Alex Soulsby: Creating Meaningful Opportunities for Young Learners

Lefteris Heretakis

Alex is an internationally recognised creative education practitioner with an extensive career that stretches over twenty-five years. His work encompasses an extensive portfolio of international education development, creative project management, artist mentoring and educational policy-making.

In the UK, Alex played a key role in steering influential campaigns such as ‘Youth Arts Transforms Lives – FACT,’ benefiting from input and direction from the late Sir Ken Robinson as chair. His projects have twice been shortlisted for the UK National Charity Award and contributed to the Royal & Derngate Theatre and Arts Centre’s recognition as the UK’s Regional Theatre of the Year and Guardian’s Arts Centre of the decade

His work has featured in publications including The Times, The Guardian, Scotsman, RSA Magazine, the BBC, and the International Baccalaureate magazine, along with mentions in various academic journals. Recognition of his contributions to education and work with young people, recently resulted in a nominated and elected fellowship at the Royal Society of the Arts.

He is committed to creating meaningful opportunities for young people by bringing schools, creative minds, and educators together. His approach being, not just to work with, but to deeply embed schools in their communities and to reimagine the educational landscape for the betterment of young learners.

Simon Collins – What Design Schools Get Wrong About the Real World – Design Education Talks

Simon Collins is one of the most internationally experienced figures working at the intersection of design education, creative leadership and innovation. His career spans global brands including Nike, Zegna and Polo Ralph Lauren, leadership roles at Parsons School of Design, advisory work with governments and major institutions, and his current position as Chief Creative Officer of the Design Innovation Institute Shanghai. Having lived and worked across Europe, the United States and China, Simon brings a rare perspective on how creativity, education and industry intersect across cultures.In this conversation, we explore the evolving purpose of art and design education at a time when artificial intelligence, globalisation and rapidly changing industries are forcing educators to rethink long-held assumptions. Rather than focusing on software or technology, Simon argues that the true purpose of a design school is to teach students how to learn, how to remain curious, and how to approach complex problems with confidence and imagination. Drawing on decades of experience as both practitioner and educator, he reflects on design thinking, innovation, sustainability, industry collaboration, educational philosophy and the relationship between Western and Eastern approaches to creative education.This is a conversation about far more than fashion or design. It is about the qualities that make creative people valuable in an uncertain world: curiosity over certainty, learning over knowing, and thoughtful action over fashionable rhetoric. Whether you are an educator, student, designer, researcher or creative leader, Simon Collins offers an honest and thought-provoking perspective on what art and design education can become when it refuses to separate imagination from reality, and creativity from responsibility.Since its inception in 2019, Design Education Talks podcast has served as a dynamic platform for the exchange of insights and ideas within the realm of art and design education. This initiative sprang from a culmination of nearly a decade of extensive research conducted by Lefteris Heretakis. His rich background, intertwining academia, industry, and student engagement, laid the foundation for a podcast that goes beyond the conventional boundaries of educational discourse.See all of our work on on https://linktr.ee/thenewartschoolFollow us on twitter at @newartschoolRead our latest articles at https://newartschool.education/and https://heretakis.medium.com/Equipment used to produce the podcast:Rodcaster pro IIRode NT1 5th generationElgato Low profile Microphone ArmMonster Prolink Studio Pro microphone cableThe rest of the equipment is here 👉https://kit.co/heretakis/podcasting
  1. Simon Collins – What Design Schools Get Wrong About the Real World
  2. Graham Fink – Why Process Matters More Than Finish in Creative Work
  3. Dan Vlahos – Dynamic Media, Critical Thinking, and Design Pedagogy
  4. Jan Kubasiewicz on Teaching Design as a System of Meaning
  5. Nikolaus Hafermaas – Berlin Unplugged: Design, Education, and the Courage to Disrupt
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Published by Lefteris Heretakis

Navigating you through the disruption in #art, #design and #designeducation.

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