Mark Thomson
Mark Thomson is a learning design specialist and consultant with extensive experience in education for sustainable development (ESD), systems thinking, and transformative pedagogy. He holds two master’s degrees, in Educational Leadership and in Neuroscience-informed Educational Design. His work focuses on creating meaningful, learner-centred experiences that integrate sustainability, global citizenship, and real-world problem solving. As a consultant with the Aga Khan Foundation's Learning Hub, he supports the development of strategic learning partnerships between the international development and education sectors, helping to connect innovative practice across diverse contexts.
The neuroscience of unlearning
We had a lot of comments and discussion around our article on learn, unlearn and relearn. It seems that many in our community have personal experience around this process, and the diversity of these experiences fascinates us. So what is unlearning really about and why do we need to talk about it with learners?
Cultural diversity and the gap between schools and learners
Kristin Leong’s Roll Call project in 2017 was a stark statement on the diversity gap between learners and teachers. Conducted in the USA, the project looked at the differences between public school teachers and learners, and asked two questions.
Blended learning can be so much more
Learning how, when and where you want it sounds like an advert for programmes designed by Artificial Intelligence. With a personal learning paradigm, however, blended learning can be so much more than bots and bytes. Read on to find out how Learnlife at Home is meeting this challenge in the most human of ways.
The word and the why - the broken language of learning
At Learnlife, we are conscious of how we use words to describe learning, because we believe we have a responsibility to be part of something better. Join us on an exploration of the word, and the power it has to take us forward.
What is Your Ikigai?
We talk a lot about Ikigai at Learnlife, as a way of distinguishing something beyond passion or purpose. Ikigai is really your reason for being, and the thing that gives you direction and motivation, but we thought we would take this opportunity to zoom in a little bit more on the concept, and why it is at the heart of what we do.
Wellbeing for children is not a priority, but THE priority.
As governments and institutions rush to respond to the post-pandemic landscape in education, wellbeing for children is finally at the heart of policy. Dig just a bit deeper, however, and you’ll see that the majority of these strategies are temporary reactions. We discuss why wellbeing is the fundamental priority of learning environments and why that commitment needs to be permanent.
Neuroscience and the joy of learning
Last month, we wrote about the neuroscience of learning and we gave fair warning that we would return to the topic. Sooner than you thought, perhaps, but we just couldn't wait. We wanted to zoom in on one particular area, and that is the joy of learning.
7 Questions About Numeracy at Learnlife
Maths trauma is a real thing, and that should be an alarm bell for the way numeracy is approached in the traditional education system. From balancing our books to balancing our tables, numeracy skills are functional skills we need in today’s world. So how do we approach numeracy at Learnlife? What exactly is “soccermatics”? We put 7 questions to Learning Guide Adria Balcazar and got an exponential return.
The neuroscience of learning - 3 things we need to tell to learners and parents
The neuroscience of learning is starting to come of age. Much is still speculation, but more and more conclusions are being widely accepted. Here are three things we feel parents and educators ought to know about the brain.