Talking education. The #GESF podcast.

EdTech presents new challenges and opportunities for policy makers. However, EdTech innovators and politicians have not often succeeded in establishing a successful dialogue to aid the adoption of EdTech in schools. Three prominent education influencers and policy experts talk to Andrew Jack, Global Education Editor of The Financial Times, about how politicians need to gain improved and evidence-based understanding of EdTech to move to informed EdTech policy-making and how the EdTech entrepreneurs can help. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

The education outlook in countries across Sub-Saharan Africa is absolutely critical to global efforts to deliver access to universal quality education by 2030. Join this Public Briefing where the panel of experts and elite policy-makers as they reflect on the latest research about the state of education across the region and debate possible solutions to key issues of access, quality and equity. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Mark Lehain, Raj Kumar, Nuno Crato, Ms Saadia Zahidi and Dr Halima Begum debate the extent to which trends, technology and innovation will transform what skills we need for the 21st Century classroom and workplace. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Professor Lutfey Siddiqi hosts Indian actress, singer, film producer, philanthropist and activist Priyanka Chopra for a discussion on her life, work, and the changing social dynamics that will bring us forward in the next decade. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

In the US alone, over $410 billion as spent on philanthropy last year. With hundreds of billions being given away globally every year, we bring together leading thinkers and foundation leaders to share their insights on a fundamental question: does it make a difference? Public Briefings deliver the latest news, analysis and thinking on the key issues that are changing the education and skills sectors. In this series of one-hour discussions, delegates will hear from expert contributors on who is changing the world, and what changemaking looks like across the different strands of GESF 2019. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Vikas Pota hosts two of the UK's most prominent politicians of recent years - former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, in this GESF session.   #GESF @VarkeyFDN    

Higher Education is by no means immune to the digital revolution, nor to the pressures and needs of a fast-changing education landscape. A number of institutions have looked at embracing technology, whereas others are slower to engage. This is in contrast to some new emerging universities that embrace technology and new education models and pedagogies to the full. We hear from five universities how they reinvent, transform or emerge as new education players in a digital age, in an interview-style panel. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

We spend roughly a third of our lives sound asleep, and for good reason. Sleep is central to nearly every brain and bodily function we can identify, including our ability to learn. In practice, however, school-aged children and adolescents routinely experience insufficient sleep. In order to prepare the next generation of students to succeed, we must first appreciate the power of sleep to aid daytime function. In this Research Briefing you will hear the latest research into why sleep is critical for learning. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

With tens of thousands of teachers leaving the profession each year, we lose huge value and experience from our classrooms. Pay is only a small part of the picture. What do we need to do to keep great teachers in classrooms over the long run? Listen in to an honest conversation about the reasons teachers leave, and what we can do to make them stay. Session led by Institute of Education, University College London. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Join Oscar winning actress and activist Charlize Theron for a conversation at the Global Education & Skills Forum. As well as starring in some of the biggest films of recent years, Charlize Theron is passionate about the causes of the fight against HIV/AIDS and is a UN Messenger of Peace. In conversation with Varkey Foundation CEO Vikas Pota. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Increasingly foundations, NGOs and non-profit organisations turn to EdTech to bring education to resource-poor contexts, refugee camps and conflict zones or learners that lack opportunity and live in poverty. Driven by improving the plight of people and the aspiration to bring education to every child, youngster or improve literacy in adult learners, these charities and foundations increasingly resort to EdTech. In a thought-provoking interview panel, we hear how EdTech is embraced for good. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Since taking office in April 2018, President Julius Maada Bio has committed his administration to move Sierra Leone beyond peacebuilding to establishing firm democratic institutions. The centrepiece of President Bio’s strategy has been the launch of an ambitious free quality education programme that provides access to basic through secondary education. In this key session at GESF 2019, hear President Bio talk about his vision for Sierra Leone’s future, and the work he believes still needs to be done to deliver it. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

In this GESF Coffee House session, Lewis Hamilton opens up about creating new opportunities for young people globally, his experience with dyslexia in education and how a small amount of risk can be the perfect encouragement for a child to thrive in their life ahead. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Ms Jeanne Allen, Ms Susan Hopgood, Mr Ross McGill, Professor Jo Ritzen and Dame Rachel De Souza debate whether students are sitting too many standardised tests.   #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Has the failure of our education system to modernize led students to become disconnected from school? Hear advocates both for and against the traditional model of schooling, addressing issues across the spectrum of mental illness, social injustice and media. Session led by Institute of Education, UCL. Public Briefings deliver the latest news, analysis and thinking on the key issues that are changing the education and skills sectors. In this series of one-hour discussions, delegates will hear from expert contributors on who is changing the world, and what changemaking looks like in practice. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

