JONATHAN BERGMANN

USA

21st Century Literacies Learning Innovations

Jon Bergmann is one of the pioneers of the Flipped Classroom Movement. He is leading the worldwide adoption of flipped learning through the Flipped Learning Global Initiative (FLGI) flglobal.org. He is working with governments, schools, corporations, and education non-profits. Jon has coordinated and guided flipped learning projects around the globe. Locations include: China, Taiwan, Korea, Australia, the Middle East, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Canada, South America, and the United States.
Jon is the author of nine books including the bestselling book: Flip Your Classroom which has been translated into 13 languages. He is the founder of the global FlipCon conferences which are dynamic engaging events which inspire educators to transform their practice through flipped learning.
He spent 24 years as a middle and high school science teacher before becoming the lead technology facilitator for a school district in the Chicago suburbs. Jon is a master storyteller, captivating audiences around the globe. He has a knack for taking complex things and simplifying them through story and humor. Jon hosts a radio show, The Flip Side, He also has a popular YouTube Channel with over three million views.
In 2002, Jon received the Presidential Award for Excellence for Math and Science Teaching; and in 2010, he was named Semi-Finalist for Colorado Teacher of the Year. He serves on the advisory board for TED-Education. In 2013, was named one of Tech & Learning's 10 Most Influential People of the Year, and was also a finalist for the Brock International Prize for Education and winner for the 2013 Bammy Award presented by the Academy of Education Arts and Sciences.

JENNIFER PEI-LING TAN

SINGAPORE

Assistant Dean (Knowledge Mobilisation), Research Scientist (Creativity, 21st Century Literacies and Learning)

Dr. Jennifer Pei-Ling Tan is the Assistant Dean (Knowledge Mobilisation), Research Scientist (Creativity, 21st Century Literacies and Learning), and Co-Convenor of the Creativity and 21st Century Competencies Research Task Force at the Office of Education Research, NIE, Singapore.
Having spent the early years of her professional life in the assurance and business advisory field with firms such as Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young, Dr. Tan brings a unique combination of business, strategy and management skills to bear in her current role as an applied educational researcher and innovator.
She now has more than 15 years of professional experience working with schools, governments and industry partners to design, implement, and evaluate technology-enhanced teaching and learning initiatives, across public and private, national and international K-12 and tertiary education sectors in Singapore and Australia.
She holds a strong research portfolio in competitive funding and government-commissioned project. Dr. Tan�s expertises in learning innovations, research methods has led to a number of invited keynotes and speaking engagements in Singapore and internationally, in both academic and industry settings.
These include education innovations for 21st century learning outcomes (IGE, 2013), the potential of big data and learning analytics for transforming teaching and learning (WISE, 2013), and assessing and fostering collaborative creativity and criticality in learners (MOE, 2014; AHS, 2015; NAS, 2015).
private investment firm where she led a small team of educationists to develop, implement and evaluate a suite of curriculum and teacher professional development products aimed at fostering creativity and well-being in learners in low-income Asian countries.
She has served as Global Research Manager at the International Baccalaureate Organisation, a leading not-for-profit education foundation committed to developing internationally-minded and well-rounded young people. Her area of work includes global evaluation studies to examine the impact of IB educational programmes on student learning outcomes and teacher pedagogical practices.
From 2004-2010, as Research Fellow and Manager of the Creative Workforce 2.0 Program at theAustralian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (CCI) in the Queensland University of Technology, Dr. Tan managed several government-contracted and industry-funded projects to implement and evaluate a range of techno-pedagogical and curriculum innovations aimed at promoting creativity and new literacies in students.
In her various roles, she has worked with learners and teachers from a wide range of socio-economic, linguistic and cultural backgrounds, including various marginalised groups such as academically at-risk learners in Singapore and Australia, young refugee and rural migrants from Africa, India and People's Republic of China.
She is deeply the passionate about improving learning and life outcomes of all young people through transformative education.

Dr. David Franklin

USA

Proper Assessment of Student Learning

Topic he is speaking on:Proper assessment of student learning and the attributes of a strong, 21st century school leader.
An Experienced School Admin, twice Principal of the Year, Professor of Ed, Ed Tech Pro, Curriculum Designer, School Board Member, Blogger, Speaker & presenter!
He is the CEO of The Principal's Desk, an experienced school administrator. Dr. Franklin has presented at national and international education conferences and conducts school and district professional development sessions.
He has Administrative and Teaching experience in primary and secondary schools . He is an experienced Adjunct Professor for several universities .
In working together with teachers, parents, community members and students at both the elementary and secondary levels, he has been able to focus learning on site developed goals and created an atmosphere of learning among his students that generated a significant increase in API; increase attendance rates; created Professional Learning Communities focused on academic achievement; implemented a site-based ELD Plan; developed and implemented a strong and successful Response to Intervention model; and increased instructional technology used in classrooms.
He was selected as an ACSA Principal of the Year for the Alum Rock Union Elementary District as well as one of the California League of Middle School's Educator of the Year. Recipient of Mt. Diablo Administrator of the Year award,2014.
Additionally, he works with several universities teaching and designing education courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels in the areas of teacher education, educational leadership, research methods and leadership ethics.

AMIT GOYAL

INDIA

Innovation Specialist EdX India

Amit Goyal, in his new role as the edX India Country Head, will spearhead growth and drive momentum in India with a key focus on strategic alliances and corporate partnerships. Additionally, he will develop and deepen corporate and institute partnerships seeking innovative education options, such as blended learning environments, and cutting-edge technologies
Prior to joining edX, He was with Samsung India Electronics where he managed the education solutions business, creating new products and enabling learning and assessments on secure mobility platforms for enterprises, institutes and universities.
He was also the Vice President of Platform Strategy for Datawind Inc., the makers of Aakash Tablet for Ministry of HRD- Govt. of India and was responsible for adding world-class edutainment content on the cheapest PC tablet in the world. In addition to his strong industry experience,
Amit Goyal, edX India Country Head, added, "I am extremely delighted to be working with edX, I truly believe in its mission and vision of empowering learners and professionals of India. I am proud to take this mission forward as we collaborate with India's educational institutions and corporate networks to strengthen the profiles of edX learners around the world."
He holds a Master's degree in Business from Oxford Brookes University-Oxford, U.K. and a bachelor's degree in IT from BVP, India along-with various business and networking certifications.

RACHNA SHARMA

INDIA

Vice Principal, Silver Oaks - The School of Hyderabad

Rachna is Vice Principal at the Silver Oak School, Hyderabad. She has been in the field of education for the last 18 years. She works towards "inspiring young minds" and derives immense satisfaction by transforming young students into inquisitive learners. The joy of transforming impressionable minds into reflecting and learning young adolescents is unparalleled and gives her a sense of fulfilment. She strives to create learning environments where action-learning happens, with both hearts and minds, so that the learners grow with greater self awareness, independence & empathy for the world around them.
She believes in constant learning and continuous upgrading of skills for sustainability in a fast changing environment. She has attended various workshops in India and abroad, including from Harvard and Berkeley Universities. She has been a military leader's spouse and champions the need for adaptability, learning agility and self reliance. Being a mother of an adult daughter and an adolescent son keeps her rooted to the challenges that our youth and their parents face each day.

MELANIE KELLS

CANADA

Canadian International School Bangalore., St. Thomas University (CA)

"Learn to do by doing" is the motto of 4-H, a youth organisation that Melanie was actively involved in from age nine to twenty-one. It is her philosophy of teaching, too. She believes that modelling what you would like others to do is the best way to achieve results, whether with students or colleagues. She make mistakes, she admits them, and she hopes that her students would do the same.
Teaching, living, and experiencing the cultures of the Canada, United Arab Emirates, China, South Korea, and India since 1997 has allowed Melanie to teach science in a meaningful and purposeful way. Melanie currently lives in Bangalore, India with Shane and their children, Spenser and Braelyn. Since August 2011, she has been the Dean of Studies at Canadian International School Bangalore and has helped to implement a one to one iPads learning environment for students in grade 6-12.

SEETHA MURTY

INDIA

Director Education- Silver Oaks International Schools ( Hyderabad Bangalore Visakhapatnam )

"Destiny of a country begins in its classrooms", is the belief Seetha Murty brings into the learning programs of Silver Oaks International Schools.
She joined Silver Oaks Hyderabad as Principal in 2005 and emerged as Director Education.Having worked in Delhi, Mumbai and Shillong, she comes with diverse experiences and multiple perspectives on Indian education system and the Boards.
With the unique advantage of having taught from pre primary to Grade XII in CBSE Schools across India, she is thorough with National curriculum Framework and it's interpretations by different boards in all subjects at all year levels. Exposure to multicultural, social and geographical fabric of India, enables her to understand the context of schools, aspirations of parents and the needs of students.
By introducing International Baccalaureate program in Silver Oaks, she leveraged the potential of teachers and students to be high performers with a clear profile of character and competence.
Curriculum and Instructional design, teacher training, academic administration, team building and strategic management are her skills. As a leader, she inspires students, teachers, parents and the community professionally and personally. Times of India recognized her as one of the top 3 leaders in the state, in the Lead India Contest.
With Masters in Education and Masters in Political Science, Courses with Harvard and Stanford Universities, many IB workshops, and continuous study on past, present and future of education, she calls herself as the Principal Learner at Silver Oaks.
In recognition of her abilities, IBO selected her to be trained as International educator and she now trains Heads and teachers of International Schools in the Asia Pacific Region. She also inspects International Schools in their PYP standards and practices.
She travelled to Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, to give talks, presentations or conduct training programs at IBO conferences and IB Schools. Visit to schools in Australia motivated her to create a research centre in Silver Oaks and encourage research based teaching and learning through cognitive methods.
As a speaker at three TEDx events, writer, blogger and passionate Himalayan trekker, she makes life a colorful canvas. Taking inspiration from Gandhiji's maxim, "you be the change you wish to see in the world", she creates Silver Oaks Schools as eco systems for inspired learning.

