The Learning Future Podcast with Louka Parry

In a Covid world, all of us have experienced loss. So how might we understand grief and powerfully acknowledge the fact that all things come to an end, including our lives and those of others around us? In today's powerful episode we speak with Zenith Virago about the rites of passage in our lives and how we can powerfully experience loss and death. Zenith is a maverick and respected pioneer, teaching both nationally and Internationally, with her work best described as assisting people to die well, and for families and friends to have a healthier bereavement, especially involving sudden death or trauma, assisting people to know and reclaim their legal rights, and co-create their own social rites of passage. Zenith is the Executive Officer and founding member of the Natural Death Care Centre Charity for over 25 years. She is committed to cultural change, informing, educating and empowering individuals and communities and co-author of The Intimacy of Death and Dying, and subject of Zen & the Art of Dying, and patron of the Good Funeral Guide, UK.

What is education for? And how might we create a new definition of success, that enables us all to thrive in life, society, and on our planet? In today’s episode, we speak with Valerie Hannon, co-founder of Innovation Unit, a social enterprise creating new ways for people to belong and contribute to thriving societies. We discuss learning ecosystems, how we define success, and what kind of new school we need for the learning future. Valerie Hannon’s career spans leadership of education systems, research, teaching, and capacity building. 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 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, British Columbia in South Africa (KZA) 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: schools reinvented for the real challenges we face. thelearningfuture.com

Join us for a reflection on Season One, with Louka Parry sharing highlights and themes shared from the 18 different guests that contributed their thinking against the uncertainty of 2020. A year of disruption, and a year that might be seen as one of the most important in the history of education. Thanks for joining us so far on the journey as we inquire, examine, question and illuminate the possibilities that exist for our learning future.

Ana is an award-winning media executive. She is the founder of Diplomatic Courier, the flagship media network and magazine for top diplomats and policy leaders around the world. For over a decade she has served as the chief editor of the G7, G20, and APEC summit publications. Her futuristic think tank, the World in 2050 has convened over 10,000 multi-stakeholders in the United States and Europe since 2012. And since 2006, Ana has taught Comparative Politics at Northeastern University. thelearningfuture.com

This week we doing something different. Today we share an episode from our friends at The Future City Podcast, where our CEO Louka Parry and his co-host Eyal Halamish speak with Daniel Raven-Ellison. Dan is a Guerrilla Geographer, National Geographic Emerging Explorer and led the campaign to make London the world’s first National Park City. A former secondary school Head of Geography, Daniel’s work focuses on exploring and thinking about places in creative ways. Daniel shares brilliant insights from his adventures having explored some of the world’s largest cities to understand critical themes about the way we live, how we learn best, and how we all be a part of positive change. The Future City is a podcast with individuals about how our cities are changing. With interviews from cocktail artists to urban planners, green thumbs to financial analysts, we will share stories about how these creative thinkers and doers are shaping the city you live in.  We’ll be back next week with another episode of The Learning Future Podcast.

What does being well look like for you? And how might we all become more self-aware by designing learning environments and experiences that support collective wellbeing? Join us for today's episode where Louka speaks with Emiliana Rodriguez on social emotional learning, ethics, neuroscience and the ABCs of wellbeing. Emiliana is Co-founder and Education Director at AtentaMente, a Mexican organisation that helps teachers to cultivate wellbeing for themselves and for children through Social and Emotional Learning programs. She holds a Master’s degree in Mind, Brain and Education from Harvard University and a Bachelor’s degree in Physics by Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). She has published seven books for children and adults, and works on National and Global projects that have served millions of children and educators and parents.

How do we create space for deep work? And how can we create experiences that enable deep work through productive struggle? On this episode Louka Parry speaks with Kwaku Aning, the Director of the Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurial Thinking at the San Diego Jewish Academy. We explore human capabilities, technology, art, agency and how we can create space for deep work through productive struggle. Kwaku is an educator, professional wonderer, connector, and advocate for students. He is a global leader in STEAM and Project Based Learning utilising robotics, artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality.

How do we create societies where we focus on our contributions not just narrow results? How might our schools become places where our learners can be who they are and not leave their culture at the gate? In this episode, Louka speaks with Joanne McEachen about our roles as educators, leaders and parents to consider who we are, how we fit into the world, and how we contribute to humanity? We speak about self-knowledge, contributive curriculum and the role of new assessments and activate agency. Joanne is an author, speaker and thought-leader and is the CEO/Founder of The Learner First. She is Edmund Hillary Fellow (New Zealand), is cofounder of NPDL (Global), and is on the Executive Team of Karanga: The Global Alliance for Social Emotional Learning and Life Skills. Joanne’s methodology re-focuses school systems through the eyes of their least-served learners, supporting systems to embrace and celebrate students’ cultural identities and individual interests and needs.

How might we design schools that delight children, inspire learning, and nurture community? Violence of all kinds has created a world of fear and trauma, especially when coupled with the mass anxiety that has been such a part of our experience of 2020. In this episode, Louka speaks with Barry Svigals, and award-winning architect, artist, educator and designer, and recently the School Safety Fellow at the Stanford d.school. Svigals trained as an architect at the Yale School of Architecture, and also studied sculpture at the Ecole Nationale Superiere in Paris. Encompassing a wide range of clients, his firm’s architectural designs include projects for Yale University, Boston College and the University of Connecticut, as well as numerous public schools, including most recently, the new elementary school for Sandy Hook a community rocked by a tragic school shooting in 2012. Join us for a discussion on how we create collective spaces that create safety, learning and wellbeing, by design.