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GELP X Archive

Session 1 - Recognition of Learning

Co-Hosts

Amelia Peterson is part of the founding faculty of the London Interdisciplinary School (LIS), a new university opening in September 2021 with a focus on tackling complex problems. She is currently a Fellow in Social Policy at the London School of Economics, and is writing up research on qualifications in upper secondary education. She holds a PhD in Education from Harvard University and is a co-author of "Thrive: The Purpose of Schools in a Changing World" (2021, Cambridge University Press).

Bill Lucas is Professor of Learning and Director of the Centre for Real-World Learning at the University of Winchester in the UK. Bill is a co-founder of Rethinking Assessment, a coalition of education leaders, employers, researchers and policy makers looking to reform assessment in England.

Bill is a prolific writer and has authored more than eighty books and many research reports. His latest books, written with Ellen Spencer, are Zest for Learning: Developing Curious Learners who Relish Real-World Challenges and Teaching Creative Thinking: Developing Learners who Can Generate Ideas and Think Critically. His acclaimed critique in 2015 of the education System in England, Educating Ruby: What Our Children Really Need to Learn, written with Guy Claxton, asks challenging questions about the future direction of schools.

Al McConville is a co-Founder of the movement Rethinking Assessment, which has brought together state and independent schools to develop alternatives to the current assessment system in England. Previously the Director of Innovation and Learning at Bedales School, where he helped to create the Bedales Assessed Courses (BACs), Al is now Deputy Head of the King Alfred School, focused on pushing for a more innovative, relevant, purpose-filled educational experience for young people. He is the co-author of Learning How to Learn with Professors Barbara Oakley and Terry Sejnowski and a regular contributor to the Times Educational Supplement.

Charles Fadel is a global education thought leader and futurist, author and inventor, with several active affiliations; his work spans the continuum of Schools, Higher Education, and Workforce Development/Lifelong Learning. Charles is Founder and chairman of the Center for Curriculum Redesign (Boston, Massachusetts). He is also Chair of the Education Committee of the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), nominated by the US Chamber of International Business (USCIB). He works with several teams at the OECD – Education 2030, PISA, and CERI most notably.

Gwyn Ap Harri is CEO of XP School in Doncaster in England. Gwyn co-founded XP School alongside Andy Sprakes in 2014 which grew into the XP Trust in 2017.

Before founding XP, Gwyn created the ed-tech company realsmart.co.uk where he designs his learning portfolio software used in over 300 schools in the UK and around the world. Gwyn has also designed systems for the DfE amongst others, using technology to underpin whole school improvement at a national scale.

Previously, Gwyn led the Computer Science department at Hatfield High School, Doncaster for six years and worked in the technology and music industries during his early career.

Martin Westwell is the Chief Executive of the SACE Board, South Australia's curriculum and assessment authority. He retains full academic status at Flinders University and continues to be involved in research in the science of learning and areas such as (i) teaching that leads to improved transfer of student learning and (ii) critical thinking in science education (primary school to university level); (iii) the role of effective communication in developing expert scientists; and (iv) the factors that influence students’ choice of subject at university. From 2007-2017 Martin was the inaugural Director of the Flinders Centre for Science Education in the 21st Century that supports quality teaching and innovation in science and mathematics education. After completing his degree and PhD at Cambridge University, Martin moved to Oxford University as a Research Fellow at Lincoln College in biological chemistry. A winding career path through the biotech industry and a number of science innovation and science education organisations returned him to Oxford University in 2005 as the Deputy Director of the Institute for the Future of the Mind.

Enterprise Professor Sandra Milligan is Director of the Assessment Research Centre at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne. Sandra has an unusually wide engagement with the education industry and in educational research. Originally a teacher of science and mathematics, she is also a former Director of Curriculum in an Australian state education department and has held senior research, management and governance positions in a range of educational organisations, including government agencies, not-for-profits, small start-up businesses and large, listed, international corporations. Sandra’s current research interests focus on assessment, recognition and warranting of hard-to-assess learning. She directs several research partnerships with school networks and organisations working to develop Learner Profiles for their students. She is lead author of ‘Future Proofing Australian Students with New Credentials’ report, outlining methods to reliably assess and recognise the level of attainment of general capabilities, and of Recognition of Learning Success for All: Ensuring Trust and Utility in a New approach to Recognition of Learning in Senior Secondary Education in Australia.

