Learning as If Life Depended on It - A Conversation with Olli-Pekka Heinonen
There are a lot of people searching right now, including me, including this podcast, searching for different ways in and through many of the global challenges that we are facing. And as many people will conclude, education and learning are central to these questions of how we find our way! How do we learn together, across generations, in communities in ways that will enable the capacities of our youngest humans to thrive long into their futures?
It is my huge privilege this week to be able to share this exclusive interview with International Baccalaureate Director General, Olli-Pekka Heinonen, about his new book 'Learning as If Life Depended on It' which is released on November 4th. Alongside many other authors like Paul Kingsnorth, Vanessa Andreotti and Iain McGilchrist, Olli-Pekka's new book powerfully describes the legacies of the modern world that have led us to see the world and each other in very particular, and not always helpful, ways. He describes ten illusions that we have been enculturated into by modernity, such as the illusion of simplicity, control, and competition, then outlines how we might learn our way to seeing passed and beyond these illusions.
As he says: "as we view the world differently, the world we view also changes."
For me, for this podcast and, of course for Olli-Pekka himself as the Direction General of one of the largest education ecosystems in the world, the question that then follows is, what is the role that schools, universities, educators and communities can play enabling this new learning. And it is a learning that is a much broader exploration of what it means to be human and live in relationality and in service of life, rather than the formal school-based experience that we often associate only with the concept of learning.
You can find more information about Olli-Pekka and his forthcoming book, 'Learning as If Life Depended on It: Why We Must See the World Anew, and Figure Out What Follows' published by Perspectiva Press, here:
Previous podcast episode with Olli-Pekka, 'On Leading a Learning System' (March 2021): https://www.goodimpactlabs.com/podcast/olli-pekka-heinonen
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olli-pekka-heinonen-4748581/
