Out-of-the-box Thinking: Education – Time For Action

Join GlobalNet21 and Conway Hall Ethical Society for an exhilarating meeting, the second on transforming education for the 21st Century, where we want to explore this most fundamental component of our democratic society and how to create traction for action and change.

This follows two very successful events in our Out-of-the Box Thinking series concerning a profound re-evaluation of both Education and Democracy.

This evening we have a unique opportunity to probe the routes for radical change with the help of Olli-Pekka Heinonen, Finland’s ex Minister of Education, who is at the heart of an education system considered by many to be world-leading. As well as Olli-Pekka, we will have Professor Evan Parker and Terry Loane, both educators and radical thinkers, and each highly critical of our present system.

Can Finland’s system really enlighten us and show us the way to foundational changes in how we prepare our next generations? The emergence of the digital age and the growth of artificial intelligence, automation and robotics are bringing huge changes in the way our society functions – in how we acquire and access knowledge and in patterns of employment and social engagement.

Although many have been highly critical our educational system, neither Government nor wider society are convinced that fundamental changes are needed. They seem content with conservative piecemeal adaptations of the existing system. Or is it just too large a cultural shift?

You will be able to question the speakers and air your thoughts on how we can start shifting this mind-set.

Olli-Pekka Heinonen served as the Minister of Education 1994 -1999, left politics in 2002 to manage Finland’s public broadcasting company’s transition to digital television. He returned to politics in 2012 as State Secretary of the National Coalition Party cabinet ministers and then appointed General Director of his country’s National Agency for Education.

Evan Parker, Emeritus Professor of Physics at University of Warwick, has been involved in education for much of his professional life and has recently spun-out a quantum technology company.

Terry Loane has had a wide-ranging career as an educator, working with learners from pre-school to postgraduate levels. He was Head of Adult Education in a London Borough, and then a freelance specialist in the use of technology to enhance learning.

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This is a collaboration between GlobalNet21 and Conway Hall. Olli-Pekka Heinonen is being beamed in from Finland and, although unlikely, we cannot be held responsible for any technical failures.