Roman Stearns is the Founder and Executive Director at Scaling Student Success, a California partnership among local educators, state agencies, support providers, policymakers, researchers, funders, and others–all focused on assuring that CA youth are prepared for success in college, career, and civic engagement. Roman operates from a deep conviction that each and every child deserves an education that fosters the qualities and skills that futurists, scholars, and researchers contend are needed to advance us toward a sustainable future. Yet, he knows that getting there is a humbling, collaborative process that involves dismantling structural inequities, valuing local experimentation, building trusting relationships, shifting hearts and minds, making strategic decisions, and ultimately adopting or adapting sustainable systems. Together, these create the right conditions for organizational change. After 10 years serving as a public school teacher, Roman has spent the past 20+years successfully directing large-scale multi-faceted projects and partnerships focused on systemic educational transformation in California, designed to make real-world learning the norm for the vast majority of students. All of the projects had policy implications and required development and management of sustained partnerships bridging K-12 education with partners across all stakeholder groups. As a father of two mixed-race sons who have experienced the impact of a system that reinforces racist and oppressive policies coupled with implicit bias, this work is highly personal.

Session 2 - The future of educational leadership

Co-Hosts

Valerie Hannon is a global thought leader, inspiring systems to re-think what ‘success’ will mean in the C 21st, and the implications for education. The co-founder of both Innovation Unit and of the Global Education Leaders Partnership, Valerie is a radical voice for change, whilst grounded in a deep understanding of how education systems currently work. Formerly a secondary teacher, researcher and Director of Education for Derbyshire County Council, then an adviser in the UK Department for Education (DfE), she now works independently to support change programs across the world. Valerie is an adviser to the OECD. In 2020, Valerie was invited to be the Australian Learning Lecturer on the subject of The Future School. In 2021 she received the Edufuturists’ award for Outstanding Achievement in Education.

Anthony Mackay AM is President & CEO of the Washington DC based National Center on Education and the Economy. Anthony is moderator of the annual International Summit on the Teaching Profession, the Annual Global Education Industry Summit.Anthony is Co-Chair of Learning Creates Australia, Deputy Chancellor Swinburne University, and Senior Fellow, Graduate School of Education, The University of Melbourne. Anthony is immediate past Chair of ACER, and immediate past Deputy Chair of New Zealand's Education Council. He was Inaugural Chair of AITSL and the Inaugural Deputy Chair of the ACARA.Anthony is an expert consultant to OECD, Senior Fellow IBE UNESCO, and Council Member of Asia Society’s Center for Global Education.

Charles Leadbeater is a world-renowned innovation expert whose work focuses on how to be human in an increasingly technological, unequal world, overshadowed by climate change.

Charles Leadbeater has a track record for being ahead of the game. His best seller, Living on Thin Air, published in 1998, forecast the rise of the knowledge driven, weightless economy and We-Think: mass innovation not mass production, published in 2008, forecast that the web was breeding a Pro Am culture of collaboration across a wide range of fields. Leadbeater was one of the first people in the world to write about the impending rise of social entrepreneurship.

Leadbeater is a social innovator in his own right as one of the founders of the influential innovation and design agency Participle and as founder chair of the Google award winning charity Apps for Good. He is a well-known and provocative voice in debates on the future of learning arguing that education should prepare young people to be creative and collaborative problem solvers. His TED talks on education have been watched by over 3 million people.

Charles Leadbeater was an award winning journalist with the Financial Times in London and Tokyo before going on to become assistant editor at The Independent. He went on to become a trusted adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Minister David Miliband on the future of society.

