Aksinya Samoylova⁠ is both a pioneering HR professional, and a passionate progressive educator. She saw that versatility is often overlooked or ignored in the hiring and management process, and that the same issue is endemic to international educational practices. Aksinya felt compelled to investigate polymathy and how it impacts education and work. The result was her book, ⁠Why Polymaths⁠?

Abby Falik⁠ is an award-winning social entrepreneur committed to launching the generation of leaders our world needs now.

Alex Budak⁠ is a ⁠Berkeley Haas⁠ professional faculty member, a social entrepreneur, and the author of the very popular book, ⁠Becoming a Changemaker: An Actionable, Inclusive Guide to Leading Positive Change at Any Level⁠.

Alex believes everyone has the potential to lead positive change, and he dedicates his life to helping people from all walks of life become changemakers. He co-founded ⁠StartSomeGood.com⁠, a platform that breaks down the barriers that prevent people from enacting change. StartSomeGood.com has now helped over 1,000 changemakers in 50 countries raise over $12 million to catalyze new initiatives. 

Amala⁠ has developed the first international high school curriculum for young people who are displaced. They also offer Changemaker Courses in areas such as Peace-building, Ethical Leadership, and Social Entrepreneurship. Formerly known as Sky School, Amala was conceived in 2017 in response to the gap in quality education provision for displaced youth.

⁠Holli Ghaisen⁠ is the Learning Lead for Amala in Kakuma, Kenya. Holli believes Amala’s High School Diploma is not only the answer to the high demand for education in Kakuma, but that it is also offers solutions to the community’s problems. He joined Amala to be part of that solution. Holli has worked for organisations such as Jesuit Worldwide Learning (JWL) and Lutheran World Federation (LWF).

This week's episode is a special selection of conversations with some amazing educators and entrepreneurs who are creating vital educational spaces that tackle social, spatial and environmental injustice, build individual and community well-being and livelihoods, and develop personal agency. All three of them are achieving this, in part, by radically rethinking approaches to the way that education has historically been funded and seeking out alternative innovative approaches that create leverage points for educational systems change with very exciting potential.

This week is a really special episode where we get to hear from some incredible students and teachers from around the world with one thing in common! They are all doing amazing work to explore the possibilities that come when we invite learners to be much more involved in who directs the learning process, what gets learned and what the role of the educators is in our schools. 

We will hear from Amalia, Mehrbanoo, Bruno and Ollie at ⁠International School of the Hague⁠, Natalia, Bryant, and Mark at ⁠Avenues School⁠, New York, Michaela, Lauren, and James at ⁠Northern Bay College⁠ in Geelong, and lastly Charlie, Josie, Dylan and Nathan at ⁠Prahran High School⁠ in Melbourne.

Dr. Theo Dawson⁠ is the founder and CEO of ⁠Lectica, Inc⁠. Since the early 1990s, Dawson's research has focused on developing and building an alternative assessment infrastructure and the technologies to support it. She received her Ph.D from the University of California at Berkeley's Graduate School of Education. Her award-winning dissertation presented a new approach to measuring learning and describing learning pathways. 

She is the author of numerous articles, book chapters and papers on issues related to human development in journals such as Cognitive Development, Mind, Brain, and Education, The European Journal of Developmental Psychology, Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, The Journal of Applied Measurement, and Developmental Review, has contributed chapters to several edited books, has made many presentations at professional conferences and events. 

Sanjay Sarma is the Fred Fort Flowers and Daniel Fort Flowers Professor of Mechanical Engineering. From 2012 until 2021, Sanjay led MIT Open Learning, first as director, then as dean, and finally as vice president. MIT Open Learning includes the Office of Digital Learning, the ⁠MIT Integrated Learning Initiative⁠ (MITili), the ⁠Center for Advanced Virtuality⁠, and the ⁠Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab⁠ (J-WEL). In 2020 Sanjay published ⁠Grasp: The Science Transforming How We Learn⁠, which he co-authored with Luke Yoquinto.

Julie Stern⁠ has nearly two decades experience facilitating adult learning, and feels lucky to partner with educators to take their practice to the next level. She is passionate about synthesizing the best of education research into practical tools that support educators in breaking free of the industrial model of schooling and moving toward teaching and learning that promotes sustainability, equity, and well-being. She is a four-time best-selling author of ⁠Learning that Transfers⁠, ⁠Visible Learning for Social Studies⁠, The ⁠On-Your-Feet-Guide to Learning Transfer⁠ and ⁠Tools for Teaching Conceptual Understanding, Elementary and Secondary⁠. She is a certified trainer in Visible Learning Plus and Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction. 

Meredith and Sara taught Design & Technology at ABA Oman International School, with a focus on students learning about and engaging with real word issues and the ethical challenges that arise. From this teaching collaboration they established Harbord & Khan Educational Consultants. Meredith and Sara are curious about what it is to be human from personal, community and global perspectives, and how this impacts student learning. Their unique approach of embedding ethical dilemmas in curriculum encourages deep inquiry about DEIJ and promotes empathy and expansive thinking, while being fun for students.

