SPEAKERS

Pasi Sahlberg

Opening Keynote: Pasi Sahlberg

Renowned Finnish Educator & Scholar
Pasi Sahlberg is a professor of education policy at the Gonski Institute for Education, University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. He is a Finnish educator and author who has worked as schoolteacher, teacher educator, researcher, and policy advisor in Finland and has studied education systems, analysed education policies, and advised education reforms around the world.

He has written and spoken widely about transforming education. His book Finnish Lessons 2.0: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland won the 2013 Grawemeyer Award for an idea that has potential to change the world. He is also a recipient of the 2012 Education Award in Finland, the 2014 Robert Owen Award in Scotland, the 2016 Lego Prize, and Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Resident Fellowship in 2017. He chairs the Open Society Foundations’ Global Education Board and the International Council of Education Advisors (ICEA) for the Scottish First Minister.

Professor Sahlberg is an inspirational speaker, lecturer and trainer. His passion is to advice and work with schools, communities, and nations to reimagining teaching and learning, school education, and system-wide efforts to improve equity and quality of education. He has gained working knowledge in over 60 countries around the world. He is a former senior specialist at the World Bank in Washington, DC, director general of the Ministry of Education in Finland, and a visiting professor at Harvard University.

Education Reimagined: Four ideas for the future we could start now

There is no better time to think harder about what future school could be than right now. The global health pandemic paused many earlier efforts to rethink the future by disrupting education as we knew it before 2020. Technology, wellbeing and the role of schools in students’ learning are some of those issues that are at the heart of new considerations for schools of tomorrow. In many ways we need to think again how we think about the future. In this keynote I argue that we need to have good common understanding of the state of education today to be able to reimagine education for the future. Based on that big picture I suggest four ‘moon shot’ ideas that could be considered today. Every crisis leaves new opportunities. In reimaging education those opportunities should be utilized without delay.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Understand some of the key challenges and opportunities in today’s education;
  2. Become aware of the educational lessons learned from the past two years;
  3. Realize how American education compares to education in some other countries; and
  4. Reimagine education for the future by relying on contemporary knowledge and thought-leadership.
Dan Lerner

Closing Keynote: Dan Lerner

Transformative, forward-thinking and always striving to help others realize their full potential, Dan Lerner has become known for his exploration of how positive psychology can affect the pursuit of world-class development, particularly how to leverage the advantage that a healthy psychological state can bring to performance excellence both at work and at home.

As an in-demand speaker, author, strengths-based performance coach and instructor of one of the most popular undergraduate courses at New York University, Dan’s expertise in positive psychology helps people lead thriving, successful lives.

Employing cutting-edge research into positive psychology and peak performance, Dan works with students, established and high-potential performing artists, athletes and numerous Fortune 500 companies and executives around the world helping them manage stress and anxiety, achieve well-being, uncover their core strengths and define and realize their own brand of success.

With a deep passion for helping the next generation of talent achieve their utmost potential, Dan, along with his co-author and teaching partner Dr. Alan Schlechter, penned U Thrive: How to Succeed in College (and Life). Filled with fascinating science, real-life stories and tips for building positive lifelong habits, U Thrive addresses the opportunities and challenges every undergraduate faces and helps students grow into the happy, successful alums they all strive to be.

Whether it is speaking, coaching, teaching or writing, Dan injects intellect with motivation, science with compassion and makes change both exciting and fun. Dan engages a room like few can.  

For more information: https://daniellerner.com/about-dan/

Passionately Successful: Making the Most of Happiness and Human Potential

What does it mean to be “successful” – not just in the traditional sense, but in ways that allow us to fully explore and realize our unique potential in education, work, and life? Trends in mental health and education – particularly during these past 18 months of COVID – clearly indicate that new approaches are needed, but perhaps the answers are right in front of us. In this session, Dan Lerner, the instructor of NYU’s wildly popular Science of Happiness course, shares how incorporating the science of well-being is helping individuals redefine and realize success for themselves, their colleagues, and the communities that they serve. Integrating research and story, Lerner’s engaging, and interactive style makes cutting edge research in the psychologies of passion, performance, and well-being both personal and actionable, ensuring that attendees leave knowing the next steps to incorporate today as well as in the ever-diversifying educational landscape that we all strive to build for years to come.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Learn to distinguish between the foundations, pathways, characteristics, and outcomes of healthy and unhealthy passions.
  2. Gain a comprehensive understanding of current trends / emerging solutions in mental health and well-being in educational and occupational fields.
  3. Rethink and redefine “success” in the current and developing environment.
  4. Better understand how to integrate the advantages of well-being in the pursuit of high-level individual achievement.
Association for Learning Environments (A4LE)

LearningSCAPES 2021


October 14-17
Hyatt Regency | Denver, CO

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