The Learning Future Podcast with Louka Parry

Can we teach our children to be happy? What if we tried to teach not just one child, but 1.5 million children across one of the world’s great cities, New Delhi? What might the world learn from this approach to elevate mindfulness, social emotional learning and happiness alongside academic studies? Join Shailendra Sharma and Louka Parry as they discuss the Happiness Curriculum, one of the reforms seeking to enhance the learning of students in the Government schools of Delhi. Shailendra is the Principal Advisor to the Minister and the Director of Education for the Government of Delhi, India. He is a member of the Delhi State Advisory Council, having worked in underprivileged areas of Delhi to facilitate access and learning among children now spread across 23 states of India. He holds a Master in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, and studied Law at Delhi University.

A seven year old today will graduate as part of the Class of 2030. How might we set them up for success in our increasingly digital world? On today's episode we speak with Barbara Holzapfel, GM of Microsoft Education, about technology, social emotional learning and the future of work. Barbara works across the entire Microsoft portfolio leading the strategic Education segment across K12 and Higher Education seeking to empower every student on the planet to achieve more. Recorded in person during the Salzburg Global Seminar in Austria last year, we explore the role of social and emotional learning and how we can leverage technologies to personalise learning for children and young people as educators and parents. We dive into tangible examples that can help us all support our children and learners to achieve more through enabling increased agency and choice.

Professor Patrick McGorry AO is the Executive Director of Orygen, Professor of Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne, and a Founding Director of the National Youth Mental Health Foundation (headspace). Pat is a psychiatrist known world-wide for his development and scaling up of early intervention and youth mental health services and for mental health innovation, advocacy and reform. In 2010 Professor McGorry was selected as Australian of the Year, and in our conversation we discuss the current state of mental health services, how we can better connect services and schools and how to bring about a future where we can all do well and be well.

The podcast discusses the current state of the world and the need for positive change. It explores the transition from triage to adaptation and reflection in various systems. The importance of curiosity and complexity theory in shaping humanity's future is discussed. The concept of wicked problems and the power of Gen Z in creating positive change is explored. Various resources and platforms for deep learning and system change are highlighted.

Curiosity is perhaps the most important strength we have as human beings. How then can we ensure that we stay curious, empowering our learners, our colleagues, our employees, and our employers? Michael Bungay Stainer has sold 700,000 copies and he is recognised as one of the leading voices in how coaching creates powerful cultures. Join us for a conversation for how might we avoid the advice trap, how we create the most powerful opportunities learning and how we can start more curious for longer.

Today is the slowest rate of change that you will experience for the rest of your life. This has profound implications for the future of work, and the future of learning. We will all need to unlearn, relearn, and adapt for the rest of our lives. Join Heather McGowan, co-author of The Adaptation Advantage, as she shares cutting-edge thinking from the emerging worlds of work and learning. You’ll never think about work the same way again.

How do you feel right now? Understanding and regulating emotions is one of the key aspects to living a good life, and in fact it’s never been more important than at this moment for our schools, workplaces and societies. Join us for our first episode as we speak with a global leader in Emotional Intelligence. Professor Marc Brackett shares his insights as Foundation Director of the Centre for Emotional Intelligence at Yale University, and hear why our workplaces, our schools, and our society will be better if we give ourselves permission to feel.

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