Ms. Irmeli Halinen

FINLAND

Head of the Curriculum Development, Finnish National Board of Education(FNBE)

Andreas Schleicher

France / Germany

Andreas Schleicher is Director for Education and Skills, and Special Advisor on Education Policy to the Secretary-General at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris.

Hanna Ragnarsdottir

ICELAND

Professor School of Education University Of Iceland

Susan Rafik Hama

NEW ZEALAND

School of Education, University of Iceland

Vicki Zakrzewski

USA

Education Director of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkele

Professor Shun-Wing NG

HONG KONG

Department of Education Policy and Leadership, Hong Kong Institute of Education

Pirjo Koivula

FINLAND

Counsellor of Education Curriculum Development Unit, Finnish National Board of Education, Helsinki

Dr. Fred Mednick

USA

Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins University School of Education After more than 20 years as a teacher and principal, Dr. Fred Mednick founded Teachers Without Borders (TWB) in 2000.

Mari-Pauliina

FINLAND

MA (Psychology), postgraduate student (Special Education), Project manager Centre for Educational Assessment University of Helsinki, Finland

Alok Ranjan

India

Alok Ranjan has over 30 years of experience in administrative services. A Delhi University student and a alumnus of IIM(A), Alok Ranjan belongs to the 1978 batch of the IAS.

Raj Shekhar

District Magistrate, Lucknow

Mr. Gopabandhu Pattanaik

India

Co-Chairperson, India Literacy Board,Lucknow

Reena Ray

INDIA

Reena Ray, Addtional Secretary, Dept. of School Education and Literacy,

Dr Jagdish Gandhi

Founder-Manager, CMS

Mr. Jagdish Gandhi founded the City Montessori School (CMS) in 1959 with only 5 students. Today, CMS is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest school by pupils with over 36,000 students on rolls. CMS has also been awarded the highly prestigious UNESCO Prize for Peace Education 2002 - the only school in the world to be honoured with this award. CMS also organizes 24 international events as part of its unique educational philosophy and hundreds of thousands of children from all over the world participate in these events every year. Consequently, the CMS educational model which believes that "School must be the Lighthouse of Society" and which upholds that nurturing spiritual awareness in children must be the central focus of all educational activities, has grown into a veritable school of thought, impacting schools and educational organisations worldwide.

Dr (Mrs) Bharti Gandhi

Founder-Director, CMS

Mrs. Bharti Gandhi's name has become synonymous with City Montessori School and CMS Teachers' Training College in Lucknow. Her sincere devotion towards the education of children, training of teachers, upliftment of women and eradication of social evils, is widely recognized in educational circles. The CMS which she founded together with her husband, Mr. Jagdish Gandhi, now has over 35,000 students, a Guinness World Record for largest number of students in a single city.

Prof Geeta Gandhi Kingdon

UK

Chair, Education Economics & Int. Development, Institute Of Education, London University, UK

Dr. Sunita Gandhi

INDIA

Convenor, EDWW Co-Founder, Council for Global Education, USA

Nurjahan Begum

Managing Director at Grameen Shiksha (Education)
BANGLADESH

Nurjahan begum is currently the Managing Director at Grameen Shiksha (Education). Mrs Begum served as Acting Managing Director of Grameen Bank following the departure of Dr Muhammad Yunus from the post. She was also the First Principal of Grameen Bank Training Institute. She was one of the earliest associates of Professor Muhammad Yunus, when the latter started the Grameen Bank Project in 1976, in the village Jobra in Chittagong district of Bangladesh. She participated in the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit held in Los Angeles in 2007 and was also the President of the Foundation for Justice prize-giving ceremony held in Valencia, Spain in 2007. She was awarded the Susan M. Davis Lifetime Achievement Award 2008 by Grameen Foundation. She was also awarded World Summit Millennium Development Goals Award 2009 and the Vision Award 2009. Mrs. Begum studied Bangla Literature and Culture at Chittagong University.

Kiran Bedi

Indian social activist and a retired Indian Police Service(IPS) officer
India

Kiran Bedi is an Indian social activist and a retired Indian Police Service(IPS) officer. She joined the police service in 1972 and became the first woman officer in the IPS. Her expertise includes more than 35 years of creative & reformative policing & prison management. She worked with the United Nations in New York as the Police Advisor to the Secretary General in the Department of Peace Keeping Operations. She represented India in International forums on crime prevention, drug abuse, police and prison reforms and women’s issues. She is a recipient of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award. She is the founder of two NGOs, Navjyoti and India Vision Foundation, which reach out to thousands of understanding children ,women and men in the areas of education, vocational skills, environment, counseling, and health care to the urban and rural poor, including prisoners and policemen’s children.

Pirjo Koivula

Counsellor of Education Curriculum Development Unit Finnish National Board of Education, Helsinki,
FINLAND

Pirjo Koivula is M.A. in Educational Administration, Research and Planning. She is qualified Primary School and Special Needs Teacher. She has postgraduate studies in Education and Specialist Qualification in Leadership and Management for Educational Administrative Personnel.

She is currently Counsellor of Education in The Finnish National Board of Education in the Curriculum Development Unit. She has the main responsibility of developing the achievement of all learners, special needs and inclusive education on national level. She has worked in cooperation with the Ministry of Education to draft national legislation and has been responsible of drafting the changes in the national core curriculum in the area of pupil support and inclusive education. After that her work was to support the implementation and to continue the Curriculum work in the area of the learning concept and pedagogical methods. Now she is chairing two work groups in new Core Curriculum reform.

She has cooperated with the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs in different development projects in South-Africa, Tanzania and Russia. She is a National Coordinator for Finland of European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education. She is also a Member of Common Board of State owned Approved Schools and a Vice chair of Board of Celia, National Library for the Visually Impaired. She is responsible for developing the state owned resource centres. She has also acted as a country representative in the projects of OECD´s Center for Educational Research and Innovation, CERI and UNESCO IBE.

Pirjo Koivula has also served as Department Head and Director of Education and Social Services in three different cities and before that as a principal.

She has contributed to the elaboration of several publications and strategies on the topic of inclusive education in pre-primary, basic and upper-secondary education. During past years she has had several presentations and keynote speeches in international scientific and professional conferences and seminars.

Shaun Hawthorne

Factors that Create a Visible Change
NEW ZEALAND

Shaun Hawthorne joined the Visible Learning educational consultancy team in February 2014. Shaun has over 20 years experience in working in the secondary schooling sector in New Zealand, most recently as a deputy principal in a co-educational Y9- 13 school in Auckland. Previously, Shaun has been the Head of two English departments and a member of the national executive of the New Zealand Association for Teachers of English (NZATE). Shaun holds a Doctor of Education degree specialising in effective practices in teaching writing.

Dr Manu Kapur

Head of Learning Sciences Lab (LSL)
SINGAPORE

Dr Manu Kapur is Head of Learning Sciences Lab (LSL) at the National Institute of Education (NIE) of Singapore and an Associate Professor in the Curriculum, Teaching and Learning (CTL) Academic Group.

He received his doctorate in instructional technology and media from Teachers College, Columbia University in New York where he also completed a Master of Science in Applied Statistics. He also has a Master of Education from the NIE and a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering (Honours) from the National University of

Singapore. He conceptualized the notion of Productive Failure and used it to explore the hidden efficacies in the seemingly failed effort of small groups solving ill-structured problems collaboratively in an online environment. His current research extends this line of work across the modalities of classroom settings in Singapore

Dr. Fred Mednick

Founder -Teachers Without Borders
USA

Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins University School of Education

After more than 20 years as a teacher and principal, Dr. Fred Mednick founded Teachers Without Borders (TWB) in 2000. Dr. Mednick has advocated for the direct connection between teacher professional development and global change. Along with his role as head of TWB, he is also a professor at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Education, where he teaches 4 online global courses for teachers.

Dr. Mednick received his B.A. at the University of California, his M.A. from Claremont Graduate School; and his doctoral degree from Seattle University. His dissertation, “The Qualities of an Educated Teen for the 21st Century,” was inspired by colleagues in Udaipur, and extends a UNESCO report into a model of education change. His research led to the founding of Teachers Without Borders so that teachers could connect to information and each other in order to advance education.

Prior to founding TWB, Fred served as the head of two prominent schools in the United States. He is the author of Rebel Without A Car: A Principal’s Guide to Adolescence, which has been published throughout the United States and Europe.

Teachers Without Borders has worked with the Clinton Global Initiative and received Ashoka’s Champion of African Education award. Fred has been a delegate at the prestigious Global Creative Leadership Summit four times, was Cisco Systems' guest at the Nobel Prize summit, and has consulted for the Commonwealth Ministers of Education as an advocate for the teacher’s voice.

Mari-Pauliina

MA (Psychology), postgraduate student (Special Education)
Project manager
Centre for Educational Assessment
University of Helsinki, Finland
FINLAND

The goals of basic education have expanded from developing students’ competences in the curricular subjects to enhancing their cross-curricular or transversal skills which are needed for all learning later in life. The Centre for Educational Assessment at the University of Helsinki was established in 1996 to develop an instrument for measuring learning to learn as the foundation for lifelong learning. Today, the Centre works in collaboration with schools and municipalities in the fields of educational assessment, research and development.

As the project manager of the Centre I am committed to the further development of methods for assessing educational equity in Finnish schools and for ensuring that assessment results and research can be utilized in developing practices at school-level. I also work as the vice-NPM of Finland in PISA 2015, coordinating the assessment of collaborative problem-solving.