George A. Papandreou is former Prime Minister of Greece (2009-2011) and currently Member of Parliament with the Movement of Change, a coalition of Greek progressive parties.

First elected as MP in 1981, he served in many governmental posts. As Minister of Education (1994-1996), he founded the Greek Open University and promoted multicultural programs. As Minister of Foreign Affairs (1999-2004), he promoted peace building and European integration in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans and managed a breakthrough in Greek-Turkish relations. An active supporter of the information society and e-democracy, in 2003 Papandreou was selected as one of the “25 People Who are Changing the World of Internet Politics”. In 2004, Papandreou was elected leader of PASOK in the party and country’s first open primary – a move highly symbolic of his commitment to participatory governance.

Throughout his political career, he has championed human rights at home and abroad, and has actively sought to maximize citizen participation in governance through information technologies. Since 2006, he is the President of the Socialist International, the largest global political family. Around the world, Papandreou has deployed ‘Green Diplomacy,’ calling for the protection of the environment and for placing sustainable development at the epicenter of policy-making and multilateral cooperation.

During his premiership (2009-2011), he applied a series of structural reforms in his attempt to modernize his country whilst avoiding bankruptcy in Greece’s 2010 debt crisis. For his achievements related to government Transparency, he received the Quadriga Award in the category “Power of Veracity”. In 2010, he was named one of the Foreign Policy magazine’s TOP 100 Global Thinkers. In 2017, he was honored with the International Leadership Association (ILA) Distinguished Leadership Award.

Papandreou graduated from Amherst College and holds an M.Sc. in Sociology and Development from London School of Economics. He was a fellow at Harvard University’s Center for International Affairs (1992-1993) and the Institute of Politics (2012). In 2013, he served as a Global Fellow and Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs as well as a faculty member in the Master of Public Affairs program at Sciences Po in Paris.

Gregg Behr, executive director of The Grable Foundation, is a father and children’s advocate whose work is inspired by the legacy of his hero, Fred Rogers. Since 2007, he has helped lead Remake Learning—a network of educators, scientists, artists, and makers—to international renown. Formed in Rogers' real-life neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Remake Learning has attracted interest from Forbes to the World Economic Forum for its efforts to ignite children's curiosity, encourage creativity, and foster justice and belonging in schools, libraries, museums, and more. He's an advisor to the Brookings Institution and has been cited by President Obama and the Disruptor Foundation as an innovator and thought leader. He is the co-author of When You Wonder, You’re Learning (2021).

Hekia Parata is the former Minister of Education in Aotearoa New Zealand (2011 – 2017) bringing to this role her extensive background in public policy, in particular, work in social policy on issues of equity, diversity, indigeneity, women and girls, and tribal development. She has most recently designed for the New Zealand government a macro policy framework for Maori development (Te Puni Kokiri 2020); a model iwi (tribal) curriculum framework (Porou 2020) for one of the largest tribal groupings in Aotearoa New Zealand, and led the development of a proof of concept for tribal restoration and regional development (Te Ara Tipuna – The Way of Ancestors 2021). She has also led a review of systemic and structural racism at the University of Waikato (2020), recommending the incorporation of indigenous knowledge and practice. Before the pandemic Hekia was advisor to the Kingdom of Bahrain (2018 -2020) leading the design of their tertiary education action plan.

Michael Fullan (OC) is the former Dean of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, and Professor Emeritus of the University of Toronto. He is co-leader of the New Pedagogies for Deep Learning global initiative (www.npdl.global). Recognized as a worldwide authority on educational reform, he advises policymakers, local leaders, and school communities in helping to achieve the moral purpose of all children’s learning. He served as Premier Dalton’s Special Policy Adviser in Ontario from 2003-2013. Fullan received the Order of Canada (OC) in December 2012. He holds five honorary doctorates from universities around the world.

Rebecca Winthrop is a senior fellow and co-director of the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution. Her research focuses on education globally, with special attention to the skills young people need to thrive in work, life, and as constructive citizens.