The Varkey Foundation’s Global Teacher Status Index is the most comprehensive study ever of teacher respect around the world. Published in late 2018, the latest edition of the Index is based on an opinion poll of over 35,000 adults and over 5,500 additional teachers across 35 countries. In this briefing at GESF 2019, lead researcher Professor Peter Dolton will present his key findings on the Global Teacher Status Index, including on whether teacher status is rising or falling globally, how teachers are seen relative to other professions, what people think of teacher’s wages and working hours – and whether teacher status is linked to pupil outcomes. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

A team of students from Kazakhstan have developed an award-winning new app to help keep people safe when they’re walking home after dark. The app, known as “QamCare”, allows people to keep track of their loved ones and to make sure that they don’t go missing by keeping a record of their last known location. “QamCare” won the Senior Division of the Technovation Challenge World Pitch, which is a major annual competition in which girls from over 100 countries compete to solve a problem in their local communities through mobile technology. In this talk at GESF 2019, meet the award-winning young team behind the “QamCare” app, hear about the issues that they’re trying to address in Kazakhstan and learn about how mobile technology can help to keep people safe. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

To make your jobs as educators easier, start early and get everyone involved. Learn from experts from different sectors focused on the early years of a child's life from the perspective of neuroscience, parent engagement, and urban development. Session led by Bernard van Leer Foundation. Public Briefings deliver the latest news, analysis and thinking on the key issues that are changing the education and skills sectors. In this series of one-hour discussions, delegates will hear from expert contributors on who is changing the world, and what changemaking looks like across the different strands of GESF 2019. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Pierre Krähenbühl is changing the world. As Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) he is leading through a time of extraordinary uncertainty. Over almost 70 years, UNRWA has provided services to Palestine refugees. In the beginning, UNRWA provided care to 750,000 people; today, around 5 million Palestine refugees are eligible for their services. UNRWA is one of the longest-standing examples of the international community working together to promote peace and development and for many decades its staff have found ambitious and innovative solutions to deliver on its mandate. Delegates at the Global Education and Skills Forum in 2019 will hear the Commissioner General talk about why he believes UNRWA still matters, and why the international community should care about its future. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Nedgine Paul Deroly is the co-founder & CEO of Anseye Pou Ayiti (Teach for Haiti), which is working to build a Haitian-led movement of civic leaders to spread educational equity. Haiti faces a range of serious challenges to education and over 80% of the country’s primary schools operate outside the public sector and are run by for-profit organisations, faith-based groups and other NGOs. In this session, Nedgine will discuss the "who" of this year's GESF theme: Who has been included in the necessary work of transforming public education to provide all children with the excellence they deserve? While discussing the approach of the Anseye Pou Ayiti movement in Haiti, Nedgine will highlight the importance of recognizing the "solution bearers" among those who themselves have experienced the education inequity we seek to dismantle. Nedgine has been named among the top global social innovators by Echoing Green, selected for the Forbes Magazine “30 Under 30” Social Entrepreneurs, and is a member of the inaugural cohort of the Obama Foundation Fellowship. Hear Nedgine talk about her life-changing work at Anseye Pou Ayiti and what she thinks can help change education in the country for the better.   #GESF @VarkeyFDN

The World Bank's Human Capital Index measures the amount of human capital that a child born today can expect to attain by age 18, given the risks of poor health and poor education that prevail in the country where they live. It is designed to highlight how improvements in current health and education outcomes shape the productivity of the next generation of workers. The index envisages a world where every child achieves their full potential. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Music, as the renowned neurologist Oliver Sacks once wrote, is manifest and central in every culture on Earth, and we are a musical species as much as we are a linguistic one; our minds tuned to hear a broad range of tones, timbre, pitch and melody. But why should music matter in education?  #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Byju’s The Learning App is an Indian EdTech success story that many EdTech start-ups and entrepreneurs look up to. This Bangalore tutoring firm took the Indian EdTech enabled tutoring market by a storm. Byju, founder and CEO, discusses creating and growing India’s EdTech success story, with GV Ravishankar, Byju’s early investor. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

