Sean McDougall
Managing Director - Stakeholder Design, London, England

Sean McDougall is MD of Stakeholder Design, an international design agency that helps clients transform their education and public service provision.
Sean has over 10 years experience in the transformation of political, social and educational outcomes. He was a founder member of the UK Department for Education and Skills Schools Design Advisory Council, which is overseeing the implementation of Building Schools for the Future and the Academies programme. He has helped a number of organisations to improve their dialogue with young people. Recent activities include a major Demos/Government of Finland debate on education for a global economy, the keynote speech for the Learning for the Future section of the 2006 National Association of Head Teachers conference and a three month tour of the world's most innovative learning environments.
Prior to establishing Stakeholder Design, Sean was Campaign Leader for Learning Environments at the UK’s Design Council. Here, he was responsible for a Government-funded investigation of how to use design to improve educational outcomes. The result, Schools Renaissance, changed the way in which schools across England think of themselves. Its revolutionary new process of user-led design allowed teachers and students to co-design their own outcomes rather than commissioning specialist suppliers. Outcomes from the campaign included new types of furniture, 360 degree flexible classrooms, new approaches to teaching and learning, a new magazine on educational renewal and the wonderful Designmyschool.com
Sean is presently working with the DfES as part of the ‘Project Faraday’ team helping to design better science learning experiences. He is also working with Futurelab to create an ‘intelligent fountain’ shaped and developed by primary school children. He spends much of the rest of his time helping public bodies and commercial organisations to transform their effectiveness and approach to the use of space. His particular interest is in the link between educational and social/ commercial renewal.

Keynote address: The end of the citadel? From make do to make new.

 In this multi-media talk, Sean will be discussing how other countries are approaching the renewal (and, in some cases, replacement) of their educational models in preparation for the challenges posed by globalisation and the emergence of a knowledge economy. Using examples from Denmark, Ireland, Singapore, the UK and New Zealand, he will explore some methodologies that can improve the effectiveness of decision-making and ‘future proof’ learning, and he will suggest that the institutional models that were created to serve the industrial age are now being surpassed in exactly the same way that the 1950s supercomputer gave way to laptops and mobile phones.

The future of teaching and learning may be unknown, but its shape can change depending on whether or not we play an active role in inventing it. Referencing schools located in shopping centres, new approaches to science teaching and learning, education of minority groups and intelligent fountains, Sean will outline three key strategies that will help any educational leader to design the future:

• Design based on what you don’t know;
• Design for how as well as where;
• Design with users, not for them.

He will finish by suggesting that educationalists can learn much about remaining relevant from the blue chip companies of the corporate world. According to the UK Design Council, companies that embrace design thinking at strategic level have outperformed their competitors by 200% over the last ten years. Sean will show how a user-led design process, focused on strategy and services rather than appearance, can deliver similar levels of improvement in public services.

Session available for video download and streaming

Notes from Activity

Maret Staron
Manager, TAFE NSW International Centre for VET Teaching and Learning
Sydney, Australia

Maret is the Manager of the TAFE NSW International Centre for VET, Teaching and Learning which supports capability development in TAFE NSW, as well as project managing the Capability Building Program of the Australian Flexible Learning Framework. Maret’s interest lies in ensuring that change and leadership is about the individual as much as the structure of organisations. She has a strong understanding of a broad range of theoretical perspectives that inform organisational development and leadership, and is committed to researching learning and development in vocational education and training. Her latest research in partnership with DEST has been on designing professional development for the Knowledge Era. The key findings are on life based learning and strength based approaches and strategies.

Keynote Address: Mysteries, metaphors and mindsets - unlocking capability development in the Knowledge Era.

More so than ever before, business viability depends on the human factor – on the capability of its workforce and the ability to innovate, collaborate, generate and share knowledge. We require dynamic and adaptable learning systems and the capacity to support learners designing their own learning. Some learning approaches are familiar to us, others challenge us to explore beyond what we know. Conversations, appreciative inquiry, positive deviance, disruptive technologies and talent management – are all emerging strategies supporting a strength based approach to capability development. Life based learning provides a framework for a way forward. The message is that there is no one-way or no best model for working and learning in the Knowledge Era. We are challenged to think beyond the familiar and to recognise, value and celebrate ‘humanness’, while investing in the characteristics that define a learning and working ecology.

Presentation slides (7MB PPT)
Presentation slides (1.8MB PDF)

Audio recording (47 minutes, 43MB MP3)

Session available for video download and streaming

Summary findings from envelope activity

Terry Barnett
Chief Executive, NorthTec, Tai Tokerau Wananga

Kerene Strochnetter
Cluster Chair (Active Health & Wellness) and Regional Mentor, NorthTec, Tai Tokerau Wananga

NorthTec is a New Zealand polytechnic and is the principal tertiary education provider in the northern peninsula of the North Island.

Terry is a member of the Ministry of Education Tertiary e-Learning Reference Group and e-Learning Advisory Board.  He was a member of the working party which prepared the Highways and Pathways report in 2002.  In the period since 2003, under Terry’s leadership NorthTec has placed flexible delivery at the core of its strategic development path.

Kerene became interested in flexible learning as a way to offer nursing education through the Northland region. She project managed the successful development of the Bachelor of Nursing programme which was approved for blended delivery in November 2006.

Gareth Morgan and Toni Horrell also helped to deliver NorthTec's presentation.

Keynote address: Practical development of flexible learning in a regionally located New Zealand Polytechnic.

Presentation: Flash Video with Audio