Future Learning Design Podcast

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

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, Founding President of Africa Learning International, discusses the importance of decolonizing education and creating anti-racist schools. She emphasizes the need for a diverse curriculum and highlights the unintended consequences of perpetuating stereotypes. The podcast also explores affordable models of international education and the collaboration between Africa and outside organizations to improve education in Africa.

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_