Future Learning Design Podcast

Priya Lakhani OBE is the Founder CEO of CENTURY Tech, the award-winning artificial intelligence education technology company. CENTURY is the global leader in AI-powered learning tools for schools and families, working in dozens of countries across the world. In 2008, Priya left her career as a barrister to launch a successful cooking-sauce business, which through its charitable foundation provided millions of meals and thousands of vaccinations to the underprivileged in India and Africa, and funded several schools. Priya was awarded Business Entrepreneur of the Year by the Chancellor in 2009 and Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2014. She was a business advisor to the UK’s coalition government, was appointed to the UK government’s AI Council in 2019 and is a regular commentator on global news for the BBC. In 2018, Priya co-founded the Institute for Ethical AI in Education. In 2018, CENTURY won a prestigious MIT SOLVE (Education) award, and in 2019, Priya was named Economic Innovator of the Year by The Spectator. In 2020, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by Coventry University’s engineering faculty and appointed Honorary Vice President of the Council of British International Schools. Social Links: LinkedIn: @priyalakhani  Twitter: @priyalakhani; @thisiscentury

Chris Menagé is an interdisciplinary educational leader, consultant, public speaker and the driving force behind e². Chris has over 20 years’ international experience across private enterprise, government administration and education sectors. For the past 15 years, Chris has successfully applied his critical and systems thinking to educational contexts both in Australia & abroad. Chris’ wide ranging experience, combined with living with different cultures around the world, is reflective of the transformative competencies educational systems seek to instil in students. He has first had knowledge of how interdependent networks create new possibilities and real opportunities. This unique perspective is ideally suited for our ever-changing world, allowing Chris to bring his fresh insight of future-focused, real world, engaging learning cultures to life – for schools, educators and students alike. His award winning track record at systems level, including a State board, NFP committees and local community groups as well as other practical initiatives, have all contributed to sustained industry wide learning and educational change through collaborative innovative practice. Through e², Chris now activates partnerships, empowering others to focus on what they do best: co-creating transformative cultures of learning and practice. Social Links:  Twitter: @EducationalEco1 LinkedIn: @Christophemenage 

Will Richardson has an international reputation as someone who effectively challenges traditional thinking about schools. A former classroom teacher of 22 years, Will is an author, as well as a blogger, podcaster, leadership coach, and serial entrepreneur. Last year, he co-founded The BIG Questions Institute with Homa Tavangar, which was created to help educators use "fearless inquiry" to make sense of this complex moment and an uncertain future. Will has spent the last 15 years developing an international reputation as a leading thinker and writer about the intersection of social online learning networks, education, and systemic change. In 2017, Will was named one of 100 global "Changemakers in Education" by the Finnish site HundrED, and was named one of the Top 5 "Edupreneurs to Follow" by Forbes. He has given keynote speeches and provided coaching services in over 30 countries on 6 continents. He has also authored six books, most recently Freedom to Learn, that have sold over 200,000 copies worldwide, and given TEDx Talks in New York, Melbourne, and most recently Vancouver. Social Links LinkedIn: @willrichardsonspeaks Twitter: @willrich45

Will Richardson has an international reputation as someone who effectively challenges traditional thinking about schools. A former classroom teacher of 22 years, Will is the author of six books, most recently "Freedom to Learn," as well as a blogger, podcaster, leadership coach, and serial entrepreneur. Last year, he co-founded The BIG Questions Institute (bigquestions.institute) with Homa Tavangar. [RE]LEARN Session: We're Not Disrupted Enough Yet: Why Real Change in Schools Will Take More Than a Pandemic, Monday, November 9 • 20:15 - 20:45 (CEST) Kirti Diwan, currently a Skilling and Capability Lead at Google . She's also a research student and a champion of women's diversity, education and wellbeing. Passionate about supporting SMEs, she loves white spaces where she can apply her problem solving and interpersonal skills to drive change, growth and transformation. [RE]LEARN Session: Learn with a latte, not with a blackboard, Monday, November 9 • 12:15 - 12:45 (CEST) Blessing Akpan is an educator, social entrepreneur and the Founder of The Innovative Child Network, a not-for-profit organization leveraging mentorship, and training to raise innovative children through skill-based learning. As an Ambassador for HundrED.org, Theirworld, and Xtalks.org, she seeks and shares innovation in inclusive K12 education, promotes literacy among children, and amplifies the voices of young people throughout Africa and beyond. [RE]LEARN Session: Reimagining Asynchronous and Synchronous Delivery for Low-income communities, Monday, November 9 • 15:45 - 16:00 (CEST) Sandy Hooda is a first-generation entrepreneur who has created successful technology and hospitality ventures. To better understand whether anyone had solved the education puzzle, he spent three years travelling around the world, identifying and visiting the most progressive schools, and galvanising some of the superstar education Leaders behind these schools to create Vega Schools. [RE]LEARN Session: Parenting for the future - timeless skills, Tuesday, November 10 • 15:15 - 15:30 (CEST) Christophe Menagé is an interdisciplinary educational leader with over 20 years’ experience across private enterprise, government administration and most recently education. Chris offers a unique perspective and fresh insight, bringing future-focused, real world learning experiences to reality – for educators and students alike. Having now founded e2 educational ecosystems, Chris activates partnerships, empowering others to co-create transformative initiatives. [RE]LEARN Sessions: Learning about meaning, not things, Thursday, November 12 • 10:30 - 11:15 (CEST) and Unshackling the elephant in the room. Thursday, November 19 • 11:00 - 11:45 (CEST)

