The Future of Learning

April Remfrey, Jay McTighe, Kevin Bartlett, Pilar Quezzaire, Suneeta Kulkarni, Jon Halligan and Kirsten Durward

< 1 min read

About the Talk

According to UNESCO, more than 90% of the world’s students have been affected by school closures and it seems like a dark time for education. But what if we embraced this opportunity provided by school closure to reconceive what is possible for education around the world? What if we focus on learning that matters, inspiring students to embrace learning, empowering them to learn for themselves, in their contexts, what is relevant to them? What if we focus on preparing children for their lives, assessing them on their contributions, thinking and application of learning rather than assigning prescribed grades and rankings? What if instead of thinking about what they can’t do or how they don’t fit in or what is inaccessible, we focus on what we can do to bring change in education in line with UN SDG goals 4 and 10? Bringing together perspectives from transformative curriculum, development education, innovation thinking, special educational needs let’s embrace blue sky thinking and reimagine learning possibilities.

Highlights You Don’t Want to Miss

Forecasts for the future of learning from diverse perspectives like curriculum, development education, innovation thinking, special educational
Provocations to reconsider the status quo in education and reimagine learning possibilities

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Speakers

April Remfrey

Experienced Educator and Board of Director, SENIA- Europe

Jay McTighe

Author and Workshop Leader

Kevin Bartlett

Author, Workshop Leader, Keynote Speaker, Consultant and Coach

Pilar Quezzaire

Curriculum Manager for Educational Technology and Design, IB

Suneeta Kulkarni

Director of TheGrannyCloud

Jon Halligan

Director of Schools for Oriental Education

Kirsten Durward

PYP Coordinator, KIS International School, Thailand

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Back

April Remfrey

April is a 20-year teaching veteran who has taught in the public, private, and international school environments in the US, France, and now Switzerland. She now serves globally mobile families on their search for schooling options for their child with special needs. April also serves on the board of directors for SENIA-Europe.

Jay McTighe

Jay McTighe is a veteran educator, having served as a teacher, resource specialist, program coordinator, and director of a state program for gifted students. He is an accomplished author, having co-authored 18 books, including the award-winning and best-selling Understanding by Design series with Grant Wiggins. His books have been translated into fourteen languages. Jay has also written more than 50 book chapters, articles and blogs, and been published in leading journals, including Educational Leadership (ASCD), Edutopia and Education Week. Jay has an extensive background in professional development and is a regular speaker at state, national and international conferences and workshops. He has made presentations in 47 states within the United States, in 7 Canadian provinces, and internationally in 38 countries on six continents.

Kevin Bartlett

Kevin Bartlett has held leadership positions in the UK, Tanzania, Namibia, Austria and Belgium, where he was most recently Director of the International School of Brussels (ISB). Kevin is a regular author, workshop leader, keynote speaker, consultant, and coach. As a curriculum innovator, Kevin was the initiator and early leader of the IB Primary Years Programme. He is also the Co-Founder and Co-Director of The Next Frontier and The Common Ground Collaborative. He has co-designed accreditation systems for the European Council of International Schools (ECIS), the Council of International Schools (CIS) and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEAS&C). He was a member of the Founding Board of CIS and served as Chairman and a Board Member of the Academy of International School Heads (AISH), amongst others.

Pilar Quezzaire

Pilar Quezzaire is the curriculum manager for educational technology and design at International Baccalaureate. Her work includes providing guidance and assistance on learning environment design, technology integration, and the application of educational policies to digital solutions. She is involved in projects related to technology integration, remote learning and education continuity, e- assessment support, learning environment design and development, and has a particular passion for future-focused pedagogies. Her most recent work has been in support of schools transitioning from emergency remote instruction to long-term blended and online learning.

Suneeta Kulkarni

Suneeta is the Director of The Granny Cloud, a virtual project connecting underserved children with experienced educators over the internet. She has been leading and nurturing the program since its inception in 2009. With degrees in Psychology and Counseling, her abiding interest is in Parenting and Child Development. She has held faculty positions from the early 1980s in universities across India. Over the years, she has been engaged in training and field level research in the areas of Intellectual Disability and Children's Education. For the past 12 years, even after her retirement in 2016 from her position as Research Director on the School in the Cloud TED Project, Suneeta has focused on SOLEs [Self Organized Learning Environments] and eMediation through The Granny Cloud and other grass root level initiatives in India that address the needs of children in disadvantaged situations.

Jon Halligan

Jon Halligan is Director of Schools for Oriental Education, who own and operate the Montreux International School (MIS) and the Neuchatel International School (NIS). Both MIS & NIS are innovative Candidate IB world schools for the Career-related programme. The educational focus is to prepare students to thrive in the Business and Hospitality sectors. Jon is also an Educational Advisory Board member at Kognity. He has a wealth of leadership experience internationally, both in schools and with the International Baccalaureate Organisation where he developed organisational strategy and negotiated agreements with governmental and non-governmental organisations.

Kirsten Durward

Kirsten Durward is a concept based instruction trainer and cognitive coach with IB school leadership experience over 4 continents. She has worked with tens of thousands of educators to expand thinking, develop skills and empower self directed efficacy. Kirsten founded the volunteer run PLN ‘Global Educator Collective’ and the professional development platform, 'Global Learning Connections', providing tailored practical professional learning. She works with organisations, educators and schools to improve teaching and learning and currently consults for Toddle on the development of Community and Professional Learning events.

Leadership

The Future of Learning

According to UNESCO, more than 90{b482ff6312a5e4c64c7b19e5ec8c048c278b81cb06d01af0581af7e530919f96} of the world’s students have been affected by school closures and it seems like a dark time for education. But what if we embraced this opportunity provided by school closure to reconceive what is possible for education around the world? What if we focus on learning that matters, inspiring students to embrace learning, empowering them to learn for themselves, in their contexts, what is relevant to them? What if we focus on preparing children for their lives, assessing them on their contributions, thinking and application of learning rather than assigning prescribed grades and rankings? What if instead of thinking about what they can’t do or how they don’t fit in or what is inaccessible, we focus on what we can do to bring change in education in line with UN SDG goals 4 and 10? Bringing together perspectives from transformative curriculum, development education, innovation thinking, special educational needs let’s embrace blue sky thinking and reimagine learning possibilities.