I am particulary interested in the development of learning to learn skills - cognitive compentences and learning-related attitudes - in primary school, and the role of group processes in explaining differences in the development of pupils' learning-related attitudes. I am also interested in the implementation of the new three-tiered support model in Finnish schools - after all the Finnish way of supporting the weakest pupils can be seen as one of the key factors explaining the country's success in international comparisons such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

Dr. Biswaroop Roy Chowdhury

Memory Trainer
INDIA

Dr Biswaroop Roy Chowdhury is two Guinness World Records Holder on Mind and Body. He has Authored more than 25 books on mind and body. His biography is included in Who's Who in the World -2013 edition, He has Specialization in The China Study from Cornell University USA and Certification in Raw Nutrition from Mint Culinary School Vietnam.

Dr Biswaroop Roy Chowdhury is an Internationally acclaimed memory trainer . He has conducted more than 2000 memory seminars and workshops nationally and Internationally and addressed more than 10 lakh audience. He is a prodigy in memory enhancement techniques. His techniques are well appreciated by the students, teachers, corporate decision-makers, housewives and professionals alike.

Besides being an Internationally acclaimed memory trainer, he is specialized in curing life threatening diseases specially associated with life style (Diabetes, Heart Diseases, High Cholesterol, Obesity, Arthritis, High/Low Blood pressure, Ulcer) using the power of mind & the nature science. He believes: “No one has the power to heal you, neither doctors, nor drugs have that power. It is within you, and in the nature around you”.

Bob Barata Lorton

President, Center for Innovation in Education, USA
USA

Bob Baratta-Lorton and his wife Mary are the co-founders of and chief curriculum developers for the Center for Innovation in Education, a not-for-prot organization whose purpose is to create curriculum in reading and mathematics for elementary school children of all socioeconomic backgrounds. The Center’s core belief, around which its curriculum is created, is that all children can learn and that every child matters. The curriculum developed by Bob and Mary’s Center aims at achieving learning success for every child in every classroom, with no exceptions.

The Center’s curriculum in mathematics, authored by Bob and Mary, is contained in the books Mathematics Their Way (for primary grade children) and Mathematics a Way of Thinking (for intermediate grade children). Both books are published by Pearson Education, and both are also available as free downloads from the Center’s website at www.center.edu. The Center’s curriculum in beginning reading, which is named after its Baratta-Lorton authors, but was given the name “Dekodiphukan” by the many teachers using it, is also available as a free download from the Center’s website. It is also now available as a set of 14 completely free, no strings attached, apps for the iPad.

The Center has a staff of over 300 instructors, all of whom are classroom teachers who have used Bob and Mary’s curriculum with their own students. Center instructors have provided curriculum training to over 500,000 teachers worldwide, including all fty of the United States, countries from Australia to Iceland, Chile to Canada, England to Turkey, Qatar to Hong Kong, and, of course, India.

Louka Parry

Principal-Mimili Anangu School
AUSTRALIA

Louka is principal of Mimili Anangu School in the Far Northwest of South Australia.Louka arrived at Mimili in 2009 as a new graduate teacher and through commitment and determination became the Principal in 2013. With a huge focus on integrating the demands of the Australian education system with the realities of life for his students, Louka has led an incredible team in Mimili that is seeing improved results for students living in very challenging conditions. In 2012 Louka was awarded the South Australian Inspirational Secondary Teacher of the Year and in 2013 was a keynote speaker at the Social Ventures Australia Great Teachers in Tough Schools Conference and the NARIS Leaders' Conference for the National Alliance for Remote Indigenous Schools.

Louka holds a Bachelor of Education/Arts, a Diploma in Language, a Master in Applied Linguistics and is currently on leave completing a Master of Instructional Leadership at the University of Melbourne. He is passionate about equality, community engagement and two-way schooling. He is an emerging leader hoping to contribute to a better system of education that inspires children and young people to find and follow their passions”

Gwyneth

Reader in Higher Education at the Institute of Education, London
ENGLAND

Gwyneth Hughes is Reader in Higher Education at the Institute of Education, London where she teachers on Masters programmes in Education and supervises doctoral students. She is leading a 3 year research project: Assessment Careers: learning pathways through assessment (www.ioe.ac.uk/assessmentcareers). She is on the editorial board for the journal London Review of Education. She has published widely on learning and teaching in Higher Education. Her book Ipsative Assessment: Motivation through marking progress is recently published by Palgrave Macmillan.

Alok Ranjan

IAS
India

Alok Ranjan has over 30 years of experience in administrative services. A Delhi University student and a alumnus of IIM(A), Alok Ranjan belongs to the 1978 batch of the IAS. Having started his career as the District Magistrate and collector of Ghazipur, he went on to occupy managerial positions at the UP Spinning Mills. This was followed by stints in sectors as varied as Municipality, Education, Finance, Agriculture and Technical and Vocational Education. Alok Ranjan served as Secretary to Chief Minister from 1998 to 2002. Currently working as the Principal Secretary, Urban Development and Environment, Uttar Pradesh,he has also authored books such as ‘The Collector today’ and ‘Towards Adult Literacy in India.’

Prof Geeta Gandhi Kingdon

Chair, Education Economics & Int. Development, Institute Of Education, London University, UK
UK

Geeta Kingdon is Professor of Education and International Development at the Institute of Education, London University, and was until recently a Research Fellow at the Department of Economics, University of Oxford. She lectures in Development Economics and her research interests include Economics of Education, Labour Economics and the Economics of Happiness, mostly in countries of South Asia and Africa. Her work is based on micro-econometric analysis of survey data and has resulted in more than 25 papers in peer reviewed Economics and Development Economics journals. She is on the Editorial Board of three academic journals and does extensive academic refereeing as well as advisory work for governments and donor agencies.

Dr. Sunita Gandhi

Convenor, EDWW Co-Founder, Council for Global Education, USA
INDIA

Dr Sunita Gandhi is Founder, Council for Global Education, USA, Dignity, Education Vision International, India, and the Education Society of Iceland (Islensku menntasamtokin ses). She has travelled to some 38 countries and studied their education systems. Her research-based work on education has been piloted in the UK, Iceland and India. She came back to India recently after 26 years overseas with a Ph.D. in Physics from Cambridge University, UK, where she received three merit-based scholarships, a ten-year tenure as an Economist at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., USA, where she was selected as a Young Professional, and after having established Iceland’s first two charter schools and an experimental school in the Czech Republic.

In India, Dr Gandhi has been fine-tuning and implementing a transformative education curriculum and assessments based on the principle of compete with yourself, which over 200 schools have adopted across India. With this large scale pilot, she is incubating an education more suited to the needs of children in the 21st century. The edifice of her efforts are constructed on the foundation of the Four Building Blocks of Education: Universal Values, Global Understanding, Excellence in All Things and Service to Humanity. In India, Dr Gandhi also serves as Honorary Chief Academic Advisor of her parents-run City Montessori School, Lucknow, the world’s largest school, a Guinness World Record Holder, and recipient of the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education.

Her latest project, Global Dream, is aimed at providing functional literacy to the illiterate masses. The results from the pilot are startling: Nearly 60,000 students from 150 schools of her city have taken up the campaign to teach at least one person. The unique and innovative Global Dream curriculum allows a person to become reading capable with just 10-15 hours of time investment over a month (with 15-20 minute sessions per day). Within a month, the curriculum has been taken up pan India and requests have come in from South Africa and China. The initial goal is 10 million new literates in India by the end of 2015.

Ms Susmita Basu

Head, Quality Assurance and Innovations Department,
INDIA

CMS Ms Susmita Basu is the Head, City Montessori School Innovations Department, vested with the responsibility of academic improvement at all the 20 branches of City Montessori group of schools in Lucknow. With a staff of over 40 teachers, Susmita has managed supervision and quality assurance, trained teachers, created curriculum guidelines, finalized each academic year syllabus and booklists and implemented the learning programmes at CMS

Dr. Fred Mednick

Founder -Teachers Without Borders
USA

Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins University School of Education

After more than 20 years as a teacher and principal, Dr. Fred Mednick founded Teachers Without Borders (TWB) in 2000. Dr. Mednick has advocated for the direct connection between teacher professional development and global change. Along with his role as head of TWB, he is also a professor at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Education, where he teaches 4 online global courses for teachers.

Dr. Mednick received his B.A. at the University of California, his M.A. from Claremont Graduate School; and his doctoral degree from Seattle University. His dissertation, “The Qualities of an Educated Teen for the 21st Century,” was inspired by colleagues in Udaipur, and extends a UNESCO report into a model of education change. His research led to the founding of Teachers Without Borders so that teachers could connect to information and each other in order to advance education.

Prior to founding TWB, Fred served as the head of two prominent schools in the United States. He is the author of Rebel Without A Car: A Principal’s Guide to Adolescence, which has been published throughout the United States and Europe.

Teachers Without Borders has worked with the Clinton Global Initiative and received Ashoka’s Champion of African Education award. Fred has been a delegate at the prestigious Global Creative Leadership Summit four times, was Cisco Systems' guest at the Nobel Prize summit, and has consulted for the Commonwealth Ministers of Education as an advocate for the teacher’s voice.

Pirjo Koivula

Counselor of Education Finnish National Board of Education,
Finland

Pirjo Koivula is M.A. in Educational Administration, Research and Planning. She is qualified Primary School and Special Needs Teacher. She has postgraduate studies in Education and Specialist Qualification in Leadership and Management for Educational Administrative Personnel.

She is currently Counsellor of Education in The Finnish National Board of Education in the Curriculum Development Unit. She has the main responsibility of developing the achievement of all learners, special needs and inclusive education on national level. She has worked in cooperation with the Ministry of Education to draft national legislation and has been responsible of drafting the changes in the national core curriculum in the area of pupil support and inclusive education. After that her work was to support the implementation and to continue the Curriculum work in the area of the learning concept and pedagogical methods. Now she is chairing two work groups in new Core Curriculum reform.

She has cooperated with the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs in different development projects in South-Africa, Tanzania and Russia. She is a National Coordinator for Finland of European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education. She is also a Member of Common Board of State owned Approved Schools and a Vice chair of Board of Celia, National Library for the Visually Impaired. She is responsible for developing the state owned resource centres. She has also acted as a country representative in the projects of OECD´s Center for Educational Research and Innovation, CERI and UNESCO IBE.

