The WISR Team
Dr Benjamin Freud, Ph.D
Dr. Benjamin Freud is an educator, advisor, writer, and podcaster. He is the founder of Coconut Thinking, whose ambition is to create spaces for purposeful thinking and action that contribute to the welfare of the bio-collective—every life form that has an interest in the healthfulness of the planet. Coconut Thinking imagines learning ecosystems that extend beyond physical and conceptual walls, and are inter-generational and collaborative. These ecosystems teach future-saving ethics such as “practice eco-reciprocity,” “stand up for justice,” “share with solidarity,” and “act with kindness.”
Benjamin was born and grew up in Paris, France. He moved to the US when he was 15 and spent eleven years there in different cities, before living in the UK, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, and now Thailand. He started his career in consulting for Internet start-ups in Silicon Valley in the late 1990s, working with people whose ambitions were no less than to change the world.
This experience had a profound effect on Benjamin’s outlook on education, innovation, and entrepreneurialism. Benjamin continued to consult for larger and smaller firms in London and Tokyo in Technology, FMCGs, Financial Services, Pharmaceuticals, and Media.
Benjamin is also the Whole School Director of Learning and Teaching and Problem-Based Learning teacher at Prem Tinsulanonda International School in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Benjamin focuses on the ‘lived’ curriculum: on pedagogy, and what classroom practice looks like. He thinks about how to develop a culture of active learning, where the boundaries of disciplines start to disappear and learners engage projects that are meaningful and have an impact on themselves, others, and the world. Benjamin was the Head of Upper Primary and Middle School and Academic Coordinator at Misk Schools, the most prestigious and high profile school in Saudi Arabia. Prior to Saudi Arabia, Benjamin was the Vice Principal of the Middle School and High School, Whole School Curriculum Developer, and teacher at the Harbour School, a progressive PK-12 international school in Hong Kong, which was a “21st century learning school of the year” finalist.
Louka Parry
Louka Parry is a learning strategist, education futurist and social entrepreneur working at the global forefront with schools, systems and organisations to help them adapt for the future. As a school teacher, he was promoted to Principal at 27 years old and was named Inspirational Public Secondary Teacher of the Year for South Australia. Now as Founder and CEO of The Learning Future, he works internationally (in English and Spanish) to support positive change with a focus on innovation, future skills, leadership, wellbeing, technology and organisational culture.
Louka also serves as a Founding Executive of Karanga: The Global Alliance for Social Emotional Learning and Life Skills that seeks to inspire and equip practitioners, policy makers and researchers from across the world to promote quality and equitable Social Emotional Learning and Life Skills through initiatives that connect, coordinate, and drive action.
A rapid learner, he holds two Masters degrees, speaks five languages, has visited over 80 countries and recently completed a fellowship at Stanford’s d.school. You’ll normally find him nerding out on ideas, running trails, playing music and generally exploring with a rather insatiable and problematic curiosity.
Charlotte Hankin
Charlotte is co-founder of Coconut Thinking and an international educator with over twenty two years’ experience in a variety of roles including teacher, leader, school-to-school consultant and education policy advisor for the UK government, working in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia and Thailand. Currently, Charlotte is a homeroom teacher of mixed-aged students, relishing the creativity, technology and collaboration that this community of learners bring. Working at the nexus of theory and practice, Charlotte is also pursuing her PhD in Education with Bath University, exploring how schools frame children’s relationships with nature and the natural world.
Charlotte is originally from the UK where she spent twelve years working in economically disadvantaged communities, developing specialisms for Literacy, academically advanced learners and professional development.
As a consultant, Charlotte worked across the region to support teachers, leadership teams and whole schools to design curricular, assessment tools and deliver professional development programmes. From there, she was invited to set up the first-of-its-kind literacy programme in Hong Kong, aimed at challenging the critical thinking skills of academically advanced students through books and film. Charlotte later set up and established an innovative learning extension department at The Harbour School, a ‘21st century learning school of the year’ finalist, where enrichment and extension experiences were planned with individual, asynchronous learners from K-12. Charlotte moved to Saudi Arabia as the Head of Misk Schools for Girls, one of the most prestigious and innovative schools in the world, to develop an authentic curriculum that nurtures the curiosity, imagination and critical thinking skills of the next generation of Saudi leaders, inventors, entrepreneurs and world citizens. At the British Embassy, Riyadh, Charlotte became the Education Policy Advisor for the UK government, developing political and economic relationships between the two countries and supporting the educational standards of Saudi citizens.
Through these life experiences, Charlotte recognises the intrinsic, intuitive force within us all that connects to the natural world, believing that educational ecosystems should design closer observation of these relationships to leverage our collective capacities to not just sustain, but regenerate life.