Lene Rachel Andersen⁠ is an economist, author, futurist, and Bildung activist. After studying business economy, and theology, she wrote entertainment for Danish television before becoming a full-time writer, focusing on technological development, big history, and the future of humanity. Since 2005, Lene has written 20 books and received two Danish democracy awards: Ebbe Kløvedal-Reich Democracy Baton (2007) and Døssing Prisen, the Danish librarians’ democracy prize (2012). Among her books are ⁠The Nordic Secret⁠ (2017), ⁠Metamodernity⁠ (2019), ⁠Bildung⁠ (2020) and ⁠Libertism⁠ (2022) and a publicly available ⁠paper on Bildung commissioned by the Erasmus+ Programme⁠ for the European Union. She is a ⁠full member of the Club of Rome⁠, president of the Copenhagen based bildung lab ⁠Nordic Bildung⁠, and initiator of ⁠Global Bildung Network⁠, Global Bildung Day, and European Bildung Day.

Carlota Perez⁠ is a British-Venezuelan researcher, lecturer and international consultant. She studies the mutual shaping of technical change and society and the lessons provided by the history of technological revolutions for economic growth and development.

In ⁠Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital: The Dynamics of Bubbles and Golden Ages⁠ (Elgar 2002), Carlota put forward her theory of the emergence and diffusion of technological revolutions and of the role of finance in the process. She is currently working on a sequel, ⁠Beyond the Technological Revolution⁠, funded by Anthemis UK, which will analyse the roles that government, business and civil society play in the deployment of the potential of each revolution.

Dr. Jayne-Louise Collins is Co-director and lead designer and researcher at ⁠EdPartnerships International⁠. Her interests include organisational and system learning through a regenerative and ecological paradigm of change.

Jayne-Louise’s work is focused on educational research and building learning capacity in organisations through a partnering approach. She has had extensive experience in partnering with a range of education systems and schools across Australia to build connected leadership capacity, creating the conditions for regenerative change, and in turn flourishing and hopeful cultures of learning.

Glenn Whitman is a History teacher and Executive Director of the ⁠Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning (CTTL)⁠ at ⁠St. Andrew's Episcopal School⁠. Glenn is the co-author of Neuroteach: Brain Science and the Future of Education, the co-designer of ⁠Neuroteach Global⁠ and Neuroteach Global Student and co-editor of ⁠Think Differently and Deeply⁠, the international publication of the CTTL. Glenn earned his MALS from Dartmouth College and a BA from Dickinson College and has shared the work of the CTTL through publications such as Edutopia, ASCD Express and EdSurge and presented around the world at public, private, and international school conferences including: Learning Forward, New Teacher Center, Learning & Brain and SXSWedu.

Dr. Nandini Chatterjee Singh is a cognitive neuroscientist and currently Senior Project Officer at ⁠UNESCO MGIEP (Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development)⁠, in New Delhi, India. UNESCO MGIEP focuses on achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4.7 towards education for building peaceful and sustainable societies across the world by developing programmes that promote social and emotional learning, innovate digital pedagogies and empower the youth. Their mission is to '⁠build kinder brains⁠.'

Dylan Wiliam, PhD, is one of the world's foremost education authorities. With partners Paul Black and Siobhan Leahy, Dylan has developed and helped to successfully implement classroom formative assessment in thousands of schools all over the world, including the United States, Canada, Singapore, Sweden, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

Wiliam is Professor Emeritus of educational assessment at ⁠UCL Institute of Education (IOE)⁠, London, UK and Executive Director of the Learning Sciences International Dylan Wiliam Center. After a first degree in mathematics and physics, Wiliam taught in urban public schools for seven years, during which time he earned further degrees in mathematics and mathematics education.

Ulcca Joshi Hansen⁠ is an author, educational thought leader and social change advocate with a twenty-year career dedicated to shifting the foundational values and approaches that underpin America’s education system. She currently serves as the Chief Program Officer for Grantmakers for Education, a partner organization for education philanthropists as they adapt to the changes impacting our world.

Tyson Yunkaporta is an author, academic, educator, Indigenous thinker, maker, arts critic, researcher and poet. He is a member of the Apalech Clan in far north Queensland and has ties in the south. His born-country is Melbourne and adoptive and community/cultural ties all over, from Western NSW to Perth. Tyson carves traditional tools and weapons and also works as a senior lecturer in Indigenous Knowledges at ⁠Deakin University⁠ in Melbourne.

Gregory Biggs⁠ is the Director of ⁠Fieldwork Education⁠, the organisation that develops a range of International Curriculum for learners aged 2-14 across Early Years, Primary and Middle Years, known by many as the ⁠IEYC⁠, ⁠IPC⁠, and ⁠IMYC⁠. These curricula are learnt and taught in over 1,000 schools and more than 90 countries worldwide. Fieldwork Education provides schools the International Curriculum, accompanied by their professional learning pathway and their accreditation services to schools working with the International Curriculum around the world.

Wendy Kopp is CEO and Co-founder of ⁠Teach For All⁠, a global network of independent organizations working to develop collective leadership to ensure all children have the opportunity to fulfill their potential.

Prior to launching Teach For All in 2007, Wendy founded and led ⁠Teach For America⁠ – which has proven to be an unparalleled source of long-term leadership for expanding opportunity for children in the United States – for 24 years. Wendy led the development of Teach For All to be responsive to the initiative of social entrepreneurs around the world who were determined to adapt this approach in their own countries.