Pirjo Koivula has also served as Department Head and Director of Education and Social Services in three different cities and before that as a principal.

She has contributed to the elaboration of several publications and strategies on the topic of inclusive education in pre-primary, basic and upper-secondary education. During past years she has had several presentations and keynote speeches in international scientific and professional conferences and seminars.

Dr. Biswaroop Roy Chowdhury

Dr Biswaroop Roy Chowdhury is two Guinness World Records Holder on Mind and Body. He has Authored more than 25 books on mind and body. His biography is included in Who's Who in the World -2013 edition, He has Specialization in The China Study from Cornell University USA and Certification in Raw Nutrition from Mint Culinary School Vietnam.

Dr Biswaroop Roy Chowdhury is an internationally acclaimed memory trainer . He has conducted more than 2000 memory seminars and workshops nationally and internationally and addressed more than 10 lakh audience. He is a prodigy in memory enhancement techniques. His techniques are well appreciated by the students, teachers, corporate decision-makers, housewives and professionals alike.

Besides being an internationally acclaimed memory trainer, he is specialized in curing life threatening diseases specially associated with life style (Diabetes, Heart Diseases, High Cholesterol, Obesity, Arthritis, High/Low Blood pressure, Ulcer) using the power of mind & the nature science. He believes: “No one has the power to heal you, neither doctors, nor drugs have that power. It is within you, and in the nature around you”.

Simi Srivastava

Founder & Master Story Teller

Simi is a master storyteller and founder Kathashala and has put together her knowledge, skills and experience in Kathashala – a story telling institute for adults.She is also a soft skill, life skill trainer and a performing artist. She is professionally trained in theatre, creative music, movement and miming, puppetry, and uses all these skills to narrate stories. Apart from promoting storytelling as a profession she is also promoting it as a therapy, an educational and parenting tool. Simi is the architect of numerous engaging and insightful storytelling workshops across the country for teachers as well as parents.

Simi is has designed curriculum based on stories to make learning interesting and applicable for the pre- primary level and story sessions using traditional Indian story telling techniques to teach history among senior students. She is working on stories for children with special needs.

Simi has designed and delivered "Story Lab" a reading club programme at the British Council Library. Simi writes columns on Storytelling as a parenting tool for leading parenting magazine

Bob Baratta Lorton

President, Center for Innovation in Education, USA

Bob Baratta-Lorton and his wife Mary are the co-founders of and chief curriculum developers for the Center for Innovation in Education, a not-for-prot organization whose purpose is to create curriculum in reading and mathematics for elementary school children of all socioeconomic backgrounds. The Center’s core belief, around which its curriculum is created, is that all children can learn and that every child matters. The curriculum developed by Bob and Mary’s Center aims at achieving learning success for every child in every classroom, with no exceptions.

The Center’s curriculum in mathematics, authored by Bob and Mary, is contained in the books Mathematics Their Way (for primary grade children) and Mathematics a Way of Thinking (for intermediate grade children). Both books are published by Pearson Education, and both are also available as free downloads from the Center’s website at www.center.edu. The Center’s curriculum in beginning reading, which is named after its Baratta-Lorton authors, but was given the name “Dekodiphukan” by the many teachers using it, is also available as a free download from the Center’s website. It is also now available as a set of 14 completely free, no strings attached, apps for the iPad.

The Center has a staff of over 300 instructors, all of whom are classroom teachers who have used Bob and Mary’s curriculum with their own students. Center instructors have provided curriculum training to over 500,000 teachers worldwide, including all fty of the United States, countries from Australia to Iceland, Chile to Canada, England to Turkey, Qatar to Hong Kong, and, of course, India.

Prof Geeta Gandhi Kingdon

Chair, Education Economics & Int. Development, Institute Of Education, London University, UK

Geeta Kingdon is Professor of Education and International Development at the Institute of Education, London University, and was until recently a Research Fellow at the Department of Economics, University of Oxford. She lectures in Development Economics and her research interests include Economics of Education, Labour Economics and the Economics of Happiness, mostly in countries of South Asia and Africa. Her work is based on micro-econometric analysis of survey data and has resulted in more than 25 papers in peer reviewed Economics and Development Economics journals. She is on the Editorial Board of three academic journals and does extensive academic refereeing as well as advisory work for governments and donor agencies.

Dr. Sunita Gandhi

Convenor, EDWW Co-Founder, Council for Global Education, USA
INDIA

Dr Sunita Gandhi is Founder, Council for Global Education, USA, Dignity, Education Vision International, India, and the Education Society of Iceland (Islensku menntasamtokin ses). She has travelled to some 38 countries and studied their education systems. Her research-based work on education has been piloted in the UK, Iceland and India. She came back to India recently after 26 years overseas with a Ph.D. in Physics from Cambridge University, UK, where she received three merit-based scholarships, a ten-year tenure as an Economist at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., USA, where she was selected as a Young Professional, and after having established Iceland’s first two charter schools and an experimental school in the Czech Republic.

In India, Dr Gandhi has been fine-tuning and implementing a transformative education curriculum and assessments based on the principle of compete with yourself, which over 200 schools have adopted across India. With this large scale pilot, she is incubating an education more suited to the needs of children in the 21st century. The edifice of her efforts are constructed on the foundation of the Four Building Blocks of Education: Universal Values, Global Understanding, Excellence in All Things and Service to Humanity. In India, Dr Gandhi also serves as Honorary Chief Academic Advisor of her parents-run City Montessori School, Lucknow, the world’s largest school, a Guinness World Record Holder, and recipient of the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education.

Her latest project, Global Dream, is aimed at providing functional literacy to the illiterate masses. The results from the pilot are startling: Nearly 60,000 students from 150 schools of her city have taken up the campaign to teach at least one person. The unique and innovative Global Dream curriculum allows a person to become reading capable with just 10-15 hours of time investment over a month (with 15-20 minute sessions per day). Within a month, the curriculum has been taken up pan India and requests have come in from South Africa and China. The initial goal is 10 million new literates in India by the end of 2015.

Stella Fernandez

Master Teacher, Creative & Thinking Classrooms, Recipient of President's Award, Singapore

Ms Fernandez shares the vision of producing true Singaporeans with sound values. For the past forty six years of her teaching career, she has, with a genuine love for her pupils shared her life with a passion. She has touched the lives of her pupils nurturing in them a spirit of innovation and enterprise. She builds up their self-esteem by listening to their problems and enforcing good study skills. Her teaching skills and expertise tempered with her learning experiences create innovative and impactful lessons infused with National Education values and school core values. Her café-styled classroom with creative display of pupils’ work invites pupils to a bright and cheery classroom that encourages and motivates them to give of their best. Her classroom is a conducive learning environment where pupils are involved in experimentation, and independent thought and discovery and being analytical, methodical and focused in pursuing the goals and targets she helps them set for themselves. She has placed great emphasis on multi-disciplinary approaches to learning and has focused on grooming leadership talent. Her efforts have inspired her peers and colleagues to do likewise for their classrooms.

Her Pr 4 pupils who collaborated with her in designing and operating ‘The Creative Classroom’ were the members in the S3 Cluster pupils’ WIT ‘Maximising Pupil Participation in Classroom Design.’ Their outstanding presentation earned them a place as the nalist in the 5th National Pupil WITs Convention 2004. She presented her Creative class ndings for STU Conference - Philosophy in Schools : Developing a Community of Inquiry 2006 and MOE ExCEL Fest 2006. She was also the facilitator and co presenter for research paper “The Creative Classroom’ for International Conference on Education ( Redesigning Pedagogy: research, policy, practice ) 2007and Creative Thinking Classroom at APERA Asia-Pacic Educational Research Association Conference 2008.

Dr Mindy Blaise

Associate Professor The Hong Kong Institute of Education Co-director, Centre for Childhood Research and Innovation, China

Mindy is an associate professor in the Department of Early Childhood Educationand Co-director of the Centre for Childhood Research and Innovation, at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Mindy’s areas of research interest relate to working with teachers to think through critical perspectives to reconceputalize early childhood teaching, research, curriculum and childhood. Her research focuses on gender politics in the early years and encourages the eld to engage with, rather than shut-down, difference and diversity. She is currently involved in three research projects that are examining different aspects of childhood in the Asia-Pacic region. These include, Researching postcolonial childhoods across Hong Kong, Australia, and Canada; Exploring the cultural politics of gender/sex/uality in early childhood across Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea;, and Singapore; and The literacy wall: researching literacy activities in a Hong Kong kindergarten.

Mindy has recently co-edited, with Affrica Taylor and Veronica Pacini- Ketchabow, a special issue for Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, Relating childhood to the more-than-human (July 2012). She is also co-editing, with Liz Brooker and Suzy Edwards, the SAGE International Handbook of Research on Play and Learning (forthcoming, 2013). Mindy is on the editorial board of several journals including the Asia-Pacic Journal of Research in Early Childhood Education, Gender and Education, Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, International Journal of Equity and Excellence in Early Childhood Education, and Multidisciplinary Journal on Social Diversity.

Dr. Fred Mednick

Founder -Teachers Without Borders
USA

Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins University School of Education

After more than 20 years as a teacher and principal, Dr. Fred Mednick founded Teachers Without Borders (TWB) in 2000. Dr. Mednick has advocated for the direct connection between teacher professional development and global change. Along with his role as head of TWB, he is also a professor at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Education, where he teaches 4 online global courses for teachers.

Dr. Mednick received his B.A. at the University of California, his M.A. from Claremont Graduate School; and his doctoral degree from Seattle University. His dissertation, “The Qualities of an Educated Teen for the 21st Century,” was inspired by colleagues in Udaipur, and extends a UNESCO report into a model of education change. His research led to the founding of Teachers Without Borders so that teachers could connect to information and each other in order to advance education.

