14th WEEK – PROGRAM
Education, Vision, Innovation and Openness

Adaeze Okika
Nigeria - USA
TRADUCTION

Anil K Gupta
India
TRADUCTION

Bernadette Dullin
France
TRADUCTION

Mike Hynes
USA
TRADUCTION
She is an educationist, capacity development, Gender advocate and knowledge management expert, who develops programs, strategies, and organizes education and training, carries out research, and ensures successful implementation of initiatives especially on education in community classroom, peace, women, girls, children and school support programs. Her strengths in developing ideas into programs and building top-performing initiatives have earned her repeated commendations and formal recognition from colleagues and peers.
Dr Ada is Global Director at Centre for Transformative Advancement of Development for Africa CTADA, an initiative of the Center for SDG Global Education USA, Rector of Ruth Sisters Fellowship International, a Fellowship resolved to educate, empower, and support a sister in building a character generation for the Kingdom of God.
Dr Ada Okika is the UN Coordinator for Africana Women Working Group at the UN, a coalition of NGOs in Special Consultative Status with Economic and Social Council and Chancellor, YOUTHGETHER Global, an project for engaging youth for the decade of Action. Dr. Ada Okika is very passionate about what she does and is determined to ensure that women and girls, youth and children, education in community classrooms, Culture of Peace and grassroots issues are achieved positively well for the 2030 Agenda. She has spoken at many conferences on these issues. She has spoken at the President of the UNGA75 Session UN High Level Forum of The Culture of Peace.
She aspires to do more and hopes that her accomplishments and many more to come will be remembered in history as a model for generations. In her words: “Lets Step-up Action for the Future we want for our Generation” is what drives her efforts and commitment to what she knows how to do well.

Conference
Which vision for rural education in the world?
As the global community remain uncertain about the COVID19 pandemic, countries still being forced into new lock-downs, the education system at all levels fails to produce quality and inclusive education. Cognitive, affective, and psychomotor learning are yet to be included in the growing trend of the New Normal in schools. Stakeholders in education across the world are continuing to draw attention to the immense value of education, families and communities, national development, not to speak of the United Nations Decade of Action.
Time has come to be a wake-up call – to make education systems more resilient to crises, and more inclusive, flexible, and sustainable to innovation, to the expansion of new frontiers and learning possibilities in communities of developing nations. We need to explore how best we can all team up to ensure quality and inclusive education for lifelong learning and willingness to ensure sustainable learning steadiness.
An Indian scholar in the area of grassroots innovations, he is the founder of the Honey Bee Network, SRISTI, GIAN and NIF
Member of the World Academy of Art and Science, NAAS, INSA and ISAE.
He is seen as a pioneer in the field of grassroots innovations, in which his contribution includes documenting people’s knowledge with the help of teams of volunteers spread across India. He helps grassroots innovators and communities build on their knowledge systems by providing help in filing patents, promoting scientific validation of these innovations by involving government scientific institutes and private individuals and bodies and facilitating tie-ups with entrepreneurs and industrial groups.
He is known for crafting innovative courses for students at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. One of his most popular courses included shodh yatra, under which he took management students to different parts of the country to learn from local communities and study their knowledge systems. This course was derived from his larger concept of walking through the length and breadth of the country, interacting with farmers, traditional knowledge holders, grassroots innovators, innovative students, etc., which he named shodh yatra (meaning ‘research walk’). It started in May 1998 in the western Indian province of Gujarat.
He plans to set up Global GIAN to scout and support grassroots innovators around the world and link them with educational institutions, pedagogies and platforms.
Conference
Pedagogy of the neglected innovator : seeing beyond the obvious
Lessons from Shodhyatras… Funding of bypassed regions & communities… Social, economic, cultural, educational, institutional & ecological entrepreneurs.
Shodh Yatra is to undertake a journey for the search of knowledge, creativity, and innovations at the grassroots. It is an attempt, on the part of Honey Bee Network and organized by SRISTI, to reach out to the most remote parts of the country with a firm belief that the hardship and challenges of natural surroundings are prime motivators of creativity and innovations. Shodh Yatra aims at unearthing such traditional knowledge and grassroots innovations. It is also a journey of mutual exchange and sharing of knowledge.
Whatever knowledge and practices that we have pooled in, over the years are shared with the villagers during the Shodh Yatra. We also share the Honey Bee database with the villagers. Shodh Yatra is also a journey undertaken to spread green consciousness and we do it by involving women and children to display their ecological knowledge through various competitions.
Bernadette Dullin is passionate about children and education.
She has a university degree in Mathematics and Psychology.
Designer of workshops to develop emotional and relational intelligence (theatre, philosophy, teenage debates, etc.)… and designer of trainers’ courses for school support, school coaching and family coaching.
Author of the book “Au secours mon enfant a des devoirs”
After an experience as a pedagogical advisor, she decided to design fun and efficient tools for primary and secondary school children to put a little happiness in their learning.
She then created the publishing company HAPPYPARENTS with her husband and the first books published were for learning multiplication tables and conjugation, now used in over 20 countries.
“I never chose my profession; it always imposed itself on me.
My dream at the time was to make all children happy and intelligent.
The important thing was to make young people responsible,
dynamic, positive, confident in themselves and in their future.”
Conférence
What if the school of tomorrow functioned like a big family?
Let’s create this place where learning is made fun and children participate а the real life of the school
50 years of experience in inventing all sorts of tools and solutions to help children learn the various subjects, led Bernadette to develop a vision of a living school, OPEN TO LIFE, just like at home! … As at home, children help with the organisation of the school, with meals, with the organisation of events and parties, with respect for peace … Like at home, there are adventures and surprises… creative and enriching encounters with elders, entrepreneurs and neighbourhood associations…
Dr. Michael Hynes works as a Superintendent in New York. He is a Fulbright Specialist and an associate professor of education and leadership at Stony Brook University and Long Island University. His mission is to spread the message of the importance of a holistic approach to educating children around the world. He emphasizes the importance of play, recess in schools, mental health and yoga and mindfulness in the classroom. Dr. Hynes is a former assistant superintendent, principal and teacher.
He’s also a TEDx and keynote speaker who is the author of the book Staying Grounded: 12 Principles for Transforming School Leader effectiveness. Dr. Hynes has published numerous articles and has been featured on over 30 podcasts related to school leadership and education. Recently, Michael was featured in the documentary Chasing Childhood. Hynes has focused his work on transforming schools by focusing on wellness, which articulated the significance of social, emotional, physical and cognitive development for students. He also develops strategic plans for schools and school districts. Dr. Hynes educates organizations on global school initiatives and universal best practices and has worked with the Finnish school system.
Hynes received his undergraduate degree in psychology from Bethany College and his doctorate in educational administration from Dowling College. He has undergone professional training to integrate organizational learning and school leadership into programs at New York University, Stony Brook University and Harvard University. Dr. Hynes has been awarded the “Friend of Education Award” and the “Distinguished Leadership Award” by Phi Delta Kappa as well as the Visionary Leadership Award from the Family and Children’s Association.
Conference
Can this 12-step program from Finland aid education around the world?
Why should we bother to learn from a small country of just 5.5 million people that is less diverse than America, and that has a history very different from our own? Finland may have the world’s best schools, though they are far from perfect. But to ignore education insights from Finland would be a huge mistake. Let’s discuss 12 simple things all schools can do.