GELP was founded over a decade ago to support public education leaders who were grappling with the challenges of the future.
For more information: https://www.gelponline.org
Contact information: gelp@innovationunit.org
What are a few takeaways from 2020 that you will take into 2021?
In the early 21st century, teams of leaders from every continent have come together to question what societal, environmental and technological change meant for our school systems, in terms of why, what and how we educate. Those in leadership positions need spaces where they can confidently explore the challenges we face; but beyond that, they need to see how to pursue the transformative change that is needed in the practical context in which they seek to lead. GELP has made this possible by creating a series of convenings in more than 14 locations across the world, and now virtually, where this can be done in the context of expert facilitation, global scanning, participative engagement, and between-convening networks. A particularly vibrant chapter of GELP exists in Australia; and from 2020, GELP is partnering with Learning Planet in order to reach more leaders, develop its vision, and build better tools for engineering change.
Why celebrate learning?
Celebrating learning is vital, because in the face of multiple global challenges, we are starting to create learning systems that are human centred, building our individual and collective capacity to be complex problem solvers and ethical decision makers – to be responsible local and global citizens. The purpose of learning and the what, the how, the where, and with whom we learn is the dominant international dialogue. It is informed by advances in the learning sciences, by eco system thinking and action, by new forms of assessment and credentialing and by new measures of success. It is a dialogue producing new design principles for the learning systems of tomorrow. Celebrating learning helps educators, allied professionals and key stakeholders to combine forces to drive a learning agenda for a thrivable future.
What are you most looking forward to regarding the upcoming #LP Festival?
The #LP Festival will be an extraordinary snapshot of the world learning together at a critical moment: 200 partners on a single platform, asking how individuals, communities, societies and the planet can flourish through learning. GELP will be supporting the festival’s central aim: to showcase and celebrate education innovation, with a global community that is catalysing, pioneering and debating change. But as education leaders, we also value the festival’s wider commitments, both to ensuring that education change serves the Covid-19 generation and to finding effective approaches to scaling that change, through workshops, the launch of new initiatives and a range of partner events. In challenging times, #LP Festival offers hope and new thinking for this generation and the next.