Prior to founding TWB, Fred served as the head of two prominent schools in the United States. He is the author of Rebel Without A Car: A Principal’s Guide to Adolescence, which has been published throughout the United States and Europe.

Teachers Without Borders has worked with the Clinton Global Initiative and received Ashoka’s Champion of African Education award. Fred has been a delegate at the prestigious Global Creative Leadership Summit four times, was Cisco Systems' guest at the Nobel Prize summit, and has consulted for the Commonwealth Ministers of Education as an advocate for the teacher’s voice.

Pirjo Koivula

Counselor of Education Finnish National Board of Education, Finland

Pirjo Koivula is M.A. in Educational Administration, Research and Planning. She is qualified Primary School and Special Needs Teacher. She has postgraduate studies in Education and Specialist Qualification in Leadership and Management for Educational Administrative Personnel.

She is currently Counsellor of Education in The Finnish National Board of Education in the Curriculum Development Unit. She has the main responsibility of developing the achievement of all learners, special needs and inclusive education on national level. She has worked in cooperation with the Ministry of Education to draft national legislation and has been responsible of drafting the changes in the national core curriculum in the area of pupil support and inclusive education. After that her work was to support the implementation and to continue the Curriculum work in the area of the learning concept and pedagogical methods. Now she is chairing two work groups in new Core Curriculum reform.

She has cooperated with the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs in different development projects in South-Africa, Tanzania and Russia. She is a National Coordinator for Finland of European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education. She is also a Member of Common Board of State owned Approved Schools and a Vice chair of Board of Celia, National Library for the Visually Impaired. She is responsible for developing the state owned resource centres. She has also acted as a country representative in the projects of OECD´s Center for Educational Research and Innovation, CERI and UNESCO IBE.

Pirjo Koivula has also served as Department Head and Director of Education and Social Services in three different cities and before that as a principal.

She has contributed to the elaboration of several publications and strategies on the topic of inclusive education in pre-primary, basic and upper-secondary education. During past years she has had several presentations and keynote speeches in international scientific and professional conferences and seminars.

Dave Faulkner

Director of Education Changemakers, Australia

As one of the most effective and innovative education leaders in Australia over the last decade, Dave has a powerful grasp on the factors that lead to education success. Since becoming a Principal at age twenty four, Dave has brought reform and dramatic improvement to some of the most challenging schools in the country, including Halls Creek District High Shool. Shortly after turning thirty, Dave became the youngest Regional Education Director in the country with responsibility for eighteen schools across the Barkly Region of the Northern Territory. He has been recognized as the Young Australian of the Year (WA, 2004) and Young Leader of the Year (WA, 2003). Dave is a passionate and powerful education leader with proven impact.

Dave’s current work is as a Director of Education Changemakers, an organisation working towards ending educational disadvantage, which Dave co-founded. Education Changemakers identies exceptional teachers and emerging leaders in disadvantaged schools and then works with them over twelve months to inspire, equip, support and connect these educators. The Changemaker Program has a strong action bias and enables participants to lead change in their context and become high impact Education Changemakers and champions for disadvantaged students. The result is a movement of great teachers and leaders working together to transform some of Australia’s toughest schools.

Bob Baratta Lorton

President, Center for Innovation in Education, USA

Bob Baratta-Lorton and his wife Mary are the co-founders of and chief curriculum developers for the Center for Innovation in Education, a not-for-prot organization whose purpose is to create curriculum in reading and mathematics for elementary school children of all socioeconomic backgrounds. The Center’s core belief, around which its curriculum is created, is that all children can learn and that every child matters. The curriculum developed by Bob and Mary’s Center aims at achieving learning success for every child in every classroom, with no exceptions.

The Center’s curriculum in mathematics, authored by Bob and Mary, is contained in the books Mathematics Their Way (for primary grade children) and Mathematics a Way of Thinking (for intermediate grade children). Both books are published by Pearson Education, and both are also available as free downloads from the Center’s website at www.center.edu. The Center’s curriculum in beginning reading, which is named after its Baratta-Lorton authors, but was given the name “Dekodiphukan” by the many teachers using it, is also available as a free download from the Center’s website. It is also now available as a set of 14 completely free, no strings attached, apps for the iPad.

The Center has a staff of over 300 instructors, all of whom are classroom teachers who have used Bob and Mary’s curriculum with their own students. Center instructors have provided curriculum training to over 500,000 teachers worldwide, including all fty of the United States, countries from Australia to Iceland, Chile to Canada, England to Turkey, Qatar to Hong Kong, and, of course, India.

Dr. Sunita Gandhi

Convenor, EDWW Co-Founder, Council for Global Education, USA
INDIA

Dr Sunita Gandhi is Founder, Council for Global Education, USA, Dignity, Education Vision International, India, and the Education Society of Iceland (Islensku menntasamtokin ses). She has travelled to some 38 countries and studied their education systems. Her research-based work on education has been piloted in the UK, Iceland and India. She came back to India recently after 26 years overseas with a Ph.D. in Physics from Cambridge University, UK, where she received three merit-based scholarships, a ten-year tenure as an Economist at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., USA, where she was selected as a Young Professional, and after having established Iceland’s first two charter schools and an experimental school in the Czech Republic.

In India, Dr Gandhi has been fine-tuning and implementing a transformative education curriculum and assessments based on the principle of compete with yourself, which over 200 schools have adopted across India. With this large scale pilot, she is incubating an education more suited to the needs of children in the 21st century. The edifice of her efforts are constructed on the foundation of the Four Building Blocks of Education: Universal Values, Global Understanding, Excellence in All Things and Service to Humanity. In India, Dr Gandhi also serves as Honorary Chief Academic Advisor of her parents-run City Montessori School, Lucknow, the world’s largest school, a Guinness World Record Holder, and recipient of the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education.

Her latest project, Global Dream, is aimed at providing functional literacy to the illiterate masses. The results from the pilot are startling: Nearly 60,000 students from 150 schools of her city have taken up the campaign to teach at least one person. The unique and innovative Global Dream curriculum allows a person to become reading capable with just 10-15 hours of time investment over a month (with 15-20 minute sessions per day). Within a month, the curriculum has been taken up pan India and requests have come in from South Africa and China. The initial goal is 10 million new literates in India by the end of 2015.

ARCHANAA PANDE

Ms Archanaa pande is serving as Principal of City Montessori School, Lucknow (Ashsrfabad Branch) for the past 24 years. She has taught students at all levels and served as Primary Incharge and Headmistress. A popular trainer of Principals and teachers, she has led several training programmes and hosted conferences. She has also anchored a number of conferences and produced several live and recorded show for Doordarshan and for Celibrities like Girija Devi, Pandit Kishan Maharaj, Shankar Mahadevan, A Shivmani and Louis Banks. She has produced documentaries for Delhi Doordarshan and acted in feature films, telefilms, serials and stage plays. She has led an Indian delegation to Finland. She has also attended and directed children's International Summer Village (CISV) camps attended by children and teachers from ten countries. Archanaa pande is also an expert in cooperative games and cooperative learning.

Stella Fernandez

Master Teacher, Creative & Thinking Classrooms, Recipient of President's Award, Singapore

Ms Fernandez shares the vision of producing true Singaporeans with sound values. For the past forty six years of her teaching career, she has, with a genuine love for her pupils shared her life with a passion. She has touched the lives of her pupils nurturing in them a spirit of innovation and enterprise. She builds up their self-esteem by listening to their problems and enforcing good study skills. Her teaching skills and expertise tempered with her learning experiences create innovative and impactful lessons infused with National Education values and school core values. Her café-styled classroom with creative display of pupils’ work invites pupils to a bright and cheery classroom that encourages and motivates them to give of their best. Her classroom is a conducive learning environment where pupils are involved in experimentation, and independent thought and discovery and being analytical, methodical and focused in pursuing the goals and targets she helps them set for themselves. She has placed great emphasis on multi-disciplinary approaches to learning and has focused on grooming leadership talent. Her efforts have inspired her peers and colleagues to do likewise for their classrooms.

Her Pr 4 pupils who collaborated with her in designing and operating ‘The Creative Classroom’ were the members in the S3 Cluster pupils’ WIT ‘Maximising Pupil Participation in Classroom Design.’ Their outstanding presentation earned them a place as the nalist in the 5th National Pupil WITs Convention 2004. She presented her Creative class ndings for STU Conference - Philosophy in Schools : Developing a Community of Inquiry 2006 and MOE ExCEL Fest 2006. She was also the facilitator and co presenter for research paper “The Creative Classroom’ for International Conference on Education ( Redesigning Pedagogy: research, policy, practice ) 2007and Creative Thinking Classroom at APERA Asia-Pacific Educational Research Association Conference 2008.

Dr Robert J Saunders

Co-Founder of the Council for Global Education, USA

Dr Robert John Saunders is the co-founder of the Council for Global Education, USA, founded to promote a global vision of education more suited to the needs of the 21st century and to meet the new aspirations of individuals everywhere.

He has shared experiences and worked with business persons, government officials, nonprofit groups, and academics at all levels in 80 countries on six continents.

After a Ph.D. in Economics from The University of Kentucky on a National Defense Fellowship, Bob went on to become the Director of Graduate Programmes and Acting Director, Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University. After this, he was appointed Chairman and Professor and Director, Center for Business and Economic Research, Kent State University.

Mr Andy Harvey

Andy Harvey has been working in the area of English language teaching for the last 23 years both in schools and training mainstream teachers in Primary schools in West London. He is currently working as an EAL (English as an Additional Language) consultant in the London Borough of Hounslow where there are a large number of English learners who speak a variety of languages other than English. In addition he is working for the cross-London City Challenge which consists of supporting schools in other London Boroughs through the provision of training teachers in how to help the English learners in their classrooms develop their speaking, listening , reading and writing skills.