As Learning Sciences and insights into ‘how we learn’ evolve very rapidly and the onset of AI and technologies are likely to become increasingly important to education and learning, EdTech may no longer be able to ignore the research and findings of Learning Science. We hear from three eminent Learning Scientists and education researchers in what they belief EdTech should consider when developing products and how EdTech entrepreneurs should engage with learning scientists to inform product development, pedagogy and technological approaches. Cognitive psychology, neuroscience, AI and pedagogy are seeing considerable developments that increase our understanding of learning and the influence pedagogy. Engaging with the experts and the research finding may only be possible if a mutual exchange between EdTech and Learning Science can be established to benefit learning. In a Fireside Discussion, we hear why a dialogue is needed.   #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Two African education ministers meet EdTech and online learning community leaders to explore how EdTech can enable access to education and promote social and learning impact. In a Fireside Chat, moderated by Katia Moskvitch, Business Editor of WIRED UK, our esteemed panellists will discuss how new modes of collaboration may open the road to acceleration of EdTech adoption and positive impact and what momentum is required to make it happen. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Good EdTech is evidenced and relies on research and holistic education understanding. Evidencing EdTech and demonstrating ‘What works?’ proves challenging for many an EdTech entrepreneur. In a Fireside Interview, two EdTech entrepreneurs reveal how fundamental research and demonstrating impact have become to inform their product development and how innovation can sit at odds with research, creating some challenging tensions. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Paresh Rawal is a multi-award winning actor who has been performing on stage since 1972 and has appeared in more than 250 films. He has performed more than 150 plays and more than 5,000 performances in India and in countries like the USA, the UK, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, UAE, Europe, and the Far East. In 20120, he performed 50 shows in 52 days in 52 centers in the USA in 2012. Some of his best-known films are: OMG-Oh my God, Sardar- Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Hera Pheri, Baghban. Join a conversation with this world-famous actor and learn more about his life, his work and who he believes is changing the world for the better. In conversation with Nargish Khambatta, GEMS Principal and Vice-President. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Noëlla Coursaris Musunka is a philanthropist, international model and the founder of Malaika which educates and empowers Congolese girls and their communities. In this session at GESF 2019, hear Noëlla talk about her life, her work and why she thinks education is the key to improving the lives of girls. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Becoming numerate is critical for school and life success. It is essential to be numerate in order to be an informed and analytical citizen. Yet numeracy is often not given the same attention as literacy. Join this Research Briefing as we explore why math matters and how we need to change our conversation around math to prevent harmful attitudes and the spreading of mathematics anxiety. Experts will also discuss how children acquire fundamental numerical skills and how to best foster their skills and healthy attitudes towards math using evidence-based approaches. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

The Human Capital Project is a new, global effort to accelerate more and better investments in people for greater equity and economic growth. Why should countries invest in human capital? Can early health care and education prepare children to succeed and prosper as adults in a rapidly changing world? What are the barriers to nurturing human capital and what are countries doing to overcome them? Join a conversation with the World Bank’s Vice President for Human Development, Annette Dixon to find out how the World Bank, countries, and partners are working together to close the massive human capital gap in the world today. Learn about the critical role of investing in people’s education, health, and resilience to build human capital and drive economic growth. In discussion with Financial Times Global Education Editor Andrew Jack. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

By 2030, demand for teachers in low-income countries will nearly double and in some countries half of all graduates leaving university will need to become teachers to meet it. The purpose of education and the skills that young people will need are also changing. So is our understanding of how children’s brains develop and how they best learn. An expert panel of contributors, led by the Education Commission, will discuss the future of the education workforce in this Public Briefing. They'll debate the evolving role of the teacher through technology, collaboration and the changing learning environment - including greater personalisation of learning. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

