Future Learning Design Podcast

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., education consultant and author specializing in service learning and SEL. She talks about weaving service into curriculum so students take meaningful action. She outlines a five-stage, 'do with' approach and different kinds of action. She emphasizes investigation, meaningful reflection, asset-based practices, and flexible curriculum design to deepen student purpose.

Raya Bidshahri is a serial education entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and award-winning educator. Raya is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the School of Humanity, a revolutionary online high school with a progressive model and skill-based curriculum. Raya is also the Founder of Awecademy, an award-winning organization offering future-focussed & wisdom-based education. She has served on the founding teams of multiple organizations including SciFest Dubai, and SheWorks. Raya serves as an advisory board member to multiple EdTech companies and is a member of the Bett Future Education Council. She was named one of the BBC's 100 Women for 2019. Raya has spoken at many conferences including the G20/Y20 Summit, Global Education Forum, UNESCO Expo-Sciences, GESS Leaders, HR Tech Summit and much more. She has been sharing her expertise as a keynote speaker for over a decade – since the age of 16 – and brings a much-needed youth perspective to discussions about the future of education. Social Links LinkedIn: @rayabidshahri Twitter: @raya_bid

Dave Snowden, founder of Cognitive Edge, discusses navigating complexity in education. Topics include frameworks for decision-making, reimagining education, empowering students through ethnography, naturalizing sense-making in education, and the importance of art in societal structures.

Professor John Hattie is an award-winning education researcher and best-selling author with nearly 30 years of experience examining what works best in student learning and achievement. His influential 2008 book Visible Learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement is believed to be the world’s largest evidence-based study into the factors that improve student learning. Hailed by the Times Education Supplement as “teaching’s Holy Grail”, this ground-breaking study involved more than 80 million students from around the world and brought together 50,000 smaller studies. Since 2011, John Hattie has been Director of the Melbourne Education Research Institute at the University of Melbourne. He is also the Chair of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL). He is also past-president of the International Test Commission and Associate Editor of the British Journal of Educational Psychology and American Educational Research Journal. John Hattie was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2011 Queen’s Birthday Honours, is a Fellow of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders and the American Psychological Association, and has published and presented over 500 papers, and supervised 190 thesis students. John's notable publications include Visible Learning, Visible Learning for Teachers, Visible Learning and the Science of How We Learn, Visible Learning for Mathematics, Grades K-12, 10 Mindframes for Visible Learning and, most recently, 10 Mindframes for Leaders. Social Links Twitter: @john_hattie

Conrad Hughes (MA, PhD, EdD) is Campus and Secondary Principal at the International School of Geneva, La Grande Boissière, the oldest international school in the world. He has been School Principal, Director of Education, International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme Coordinator and teacher in schools in Switzerland, France, India and the Netherlands. Conrad, who is also a member of the advisory board for the University of the People, senior fellow of UNESCO's International Bureau of Education and research assistant at the University of Geneva's department of psychology and education, teaches philosophy. His PhD (2008) is in English literature: The Treatment of the Body in the Fiction of JM Coetzee. His EdD thesis (2018), written at Durham University, is on the relationship between prejudice and education with specific focus on how education can reduce prejudice. He is the author of numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and as Director of Education at the International School of Geneva he led the publication of Guiding Principles for Learning in the 21st Century with UNESCO. He has been chief editor for special editions of Springer’s Prospects Journal with entries by leading academics such as Sugata Mitra, Steve Higgins, Doug & Lynn Newton, Scilla Elworthy, Paul Black, AC Grayling and Juan Carlos Tedesco. Conrad's most recent books are Elitism and Education: Challenges and Opportunities (2021, Routledge), Educating for the 21st Century: Seven Global Challenges (2018, Brill) and Understanding Prejudice and Education: The Challenge for Future Generations (2017, Routledge). Social Links LinkedIn: @conrad-hughes Twitter: @conradhughes0 

Valerie Hannon co-founded Innovation Unit and leads Innovation Unit’s international education work. She has supported education change programmes in numerous systems, including the UK, Europe, USA, Australia and Africa, and is a founding member and Co-Chair of the Global Education Leaders Partnership (GELP). Valerie Hannon’s career spans leadership of education systems, research, teaching, and capacity building. In the UK, she was Director of Education for Derbyshire and an advisor on creativity in the Department for Education. She has led many Innovation Unit education programmes, including Next Practice projects, Learning Futures (in the UK), and Learning Frontiers (in Australia). She has been consultant adviser to Finland, South Africa and British Columbia, Canada and is an established thought leader in the field of education innovation. Valerie is an expert adviser on education to the OECD, and a frequent contributor to the World Summit on Innovation in Education (WISE). She is a regular keynote speaker and facilitator at international conferences and workshops. Valerie’s new book, published by Innovation Unit Press, is called Thrive: The Purpose of Schools in a Changing World (2nd Edition, released Feb. 2021), co-authored with Amelia Peterson. Social Links Twitter: @valeriehannon

George Couros is an Innovative Teaching, Learning, & Leadership Consultant and speaker and the author of The Innovator’s Mindset and Innovate Inside the Box, co-authored with Katie Novak - and co-owner of IMPress Books. He has worked at all school levels, from K-12 as a teacher, technology facilitator, and school and district administrator. He is currently an Adjunct Instructor with the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania.  George is the father of two wonderful children, Kallea and Georgia, and is driven to ensure that they and every student have amazing experience in their K-12 schooling. He is not focused solely on preparing students for the “real world” but wants them to make the real world better. George believes that meaningful change happens when you first connect to people’s hearts and then their minds, and he does his best to model this through his speaking, writing, and daily work. Social Links LinkedIn: @georgecourosim Twitter: @gcouros

Girish Menon joined STiR Education as CEO in January 2021 after five years as Chief Executive at ActionAid UK. He brings more than 30 years’ experience as a leader in the international development sector, having previously held roles as International Programmes Director and Deputy CEO at Water Aid UK, where he was responsible for programmes in 22 countries across sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. Girish was born and brought up in India, and started his career with the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme. He has also worked at Action Aid, Plan International and DFID in India. Since moving to London in 2005, he has served on the boards of various non-profit organisations. He is currently on the board of Hope and Homes for Children. John McIntosh is the Director of Design and Programme Readiness and oversees the design of STiR’s programmes for teachers and government officials. He has worked as a teacher trainer and an advisor to professional development programmes in India, Sri Lanka, and China. Social Links LinkedIn: @stireducation Twitter: @STIReducation