As an elementary teacher by training, Dr. Gary Stager has taught students from preschool through doctoral studies. In 1990, Gary led professional development in the world’s first laptop schools and played a major role in the early days of online education. Gary is the founder of the ⁠Constructing Modern Knowledge⁠ summer institute for educators.

Today’s guest has been doing amazing work in this areas alongside Peter Senge, Daniel Goleman and colleagues at the IB, through the Center for Systems Awareness at MIT. ⁠Dr Mette Miriam Böll⁠ is the is the Co-founder and Executive Director of the centre, as well as the co-founded of The MIT Systems Awareness Lab with Peter Senge. 

Professor Barbara Oakley⁠ is a Distinguished Professor of Engineering at Oakland University. Barbara’s research has been described as “revolutionary” in the Wall Street Journal. She is New York Times best-selling author who has published in outlets as varied as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. Her book A Mind for Numbers, on effective learning in STEM disciplines, has sold over a million copies worldwide.

Nicole Dyson⁠ is a multi-award-winning educator and entrepreneur, and a global authority on project-based learning and youth entrepreneurship. With an extensive background in school teaching and leadership in the public education system in Australia, she is the founder of ⁠Future Anything⁠, an award-winning education provider that works with 15000+ young people (and their educators) each year. Nicole also founded ⁠YouthX⁠, Australia’s only startup accelerator program for school-aged entrepreneurs, and ⁠Catapult Cards⁠, a design thinking toolkit for classrooms and corporates that donates 50% of its profits back to providing micro-grants for youth-led startups.

Formerly Principal of an award-winning international school in the Middle East, and with a long and varied career in school leadership both in the UK and internationally, ⁠Matthew Savage⁠ now works closely with premium schools and school groups worldwide, helping them to use data wisely and well.

It’s hard to disagree that critical thinking is an essential skill for young people faced with a complex and uncertain future. And yet, everyone from everywhere on the pedagogical spectrum says that they’re developing it in their students! 

Odunayo Aliu is an Education Specialist and Development Practitioner with experience in transforming the education landscape in rural and marginalized communities. She is the Founder of ⁠Bramble Network⁠, a nonprofit organization that provides equitable educational opportunities to children and youth in rural and marginalized communities. Through her leadership, Odunayo has also been instrumental in the establishment and management of several EdTech and social enterprise initiatives, utilizing cutting-edge technology and community organizing to influence mindsets and cause societal change. Her ultimate aim is to democratise access to learning and transform education for millions of young people across Africa.

Dor Abrahamson is Professor of Secondary Mathematics Education in the area of Cognition and Development at University of California, Berkeley and a member of faculty at UC Berkeley’s ⁠Graduate School of Education⁠. Dor has been pioneering a design-based approach to research called embodied design. In his Embodied Design Research Laboratory (⁠https://edrl.berkeley.edu⁠ ) Dor and his team look at cognition and learning of mathematics through the body. As one of his fascinating articles from 2016 is entitled, ⁠Learning is Moving in New Ways⁠. 

In this episode, Ms Liew Wei Li, the Director-General of Education for the Ministry of Education in Singapore shares her insights into the many reasons for this success, including Singapore’s restless commitment to improvement and innovation. 

Dr. Brad Kershner is a school leader and independent scholar, currently serving as the Head of School at ⁠Kimberton Waldorf School⁠. His research, teaching, and writing cover a wide range of interdependent topics, including education, leadership, parenting, cultural diversity, technology, integral theory, meditation, complexity, and developmental psychology. He received his graduate education at The University of Chicago and Boston College, and he is a longtime student of multiple Buddhist lineages. He is a co-founder of The Reconstitution Project, a meta-political think-tank, (⁠www.thereconstitution.com⁠), and his first book is ⁠Understanding Educational Complexity: Integrating Practices and Perspectives for 21st Century Leadership⁠.

Daniela Papi-Thornton is an educator, facilitator, and author whose work focuses on ⁠systems-led leadership⁠: an approach to social innovation that centers on systems understanding. Daniela has served as a Lecturer at Yale School of Management, Watson Institute, and Oxford’s Saïd Business School where she was also the Deputy Director of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship. She designed an educational tool called the Impact Gaps Canvas used at accelerator programs and social impact education initiatives around the world and launched Map the System, a contest now running at 50+ global institutions. Daniela has served as a consultant, advisor, and leadership training facilitator at a range of enterprises, from public companies to private foundations. Daniela’s work builds upon six years of emerging market entrepreneurial experience in Cambodia, running a hybrid educational organization. She co-authored a book, ⁠Learning Service: The essential guide to volunteering abroad⁠ and an influential report on "⁠Tackling Heropreneurship⁠" and her TEDx talk on ⁠Reclaiming Social Entrepreneurship⁠ highlights some of her thinking. 

