Bea Rodriguez-Fransen, assistant research professor for Principled Innovation in the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, joined host Kristina Hoeppner on the Mahara podcast Create. Share. Engage. The Mahara ePortfolio project is an open-source platform that enables learners and educators to create, share, and reflect on digital portfolios, supporting personal learning, professional development, and assessment. It is led, maintained, and supported by Catalyst IT as its core developer and service provider.
During the episode, Rodriguez-Fransen discussed her new book, Education and decolonial futures in the Philippines: Perspectives for educators and practitioners (Springer, 2025). She introduced her decolonial design futures framework—a revision of traditional design thinking that centers Indigenous and marginalized communities and foresight methodologies, connects long histories to future horizons, and aligns with ASU’s Principled Innovation practices. During the discussion, the author also links the approach to reflective portfolio practice for educators.
Says Rodriguez-Fransen: I encourage any educator or practitioner in the world to use and build upon the two frameworks: decolonial portals and decolonial design futures, which they can also learn about through my website, beafuturist.com. I’d love to learn how communities have used or iterated these educational tools, particularly in co-designing better futures with local communities.
Rodriguez-Fransen offers the following acknowledgments:
I’d like to express my utang na loob (deep gratitude from the inner self) to the Filipina professors who participated in my research; to ASU's Principled Innovation Infrastructure for Discovery & Engagement for advancing research in principled innovation and integrating futures thinking, interdisciplinary collaboration, and public engagement; and to all who continue to think and act in ethical ways to transform our global society into a more just and sustainable one.
