min
EP#88 | How to Reclaim Your Time with Artificial Intelligence
The podcast explores how design thinking and artificial intelligence can help reclaim time. It discusses the importance of self-reflection and personal growth for educators, showcasing student talents and strengths, and using technology to amplify work. The concept of design thinking as a method and mindset is also explored, highlighting its impact on challenges and the need for restructuring in education.

Feb 1, 2023 • 19min
EP#87 | The Purpose of School in Today's World with AI
In today's rapidly evolving world, the role and purpose of education are constantly being redefined and reevaluated. With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), the demands of the job market are shifting, and new skills are becoming increasingly valuable. So, what is the purpose of school in this new age? Traditionally, schools have served as places for students to learn fundamental skills and knowledge necessary for success in life, such as reading, writing, and basic arithmetic. However, in the face of advancements in AI, this definition of success is shifting. For example, with the rise of automation, many routine tasks previously performed by humans are now done by machines. This means that the skills required for success in today's job market are changing, and schools must adapt to keep pace. One of the most important purposes of school in today's world is to teach students how to think critically and solve complex problems. AI is capable of performing routine tasks much faster and more efficiently than humans, but it does not possess the same level of creative problem-solving abilities. This means that jobs that require critical thinking and problem-solving skills are becoming increasingly valuable, and schools must equip students with these skills to help them succeed in the workforce. Another important purpose of school is to help students develop emotional intelligence and social skills. Despite the advances in AI, machines still lack the emotional intelligence and empathy necessary to build meaningful relationships with others. This means that emotional intelligence and social skills will remain essential to success in both personal and professional life. Schools can help students develop these skills through activities such as group projects, team-building exercises, and emotional intelligence training. Finally, schools must also help students prepare for a future that is rapidly changing and uncertain. In this new age of AI, it is impossible to predict exactly what jobs will be available in the future or what skills will be required. Therefore, schools must focus on helping students develop lifelong learning skills, such as the ability to adapt to change and continuously learn new things. This will help them remain employable and successful in a world where AI is likely to continue disrupting the job market. In conclusion, the purpose of school in today's world with AI is to equip students with the critical thinking and problem-solving skills, emotional intelligence, and lifelong learning skills necessary for success in a rapidly changing job market. By preparing students for the future, schools can help ensure that they are well-equipped to thrive in a world where AI is playing an increasingly important role. 0:24 Today's topic: what's the purpose of school in today's world with AI 1:49 Seth Godin's Linchpin: what's a linchpin? 4:18 The importance of creating Art according to Seth 6:27 What are schools for? 7:45 Design thinking can help schools transition from isolation to colaboration 11:17 Seth's words to teachers: understand the difference between authority and responsability 12:48 How can school leaders make the most of new techonologies? 15:53 A message to today's learners from Seth Connect with me, Dr. Sabba Quidwai: Website: https://designingschools.org/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabba-quidwai/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/askMsQ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/designing_schools/

Jan 25, 2023 • 26min
EP#86 | Transferring Skills from the Classroom to the Corporate World with Danielle Cevallos
Danielle Cevallos, an expert in transferring skills from the classroom to the corporate world, discusses the challenges of being an educator and the importance of having an online network for career growth. They explore alternative career paths, the value of design thinking and empathy in understanding people, and the overlap between teachers and marketers in meeting audience needs. They also highlight the power of values in collaboration and goal achievement.

Jan 11, 2023 • 29min
EP#85 | How Coffee, Curiosity and Confidence Led Mokhtar Alkhanshali to Design His Future
It’s not everyday that I have a guest whose story encompasses elements of design thinking in both their personal and professional lives. In this episode Mokhtar Alkhanshali, whose NYT Bestselling Author Dave Eggers calls “The Monk of Mokha” shares how his curiosity in the origins of coffee allowed him to build a life at the intersection of his passion and purpose. Join The LinkedIn Leader course waitlist. To learn more about Designing Schools click here.

6 snips
Jan 9, 2023 • 51min
EP#84 | The Risks and Rewards of Artificial Intelligence in Education with Erik Brynjolfsson
With everyone talking about ChatGPT and the acceleration of AI today's conversation is with economist and author Erik Brynjolfsson on why we should race with the machine not against the machine. He shares why we have to return to a conversation about our values and vision to guide the decisions we make as we reinvent education for what he calls The Second Machine Age. When we step back and assess the risks and rewards of existing and emerging technologies in the context of the needs of our learners we create a culture of innovation built on empathy. Template: Dowload the free template to have a conversation about "Obstacles and Opportunities" with your team. If you are talking about AI you can use this episode for inspiration Learn more about Erik's work here. Learn more about Designing Schools here.

May 18, 2022 • 50min
EP#83 | Stories, Trust, Innovation, and Recognizing Others Through Social Networking
Both personal and professional development can be improved through social media. There are many tools that can be used to share stories, ideas, and build relationships. Social media is the perfect medium for boosting creativity and encouraging innovation since it is not restricted by any physical or geographic boundaries. It's a powerful platform for those with innovative ideas to express their thoughts and share experiences. There are a number of strategies one can use on social media that can help to create deeper connections with their followers, create greater awareness of their creative endeavors, achieve objectives relating to a product launch, and also motivate people working collaboratively on projects. Please welcome the Building Services crew from the Santa Ana Unified School District to this episode. JJ, Gabriel, Lisette, and Emanuel are all wonderful people. They all agreed that having a voice was the most important aspect of leading through social influence. We'll discuss how the SAUSD team moved from being no one to becoming someone people talked about. 0:00 Introduction 1:24 Intrroducing the Building Services team 3:43 What inspired the team to create a social media presence 8:21 How did the team amplify their voice through their online presence 11:34 Some fears and proud achievements from the team during the pandemic 22:04 Some surprises met by the team on their journey with social influence 31:42 Discussing the power of relationships between support staff and students 34:36 Some stories from the team about relationships between students and staff 43:48 Messages from the team members to transformational leaders Leading Teams That Work Better Together Workshop: https://designingschools.org/workshops Connect with SAUSD Website: https://www.sausd.us/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/santaanausd/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/SantaAnaUSD Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sausd/ Connect with me, Dr. Sabba Quidwai: Website: https://designingschools.org/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabba-quidwai/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/askMsQ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/designing_schools/