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 Melbourne Graduate School of Education 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, where he was also a Professor in the Department of Educational Measurement, Policy, and Leadership. [RE]LEARN Session: In conversation with Yong Zhao: learning beyond 2020, Thursday, November 12 • 20:15 - 20:45 Jennifer Groff, PhD is an educational engineer, designer, and researcher, whose work focuses on redesigning learning environments and systems. Currently, she is the Innovation Fellow at WISE (Qatar Foundation), where she is leading the development of their Global Innovation Hub. Previously, she was the Chief Learning Officer for Lumiar Education, and earned her PhD from the MIT Media Lab. [RE]LEARN Session: Designing Learning Futures: Helping Schools Catalyze Deep Change to Support Modern Learners, Monday, November 9 • 21:30 - 21:45 (CEST) Jean (Barack) Habumugisha is passionate about innovative learning. He is member of the Learnlife Alliance and previously spoke at the Thought Leaders Summit in Barcelona. Barack is currently pioneering the creation of Learnlife’s Kigali hub, the first of its kind in Africa. [RE]LEARN Session: The impact of COVID-19 on developing countries’ education sector; case of Rwanda, Tuesday, November 10 • 15:45 - 16:15 (CEST) Rahmatullah Arman leads Teach For Afghanistan, Afghanistan’s largest youth led organization, as its President and Founder. Arman was selected as an inaugural member of the Malala Fund’s Gulmakai Network of champions for girls’ education. [RE]LEARN Session: Providing Equal, Quality and Safe education in a state of emergency, Thursday, November 12 • 17:30 - 18:15 (CEST) Gahmya Drummond-Bey is a TED-speaker, global instructional designer, author, educator and CEO of Evolved Teacher. She has redesigned learning programs in more than 30 countries and taught through 2 pandemics. [RE]LEARN Session: This is my 3rd pandemic: Let's Redesign your Remote Learning approach together, Thursday, November 12 • 08:15 - 09:00 (CEST)

Bena Kallick is the co-founder and co-director of the Institute for Habits of Mind with Art Costa and program director for Eduplanet21, a company dedicated to online professional learning and curriculum development based on the Understanding by Design® framework. She is a consultant providing services to school districts, state departments of education, professional organizations, and public agencies throughout the United States and abroad. Bena received her doctorate in educational evaluation from Union Graduate School. Her areas of focus include group dynamics, creative and critical thinking, and alternative assessment strategies in the classroom. Formerly a teachers' center director, Bena also created a children's museum based on problem solving and invention. She was the coordinator of a high school alternative designed for at-risk students. Bena has taught at Yale University School of Organization and Management, University of Massachusetts Center for Creative and Critical Thinking, and Union Graduate School. She served on the board of Jobs for the Future and was a cofounder of Performance Pathways. Social Links LinkedIn: @benakallick Twitter: @benakallick

Kevin Bartlett has held leadership positions in the UK, Tanzania, Namibia, Austria and Belgium, where he was the Director of the International School of Brussels from 2001-2015. Kevin currently leads the Learning Design Team at Escuela Internacional Sampedrana in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, where he is based. Kevin is Founding Director of the Common Ground Collaborative (CGC), which he established with Gordon Eldridge in 2014. CGC is a nonprofit, global community of sense-makers, innovators, educators and partners who share a common goal to co-create a compelling alternative to traditional ‘curriculum’ designs: a coherent Learning Ecosystem that connects learning, leading, teaching and assessing into one simple, systemic approach.  Kevin has co-designed accreditation systems for European Council of International Schools (ECIS), Council of International Schools (CIS) and New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) and was part of the small team under the leadership of Peter Mott, who developed ACE Learning, an innovative new NEASC accreditation protocol. Kevin is a regular author of articles on a range of topics, a keynoter/workshop leader at multiple international and national conferences, and on-site consultant on a wide range of topics. He is a writer and trainer in the field of curriculum design and leadership for learning for the Principals’ Training Center. As a curriculum designer he was the initiator and early leader of the IB Primary Years Programme. Social Links Email: kevin@thecgcproject.org LinkedIn: @kevinbartlett Twitter: @CGCKevin

