Speakers

We hope you'll join us in Philadelphia, PA, to see this inspiring and insightful collection of speakers. Thursday evening's session will feature three shorter keynotes onThree Perspectives on the Future of Education
 

2020 General Sessions

Jonathan Haidt

Jonathan Haidt

Thursday, February 27, 9:30 - 10:45 AM
The Coddling of The American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure

Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist who is widely considered to be one of the world’s leading experts on the psychology of morality. His early research radically transformed the field, pulling it away from its earlier focus on moral reasoning. Haidt showed that moral intuitions and emotions come first—flashes of gut feelings that people then strive to justify, after the fact. This explains why it is so difficult to win a moral argument with good reasoning. Haidt’s research has helped people to understand those who differ from them morally—not just across nations, but across the political divide within each nation. In his latest work, he is applying his research on moral psychology to the study of business ethics. He is developing tools and techniques that leaders can use to improve the ethical functioning, trust and ultimately profitability of their companies.

Haidt is the author of more than 90 academic articles and two books: The Righteous Mind and The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom.

Idriss Aberkane

Idriss Aberkane

Thursday, February 27, 3:30 - 5:00 PM
Idriss Aberkane is part of a three-part session on Thursday afternoon. 
Idriss Aberkane is President of the Bioniria Foundation (Swiss Foundation for Bioinspiration), President of General Bionics SA, President of Chréage SA and Founder of the zero interest microcredit operator Eirin International in Senegal (which planted more than 20,000 trees and accompanies more than 40 families in the Senegal River Valley).

Holder of three doctorates including one of the polytechnic at 29, he was Visiting Scholar of Stanford University at 21 years. He has given more than 440 lectures worldwide, in three languages, and his book Liberate Your Brain has been translated into Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Greek and Russian, Italian, Spanish, Hungarian, Dutch, Greek.
 
Three Perspectives on the Future of Education

Three Perspectives on the Future of Education

Thursday, February 27, 3:30 - 5:00 PM
Join Irshad Manji, Idriss Aberkane, and Yong Zhao for Three Perspectives on the Future of Education on Thursday afternoon at the conference. 

A New York Times bestselling author, professor, and media personality, Irshad Manji teaches at Oxford University's Initiative for Global Ethics and Human Rights. She is also founder of Moral Courage College, which equips people to do the right thing in the face of their fears. Her latest book, Don't Label Me, shows how all of us can reclaim our humanity—and each other's—in a time of trenchant tribalism.

Idriss Aberkane is President of the Bioniria Foundation (Swiss Foundation for Bioinspiration), President of General Bionics SA, President of Chréage SA and Founder of the zero interest microcredit operator Eirin International in Senegal (which planted more than 20,000 trees and accompanies more than 40 families in the Senegal River Valley).

Yong Zhao is Foundations Distinguished Professor in the School of Education with an appointment in the School of Business at the University of Kansas. He is also the Global Chair Professor of Education at East China Normal University, a global chair professor at the University of Bath in the U.K., and a Professorial Fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Education Policy at Victoria University, Australia.
Yong Zhao

Yong Zhao

Thursday, February 27, 3:30 - 5:00 PM
Yong Zhao is part of a three-part session on Thursday afternoon. 
Yong Zhao is Foundations Distinguished Professor in the School of Education with an appointment in the School of Business at the University of Kansas. He is also the Global Chair Professor of Education at East China Normal University, a global chair professor at the University of Bath in the U.K., and a Professorial Fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Education Policy at Victoria University, Australia. Prior to joining University of Kansas, he served as the Presidential Chair, Director of the Institute for Global and Online Education, and Associate Dean in the College of Education, University of Oregon, where he was also a Professor in the Department of Educational Measurement, Policy, and Leadership. He is also a professorial fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Health and Education Policy, Victoria University in Australia. 

Yong Zhao has published over 100 articles and 30 books, including Reach for Greatness: Personalizable Education for all Children (2018), Counting What Counts: Reframing Education Outcomes (2016), Never Send a Human to Do a Machine’s Job: Correcting Top 5 Ed Tech Mistakes (2015), Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon: Why China has the Best (and Worst) Education System in the World (2014), Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization (2009), and World Class Learners: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students (2012).