Ms Dee Loftus

Dee Loftus is an EAL ( English as an Additional Language) consultant for the London Borough of Hounslow . She has wide-ranging experience both as a specialist language teacher and in the area of teacher training. Her responsibilities have included co-ordinating and teaching on the Primary Raising Achievement of Bilingual Learners course for mainstream teachers and co-ordinating Teaching Assistant training in EAL for the borough. Currently, she is working for the government City Challenge programme which provides advice and training in raising standards for schools across London. Dee has previously provided teacher training in India namely at the Bluebells School in Delhi and Anand Isher school in the Punjab.

Ms Meher Van Groenou

Meher Van Groenou was born in India and received Masters in social work from M.S.Univercity of Baroda . She worked in the B.M. Institute for Child Psychology in Ahmedabad. Meher continued her studies of child welfare at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor completing M.S.W. She worked in Children Social Services in San Jose, California. Meher turned to early childhood education and received in 1986 a Master’s degree from St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California, while directing a Montessori pre-school in Castro Valley. She became a Montessori Teacher Trainer and subsequently the director of such a program. She established her own pre-school in 1991, and a few years later also her own Teacher Training program in 1997. Montessori Institute Of Advanced Studies is MACTE accredited and AMS affiliated. Meher has taught teachers in various parts of the country, in Canada, and in her homeland. In her presentation Meher will discuss various ways of creating a community of students, teachers and parents in a Montessori School with a diverse culture backgrounds.

Mr Michael Brearley

Michael is widely experienced in all phases of education with a teaching and leadership background in the secondary sector.

He has developed and run workshops on emotional intelligence in leadership and learning for individual schools, consortia, Headlamp programmes in Devon and Cornwall and on MBA and Doctoral programmes for the Institute of International Educational Leadership at the University of Lincoln. He has delivered key note addresses at National Conferences and is currently working on longer term projects with a number of schools developing accredited programmes in emotional intelligence in leadership and learning.

Michael works both nationally and internationally, having worked in South Africa and Botswana.

His research into Emotional Intelligence lead to the publication of his first book "Emotional Intelligence and the Secondary Classroom" which has just been reprinted by Crown. He has also contributed chapters to John West Burnham's book on Performance Management and the Big Book of Independent Thinking. His latest book "Coach Excellence - a programme in Emotional Intelligence in Coaching" is currently being edited by Crown House Publishing.

Michael Brearley, a former Headteacher, has developed the Thrive project. Here delegates learn to understand emotional intelligence and create the learning environments we all need if we are to succeed.Michael has worked with all age ranges, from infant schools to University students. His workshops have been described as "challenging" "inspiring" "motivating" "funny" and "wonderful"

Mr Surya Narayan Bahadur

Twenty five years of Corporate Management experience with various FMCG, his previous assignment was at Dabur (Sunova) as National Sales Manager. The other Brands he has served are Yera Glassware, Lakme, Revlon, Perfetti, Captain Cook, and Jagatjit Industries. Graduate in Commerce from Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University and Post Graduate Diploma in Sales & Marketing Management from Chandigarh with five Gold medals, Certified in Business English Communication from Cambridge University Level 3. A qualified T&D Specialist from ISTD (Indian Society for Training& Development), Trained 16PF Professional in Personality Profiling, Coaching& Facilitating Life Long Member of Delhi Management AssociationWorks with Confluence as Executive Director for a decade, has Conducted Workshops & Training Programmes for Indian & Multi-National Corporations, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Retailers, Banks, Service Organisations, Government & Non-Government Organisations and varied Professionals.

Dr. Howard Gardener

Howard Gardner is the Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Senior Director of Harvard Project Zero. Among numerous honors, Gardner received a MacArthur Prize Fellowship in 1981. He has received honorary degrees from twenty-six colleges and universities. In 2005 and again in 2008 he was selected by Foreign Policy and Prospect magazines as one of the 100 most influential public intellectuals in the world. The author of twenty-five books translated into twenty-nine languages, and several hundred articles, Gardner is best known in educational circles for his theory of multiple intelligences, a critique of the notion that there exists but a single human intelligence that can be assessed by standard psychometric instruments. He has also written extensively on creativity, leadership, professional ethics, and the arts. His latest book Five Minds for the Future was published in April 2007. His latest co-authored book Multiple Intelligences Around the World was published in the summer of 2009.

Ms Ashalata Badami

Mathematics Expert (confirmed)

A product of the teachers training course at Sophia College, Mumbai, Ms Badami taught activity based Mathematics to primary school children in Bombay International School, Mumbai during the early years of her career. She was responsible for setting up the entire primary maths programme in the school and was also Coordinator, Middle School Maths when she left Mumbai for Delhi in 2001. She had a maths column called ‘Mathsense” going for three years in Midday, the afternoon newspaper of Mumbai. In addition she wrote frequently for several newspapers like the Hindu and the Times, as well as children’s magazines. She also regularly conducted workshops for the British Council and Nehru Science Centre in MumbaiAfter she shifted to Delhi, she became a full time resource person and consultant working with several reputed schools like Sardar Patel Vidyalaya and Bluebells International setting up their Maths Lab, being involved in curriculum planning, as well as working with remedial and gifted students. She has written two series of books for Oxford University Press called Discovering Mathematics and New Enjoying Mathematics along with teacher manuals.

Mr Samarendra Kumar

Project Coordinator Regional Science City

Samarendra Kumar is currently working as the Project Coordinator for the Regional Science City - Lucknow. He has also worked in the Kurukshetra Panorama & Science Centre, Kurukshetra as the Project Coordinator and the Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai as the Curator (National Council of Science Museums, Kolkata)He visited USA (2008) and UK (2007) to attend annual ASTC conference at Philadelphia, USA and also visited New York Hall of Science, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC for enrichment of Science Communication in Museum, visited NESTA, London, several other Science Centers & Museums in UK respectively. He even visited USA and UK (Europe) to attend Annual ASTC conference at Phoenix, Arizona and visited The Exploratorium in California and Science Museum in London and other places. He also visited Finland (Europe) during August, 1997 under INDO-FINNISH Cultural Exchange programme. The programme consisted of a 3-week study-tour of Museum and Science Centers of Finland. In addition to the work of the Kurukshetra Panorama & Science Centre, was also involved in setting Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama, at Amritsar by National Council of Science Museums. These include setting up of a large panorama & dioramas on the life of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

Ms Meli Glenn

Meli Glenn is a Research Officer at the London Centre for Leadership in Learning (LCLL) and Thomas Coram Research Unit (TCRU) at the Institute of Education (IOE), University of London, with experience in educational research and evaluation. Her work has focused on leadership development, community cohesion, and children from care backgrounds. She has also been a teacher at a Montessori primary school and a TEFL teacher in a number of countries. As a teacher trainer in Guinea, West Africa for USAID, she provided professional development support to teacher trainers. She also ran a number of workshops for pre-service teachers such as reading programs, active learning techniques, and curriculum innovation.

Ms Indira Eisenberg / Mr Jürgen Eisenberg

She have completed a 5 year Integrated M.A Programme in German Language from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She worked for few years as a Translator.

She then quit to join to take teaching as a profession. She worked with children in a small village near Dehradun called Sailakin. In 1991 she did her Montessori training in Chennai. After that she had been working with the young children using the Montessori way of life.

In 2003 she started her own Montessori School called Bambino Montessori House of children. In 2009 she joined Dr. Sunita Gandhi’s school City international School.

Since then she have been involved in Teacher Training and developing the material for Pre-Primary children for the Nurture Program.

It is her desire to see a change in the way we look at small children and have many people working with children follow the Montessori way of Life.

Prof Harikesh Singh

Mr Harikesh Singh has a total experience of 34 years in the field of education. He is the Professor, Faculty of Education, B.H.U. He has more than 110 papers / articles / book reviews to his credit. He has served as the Head and Dean, Faculty of Education, B.H.U. for a couple of years. He has visited various countries like Italy, U.K. etc. to attend conferences / seminars / workshops for the cause of education. He has been awarded the UGC Career Award for three years from 1987 to 1990.

Dr Sandhya Singh

Dr. Sandhya Singh has a total of 22 years of experience in the areas of Hindi language and literature. Before joining N.C.E.R.T, she was a lecturer and reader in B.H.U affiliated Vasanta College for Women (Varanasi) for over 14 years. She joined N.C.E.R.T in the year 2002 and since then she has been working in the areas of curriculum, syllabus and textbook development, evaluation, training, research and consultancy. She has published 2 books on Hindi literature. She has also published and presented 40 papers nationally and has attended several national seminars on issues like hindi literature and languages, multilingual education, problems of learning among tribal children ,issues in assessment, issues of reading etc. She was the co-ordinator of the national seminar "Premchand,bachche aur shiksha" and the national symposium "Samajh ka maadhyam" which focused on how the gap between home language and school language can be reduced.

Dr Amitabh Pandit

Founder Member Of Saidas Healing Foundation

Dr. Amitabh Pandit Nd (Ind), Dy, B Camp (Usa) Founder Member Of Saidas Hearing Foundation. The Foundation Works In The Field Of Education By Using The Advanced Orthomolecular Science To Design Nutritional Programs For Students Of All Ages. These Nutritional Programs Incorporate The Goals Of Every Student, Parent And Educator-That Is To Improve Academic Results As Well As Performance In Physical Activities Like Sports, Music And Dance. The Foundation Has Set Up A Bench Mark Goal Oriented Program For Classes X And Xii Boards For Icse And Isc Which Is Now Running In Its 3rd Year.