Winthrop works to promote quality and relevant education, including exploring how education innovations can leapfrog progress, particularly for the most marginalized children and youth. She advises governments, international institutions, foundations, civil society organizations, and corporations on education issues. She currently serves as a board member and adviser for a number of global education organizations and lectures at Georgetown University.

She has co-led the Brookings Task Force on Next Generation Community Schools. She has served as the chair of the U.N. Secretary General’s Global Education First Initiative’s Technical Advisory Group, helping to frame an education vision that focuses on access, quality, and global citizenship. With UNESCO Institute of Statistics, she co-led the Learning Metrics Task Force that involved inputs from education professionals in over 100 countries to identify how to measure what matters in education systems. She has been a member of numerous other global education initiatives including the G-20 Education Task Force, the Mastercard Foundation’s Youth Learning Advisory Committee, the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Councils on education, and an education adviser to the Clinton Global Initiative.

Stephen Harris is the Co-Founder and Director of Learning at Learnlife, Barcelona. A state-of-the-art learning community, it is the first in a worldwide network of learning hubs meant to accelerate change in existing education models through personal purpose-based based learning. It features a series of creative studios designed to inspire learners through evidence-driven best practices from innovative schools around the world.

Stephen has been in education for more than 40 years, with teaching experience across almost every grade from Kindergarten to Year 12. He has been a school leader for 30 years. Stephen studied to be a secondary English teacher, trained in primary teaching method, and has completed a Master of Letters in Australian Literature. Stephen completed his PhD thesis in 2019, looking at Vision as a Catalyst for School Change. His firm belief is that every person should love learning, and that it is the responsibility of schools or other learning institutions to relentlessly seek to engage students in their learning. No child should be excluded.

This new paradigm is one where learning is personal and collaborative, technology is adaptive, spaces are radically different to the traditional mindset, and a community built on positive relationships is at the core. Teaching and learning culture must be informed by global trends towards change in routines, expectations, perceptions, technology and organization structures in the 21st century.

Tracey Burns is Chief of Research in the OECD's Centre for Educational Research and Innovation. She heads a portfolio of projects including Trends Shaping Education, 21st Century Children and Strengthening the Impact of Educational Research. Her most recent OECD publications are Back to the Future of Education: Four OECD Scenarios for Schooling; Education in the Digital Age: Happy and Healthy Children and Educating 21st Century Children: Emotional Well-Being in the Digital Age. Previous to her time at the OECD she conducted research on language acquisition in children and newborn infants and was an award-winning lecturer on infant and child development. Tracey holds a B.A. from McGill University, Canada, and a PhD in experimental psychology from Northeastern University, United States. Trends Shaping Education 2022 will be launched in January 2022.

Session 3 - New societies, new economies and the future of education

co-hosts

Michael Stevenson is Senior Advisor, Education and Skills at the Organization for Economic Development and Co-operation in Paris. His responsibilities include innovation, strategy and support for governments. He is leading the development of : (1) the long-term roadmap for the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and (2) vision, strategy and policy for education in the age of AI (High Performing Systems for Tomorrow). From 2007-2013 Michael was Vice President, Global Education at Cisco Systems. During this time he founded the Global Education Leaders Program, which he now co-chairs. Michael began his career at the BBC, initially in television current affairs, later as BBC Secretary and Director of Education. He went on to lead strategy, communications and technology at the UK Department for Education in London.

Pavel Luksha is a founder and a director of Global Education Futures initiative, aimed at catalyzing the transformation of educational ecosystems at a global scale, and a co-founder of Global Change Leaders movement of educational & social innovators. He is also a Professor of Practice at Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO, where works primarily on the transformation of the higher & professional education sector, and a Professor at ITBA (Technological University of Buenos Aires). Pavel also works closely with Russian Agency of Strategic Initiatives, one of the primary national vehicles of driving change in professional education development and new technological sectors. He is the coauthor of Rapid Foresight methodology, widely used in sectoral and regional planning, and a primary author of Skills Technology Foresight methodology developed in partnership with International Labor Organization.