Inquiring into the many changes happening across the K12 education sector in India, I am joined by four fantastic guests, all working to shift the system in various ways.

Kirstin Coughtrie is the Founder & Chief Innovation Officer of ⁠Gaia Learning. ⁠Teacher & tech lover passionate about SEN, accessible learning and creating scalable solutions to global challenges. As an ambassador for teaching the UN SDGs and as a mum of children with additional needs and challenges, Kirstin has seen first-hand how important personalised learning is to their wellbeing and how vital flexible learning is to supporting families.

Professor Keith Davids⁠ is Professor of Motor Learning at the Centre for Sport and Exercise Science. Keith uses an Ecological Dynamics framework for investigating skill acquisition, expertise and talent development in sport. He is an applied scientist who researches how processes of learning, development, performance preparation and participation in sport, physical activity and exercise may be facilitated. He reviews implications for coaching and teaching at elite, sub-elite and recreational levels of participants, as part of his work. Ecological Dynamics is an integration of Ecological Psychology, Dynamical Systems theory, Evolutionary Science and the Science of Complex Systems, considering individual athletes and teams as complex adaptive systems, self-organising under interacting constraints. Such systems change over different timescales, which has significant implications for learning, development and ageing in children, adults and elderly people. He has over 30 years experience of teaching and conducting research in Ecological Dynamics with collaborators in UK, Portugal, France, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Finland, Norway and Sweden in related fields like Sports Science, Psychology, Behavioural Neuroscience, Sports Coaching, Physical Education and Human Movement Science. He has held/holds research positions in the UK (Manchester Metropolitan University: 1991-2003), Finland (University of Jyvaskyla, Finnish Distinguished Professor: 2012-2016), New Zealand (University of Otago: 2003-2007), Australia (Queensland University of Technology: 2006-2014) and Norway (2020-22: Norwegian Sports Science University (NTNU, Trondheim), Adjunct Research Professor). His scientific research is applied in the work of international sports organisations (national and international teams in Association Football, NFL, Rugby Union and AFL) and national Institutes of Sport in Australia (AIS), New Zealand (NZSI), and England (EIS), as well as KIHU (Finnish Olympic Research Committee) and PESTA (Physical Education and Sports Teachers Association, Singapore).

Deepak Ramola⁠ is the Founder and Artistic Director of ⁠Project FUEL⁠. A two time TED Talk speaker & UN Action Plan Executor, he also previously served as the Kindness Ambassador for UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development.

This week's episode is a wonderful conversation with Nora Bateson (⁠https://batesoninstitute.org/nora-bateson/⁠). In my opinion, Nora is one of the most important thinkers working today to challenge the dominant paradigm of optimization, separation and machine-like efficiency that pervades our institutions. She does so in her own beautiful style and in deep continuity with the ideas of her father, Gregory Bateson, and her grandfather, William Bateson, among many others.

Faith Abiodun⁠ is Executive Director at UWC International bringing a wealth of experience from his time spent as an education and social enterprise leader, international affairs analyst, writer and speaker. 

⁠Jennifer Brandsberg-Engelmann⁠⁠ has been teaching Economics, Business Management and Environmental Systems and Societies for 26 years in three countries, mainly in the International Baccalaureate. Jennifer is an expert in developing and executing educational strategies, projects, processes and curricula. Her core focus is training young people to take action for sustainable and regenerative societies. She has worked with student changemakers in the Sustainability Action Lab at ⁠⁠Strothoff International School⁠⁠, Germany, developing their knowledge, skills and passions through the ⁠⁠Youth Mayors Field Guide⁠⁠, a curriculum that she lead - developed with colleagues from other disciplines and other international schools.

The ⁠Schools Plus Network⁠ was launched in May by the ⁠OECD Directorate for Education and Skills⁠, led by Andreas Schleicher (previous guest on the podcast, Ep #38). The network is intended to position schools as the drivers of innovation and gather and connect the best innovative practices from schools around the world to share them with others.

Alison Clark⁠ is an Professor of Early Childhood Education and ⁠visual artist⁠. She is an ⁠Honorary Senior Research Fellow⁠ at Thomas Coram Research Unit, UCL Institute of Education, London, UK. Her main academic work is currently in Norway where she is ⁠Professor of Early Childhood Education⁠ at the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN).