Many of us first came across Louka Parry at the 2021 WAPPA Conference when he beamed in live from South Australia into the Crown Ballroom. This was the week the border closed and unfortunately, Louka was stuck in SA and couldn’t make it over. We all, including Louka, were devasted but as we were the only state in Australia able to host a conference at that time, we sprang to plan B and Louka zoomed in for his keynote address.
Louka’s presence was felt immediately even over zoom. His thoughtful questions, statements and pauses left people feeling deeply reflective about his messaging. Louka is passionate about education and his commitment to the future of education and society comes across in all the forums he engages in whether that be his keynotes, podcasts or articles. That’s why I wanted to engage him further to see what else he could offer our members at WAPPA. The idea of The WAPPA Learning Lab with Louka Parry was born.
Sitting on zoom with Louka, planning the Learning Lab, he sits in his outside studio at his family’s farm in South Australia. He listens deeply and responds with curiosity and says ‘why not let’s give it a go!’ or something to that affect. In the Learning Lab series, Louka is keen to share some thought pieces and engage in discussion, so we planned a series of 3 evening webinars to allow as many educators as possible to attend. It is a structure that is loose but tight, designed to give you flexibility but also access to highly engaging thought pieces.
In the time since I engaged with Louka to plan the Learning Lab, he has visited many countries around the world discovering and engaging in new innovations and has recently been named in the Top 100 Innovators list by The Australian. Louka is a guy going places for the betterment of education and we want our WAPPA members to be able to engage with him to learn, unlearn and relearn. It is a unique and exciting opportunity so make sure you join us.
To learn about Louka, visit his website and watch his TEDx talk.