The Learning Future Podcast with Louka Parry

What is the internet of education? And how might information and value between k-12 schools, higher ed, online learning, and employment be better shared through building the Internet of Education?Today Louka Parry speaks with Chris Purifoy, CEO of Learning Economy, about their ambitious global goal—to increase the impact of investment in humans, solve equity gaps, and empower learners and employees with better access to their data. Chris talks about the pain points of a fragmented supply chain from schools to the workforce: skills gaps, fragmented data, equity gaps and the uncertain return on investment for human capital investors like Governments and companies. If you're interested in the future of work, emerging education models, new credentials and human capital investing, you'll love this conversation as we discuss ways to create the learning infrastructure for the 22nd Century.

How developed are your social emotional skills? When and where did you learn them? And how might schools, educators, parents and leaders more effectively support the growth of these non-cognitive, 'soft' skills, alongside technical learning and academics? Today Louka speaks with Dr Jennifer Adams on why a stronger focus on social emotional learning can increase success both in school and in life. Jennifer is the former Director of Education of the Ottawa-Carlton School District in Canada, a network of 150+ schools supporting 72,000+ students, and she also chairs the Advisory Group of the OECD's Study on Social Emotional Skills. Join us to hear how schools can pay more attention to the crucial skills of today and tomorrow. This delightful conversation was recorded in person during the Salzburg Global Seminar Program on SEL in Austria in the pre-Covid world.

What does it take to develop an equitable education system? Today we speak with Dr Michael Nettles, Senior Vice President and the Edmund W. Gordon Chair of ETS’s Policy Evaluation & Research Center about assessment, education systems and equity. In 2014, President Obama appointed Dr. Nettles to the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans. Listen to our discussion on how education improves the quality of life and can dismantle ignorance and divisions within society. What challenges do we face as we seek to improve educational systems? And how might our tools of assessment better met the needs of all learners, especially those most marginalised by the system?

What makes for meaningful progress at work, at school and in our life? And how might we ensure that in our quests in learning, teaching, innovating and leading we aren't seduced by delusions of progress? In today's podcast we speak with brilliant Dr Jason Fox, an author, leadership advisor and wizard-philosopher, and delve into complexity as we seek to pioneer new and meaningful progress—beyond the default. Join us for a dangerous, sincere and ironic conversation, as we inquire into how we might not to fall prey to developmental blindness as we try to create pockets of emergence and motivational conditions through our work. How might we create visions and strategic plans while also considering them as amusing hypotheses? Into our learning future, perhaps it's honest communication coupled with how we make sense of things that offers us a savvy way to move forward and create powerful environments for work and learning.

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.