Education for an AI World
"Educational success lies not only in finding the unique path that each of us can best take through life, but in acquiring the courage, resilience and skills needed if we are to create and travel down that path in a way best suited to ourselves that makes a sustainable contribution to human thriving.
"There is no end of good and well-meaning advice available, but it seldom takes sufficiently seriously the particular abilities, needs and interests of an individual, and too often young people are persuaded to do things for reasons that confer benefit on others rather than suit their particular talents.
"We created EDSIL to try to define a new kind of education that blends the very best traditions and practices of East and West and serves to facilitate a dynamic educational process that equips young people with all the best knowledge and wisdom from the past while also enabling them to create a sustainable future."
John Puddefoot
John Puddefoot is the Founding Director and CEO of EDSIL.
A graduate of Oxford and Edinburgh, he taught at Eton College for 25 years, as a Mathematics Master, Head of Mathematics and Deputy Head (Curriculum).
He then became Warden of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka; the Founding Head of the Aga Khan Academy, Hyderabad, India; and the Founding Head of United World College, Dilijan, in the Republic of Armenia.
In recent years he has been involved in educational consultancy and start-ups in China, first with Sir Paul Judge, Bright Scholar Education, and later with RCE Suzhou and Dragon Spruce Changsha. He was the Honorary Principal of Xuzhou and Yiwu International Academies and the Founding Principal of BeeMee Primary School in Changsha, Hunan province.
Married, with three daughters and four grand-children, John sees education as a key contributor to human progress and the establishment of aspirations that are sustainable.