The end of the traditional classroom has been predicted on many occasions over the last few decades. However, many of the attempts to change the way that children learn have not ultimately delivered on their promise of greater learning outcomes. Join this Research Roundtable between researchers and Global Teacher Prize finalists on the future of the classroom. They'll debate the extent to which innovation and disruption are needed in the way that children are taught around the world. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Swaroop never originally intended to become a teacher, but after becoming a mother and then returning to study at the age of 37, she realised that she had something unique to offer. She saw first-hand how some methods of teaching can create stress in children, which then makes its way into the family. Swaroop therefore went into teaching to accomplish two goals: to help make children more resilient through life skills education, and to bring new methods to teaching that would help students and their teachers reflect, imagine and build their sense of personal worth and agency. Take a class with one of the top 10 finalists for the 2019 Global Teacher Prize. Each live, 30-minute lesson will showcase the different methods, learnings and values that helped to secure the teacher's place in the final of the US$1 million prize. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Public-private partnerships were once the holy grail for development. As evidence grows from interventions around the world, thought leaders from academia, government and the development sector tell us what works, or if PPPs really work at all. Public Briefings deliver the latest news, analysis and thinking on the key issues that are changing the education and skills sectors. In this series of one-hour discussions, delegates will hear from expert contributors on who is changing the world, and what changemaking looks like across the different strands of GESF 2019. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Since its creation almost two decades ago, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has fundamentally changed the international education landscape. Today, PISA commands the attention of governments, global organisations and the world’s media. Over half a million 15-year-olds from 80 countries and economies took the PISA test in 2018, and the results will be published this December. But what will be PISA’s legacy - and what are the opportunities and challenges it presents to policy-makers? Join our panel of expert contributors in this Public Briefing as they consider the impact that PISA has had on education systems across the world and debate its potential for the future. The panel will be led by OECD Education and Skills Director Andreas Schleicher, in conversation with a number of ministers of education whose countries have participated in the international testing programme. Session moderated by Financial Times Global Education Editor Andrew Jack. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Who is changing the world – and how are they learning to do it? What role can business play alongside educators? A dynamic economy requires a tech-literate society where young people don’t just consume technology avidly, but know how it works. They need the skills to become the problem solvers, makers and creators of the future. BT’s Barefoot partnership has trained and equipped 70,000 teachers to educate over 2 million primary children in the UK in computational thinking – including experimenting, designing, debugging and collaborating. How can we scale programmes like this to build better digital intelligence? #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Paul Muggeridge, Managing Director from Formative Content talks to the Varkey Teacher Ambassadors (a growing community of the best teachers of the world) about how teachers can convey influence policy and practice by using social media professionally and how to share teaching resources. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Jan Lynn-Matern, seed investor and Co-Founder and CEO of EmergeLab talks to Mike Butcher about what it takes to attract the interest (and funds) of investors. Jan founded Emerge Education in response to the lack of capital available for exceptional edtech entrepreneurs in Europe. Hosted at the Global Education and Skills Forum, this is a unique opportunity for thirty EdTech start-ups selected from a global search and early rounds of pitching, to learn the secrets of pursuasive pitching. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Mark Pollock is changing the world. Unbroken by blindness in 1998, Mark went on to compete in ultra endurance races across deserts, mountains, and the polar ice caps including being the first blind person to race to the South Pole. In 2010 he was left paralysed after falling from a second story window. At the Global Education and Skills Forum in 2019, Mark inspires delegates with his new field of exploration - the intersection where humans and technology collide. In discussion with Olivier Oullier (President of EMOTIV, the global leader in mobile neurotechnologies and personalised neuroinformatics), Mark talks to the catalysing collaborations that we can expect to see changing our world. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

We live in an increasingly complex and rapidly rapidly-changing world. In our lifetime we have already seen remarkable developments in how we work, and our lives become centred around technologies that were not even invented a few years ago. We now live with global challenges that have become part of our local communities. By capitalising on student differences and adaping instruction to individual needs, teachers can help children to reach their full potiental-equipping them not only with the comptencies to change the world. In the Research Briefing with Hanna Dumont (Senior Researcher, German Institute for International Educational Research) find out how our education systems can adapt to prepare children for what is yet to come. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

EdTech at scale and ensuring its effectiveness is a challenge that a coalition of partners embraced to galvanise Education in India. An ambitious programme, based on the experience of implementing a personalised adaptive learning solution in government schools and supported by rigorous research into learning, may well prove to be a catalyst that paves the way to address Education challenges in India through digitally-enabled learning. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Mina Guli is changing the world. Through Mina's work with the World Bank and the World Economic Forum, she came to learn about the planet's unfolding water crisis: by 2030, we face a 40% shortfall in the global supply of accessible, reliable water. Mina has since dedicated her life to educating leaders and young people alike about this crisis and how we can solve it. In this session at GESF 2019, learn more about Mina's life, work and incredible work as an ultra-endurance runner to raise awareness about our planet's most precious resource. In conversation with Mona Hammami, Senior Director at the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