Damian Allen is Doncaster Council’s Chief Executive. Prior to this, he held the Council’s statutory Chief Officer role for Children (DCS) and Adults (DASS).

He is a qualified teacher and has taught in middle and secondary schools, Further Education and Higher Education.

He was a senior manager in Education for six years and a Governor in every phase of Education before moving into Local Authorities, initially in school improvement, where he was Ofsted trained and then worked in wider children’s services.

He has advised the UK and other governments on education and children’s services matters, as well as a member of a number of Commissions of Inquiry, Advisory Boards and Ministerial Advisory Groups.

David Goodhart was a correspondent for the Financial Times for 12 years; for part of the period he was stationed in Germany. He founded Prospect, a British current affairs magazine in 1995 and was the editor until 2010, when he became editor-at-large. In December 2011, he was appointed Director of the London-based think tank Demos. He subsequently became Head of the Demography, Immigration and Integration Unit at the think tank Policy Exchange.

He has written for The Guardian, The Independent and The Times. He has presented documentaries for BBC Radio 4's Analysis programme on immigration (in 2010) and on Blue Labour. His publications include:

The British Dream: Successes and Failures of Post-war Immigration (2013).
The Road to Somewhere: The Populist Revolt and the Future of Politics (2017).
Head Hand Heart: The Struggle for Dignity and Status in the 21st Century (2020)

Olli-Pekka Heinonen was born in Eurajoki. He graduated as Master of Laws from the University of Helsinki in 1990. From 1994 to 1999, he served as the Minister of Education in the Aho cabinet and Lipponen I Cabinet after being assistant of Riitta Uosukainen, the previous Minister of Education. In 1995, Heinonen was elected to the Parliament of Finland from Satakunta. In the Lipponen II Cabinet, he served as the Minister of Transport and Communications from 1999 to 2002.

Heinonen left politics in 2002 when he was appointed a manager at Yleisradio, the public broadcasting company of Finland. He was responsible for the transfer from analog television to digital television in Finland. In 2012, he was appointed State Secretary of Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen and in 2015 Heinonen became State Secretary of all National Coalition Party cabinet ministers. In September 2016, he was appointed general director of the Finnish National Agency for Education. Since 1 May 2021 Heinonen is the new Director General of the International Baccalaureate replacing Dr. Siva Kumari. This is the first time the International Baccalaureate appoints a Director General who has publicly held a political position before.

João Costa is full professor of Linguistics at Universidade Nova de Lisboa. He holds a PhD in Linguistics from Leiden University (1998), having taken part of his doctoral studies at MIT. Secretary of State of Education in the Portuguese Government (2015-2019), recently appointed in the same position in the new Government. Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at Universidade Nova de Lisboa (2013-2015) and Chair of the Scientific Council for Social Sciences and Humanities of the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (2012-2015). Member of the Scientific Board of the National Reading Plan, of the National Committee for the International Institute for Portuguese Language. President of the Portuguese Linguistics Society (2006-2008). Guest lecturer in several universities (Brazil, The Netherlands, Italy, Macao). Author of around 100 articles, book chapters and books in the areas of theoretical syntax, language acquisition and development and educational linguistics.

Christopher Pommerening is founder and Chief Empowerment Officer of Learnlife. He started his professional career in Spain in 1998 where he co-founded AutoScout24 Spain. In 2002 he founded the venture capital company ACTIVE Venture Partners, one of Europe’s entrepreneurial-driven VC companies. In 2017, after two years of preparation and research, the high impact entrepreneur and learning visionary started Learnlife, his “once in a life-time” adventure aiming to change the world's learning landscape. Together with a global team of learning experts and thought leaders he is on the mission to positively change education worldwide. He is building an open ecosystem for a new lifelong learning paradigm to empower 100 million learners by 2030. The new paradigm is already implemented and validated in the first Learning Hub in Barcelona. Learnlife is the process of building a 20.000 m2 lighthouse for learning in Germany followed by 2.000 learning hubs around the world, enabling any government, school leader or teacher to access and experience international learning innovation.

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