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      ALEX BEARD

       

       

       

    • About

       

      Alex has worked in education for a decade. After starting out as an English teacher in a London comprehensive, he completed his MA at the Institute of Education before joining Teach For All, a growing global network of organizations working to ensure that the next generation fulfil their potential. He is fortunate to spend his time travelling the world in search of the practices that will shape the future of learning and has written about his experiences for the Guardian, Financial Times, Evening Standard, Independent and Wired. His book Natural Born Learners is a user's guide to transforming learning in the twenty-first century, taking readers on a dazzling global tour into the future of education, from Silicon Valley to Seoul, Helsinki to Hounslow.

       

       

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    • Writing

      Selected articles

      Should parents stop worrying and embrace tech?

      Daily Telegraph

      A review of Jordan Shapiro's fascinating and provocative new book, The New Childhood: Raising Kids to Thrive in a Connected World, which argues that we should stop worrying and learn to love tech

      The world is changing, and schools must keep up

      Evening Standard

      This week children nationwide are travelling back in time. After a long summer of sharing on Snapchat and surfing YouTube, they’re skipping through the school gates for the first day of a new school year

      China’s children are its secret weapon in the AI arms race

      Wired

      China wants to be the world leader in artificial intelligence by 2030. To get there, it's reinventing the way children are taught

      How babies learn – and why robots can’t compete​

      Guardian

      If we could understand how the infant mind develops, it might help every child reach their full potential. But seeing them as learning machines is not the answer

      A round-the-world quest to discover the secret of learning

      Financial Times

      “Schooling is not the same as learning,” wrote the authors of the World Bank’s World Development Report for 2018, the first of its kind to be devoted entirely to education

      Fostering exploration and excellence in 21st century schools

      Economist Intelligence Unit

      I spoke to the Economist Intelligence Unit about how our schools can do more to prepare children for the rapid changes they will experience during their lifetimes

      The Open Mind: School in 2030

      Open Education Europa

      Along with Jacob Kestner, I wrote an essay for the European Commission about how in the year 2030 students will continue to go to the school down the road; they’ll begin to go to the school in the cloud.

    • Speaking

      Calendar

       

      2019

      Zeg Festival, Tblisi, June 22nd

      AoC/Jisc Technology Summit, London, June 17th

      CogX, London, June 10th-12th

      Bryanston Education Summit, June 5th

      AIAED, Beijing, May 24th

      5x15, Wilton's Music Hall, April 17th

      5x15, Amsterdam, March 28th

      Girls' Day School Trust, March 14th

      Teesside University, March 7th

      Schools Now, British Council, March 6th

      Whole Education Conference, February 26th

      DLD College, February 26th

      Belfast Metropolitan College, February 11th

      The BETT Show, London, January 24th

       

      2018

      OEB, Berlin, December 7th

      TEDx Youth, Manchester, November 7th

      EduTech Asia, Singapore, October 9th

      CanvasCon, London, October 9th

      Creative Industries Federation, October 10th

      Wimbledon Book Festival, London, October 6th

      How To Academy, London, October 4th

      Altius Society, Oxford, September 29th

      Ashoka, Istanbul, September 27th

      Wigtown Book Festival, Scotland, September 23rd

      Big Education Conversation, Hereford, September 22nd

      World Bank, Belgrade, September 18th

      Shambala Festival, Northants, August 25th

      WeWork Festival, Kent, August 18th

      Edinburgh International Book Festival, August 14th

      5x15 at Wilderness Festival, August 5th

      The Future of Learning, Swansea University, July 17th

      Ways With Words, July 15th

      Learning Revolution, York Festival of Ideas, June 6th

      On Creativity, Hay Festival, May 30th

      Every Child, Hay Festival, May 29th

      Centenary Lecture, Swansea University, April 18th

      5x15, London, April 16th

    • Reviews

      Praise for Natural Born Learners

       

      'A manual on how to successfully grow a kid’s brain' (Ruby Wax, Author of FRAZZLED)

       

      'A dazzlingly fast-paced journey through the classrooms and laboratories of the globe in an attempt to tackle the Big Questions of our age' (Melissa Benn, NEW STATESMAN)

       

      'Readers should accompany Beard on his travels, because after myriad engaging anecdotes and encounters, he arrives at conclusions with universal relevance' (Miranda Green FINANCIAL TIMES)

      'One of the most optimistic, thought-provoking, and ambitious educational books of recent years' (Geoff Barton, TES)

      'A timely and passionate book on the need for a global educational renaissance' (Jane Shilling MAIL ON SUNDAY)

       

      'Lively and provocative ... Beard is inspirational on the capabilities of the brain' (Helen Brown, DAILY TELEGRAPH)

       

      'A grand tour, looking for what works in an era in which traditional educational models bump up against acute societal change' (Rebecca Asher, TLS)

      'Wide-ranging, often humorous, and consistently fascinating' (Stephanie Cross THE LADY)

       

      'Vital and vitalising, this is an incredibly important book' (Owen Sheers, METRO)


      'Fascinating' (Fiona Millar, GUARDIAN)
       

      'Really excellent' (Philip Pullman, Author, on an extract in the GUARDIAN)

       

    • Projects

      I run a lab for the future of learning

      Global Learning Lab

      I'm a Senior Director of the Global Learning Lab at Teach For All, a global network of independent organizations working on six continents to develop the teachers, school leaders and policymakers who'll transform learning.

       

      The Global Learning Lab launched in 2018, with the aim of facilitating, capturing and spreading learning and innovations and best practices in system-level and classroom-level reforms, within and beyond our global network.

      London Screen Academy

      I'm on the board of the One Day Trust, home of the London Screen Academy. It's a brand new sixth form academy opening September 2019, LSA will enable 16-19 year olds to access the screen industries or progress to higher education through high quality learning within a diverse, accepting and supportive community.

      Black Mountains College

      I'm an advisor to Black Mountains College, a new university in rural Wales. Dedicated to creativity, experimental learning and adaptive thinking, BMC will offer undergraduate and further education courses and professional development for teachers. It will produce undergraduates, skilled craftspeople and teachers schooled in creative methods and the latest technologies ready to confront the huge challenges facing our future generations.

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      Contact

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    © 2018

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