In this episode, George and I sit down with Mark Brown and Kathrin Otrel-Cass to continue our conversations with experts on the future of education. This episode covers a lot of ground on the topic of education futures, with our Mark and Kathrin voicing similar hopes to other guests around a desire for slower, more ethical futures. We also get into the nitty gritty of what futures can and can’t do for us in the present. What are we actually doing when we imagine the future? What are the limits of this work? What are our responsibilities as publicly-funded scholars when we futures methodologies become part of how we do research? It’s a thoughtful conversation that will further the discussion on what education futures can be. 

Learn more about Mark’s at his blog: https://markbrown.blog 

and through his academic page: https://www.dcu.ie/nidl/people/mark-brown

Books mentioned by Mark: 

Weller, M. (2022). Metaphors of edtech. https://www.aupress.ca/books/120309-metaphors-of-ed-tech/

Postman, N. (1971). Teaching is a subversive activity. Penguin Random House. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/132782/teaching-as-a-subversive-activity-by-neil-postman/

Learn more about Kathrin’s work at her Google Scholar page: https://scholar.google.dk/citations?user=7-Eeh-YAAAAJ&hl=en

In this conversation with Amy Sojot, Shandell and Amy dive into science fiction as a tool for thinking about education futures. They get pretty nerdy on some of Amy’s research, drilling down into the details of her recent paper “Cronenberg pedagogies and fleshy possibilities for education futures,” which is a weird and as fun as it sounds. 

Learn more about Amy at her website: https://www.amysojot.com

Amy’s article “Cronenberg pedagogies and fleshy possibilities for education futures” which we discuss at length. 

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14782103211052153

What is the value of making art for doing scholarly research and creating knowledge? What can we learn about learning and education from appreciating what different education systems offer or constrain? In this conversation with Dr. Nilofar Shidmehr, an Iranian Canadian poet, we meander through these questions, exploring what creativity, imagination, and perhaps most importantly, connection mean to learning today.

Learn more about Nilofar at her blog: https://nilofarshidmehr.com

In this episode, George and I chat with Felicitas Macgilchrist about the future of education. It’s a free ranging conversation, in which we go deep into design and the ethics of design in education. We talk about futures in which slowness is centred, considering how we might make better space for ourselves and each other, and how those of us with privilege can promote the already incredible futures work happening in places around the world today. We also get into the thinking about what the metaphor of rewilding can tell us about digital education today and into the future, and how awesome science fiction is. 

Learn more about Felicitas at her academic page: https://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/555243.html

Visit her work at: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=LO64kxoAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate

Content mentions: 

Felicitas’s article on rewilding education: https://www.oneducation.net/no-12_december-2021/rewilding-technology/

Dillon, S. & Schaffer-Goddard, J. (2023).What AI researchers read: the role of literature in artificial intelligence research. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 48(1), 15-42, DOI: 10.1080/03080188.2022.2079214

Tsing, A. (2015). The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins. Princeton University Press. 

Tsing, A. (2017). Arts of living on a damaged planet. University of Minnesota Press. 

Tuck, E. & Yang, K.W. (2012). Decolonization is not a metaphor. Decolonization is not a metaphor. Decolonization: Indigeneity, education & society, 1(1). https://clas.osu.edu/sites/clas.osu.edu/files/Tuck%20and%20Yang%202012%20Decolonization%20is%20not%20a%20metaphor.pdf

Design justice network: https://designjustice.org

Authors mentioned: Nnedi Okorafor, Octavia Butler, Martha Wells, Becky Chambers 

In this episode, George and I sit down with Dr. Eamon Costello and Lily Girme to get their insights into the future of education and how speculative methodologies can help us subvert expectations about the future and how thinking about the future can be an act of resistance. With these two scholars, we begin to wonder how thinking about the future can be a process of connection and appreciation, and where it allows us to work towards not just liberatory futures, but also liberatory presents.  

Learn more about Eamon at his academic page: https://www.dcu.ie/stemeducationinnovationglobalstudies/people/eamon-costello

And about Lily’s via her Twitter: https://twitter.com/lilygirme and Google Scholar page: 

https://scholar.google.ca/citations?hl=en&user=AQH1nmMAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate

Content mentioned: 

Czerniewicz, L., & Cronin, C. (Forthcoming). Higher education for good: Teaching and Learning futures.

De Oliveira/ Andreotti, V. (2022). Hospicing Modernity. 

In this conversation with Helen Nde, we dive deep into understanding storytelling and the power of story for education, and learn from Helen about the role that storytelling from the African continent has for education into the future. Helen’s rich insights into story as a cultural process remind us about the need for and benefits of diverse storytelling in our worlds. Learn more about Helen’s work at her blog: https://www.helennde.com

In our inaugural episode of this series, George and I chat with Jen Ross about the future of education, and in particular we examine the role of speculative methodologies for thinking about the future. Jen, who recently published with Routledge the book Digital Futures for Learning: Speculative Methods and Pedagogies, helpfully defines for us what we mean when we talk about speculative methods. What is the value of speculating about the future, and the future of education? How does thinking about the future help us make the present a more just place to live? It’s a wide ranging conversation helpful not just for thinking about education, but for anyone who wants to have a better sense of why thinking about and imagining diverse futures is important, and almost as importantly, why it’s fun. 

Learn more about Jen at her blog and check out her new book here! 

http://jenrossity.net/blog/

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781003202134/digital-futures-learning-jen-ross

Other books mentioned: 

Crary, J. (2022). Scorched Earth. Verso Books. https://www.versobooks.com/en-ca/products/214-scorched-earth

Music by hungry hearts: https://hungryheartsrock.bandcamp.com/

Learn more about Nora Loreto:
https://noraloreto.substack.com/

www.Sandyandnora.com