A World with the Right Incentives. Development impact bonds are an increasingly popular model for the public, private and philanthropic sectors to work together. But what is their potential for education, skills and development? Join our panel of experts at this Public Briefing as they discuss the rise of social impact bonds across the world and explore the ways in which this innovative new way to finance changemaking is helping to drive positive social impact across different sectors.   #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Funders are always looking for innovative new ideas with the potential to change the world, but how do they decide which ones to back and which to leave alone? In this exciting new format @GESF, would-be changemakers will have just a few minutes to pitch their new projects to a judging panel of leading donors who may choose to support or reject the proposals. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Andrew teaches at Parkfield Community School near the deprived Bordesley Green area of Birmingham, which is home to a considerable mix of ethnicities and where over nine in ten pupils speak English as an additional language. His “No Outsiders” programme teaches inclusiveness and diversity. Andrew has extended this ethos to parents through the use of parent/child workshops and he has extended the programme, with schools taking forward “No Outsiders” in many cities across the UK. Andrew now also uses “No Outsiders” as a tool to reduce the potential for radicalization. Andrew also runs a “Parkfield Ambassadors” after-school club that creates opportunities for children at his school where 99% of students are Muslim to meet others of different races, religions and cultures around Birmingham. Take a class with one of the top 10 finalists for the 2019 Global Teacher Prize. Each live, 30-minute lesson will showcase the different methods, learnings and values that helped to secure the teacher's place in the final of the US$1 million prize.   #GESF @VarkeyFDN

Leave no one behind. This is among the most aspirational global commitments of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Migration and displacement are two global challenges, and interact with education in many ways. These links affect those who move, those who stay and those who host immigrants, refugees or other displaced populations. Hear the latest research on these issues in a conversation with Bilal Barakat, Senior Policy Analyst of UNESCO's landmark Global Education Monitoring (GEM) report. Over a year in the making, the report analyses all 195 education systems around the world and presents evidence on the implications of different types of migration and displacement for education but also the impact that reforming curricula, pedagogy and teacher preparation can have on embracing diversity. The report also presents the annual analysis of progress towards each of the education targets in the new Sustainable Development Goals framework. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

It's well known that girls are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects, but what can be done to address the gap? Join the Change in the Classroom discussion between Global Teacher Prize finalists and expect contributors on the pervasive barriers to girls in STEM, and how teachers, policy-makers and parents can work together to enable girls to succeed. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

What does a teacher need to know in order to be able to teach creativity? Can creativity truly be taught? Join this public briefing where Global Teacher Prize finalists and expert contributors debate the role of teachers and the wider education sector in fostering the core values of creativity, originality and individuality, as well as in building the skills that students need to move from copying a masterpiece to creating their own work of art. #GESF @VarkeyFDN    

Sophie Bailey, founder, EdTech Podcast hosts a panel with teacher practitioners. They share with an audience of EdTech entrepreneurs how EdTech is shaping their classrooms and what they are looking for to improve student and teacher experiences. Hosted at the Global Education and Skills Forum, this is a unique opportunity for thirty EdTech start-ups selected from a global search and early rounds of pitching, to hear directly from those who use technology with students. #GESF @VarkeyFDN

For years, Yuhyun Park has worked to transform our understanding of digital literacy. Through her pioneering and award-winning work on how technology intersects with education, she developed a digital citizenship education platform for children in South Korea and Singapore as well as the Digital Intelligence Quotient (DQ) education framework. Today, she oversees numerous initiatives aimed at helping children to navigate the digital world safely. Hear this influential changemaker talk about her life, her work and why she believes we need to do more to prepare our children for the digital future.   #GESF @VarkeyFDN

What is it like to go to school in the country with the biggest education system in the world? Learn from leading Chinese educators and education investors as they share their insights from the field. Public Briefings deliver the latest news, analysis and thinking on the key issues that are changing the education and skills sectors. In this series of one-hour discussions, delegates will hear from expert contributors on who is changing the world, and what changemaking looks like across the different strands of GESF 2019. #GESF @VarkeyFDN