Does education matter? If so what do we need to learn to make a difference?

Join Alex Beard, Senior Director of the Global Learning Lab at Teach for All and author of Natural Born Learners; Jonathan Black, Director of the Careers Service at Oxford University; Kellogg Fellow Dr Therese N. Hopfenbeck, Professor of Educational Assessment, Director of the Oxford University Centre for Educational Assessment; Libby Hills, EdTech Hub's specialist network and MSc student in Digital and Social Change at Oxford; and chair Dr Helen Carasso, Honorary Norham Fellow at the Department of Education, University of Oxford, as they discuss the question, 'Does education matter and if so, what do we need to learn to make a difference?'

The discussion will be followed by a Q & A session.

Hosted both in-person and online, this event is free and open to all. Booking is required.

There will be refreshments served from 5 pm in the College Hub.

Please note, this event will be recorded.

About the speakers

Alex Beard

Alex started out as a teacher in London, before joining Teach For All, a growing network of organizations working in sixty countries worldwide to ensure all children fulfil their potential, where he now heads the Global Learning Lab. He's fortunate to spend his time travelling the world in search of the future of learning, and has written about his experiences for the Guardian, Financial Times, and Wired. He presented The Learning Revolution, a three part series on the future of education for BBC Radio 4, and is the author of Natural Born Learners, a guide to transforming learning in the twenty-first century.

Jonathan Black

Jonathan Black has been Director of the Careers Service at Oxford University since 2008 after a broad career including in blue-chip management consultancy, international academic publishing, and co-founding a successful medical publishing start-up.

Jonathan coaches students one-to-one, runs workshops and seminars for groups of undergraduates and postgraduates, trains colleagues, and devises new and innovative programmes that provide hands-on experiences for students. He works with senior academics to explore how the Careers Service can support academic work, presents at seminars and conferences in the UK, Europe, Australia, South Africa, and the USA, and runs research programmes on what is required in order to secure a graduate-level job.

Jonathan writes the fortnightly, ‘Dear Jonathan’ column for readers’ careers questions in the Financial Times, and produced three short careers videos for the FT in July 2018 and anchored six 10-minute FT/YouTube careers videos launched in April 2019. His recent book, ‘How to find the Career you’ve always wanted’ was described by Baroness Gillian Shephard as, ‘One of the most practical and comprehensible career guides ever produced.’

Outside the Careers Service, Jonathan is a Fellow and Tutor for Welfare at New College, Oxford, Chair of the Oxford University spin-out, Skylark Works, and member of the Oxford Alumni Society Board.

Therese N. Hopfenbeck

Therese N. Hopfenbeck is professor of Educational Assessment, Director of the Oxford University Centre for Educational Assessment and fellow at Kellogg College. She is the elected Vice-President of The Association for Educational Assessment-Europe and Lead Editor of the journal Assessment in Education, Principle, Policy and Practice.

Dr Hopfenbeck’s research agenda focuses upon bridging research on self-regulation and classroom-based assessment and making sense of international large-scale studies in education.

Libby Hills

Libby has over ten years of experience working in classrooms and schools in multiple education systems globally. She’s particularly interested in the relationship between learning and technology, and the use of EdTech. Libby is part of the EdTech Hub, who build the global evidence base and provide advice about the use of technology in education, specialist network and is pursuing a MSc in Digital and Social Change here at Oxford. This builds on her experiences as a secondary school teacher in London (how she started her career in education) and work as Chief Technical Officer for PEAS, an award winning network of 35 schools working to expand access to quality secondary education in sub-Saharan Africa. Libby is also a trustee at Lively Minds, a fast growing education charity focused on early childhood development.

Dr Helen Carasso

Helen Carasso is a committed lifelong learner, having completed a professional qualification or degree in every decade of her life from her 20s. She has extensive professional experience in higher education (HE) - in marketing, public relations, student recruitment, widening participation and admissions - and, since completing her doctorate in HE policy more than 10 years ago, teaches and researches in this field. In parallel, she maintains her operational knowledge of the sector, working in consultancy roles or interim positions within UK HE. Helen is an Honorary Norham Fellow in the Department of Education at the University of Oxford.