The Learning Future Podcast with Louka Parry The Learning Future

In an environment of rapid academic and technological achievement; what are the potential long-term impacts on individual well-being and societal development should social-emotional learning no be effectively incorporated into our educational systems? What can we do to balance and serve broad diverse requirements of young learners?
Ryder Delaloye is the Associate Director for SEE Learning® (Social, Emotional, and Ethical Learning) Program at the Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-based Ethics which is located within Emory University. He is a practitioner of education and learning, his experience as a teacher and administrator spans from 2nd grade through graduate school. He has taught in public and private schools and universities both domestically and internationally. Prior to his role as the Associate Director of SEE Learning, his research and school engagement focused on whole school and district transformation, district leadership, social studies education, sustainability education, civic education, and teacher and administrator social emotional learning. Ryder believes that education is a vehicle for interpersonal growth and societal change. He is grounded by his wife and children; with whom he loves to play and go on adventures in the mountains. He received his Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Montana.
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This Season is done in partnership with Salzburg Global Seminar. https://www.salzburgglobal.org/
Please check out our partner’s publication advocating for education transformation: https://www.diplomaticourier.com/issue/transformed-the-case-for-education-transformation
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Transcript available at thelearningfuture.com

How do you safely define 'peak humanity' and what would you consider its main characteristics?
What ingredients make the education, reasoning, rationality, and creativity for an era of fulfilment for humanity; particularly when faced with dramatic and powerful tools such as AI?
Dylan Wiliam is one of the best known educationalists in the world. He’s dedicated his entire career to understanding how to ensure learner outcomes are achieved, especially through the study of formative assessment. Dylan is currently Emeritus Professor of Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London. He was previously Deputy Director of the Institute, and has held posts at King's College London and Princeton University. He earned his PhD from the University of London in 1993.
We highly recommend one of his recent and many publications about preparing for AI: https://edarxiv.org/372vr/
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This Season is done in partnership with Salzburg Global Seminar. https://www.salzburgglobal.org/
Please check out our partner’s publication advocating for education transformation: https://www.diplomaticourier.com/issue/transformed-the-case-for-education-transformation
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Transcript available at thelearningfuture.com

How does one become the realisation that much of what might be learned over 15 years of schooling was mostly meaningless influence over a person's life trajectory? How might free and untethered gaps help one find personal growth, resilience, and navigation in their life?
Sal Gordon dives into the details of his Peaceful Pirate Principle.
After Sal's schooling, he quickly realised that most of what he had learned in over 15 years of formal education seemed meaningless. In a way, Sal felt that school had impeded his true education. What was meant to be a gap-year transformed into a gap decade, during which Sal travelled and worked around the world, picking up new languages, customs, and cultures. He took on an array of jobs and enhanced his life skills; from sales to office jobs, from authoring books to driving trucks, from tending bars and restaurants to managing warehouses, working in labs, and building houses. It seemed there was no job Sal hadn't tried – constantly adapting to new environments, building resilience, and nurturing his love for people, learning, and our beautiful planet. Amongst all his roles, Sal's favourite was sailing boats – an experience that profoundly changed his life. He discovered an undeniable, sacred bond between the water, the wind, and a boat. Sal soon recognised that the treasures he once sought weren't just material, like gold or gems. Instead, the real treasures were all around — the breathtaking natural environment, remarkable humans, innate creativity, life's challenges, and love. These became the most valuable to him. Sal believed his true vocation lay in teaching and learning. After all, that had been the essence of his life's journey. He was confident that, as a Peaceful Pirate Principal, he could guide others to discover their real treasures.
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This Season is done in partnership with Salzburg Global Seminar. https://www.salzburgglobal.org/
Please check out our partner’s publication advocating for education transformation: https://www.diplomaticourier.com/issue/transformed-the-case-for-education-transformation
Transcript available at www.thelearningfuture.com