Mr Steve Rudolf

Education Expert

Steven Rudolph is an American educationist, researcher, TV personality and public speaker based in India . In 1994, he introduced the Internet to Indian schools and followed it up with the first series of constructivist computer textbooks for Indian children. As Educational Director of Jiva Institute and founder of Jiva Public School , he has developed many innovative learning materials for students to help them realise their potential. He is the proponent of a novel concept in education called “Multiple Natures” that is used to help individuals identify careers that are compatible with their personality types. Rudolph is a popular face on TV, notable for his show Discover Your Child, on the Care World Channel and Zee Jaagran, where he addresses parenting issues. He is also widely known for his unique life-skills workshops that have been attended by thousands of children, parents, and teachers throughout the country. Rudolph has served as a consultant to the World Bank, Unesco, the Department of Human Resource Development (Government of India), the NCERT, the CBSE, the ICSE, and companies including Apple Computer, Microsoft, Intel, HP and Wipro. He holds a masters degree in Education from Temple University.

Ms Anneke Tolsma

Anneke Tolsma worked as a directress in the Casa dei Bambini at the revolutionary Nahoon Montessori School in South Africa, as HoD for upper elementary at Elckerlyc Montessori School in the Netherlands, and – most recently – she was head-hunted to take on the position of lead directress at Mammolina Children’s Home, one of China’s leading Montessori schools, in Beijing.. She further served as adjunct faculty at the International Montessori Teaching Institute (IMTI) in Beijing where she also co-designed a basic child-care learning program for care-workers in a medical orphanage. In 2009 she was a featured speaker at the South African Montessori Association conference in Cape Town. Anneke has also received intensive training in Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and is a graduate of the Montessori Leadership Institute. She holds a degree in education and post-graduate diploma in Montessori education (primary and elementary) from the University of Utrecht where she was also involved as a member of a committee charged with redesigning the University’s approach to teaching Montessori pedagogy. In August 2010 she will be relocating to Lucknow in order to work together with the City International School (CIS) and related organization

Mr Matthew Rich

Matthew Rich began his educational career under the mentorship of Sharon Caldwell at the Nahoon Montessori School in his native South Africa. It was there that he was able to nurture his interest in child-directed decision-making, school democratization, and conflict resolution. He has shared his work on these and other topics at a range of international conferences, and his writings have appeared in various publications around the world. Subsequently he worked as a consultant for the Montessori Foundation and International Montessori Council, and was senior editor and writer for three state-accredited Montessori based Early Childhood qualifications at the Sustainability Institute (connected to the University of Stellenbosch). He has an extensive background in Nonviolence having studied with Marshall Rosenberg in Switzerland as well as being a participant in a year-long leadership program in California. He acted as an assistant trainer at the New York Intensive training in Nonviolent Communication, as well as international mediation training and a 9 month long parent leadership program. He is also a keen student of Integral Theory and is a Certified Life Coach and Communication Coach. For the past 2 years Matthew has served as lead director in the Casa dei Bambini at Mammolna Children’s Home in Beijing as well as adjunct faculty at the International Montessori Teaching Institute (IMTI). In August he will be relocating to Lucknow to work with the City International School and related organizations.

Dr Sunita Gandhi

PhD, Cambridge University, UK

Sunita Gandhi started her first school at the age of 14 for the underprivileged children in her neighbourhood. After completing Class X, she moved to the UK to do A-Levels following which Sunita received three merit based scholarships to undertake her doctorate programme in Physics at Cambridge University. Subsequently, she founded schools in Prague, the Czech Republic and in Hafnarfjordur, Iceland, where she began in 2000 to experiment with and pilot her Global Education Model of Schooling, or the GEMS “Dynamic”. In the 26 years abroad, Sunita has lived in the UK, USA, the Czech Republic and Iceland and carried out educational projects and traveled to 34 countries.

Dr Jean Miller

Chair, Education Economics & Int. Development, Institute Of Education, London University, UK

Dr Jean Miller received her Doctorate of Education from Case Western University in 1981. Her Doctorate dissertation is titled “The Montessori Music Curriculum for Children Up to the Age of Six.” Trained in Bergamo, Italy, she holds an AMI 6-12 Diploma. She received an AMI 3-6 Diploma from the Montessori Institute in Cleveland. Dr Miller has over 40 years of experience working with children in both private and public Montessori schools. She has given lectures and workshops to colleges and Montessori groups throughout the world. Dr Miller is an AMI certified consultant, examiner, and Primary (6-12) teacher trainer. She has been the music lecturer at training centres in both North America and Europe.

Prof Geeta Gandhi Kingdon

Trainer Ph.D Association Montessori Internationale

Geeta Kingdon is Professor of Education and International Development at the Institute of Education, London University, and was until recently a Research Fellow at the Department of Economics, University of Oxford. She lectures in Development Economics and her research interests include Economics of Education, Labour Economics and the Economics of Happiness, mostly in countries of South Asia and Africa. Her work is based on micro-econometric analysis of survey data and has resulted in more than 25 papers in peer reviewed Economics and Development Economics journals. She is on the Editorial Board of three academic journals and does extensive academic refereeing as well as advisory work for governments and donor agencies.

Dr Mrinanlini Anant

Principal in Meerut Public Girls’ School

Worked as a senior Co-ordinator in Meerut Public School, Meerut main wing, which is a co-education school for three consecutive sessions from 2003 to 2005 before being promoted as Principal of branch school, exclusively for girls - Worked as a Post graduate Teacher of English teaching intermediate classes in Meerut Public School main wing Meerut, from 2001 to 2005.Till date two sections of class XII still taught by self. Worked as a Trained Graduate Teacher and taught classes 8th, 9th and 10th in Dayawati Modi Academy, Meerut from Oct 1997 to March 1998. Worked as an English teacher in St. Mary’s Academy Meerut, from July 1996 to August 1997. Worked as an English and Maths teacher in Meerut Public School from Feb 1994 to Jan 1995. Worked as a kinder Garten teacher in Meerut Public School from July 1991 to Sep 1992.

Dr Raphel Wilkins

Assistant Director (International Consultancy) and Director of International Affairs, London Centre for Leadership in Learning, Institute of Education, University of London

Raphael Wilkins is Pro Director (International Consultancy and Knowledge Transfer) and Director of International Affairs in the London Centre for Leadership in Learning, Institute of Education, University of London, and is also President of the College of Teachers. Before joining the IOE in 2006 his career included teaching; education officer roles in four local authorities including over 12 years in Chief Officer level posts; national roles with Parliament and the local authority associations; six years of senior level consultancy, research and writing; and attachments to a number of universities. At the IOE Raphael has managed a wide range of leadership development projects and programmes in the UK and internationally, and he has undertaken consultancies in India, Singapore, China, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Southern Sudan, Pakistan and Mexico. Raphael has published over 50 articles and research reports, has led many workshops on leadership issues, and has presented papers or keynotes at education conferences in Britain, Denmark, The Netherlands, Cyprus, Canada, USA and China.

Dr. Eija Kauppinen

Couselor of Education, Curriculum Development (General Education) National Board of Education, Helsinki, Finland

Dr. Eija Kauppinen works at the Finnish National Board of Education (FNBE). She is responsible for developing music and dance education in pre-primary and basic education, general upper secondary education, and vocational education and training. Eija Kauppinen has a Master of Music in music education and a PhD in education. The topic of her dissertation (2010) was the emotional nature of the teaching profession. She has worked as a counsellor of Education at the FNBE since 2006, and before that she worked as a music teacher in Basic Education, Higher School, and the Basic Education in the Arts. In 2010 she was one of Distinguished Fulbright Teachers at the University of Maryland.

Dr Vimala Ramachandran

Director, Education Research unit (ERU) Consultants Pvt Ltd. Delhi, India

My talk will draw upon the draft report of the GOI-NCPCR committee that was constituted to develop guidelines on corporal punishment and related issues. I start with the theoretical and legal framework of corporal punishment, mental harassment and discrimination in schools – and build on it to argue for a nuanced understanding of the words we use – like discipline, punishment, harassment etc. I will then briefly delve on the legal basis of corporal punishment, in order to capture the context in which laws are made and enforced. What are we so concerned about CP? I will try and go into the different dimensions of this question and conclude my talk with some ways in which teachers, schools administrators and parents can address the issue in a sensitive and child-friendly manner. Needless to say, I will include discussions on the rights and enablement of children and of teachers. I hope to use concrete examples to illustrate my arguments.

Dr. Shruti Jaiswal

Founder member Parwarish Institute of Parenting, New Delhi, India

Homoeopathic Physician by education, an Academician by passion; combines her clinical experience, medical expertise & understanding of human psyche with regards to parents & teachers in order to create NO LIMIT CHILDREN.

Md. Shahjahan kabira

Principal Angelica International School Dhaka, Bangladesh

Children are our future performers. For centuries children were regarded as miniature adults, no awareness of childhood as a separate state (The history of childhood by de Muse 1974). A child is not merely a structure of flesh and bones and not merely mini adults. In fact a child is FORMATIVE stage of human being and full of potential. Learning begins at birth and it continues till the death. Strong evidence from research shows that high quality early education and child care have a positive and a tremendous effects on children’s. Physical skills – body and muscle development; Cognitive skills–memory, attention; Language skills – comprehension, expression; Pre-academic skills – letters, numbers; Social competence – work & play well with peers, work well with adults; Emotional well – being. And that poor quality early education and care have negative effects. Even during the pre-natal development a huge capacities are made for the right kind of nursing and support. So, we need to give maximum emphasis on establishing a comprehensive approach to early childhood care and education and fostering an environment conducive to a child’s learning and self expression. So it is very important to know for the humanity that what is learning and how a child’s development takes place. Learning is a relatively permanent change in behaviour. It is relatively an improvement status in the ability of a skill. Learning is a changed state of one’s feeling about an object or a phenomenon. Learning is neurobiological process and it takes place in the brain. It works through genetically set neuronal networks.

