As a society, our collective world view is built by what we see around us. What we see and what we learn influences who we are and how we behave. I have worked for the last twenty years with young people in design and media education and see that both Cinema and Education have the power to challenge and influence social constructs and how they evolve over the years. Independent Cinema makers, the world over are taking the lead. From where does that power come?

Representation

Are there parallels between Cinema and Education? Is representation done consciously or unconsciously, and is there a scope for increased awareness in both? Could self-representation be a positive direction for further change? …

When you look at your business, you want it to grow, innovate, have an impact and be profitable. In today’s VUCA world more than ever, it’s not enough to have a competent team, that has the knowledge, communicates well and works together. One has to have a winning team. A winning team is different from a good team or a strong team. A winning team is the agile one, who can stretch objectives and can accomplish their targets, with a blend of profit and permanence for a better future.

So what are the key triggers that can create an impactful and winning team? Here are some points that one sees time and again in a winning…

There is no clear definition of sustainability. There are many viewpoints on what will help the planet and its inhabitants avoid the depletion of natural resources and keep an ecological balance so that society’s quality of life doesn’t decrease.

Large corporations, governments, and the United Nations have developed goals with a schedule for 2030. As individuals too, we look at consumption, packaging, wastage, and the circularity of the products we use. We measure distances travelled and the number of chemicals used.

This story looks at another viewpoint of sustainability — the life of a product and what makes things last longer. …

The top 3 skills required in 2020 as predicted by the World Economic Forum are complex problem solving, critical thinking and creativity. For 2030 these are predicted to be creativity, critical thinking and decision making in that order. These skills are referred to as Higher Order Thinking Skills and are seen as key to being successful in any field in the years ahead.

The origins of higher-order thinking are in the fields of philosophy and psychology. While the field of philosophy has grown through discourse and argumentation, the field of psychology has evolved from a tradition of experimentation and research. Philosophers have used logical reasoning and perfections of thinking to decide what to believe and do, and psychologists have studied the thinking process and how this process can help people make sense out of their experience by constructing meaning and imposing structure. …

The Creative Industries: Design, fashion, communication, media and all innovative businesses have been looked at by students and young graduates with great interest. These are careers that promise excitement, purpose, travel, self-fulfilment and money. Working with design and media students for the last twenty years, I have seen gradual changes in the industry and worked to readjust classroom learning accordingly. 2020 has been different. In 2020 we saw radical shifts like never before. Shifts in the way we approach, create and consume design, fashion and media. Disruption and chaos all around.

Many young people ask me: Will the creative industries die or become less important? What has changed? What will stay changed? How can we prepare ourselves to be successful in the new normal? Who is responsible for growing and evolving the industry? These are some of the questions you will find an answer to in this post. …

Life, leadership, learning and moving ahead

So much has happened in the year gone by, and we tend to remember it through incidents. There is a part of each of us that wants to communicate through stories, through ideas that transcend real things that happened. Stories illuminate not only what happened, but the impact it had on us, how we experienced the moments of life. Our thoughts are a mirror of our lives and help us catch a glimpse of humanity through our reflection.

I looked at the posts I wrote in 2020 and saw this mirror my experiences. Here are a list and reflection through looking at what I wrote. …

The world has an education system that has been slow to change. The pandemic disrupted the existing system to a great extent. Amidst the chaos, we see pockets of brilliance, including progressive new education policies that could be transformative if nurtured carefully. What are the new roles and shifts do we see? What mindsets will have to change? And what are the long term changes there will be in the learner and the learning systems?

Yuval Noah Harari outlines how schools continue to focus on traditional academic skills and rote learning, rather than on critical thinking and adaptability, essential for future success. …