GAVE Future of Education panel 15 October 2025 first session

What is wrong with the current state of education around the world? Are our educational systems producing young people who will become curious, creative, emotionally well-balanced, responsible and compassionate members of society, able to flourish in a world which is experiencing unprecedented rates of change and dislocation? Will they have the skills to successfully address new challenges and build the better world that we all want to see? And what do we think that better world should look like? A panel of distinguished educationalists give their views on where we are going wrong (and right) in our current approach to education, and their vision of how we can do a much better job of educating our future citizens. A general discussion follows with members of the audience contributing their own thoughts. This is the first of two discussions on the same topic with two different panels of speakers, all connected with the Global Alliance for Values-based Education (GAVE) ahead of GAVE’s Public Launch on 6th November. GAVE is an international and interdisciplinary alliance of scholars, educators, practitioners, students, leaders, policy-makers, citizens, and organisations who have come together in the spirit of collaboration to identify and advance the research, practice, and policy of values and values-based education in our cultures, curricula, and systems across the world. The speakers at this first session are: Dr Shagufa Kapadia, Emeritus Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies. She was the former Department Chair and Hon. Director of the Women’s Studies Research Center at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, India. Her primary interest is in cultural perspectives in human development with special focus on adolescent and youth development, gender and women’s issues, parenting and socialisation and morality. She has significant international research and teaching experience (https://vidwan.inflibnet.ac.in/profile/52423). She is a member of the GAVE Steering Committee. Professor Terry Lovat, Emeritus Professor at University of Newcastle (Australia), Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Oxford (UK), Honorary Professor at the University of Glasgow (UK), and Adjunct Professor at Royal Roads University (Canada). He is a former Dean of Education and Pro Vice-Chancellor at Newcastle, and has served on many government boards and committees. His research spans across philosophy, theology, and curriculum theory. His most recent research focuses have been on values education and Islam. He was the chief investigator of research and practice projects from the Australian Values Education Program (2003-2010). He is a member of the GAVE Steering Committee. Dr Chris Duncan, CEO of Association of Heads of Independent Schools in Australia and former head of several schools. He holds a Masters Degree in International Education Policy from the University of Melbourne, and a PhD in Australian education policy. He is a member of the GAVE Steering Committee. David Rowse, Founder President of the registered UK charity Values Education for Life and Editor of Ethos in Education. He has extensive experience in teaching values, both in secondary schools and later as a lecturer at the University of Birmingham, inspired by working with Professor L. Kohlberg at a High School in the Bronx. He is an international speaker and is currently writing a book, “From a Different Perspective” about his experience and work within the field of human development and moral agency. Moderator: Charles Fowler, who is a member of GAVE's Steering Committee and Global Coordinator of World Values Day.