Apr 20, 2022 • 47min
EP#82 | Align the Science of Research With the Artistry of Classroom Teaching with Jon Corippo
In the digital age, it’s important to teach students how to use technology as a tool in order to learn and not be left behind. When applied in tandem with design thinking, we can start to teach students how to solve problems in a new and innovative way. Jon Corippo co-founded and developed a series of instructional lesson frames called EduProtocols that are designed to engage students in learning through the 4 C's: 1. Critical thinking 2. Collaboration 3. Communication 4. Creativity EduProtocols were created to address the need for students to engage in deeper learning using technology as a tool instead of an automation device. Since then, hundreds of classrooms have been converted to Four Cs centered instruction. Jon is the brains behind the extremely popular Eduprotocols. He has been recognised as a County Teacher of the Year, a National School Boards Association 20 to Watch Educator, an Apple Distinguished Educator, a Google Certified Innovator, and a Microsoft Innovative Educator. Jon has a decade of experience in K-8 education, including building a 1-1 project-based high school and serving in two county offices as Assistant Superintendent and IT Director. Jon is very pleased with his work as CUE's Chief Learning Officer and Executive Director. Jon has trained over 60,000 educators through CUE professional learning. 0:00 Introduction 0:51 Introducing Jon Corippo 3:55 Jon's experience travelling around the world as an educator 5:51 The problem with the idea of " real teaching" 12:40 The innovation gap analysis model 15:02 Jon's career as an educator and what changes he implemented over the years 26:35 How Jon's experience as a student motivated him as an educator 29:43 Discussing the relationship between assessment and mental health 35:52 What are some short term changes schools should adopt in assessment? 40:59 Jon's advice for educators who want to transition to a new system Leading Teams That Work Better Together Workshop: https://designingschools.org/workshops Connect with Jon Corippo: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joncorippo/ Website: https://www.eduprotocols.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jcorippo Connect with me, Dr. Sabba Quidwai: Website: https://designingschools.org/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabba-quidwai/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/askMsQ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/designing_schools/

Apr 13, 2022 • 39min
EP#81 | Trust, Creativity, Accomplishments, Vision: The Four Pillars of Success
The four pillars of leadership and social influence are: 1. Building trust 2. Encouraging creativity 3. Recognizing accomplishments 4. Inspiring a collective vision. In order to be a successful leader and have social influence, one must be able to demonstrate these qualities. For example, someone who is creative can come up with new ideas that will help those around them grow; someone who has accomplished a lot can show others what they can do if they work hard enough; someone who inspires others to work together on a common goal is an excellent leader with social influence. For leaders to have social influence in their community, it is important for them to be trustworthy so that people are willing to follow their lead. Creativity is also important because it can help the community grow their skills, explore new ideas and develop new technologies. This week I’m sharing reflections from leaders on their journey with leadership and social influence. You'll hear from Superintendent Jerry Almendarez, Zandra Jo Galvan, Superintendent of Greenfield Union School District, Tony Richardson, Vice Principal of the MLK Steam Academy, Associate Professor and Online Accessibility Mentor Denise Maduli-Williams, Jeff Prickett, who was named 2021 Illinois High School Principal of the Year, and Tom Murray, Director of Innovation for Future Ready Schools. 0:00 Introduction 0:55 Sabba's discovery of the possibilities of online learning and teaching 4:31 Jerry's take on the relationship betwenn leadership and social influence 6:14 The importance of online presence for professional development 8:01 Zandra's take on the importance of being part of an online circle for support 10:12 The four pillars of the relationship between leadership and social influence 10:49 Jerry's experience using social influence as a leader and how it created opportunities for those around him 13:41 How leadership and social influence can also be important for people without formal titles 16:41 Tony's experience using social media to restore trust and heal teacher trauma 18:42 Denise's experience using social influence to nurture the relationship with her students 22:51 Jeff's take on how relationships (both online and offline) can work as foundations to building trust 24:26 Zandra's framework to balacing time between work, family and social media 29:39 Tom's take on how leaders can inspire a collective vision toward change through humility and vulnerability 34:17 Sabba's workshop announcement Leading Teams That Work Better Together Workshop: https://designingschools.org/workshops Connect with Jerry Almendarez: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerry-almendarez-916437b1/ Connect with Zandra Jo Galvan: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zandra-jo-galvan-99b95172/ Connect with Tony Richardson: Twitter: https://twitter.com/tonyrchrdsn Connect with Denise Maduli-Williams: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dmaduliwilliams/ Connect with Jeff Prickett: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffryprickett/ Connect with Tom Murray: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomascmurray/ Connect with me, Dr. Sabba Quidwai: Website: https://designingschools.org/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabba-quidwai/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/askMsQ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/designing_schools/