Mr André Roberfroid

President, Association Montessori Internationale

André Roberfroid a Belgian national was the UNICEF Deputy Executive Director for Programme and Strategic Planning until his retirement in 2003. He was responsible for the formulation and implementation of the UNICEF strategic objectives and programmes. From 1974 to 1996 he served as a UNICEF field officer and representative in a variety of countries including Congo, Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon, Iran and Mali. He was particularly involved in the development and implementation of programme for children in extremely difficult circumstances like the civil war in Lebanon, the unrest in the West Bank and Gaza, the aftermath of the genocide in Rwanda. From 1996 to 1999 as director of the UNICEF office in Geneva, he was in charge of the coordination with the main humanitarian agencies

Mr Jose Paul

Mathematics Expert Delhi

Jose Paul is Ex-Director, Educational Planning Group, St. Xavier's School, Delhi. Founder member and co-ordinator of this voluntary group, Mr. Jose Paul is dedicated to the improvement of the quality of teaching-learning process at the school level. He has 17 years of fruitful teaching experience at the high school level. Mr. Jose Paul has conducted workshops all over India for students, teachers, Principals and administrators. He has conducted numerous workshops on methodology of teaching primary mathematics and has many years of experience in concept development.

Mr Samarendra Kumar

Project Coordinator, Regional Science City, Lucknow, India

Working as Head & Project Coordinator at Regional Science City, Lucknow from May 2005 till date. The centre is spread over an area of about 10 acres and has been upgraded to Regional Science City. This includes a Large format Film Projection system in Scimax Theater, 3-D Science Show Hall, and galleries on Biotechnology, Underwater exploration, Being Human and The Wonder World of Materials. A large walk through Aquarium containing a number of fish varieties is also installed in the new building designed for the purpose. Recently, I was instrumental in setting up a gallery on GANGA at NASI, Allahabad, which was inaugurated on 15th April, 2011. Set up on an area of about 7500 Sq. feet, the gallery is unique and Ist of its kind depicting the mythological, social, cultural, scientific and economic significance of the river Ganga.

Mr Sushant Kalra

Parwarish Institute of Parenting, New Delhi, India

Parwarish Institute of Parenting - Founder director of the company currently establishing the space for Parenting Education in India. Over the last few years I have conducted various workshops for Parents and Teachers in Corporates and Schools. A few of the clients are National Geographic, Max New York Life, Aviva Life, HLS Asia, BNY Mellon, St Columbus School, Tagore International School, Father Agnel, Ramjas School, Khaitan Public School etc. Details of the workshops are available at www.parwarish.co.in

Mrs S. Rekha Reddy

Vidyanjali Academy for Learning (CBSE School)

International Teachers’ Training at Vidyanjali Teachers from Philippines, Thailand and Singapore participated Directed a Summer Course at Indian Institute for Montessori Studies Twice had the honor of being the Chief Examiner at Indian Montessori Training Centre.

Mr. Oscar Marino

Teacher Trainer English Language Teacher, Argentina

Oscar Marino is from Argentina, he is a teacher of English at secondary schools and teacher training colleges. He has completed a university course at the National Technological University in Argentina and he is presently preparing the final thesis for his post-graduate studies of English. In 2010, he participated as a member of the Distinguished Fulbright Awards in Teaching Program at the University of Maryland, U.S.A., where he was able to interact with American and international teachers, observe and work in Public Middle Schools and develop a series of investigations related to the implementation of technology in the language learning classroom.

Mr Parth Shah

President, Centre for Civil Society, India

Parth J. Shah is founder president of the Centre for Civil Society, an independent, nonprofit think tank in New Delhi. CCS offers public policy solutions within the framework of the rule of law, subsidiarity, community engagement and competitive markets. It is currently focused on education reforms through the School Choice Campaign: Fund Students, Not Schools! and on livelihood deregulation through the Law, Liberty, & Livelihood Campaign and Jeevika Documentary Festival. Through I, Society, & Public Policy Seminars and Researching Reality Internship, college students understand public policy and become more active citizens.

Mr.Mikko Korhonen

Mikkelin lyseon lukio Lecturer in Physics and Mathematics. Mikkeli, Finland

During my studies I worked as a lab assistant for physics student laboratory and Assistant coach for team Finland and team Estonia to prepare teams to Physics Olympics I was a teacher in physics crammer courses to technical universities, Tampere and Turku. I was a teacher in computer science and mathematics for basic courses. Some courses were to international training program and teaching was provided with English. I was also a study advisor for school year 2003 - 2004. Lector in physics and mathematics.

Ms Kim Insley

IOE, University of London, UK

There are many theories and approaches to learning and teaching but where teachers develop reflective practice through engaging in action research in their own settings, the resulting pedagogy is effectively established and impacts on learning and standards in school. Kim Insley will explore the value of engaging all teaching professionals in action research methodologies to improve practice and outcomes in the classroom by examining the evidence of case studies from professional development practices at the Institute of Education, University of London, and by sharing her experiences in UK schools.

Ms Lynne Lawrence

Executive Director at Association Montessori Internationale

Lynne Lawrence is Director of Training and Schools at the Maria Montessori Training Organisation London, the International Training Centre in Britain of the Association Montessori Internationale. The MMTO also runs 3 Children’s Houses and an Elementary school and Lynne oversees the running of these schools in addition to running the MMI courses. Lynne took the AMI training course in London in 1974, training under Hilla Patell and worked with Muriel Dwyer on the ‘Help the Children’ project in Kenya between 1978 and 1985. Since 1990 Lynne has been Director of Training of the 3 - 6 AMI Course at the Maria Montessori Training Organisation, now known as the Maria Montessori Institute. Lynne is an AMI Board Member and General Secretary (ad interim) of AMI

Ms Meena Chandavarkar

Director, New India school,Pune, India

Meena studied in a one-teacher school in a village in Konkan until Std IV. Later, she was an illustrious student of Tara Rani (now Ush Raje) Vidya Mandir and Rajaram College in Kolhapur. She shifted to Nowrosji Wadia College, Pune to complete her graduation with English, Hindi and Sociology.

She was an athletic runner, captained the team of her college in Khokho and played Table Tennis. She started working early in life due to financial responsibilities of her family. She taught herself Psychology, Business Management and HRD by work experience and self-study. She worked in Mumbai with:

Ms Renuka Joshi

Founder member Parwarish Institute of Parenting, New Delhi, India

Possess strong people skills, sensitive to students’, children’s specialised changing needs; proven ability to develop rapport with students/ children. Motivated, high energy trainer with demonstrated track record of fostering student learning.

Passion for learning and creating difference in people’s life.Conducted workshops with parents on ‘creating no limit children’ and ‘enjoying everyday parenting’.

Conducted workshop for final year’s students of various colleges on Job Analysis and Interviewing Skills.

Conducted training on Personality Development, Business Etiquettes and Professional Grooming for distributors/students in Bihar, Jharkhand and Siliguri

Ms Sonia Swaroop Choksic

Founder member Parwarish Institute of Parenting, New Delhi,

India She has always been interested in People. Different people that she meets, have a completely different world of theirs and that is what interests her the most. Her work experience of now about, 11 years has varied between being a social worker to a documentary film maker and a parenting coach. The core purpose for all her work has been to look at different aspect of peoples lives and contribute in a way, that bring a difference. Beginning from her school days, she has worked with local communities in educating children who could not go to regular schools, senior people who did not have families and with women who did not experience confidence in their lives and hence felt at the lowest strata of family chain. The work started with curiosity, continued with research on what can be done and leading onto actual work with them through coaching and building resources for their continued support.

Ms Usha Pandit

Educational Consultant, Author of the textbook series “Empowering English” Mindsprings Consulting/Mindsprings Publishing Mumbai India

Usha Pandit is an educational consultant, specializing in curriculum development, gifted education and the academic and administrative management of educational organizations. She has had over twenty years of teaching experience in four countries. She brings to consulting a deep understanding of the educational needs of students from a range of cultures and age groups. Usha’s experience ranges from senior high and college education in India and Hong Kong (under the British curriculum), to gifted education and accelerated primary learning in Auckland and Jakarta (under the Australian curriculum). Her academic background is in English and Education. She has Master degrees in both from India, UK and New Zealand.

Ms Vidushi Chaudhry

Special Educator, Mindsprings Consulting / Mindsprings Publishing Mumbai, India

Vidushi Chaudhry is a Special Educator and Public Speaker, specializing in working with children struggling with reading, writing, language and learning difficulties. She has been working with struggling learners for the last six years, in both Mumbai and Delhi. Vidushi worked for a year at the NGO Learning Matters in Delhi, where she worked one-on-one with children with learning disabilities. She trained using a diagnostic-prescriptive approach, became a Schools Attuned practioner and did intensive remedial as well as curriculum- based intervention programmes. She has a Masters in Counselling Psychology, a diploma in Managing Special Needs and is currently pursuing Bachelors in Education.

Ms. Aurelia Garcia

Teacher of Language Arts Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Fellow Lapampa, Argentina

Teacher of English graduated from Universidad Nacional de La Pampa (UNLPam), Argentina. Evaluation Specialist graduated from UNLPam. Higher Diplomate in Education and New Technologies. Fulbright Scholar from DAT program 2010 with project in Web 2.0 Technologies and Teachers´ Professional Development. Assistant Teacher at UNLPam in General Didactics and in Educational Practice III. Active Member of Educational Research Institute ISSEI at Teachers´ Training Department (UNLPam). English Teacher at University High School.

Ms. Parvati

Incharge City International School, Lucknow

Ms Parvati Sharma is a curriculum Developer and Trainer at Global classroom Pvt. Ltd. at Nurture International Welfare Society. Parvati Sharma is Post Graduate in sociology and she is one of the core team members at Nurture. Prior to joining Global Classroom she has worked as Pre-Primary Co-Ordinator and Pre-Primary Teacher at city international school established by Dr Sunita Gandhi, initially she did her Teachers training form city international school and also conducted the second batch of teachers training. Parvati Sharma has also specialized in Mixed Age Classroom teaching techniques for three years, handling Pre-Primary children with innovative, psychological, love and affection techniques, Montessori method and maintained a Model Classroom at city international school. She believes that pre-primary is the base of a child so if the base is nurtured with love, affection and of without fear the child will have a strong base and strong personality.