Coconut Thinking

How might we re-think higher education to be about our ability to discern the world and take action, not the diplomas we receive?

I speak with Ronald Barnett. Ron has spent a lifetime in higher education as a scholar, institutional leader and manager, researcher, and writer. He is recognized as having introduced and developed the philosophy of higher education as a field in its own right (and he is the President of the recently...

How might we create the conditions and spaces for learning to be wild? Or maybe we need to un-create them for wildness?

I speak to Jennifer D. Klein and Jill Ackers-Clayton. Jennifer has a broad background in global education and global partnership development, student-centered curricular strategies, diversity and inclusivity work, authentic assessment, and experiential, inquiry-driven learning. She has facilitated workshops in Engl...

How might we come together around a WHY rather than a HOW? Might the HOW sort itself out if we share purpose?

In this episode, I speak with Kevin Bartlett. Kevin is the Founder of the Common Ground Collaborative. He has held leadership positions in the UK, Tanzania, Namibia, Austria, and Belgium, where he was most recently Director of the International School of Brussels from 2001-2015. Kevin has co-designed accreditation syste...

How might AI create both utopian and dystopian futures all at the same time? What does this mean for education and for learning?

In this episode, I speak with Darren Coxon. Darren is Founder of CoxonAI, a worldwide strategic advisory specialising in K-12 AI implementation. An educator for 25 years, Darren has most recently managed the operation of schools’ groups, notably Brighton College’s international schools, Forfar Education, a...

How might we free ourselves from the bondage of data to tell different stories of learning?

In this episode, I speak with David Penberg, Ph.D. David is an urban and international educator, teacher and writer with 40 years of experience. His work is place-based and intergenerational. He supports communities seeking to become more vital, joyous and integrated places of learning. He has held leadership and teaching roles in non-profits...

How might learning be flow between structure and emergence? How might we measure impact quantitatively and qualitatively?

In this episode, I speak with Michael Bunce. Michael is an educator, researcher, and interdisciplinary sound artist, with wide-ranging international experience across education and the arts. As an educational researcher, he specialises in interdisciplinary learning design and innovation, working in leadership, te...

What might flourishing look like as collective and individual experiences entangled in environment?

Eri Mountbatten-O'Malley is a Senior lecturer in education policy at Bath Spa University and is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. His research is philosophical in nature and helps us to better understand social problems and social research. Eri’s central pedagogical interest is in nurturing critical thinking and complex c...

How might we tell new stories open up our imagination to what is possible?

In this episode, I speak with Cindy Forde. Cindy’s career has been dedicated to transforming how we understand and act as human beings towards Earth. She works globally with leaders across sectors in education, communication and sustainability including University of Cambridge and the UN, and believes the biggest impact we can have in making change is how we,...

How might we transform our relationality with the world, as the world, especially the non-human world?

In this episode, I speak with Rūta Žemčugovaitė. Rūta is a writer, artist, and researcher, working with mycelium for regenerative futures. With a background in Psychology, she learned to facilitate trauma healing and shadow work in Costa Rica and now works with technology, mycology (and trying to build things out of mycelium), affe...

What might happen when the landscape is our place of learning?

In this episode, I speak with Luis Alberto Camargo. Luis was named the 2023 Richard Louv Prize recipient, in recognition of his life’s work, which has impacted 130,000 children and youth across Colombia. Luis is Founder and Executive Director of Organización para la Educación y Protección Ambiental (OpEPA - Colombia & USA), Co-Founder of The Weaving Lab, Core member ...

What might it be like if we approached education and business as if we belonged to the living world?

In this conversation, I speak with Gil Friend. Gil, a systems ecologist and business strategist, is widely considered a founder of the sustainable business movement. He is noted for inspiring, challenging, and supporting business, policy, and investment leaders to rethink business in light of the challenges posed by climate change an...

How might the stories we tell about the future help us bring about the futures we want?

In this episode, I speak with Will Richardson. Will was a guest on the podcast a couple of years ago, and it's fascinating to notice how he his thinking has both shifted and stayed strong. A former public school educator of 22 years, Will has spent the last 18 years developing an international reputation as a leading thinker and writer about the ...

How can capital contribute to the (non-monetary) wealth of the entire ecosystem?

In this episode, I speak with Cordell Jacks. Cordell is the Co-founder and CEO of Regenerative Capital Group, a Canadian-based fund and accelerator that trains entrepreneurs in an 'alternative' entrepreneurial career path through ETA (entrepreneurship through acquisition). Instead of launching start-ups as platforms for change and innovation, RCG c...

How might we approach life from Nature's paradigm rather than from the dominant paradigm?

In this episode, I speak with Denise DeLuca. Denise is the founder of Wild Hazel. She is an adjunct faculty and the former Director of MCAD’s Sustainable Design program. She was co-founder of BCI: Biomimicry Creative for Innovation, a network of creative professional change agents driving ecological thinking for radical tran...

In this episode, I speak with Stefan Bauschard. Stefan is the Co-founder of educating4ai.com; the Owner of DebateUS.org, the Executive Co-Director of the New York City Urban Debate League and the Debate Coach @ Lakeland Schools. He is also the author of several substance articles that have received a tremendous amount of attention in the way they challenge us to re-think assessment, re-think our ways or learning, and re-think our r...

How might curriculum emerge from specific time and place?

In this episode, I speak with Russell John Cailey. Russell is the Managing Director and visionary behind THINK Learning Studio (TLS), which is associated with Think Global School, one of the first traveling high schools. He aims to revolutionize the education industry. Honoured as a Top 100 Global Visionary in Education by GFEL in 2021, Russell is dedicated to positioning TLS...

How do we find the courage to move beyond the single story?

In this episode, I speak with Sahana Chattopadhyay. Sahana is a Writer, Speaker, Synthesizer, and Transition Catalyst. Through her work, she researches and explores different pathways to civilizational transition towards life-sustaining and decolonial future(s), and counter-hegemonic narratives. She is the Founder and Director of a boutique consulting firm Proteeti, a Sansk...

In this episode, I speak with Fabienne Vailes. Fabienne is the host of the Flourishing Education podcast. She is the author of two books: The Flourishing Student in its 2nd edition (aimed at tutors) and another one co-authored Dr. Dominique Thompson called How to Grow a Grown up (aimed at parents). As an educational expert with over 20 years’ experience in the sector, Fabienne is on a mission to change the face of education—em...

In this episode, I speak with Paula DiPerna. Paula is a strategic advisor and consultant, who draws upon a diverse leadership background, having served as the president of the Chicago Climate Exchange International, which pioneered global emissions trading, as well as the president of the Joyce Foundation, a leading US private philanthropy. Prior to these positions, she was vice president of the Cousteau Society for nearly 20 years...