LearnLife's [RE]LEARN festival is coming up on November 9th - you can find out more and register here: https://relearnfestival.com/ Christopher Pommerening is the Founder and Chief Empowerment Officer of Learnlife. Christopher is an entrepreneur and learning visionary on a journey in which he has evolved from an internet entrepreneur and venture capitalist, into a high impact entrepreneur on a mission to change education positively worldwide. Christopher has engaged a global team of more than 100 learning experts and thought leaders to build an open ecosystem for a new lifelong learning paradigm. His impact goal is to empower 100 million learners to experience the new paradigm for learning that is suited to the rapid and evolving changes in our world and societies by 2030. Learnlife launched the first Learning Hub in Barcelona and is currently in the process of building a 10.000m2 lighthouse for lifelong learning in Germany. In the next 10 years more than 2,000 Learning Hubs will be launched in every country around the world to inspire and show-case the future of learning. Christopher started his professional career in Spain in 1998, when he co-founded AutoScout24 Spain. In 2002 he founded the venture capital company ACTIVE Venture Partners, one of Europe’s few entrepreneurial-driven VC companies. He has founded 10 companies and organisations and invested in more than 30 start-ups. In 2017, after two years of preparation and research, he started Learnlife, his “once in a lifetime” adventure aiming to change the world's learning landscape. Dr. Stephen Harris, after 40 years as an educator within existing systems (government & independent), has chosen to work now outside, but alongside, traditional education. From 1999 to 2017 Stephen was Principal of Northern Beaches Christian School in Sydney. In 2005, Stephen founded the Sydney Centre for Innovation in Learning.  Stephen has completed his doctorate in education focused on the role of collective envisioning in educational leadership and change. He also received recognition at the 2011 Australian Awards for Outstanding Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL), as the Australian Secondary Principal of the Year (NSW). Stephen was also recognised in 2017 as a recipient of the prestigious John Laing Award by Principals Australia Institute (PAI) presented to exceptional school leaders. Social Links Twitter: @ChristopherPomm; @Stephen_H; @wearelearnlife LinkedIn: @christopherpommerening; @stephenharris; @learnlife

Dr. Heidi Hayes Jacobs is an author and internationally recognized education leader known for her work in phenomena-based learning, learning structure design, curriculum mapping and integration and developing 21st century approaches to teaching and learning. Heidi is the Founder and President of Curriculum21, Curriculum Designers, Inc. and Executive Director of the Curriculum Mapping Institute. She works as an education consultant with schools and districts K–12 on issues and practices pertaining to: curriculum reform, instructional strategies and strategic planning. She has taught in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching, at Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, from 1981 to the present. She is a co-founder of The Hollingworth Center also at Teachers College, Columbia University. Heidi has written many inspirational books including: Bold Moves For Schools: How We Create Remarkable Learning Environments, ASCD, Alexandria, VA 2017. (with Dr. Marie Hubley Alcock) Curriculum 21: Essential Education for a Changing World, ASCD, Alexandria, VA. January, 2010. (with Jaimie Cloud) The Curriculum Mapping Planner: Templates, Tools, and Resources for Effective Professional Development, ASCD, Alexandria, VA. 2009. (with Ann Johnson) And many more... Heidi collaborates with Allison Zmuda and has recently launched the transform.curriculum21.com intiative in order to support learners, families and teacher leaders adapt to the demands of the COVID pandemic and breathe life back into a lifeless curriculum. During our conversation, Heidi shares a useful resource for schools making vital decisions about what to cut, keep and create in physical, hybrid and home learning scenarios. Social Links: Email: heidi@curriculum21.com Twitter: @heidihayesjacob LinkedIn: @heidihayesjacobs

Peter Mott served as NEASC Director of the Commission on International Education at New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) from 2012 to 2017. During his time at NEASC, Peter challenged international schools with the notion of Transformative Accreditation through the development of the ACE Learning accreditation protocol. Previously Peter served as Director of Zurich International School (ZIS) from 2001-2012, and from 1989-2001 as Director of the American International School of Zurich (AISZ). He served on the Boards of the Council of International Schools and of the Academy of International School Heads, and was a member of the Commission on American and International Schools Abroad (CAISA). He is a Trustee on the Board of the Educational Records Bureau (ERB), and a member of the National Association of Independent Schools’ (NAIS) Commission on Accreditation. Since 2017, Peter has been working with Learning Beyond Horizons and TreeTopVisions - a consultancy and advocacy company supporting aspirational K-12 learning communities: Empowering progressive learning communities; designing alternative leadership-for-learning models; facilitating thoughtful reflection and professional learning; transforming K-12 education. Social Links: Twitter: @pmott2 LinkedIn: @petercmott