Yong Zhao has received numerous awards including the Early Career Award from the American Educational Research Association, Outstanding Public Educator from Horace Mann League of USA, and Distinguished Achievement Award in Professional Development from the Association of Education Publishers. He is an elected fellow of the International Academy for Education and is recognized as one of the most influential education scholars.

Zhao was born in China’s Sichuan Province. He received his B.A. in English Language Education from Sichuan Institute of Foreign Languages in 1986. After teaching English in China for six years, he came to Linfield College as a visiting scholar in 1992. He then began his graduate studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1993 and received his A.M. in Education in 1994 and Ph.D. in 1996. He joined the faculty at MSU in 1996 after working as the Language Center Coordinator at Willamette University and a language specialist at Hamilton College.
Angie Thomas

Angie Thomas

Friday, February 28, 9:30 - 10:45 AM
The Hate U Give: Finding Your Activism and Turning the Political into the Personal

Angie Thomas was born, raised, and still resides in Jackson, Mississippi as indicated by her accent. She is a former teen rapper whose greatest accomplishment was an article about her in Right-On Magazine with a picture included. She holds a BFA in Creative Writing from Belhaven University and an unofficial degree in Hip Hop. She can also still rap if needed.

She is an inaugural winner of the Walter Dean Myers Grant 2015, awarded by We Need Diverse Books. Her award-winning, acclaimed debut novel, The Hate U Give, is a #1 New York Times bestseller and major motion picture from Fox 2000, starring Amandla Stenberg and directed by George Tillman, Jr. Her second novel, On the Come Up, is on sale now.

Gretchen Rubin

Gretchen Rubin

Friday, February 28, 3:30 - 4:45 PM
Four Tendencies: The Key to Better Habits

Gretchen Rubin is one of today’s most influential and thought-provoking observers of happiness and human nature. She’s known for her ability to distill and convey complex ideas with humor and clarity, in a way that’s accessible to a wide audience.

She’s the author of many books, including the blockbuster The New York Times bestsellers The Four Tendencies, Better Than Before, and The Happiness Project. She has an enormous readership, both in print and online, and her books have sold almost three million copies worldwide, in more than thirty languages. (The Happiness Project spent two years on the bestseller list.)

2020 Master Classes

Jonathan Haidt (Master Class)

Jonathan Haidt (Master Class)

Thursday, February 27, 11:30 AM–1:30 PM
PCC, 126A
Educators in the Crossfire: Investigating Conflict and Creating a Culture of Resilience
In this two-hour master class, we will dig deeper into the ideas from Haidt’s earlier keynote. The session will be aimed at administrators and teachers who sit in the crossfire of many stakeholders who make conflicting demands, many of which are impossible to satisfy. We will cover topics including identifying your purpose and crafting a moral narrative about your school that can anchor your policies and your responses to conflicts and challenges; identifying the various “moral matrices” and sacred values of various stakeholders; making “antifragility” a guiding principle of policies and pedagogy; understanding the causes of the epidemic of teen anxiety and depression, investigating social media’s role in exacerbating issues, and inviting your Gen Z students to draft policies with you.  
Michele Mattoon (Master Class)

Michele Mattoon (Master Class)

Friday, February 28, Noon–3:15 PM
PCC, 126A
Techniques for Building Belonging in the Classroom
Research shows that students who feel a strong sense of belonging among their peers and feel valued by their teachers are able to engage more fully in learning. However, a recent study indicates that one out of every five students report that they have a problem fitting in at school, and only half the students surveyed enjoy being at school. This master class will help you foster a belonging mindset and learn more about the impact belonging has on students’ academic achievement and general level of happiness. You will leave with immediately usable activities and protocols specifically created for this purpose.
Presenters: Michele Mattoon, Luci Englert McKean, and Laura Beth Wayne, National School Reform Faculty