What conditions in our current learning systems may be hindering our young people's ability to thrive, and how might we address these barriers to foster better learning environments?
See some of Cathrine’s projects at www.trustforlearning.org and her nature-based learning report published in April 2023, found here.
This conversation features a longing to expand into capabilities that make us really human and help us in the new reality of the marketplace, for example, to be problem solvers, risk takers, collaborative, critical thinkers, all important skills of adaption.
As an educator with over 30 years of experience in the field of early care and education, Cathrine Floyd PhD (pronounced “Katrina”- it’s Norwegian) brings her experience in quality improvement, programming, policy studies and education finance to Trust for Learning and our partners. Cathrine holds a Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education and Special Education from the University of Colorado at Denver and a doctorate from the University of Denver in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. Her passion for social justice and equity building guides her work to create systems change and positive outcomes for children and families, particularly those from historically underserved populations. Cathrine is a coalition builder with experience in state and federal systems, public and charter school districts, non- and for-profit community organizations and family child care. Her joy in learning and hearing different perspectives enables her to authentically partner and support all voices in collaboration. When not engaging in her work in early childhood, Cathrine enjoys spending time with her family and travelling.
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This Season is done in partnership with Salzburg Global Seminar. https://www.salzburgglobal.org/
Please check out our partner’s publication advocating for education transformation: https://www.diplomaticourier.com/issue/transformed-the-case-for-education-transformation
Transcript available at www.thelearningfuture.com

Are we truly promoting self-control or just compliance to adult demands? How can we engage students in deep, effortless, and meaningful learning experiences?
Stephanie M. Jones is the Gerald S. Lesser Professor in Child Development and Education and Director of the EASEL Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Her research, anchored in prevention science, focuses on the effects of poverty and exposure to violence on social, emotional, and behavioral development from early childhood through early adolescence. Over the past fifteen years, her work has centered on evaluation research addressing the impact of preschool- and elementary-level social-emotional learning interventions on behavioral and academic outcomes and classroom practices, as well as new curriculum development, implementation, and testing. Stephanie is also co-Director (with Nonie Lesaux) of the Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative and Co-PI of the Early Learning Study at Harvard (ELS@H).
She serves on numerous national advisory boards and expert consultant groups related to social-emotional development, early childhood education, and child and family anti-poverty policies, including recently as a member of the Council of Distinguished Scientists for the Aspen National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development. Her research is published in academic and educational journals as well as in trade publications, and she regularly presents her work to national academic and practitioner audiences. Jones holds a Ph.D. from Yale University and a B.A. from Barnard College.
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This Season is done in partnership with Salzburg Global Seminar. https://www.salzburgglobal.org/
Please check out our partner’s publication advocating for education transformation: https://www.diplomaticourier.com/issue/transformed-the-case-for-education-transformation
Transcript available at www.thelearningfuture.com

How might a background in politics, including as Minister of Education, shape an approach to public education?
What significant initiatives or reforms from Government might spearhead successful and positive education reform in the public sector?
Mr Olli-Pekka Heinonen became the 8th Director General of the International Baccalaureate Organization on 1 May 2021. Prior to joining the IB, Mr Heinonen was Director General of the Finnish National Agency for Education where he worked from January 2017. Mr Heinonen had an active career in politics in Finland between 1994 and 2002: he was Minister of Education and Science from 1994-1999; Minister of Transport and Communication from 1999-2002 and a Member of Parliament from 1995-2002. From 2002 to 2012, Mr Heinonen was Director of Yle, the Finnish national public broadcasting company, before joining the Finnish Prime Minister’s Office in March 2012 as State Secretary, responsible for organizing and leading the office. He has also been responsible, as State Secretary, for the portfolios of the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Development and then as State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance of Finland.
Mr Heinonen holds a Master of Laws from the University of Helsinki in Finland and has been awarded honorary doctorates by both the University of Jyväskylä and the University of Turku in Finland.
He is married and has three children.
Transcript available at thelearningfuture.com