This is a newsroom ThinkIn. In-person and digital-only tickets are available.
This event is exclusive to Friends of Tortoise
We all thought that the academic year was as immovable as Christmas. But Covid-19 changed everything. Then the Black Lives Matter protests exploded and now people are questioning not just how we learn, but what we learn.
So on Thursday 25 June, we're delighted to invite you to the Tortoise Education Summit – a day of ThinkIns exploring the future of education.
Even before these momentous weeks, there were nagging questions about our education system and its fitness for the 21st Century and beyond. Are exams really the best measure of human ability? Are our curricula right for the difficult years to come when climate change, sustainable economics and basic kindness will be pivotal? Should schools help people be happy, as well as economically productive?
Revolutions can be born of disruption. Is now the time for a radical rethink?
Join us for the first ever Tortoise Education Summit on Thursday 25 June. One ticket gives you access to all the sessions at the summit but, just like an in-person conference, you can join for as much or as little as you like on the day.
Help us to capture the lessons of Covid-19, call out the long-standing structural problems that we’ve been too scared to touch and consider the potential for a better future education system.
Our special guests include:
We have some amazing speakers from around the world.
- George the Poet, spoken word artist
- Baroness Valerie Amos, Director of SOAS
- Andreas Schleicher, director of education from the OECD
- Pasi Sahlberg, the Finnish educationalist
- Cami Anderson, the former Newark high school superintendent
- Jo Johnson, the former higher education minister
- Lavinya Stennett, founder of The Black Curriculum
- Kate Clanchy, author and poet
- Lord Bob Kerslake, previously head of the civil service
Chris Cook, our partner and editor and previously policy editor at Newsnight, will be helping host the event along with Polly Curtis, previously education editor at the Guardian.
This event is being hosted in partnership with Santander; our knowledge partners are the Nuffield Foundation and 2020 Delivery.
Sessions include:
- Which is the best education system in the world? Reformers from the OECD, Finland and the Global South make their case.
- Should we abolish exams? Some argue the testing regime is past its sell-by date and there needs to be a better way to assess human abilities.
- How do we break the link between inequality and educational outcomes? Exam results across the world are tightly linked to social class and poverty. Why is this and how can we make education systems fairer?
- How can we plan for the death of the job for life? What are the changes in society and the economy that demand re-skilling for longer working lives?
- Can – and should – we train people to be happy? What should be on the curriculum for the future: traditional subjects, climate activism or happiness training?
How to join this event
The Tortoise Education Summit is open to members of Tortoise and specially invited guests
Try Tortoise free for four weeks to unlock your complimentary tickets to all our digital ThinkIns.
If you’re already a member and looking for your ThinkIn access code you can find it in the My Tortoise > My Membership section of the app next to ‘ThinkIn access code’.
One ticket gives you access to all sessions at the Summit. You will receive an email from Eventbrite nearer the time with all the information you’ll need to join the discussions, including the Zoom link. Just like an in-person conference, you’ll be able to choose which session(s) you’d like to join on the day.
We'd love you to join us.