THE FUTURE OF LEARNING?

Visions of the future from the past

Future skills, Edtech, the metaverse, a curriculum for teaching sustainability are much talked about topics in contemporary education. All imply a need for change in what we teach and how we teach. Some would argue for radical change: Anthony Seldon has written about the need for a 'fourth education revolution'.

But do the needs of today's students have more in common with those of previous generations, despite our rapidly changing world? If so, good teaching now might have more in common with good teaching in the past than is commonly thought. There is nothing new about wanting to stimulate curiosity, provoke thought and encourage students not only to think through their answers, but to ask good questions. Perhaps there has never been a greater need for encouraging young people to be open-minded and to seek the evidence they need to reach their own conclusions about the world. As good teachers always have.

No one, arguably, is better qualified to debate the question of 'the future of learning' than our guests today, Professor Deborah Eyre and Kevin Bartlett. Both Deborah and Kevin write extensively about education and learning and both have had – and are having – a major impact on the way children learn. They are two of the most important educational thinkers of our time and in this issue of 'Talking about . . .' they don't disappoint.

Professor Deborah Eyre

An internationally influential thinker, writer and speaker, Professor Eyre was Director at the UK National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth (NAGTY) between 2002 and 2008 while based at the University of Warwick. She entered the international field in 2008 with the DEL International Education Consultancy in the service of high profile clients such as the Government of Hong Kong Education Bureau and the Hong Kong Institute of Education. She subsequently became Director of Education at Nord Anglia and founded High Performance Learning for schools in the UK and around the world in 2016, driven by the belief that all students are capable of high levels of achievement. She now works with a rapidly growing number of schools to develop the competencies young people need for academic, workplace and lifetime success.

Kevin Bartlett

Author, learning practitioner and educational thinker, Kevin has had a long and distinguished career in international education, most recently as Director of the International School of Brussels. He was named International Superintendent of the Year in 2014 and inducted into the AAIE Hall of Fame shortly thereafter. A restless educational innovator, he was one of the key initiators of the IB’s PYP , co-founder of The Next Frontier: Inclusion and co-author of NEASC’s new approach to international school accreditation, ACE. He is the founding Director of the Common Ground Collaborative, which embraces a fresh approach to co-creating culture, curriculum and community, and which is gaining support from an increasing number of schools.