Coconut Thinking

In this episode of the Coconut Thinking podcast (used to be called Meaningful Learning), I speak with Dominic Regester. Dominic is the program director at Salzburg Global Seminar. He is responsible for designing, developing and implementing programs on education, sustainability and innovation. He is a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Commission on Education and Communication and a member of the Executive Committee for Karanga - The Global Alliance for Social Emotional Learning and Life Skills. Dominic advocates for centralizing social-emotional learning as a way to meet the challenges of the future, for the common good as well as our personal and professional fulfillment. We discuss:How we can change education by changing ecosystems of learning;How social-emotional skills can help us shape the life we want to lead;How social-emotional learning is necessary to solve the metacrisis we face.Join us for another episode and come read our blog on https://coconut-thinking.design/thought-pieces/

In this episode of the Coconut Thinking podcast, I speak with Santiago Rincón-Gallardo, Chief Research Officer of Michael Fullan's team. As an educational change leader, consultant and scholar, Santiago's work looks at liberating learning and its power to change lives and the world. Through his work he seeks to understand how and under what conditions powerful learning can spread widely across entire educational systems. We discuss among other things:The difference between learning to be taught and learning to learn; How social movements are interconnected and education's role in creating change; andThe role of play as an essential part of learning.We have rebranded! The Meaningful Learning podcast is now the Coconut Thinking podcast—keeping things simple. We look forward to your comments and thoughts on our site coconut-thinking.design, where you'll also find our articles and other goodies.

In this episode, I speak with Jeremy Lent. Jeremy was described by Guardian journalist George Monbiot as “one of the greatest thinkers of our age,” and his work investigates the underlying causes of our civilization’s existential crisis, and explores pathways toward a life-affirming future. His new book, The Web of Meaning: Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to Find Our Place in the Universe, offers a coherent and intellectually solid foundation for a worldview based on connectedness that could lead humanity to a sustainable, flourishing future. In this episode, we discuss: The power of social and network intelligences, which go beyond what the individual can do,How instilling passion and purpose among our students might just save the planet,How the greatest lesson we can teach is that there is no separation between us and nature.Leave us a comment and check out our blog on coconut-thinking.design

In this episode, I speak with Jenny Finn, Head of School at Springhouse, a learning community with life at its center. Springhouse takes learning beyond traditional-progressive continuum as the school focuses on vitality, meaning, and cultivating wholeness. Jenny sees education as a primary agent to create regenerative cultures, reflecting how we are all connected, as inhabitants of the planet. This episode hopes to continue the conversation about what a post-humanist approach to learning could look like. We discuss: How education is culture-making (so what kind of culture do we want to make?),How if you're not encountering resistance, you're not trying anything new,The dangers of being addicted to knowing.Leave us a comment of get in touch on coconut-thinking.design.

In this episode, I speak with Chris Menagé. Chris is an interdisciplinary educational leader with over 20 years’ international and national experience across private enterprise, government administration and most recently education. Chris has lived around the world and has an award winning track record contributing to educational change through innovative practice. Chris is the founder of E2, which brings together innovators across education and industry. In this episode, we discuss:How remote learning provides opportunities for deeper learning and meaningful connections,How education is an ecosystem that exists beyond the classroom or the school building,How we can all take action to have impact and grow together.Join us for another episode and we look forward to your thoughts.

In this episode, I speak with Peter Sutoris. Peter is a development professional, researcher, writer and educator, who spent a decade working on issues of education, health and social development. Peter is the author of the article "Anthropocene skills need to be at the centre of curricula" and the author of two books: Visions of Development, about the history development policy in India, and Educating for the Anthropocene, about the refocussing of education interventions needed in the face of the current environmental crisis. We discuss:• Breaking away from the meritocratic narrative to imagine our possible futures,• How following the blueprint for success may be a threat to the planet as well as ourselves,• How education is not the same thing as schooling.Join us for another episode and we look forward to your thoughts.

In this episode, I speak with Helen Kopnina, Researcher in Sustainability and Biodiversity at The Hague University of Applied Science (HHS) and Coordinator of the Sustainable Business program. She conducts research within three main areas: sustainability, environmental education and biological conservation. Helen is the author of over two hundred articles and (co)author and (co)editor of seventeen books. She recently wrote an article with Haydn Washington on Ecocentrism is the pathway to sustainability. In this episode, we discuss: The role of education in helping us take the little and bigger steps toward sustainability,How so many experiences in school take from nature, but forget to give back,How anthropocentrism opens the gateways to sexism, racism, economic injustice... as well as the degradation of the planet.Join us for another episode and we look forward to your comments.

In this episode, I speak to Haydn Washington, environmental scientist and writer at the Institute of Environmental Studies at UNSW. His interests are sustainability (as a step toward regeneration), solutions to the environmental crisis, human dependence on nature, and humanity's denial of its problems. He is also keenly interested in wilderness and the 'sense of wonder' humanity feels towards nature. We discuss:Thinking in terms of eco-reciprocity rather than sustainability,Overcoming Nature Deficit Disorder through wonder and experience,The politics of healing through small, meaningful steps.This is the latest episode of a series that brings the voice of those outside K-12, opening up to the larger ecosystem where thinking, learning and action can contribute to the welfare of the bio-collective.

In this episode, I speak with Noah Sobe, Senior Project Officer in the Education Research and Foresight program at UNESCO. Noah is a key part of UNESCO's new flagship initiative on the Futures of Education, which brings together researchers of different backgrounds around the predicted, probable, and possible futures for the planet. He is a former president of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) and holds a faculty position as Professor of Cultural and Educational Studies at Loyola University Chicago. In this episode, we discuss:Commoning—as a verb—to bring together all those who have an interest in the healthfulness of the planet,The role of school as a place for new experiences, ones that often cannot exist outside of school,The need to democratize education and open up to an ecosystem that drives purpose.This episode marks the first of a series that goes beyond the education industry towards thinkers, writers, and activists who seek to open a conversation on a possible post-humanist future, one that starts to move away from anthropocentric worldviews. As always, we look forward to your thoughts.

In this episode of the Meaningful Learning Podcast, I speak with Valerie Hannon. Valerie is a global thought leader, inspiring systems to re-think what educational ‘success’ will mean in the 21st century. The co-founder of both Innovation Unit  and of the Global Education Leaders Partnership, Valerie is a radical voice for change, whilst grounded in a deep understanding of how education systems currently work. A former Director of Education for Derbyshire and then an adviser in the UK Department for Education, she now works to release and harness the agency and creativity of both learners and educators. Currently, she is Senior Adviser to the OECD in its Education 2030 project. In this episode, we discuss:Thinking about learning in terms of "what for?" before moving onto "how?"Learning to thrive in a transforming world (ecologically and through biotech and infotech)How we need to re-write the story in order to build the public will for change.Please leave us your thoughts and comments.