From this week’s readings (two from the executive summary and one of an article), select three quotes that resonate with you. For each quote, write 2-3 sentenc

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R E P O R T F R O M T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L CO M M I S S I O N O N T H E F U T U R E S O F E D U C AT I O N

Futures of Education initiative The International Commission on the Futures of Education was established by UNESCO in 2019 to reimagine how knowledge and learning can shape the future of humanity and the planet. The initiative incorporates extensive public and expert engagement and aims to catalyze a global debate on how education needs to be rethought in a world of increasing complexity, uncertainty, and fragility.

UNESCO – a global leader in education Education is UNESCO’s top priority because it is a basic human right and the foundation for peace and sustainable development. UNESCO is the United Nations’ specialized agency for education, providing global and regional leadership to drive progress, strengthening the resilience and capacity of national systems to serve all learners. UNESCO

global challenges through transformative learning, with special focus on gender equality and Africa across all actions.

Published in 2021 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 7, place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP, France

© UNESCO 2021

ISBN 978-92-3-100478-0

This publication is available in Open Access under the Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO (CC-BY-SA 3.0 IGO) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/). By using the content of this publication, the users accept to be bound by the terms of use of the UNESCO Open Access Repository (http://www.unesco.org/open-access/terms-use-ccbysa-en).

The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

The members of the International Commission on the Futures of Education are responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts contained in the publication and for the opinions expressed therein. These are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization.

Copy-editor: Mary de Sousa

Designed and printed by UNESCO

Printed in France

The work of the International Commission on the Futures of Education was generously supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the Government of France, and Banco Santander.

S H O R T S U M M A R Y

“Since wars begin in the minds of men and women it is in the minds of men and women that the defences of peace must be constructed”

A new social contract for education Our humanity and planet Earth are under threat. The pandemic has only served to prove our fragility and our interconnectedness. Now urgent action, taken together, is needed to change course and reimagine our futures. This report by the International Commission on the Futures of Education acknowledges the power of education to bring about profound change. We face a dual challenge of making good on the unfulfilled promise to ensure the right to quality education for every child, youth and adult and fully realizing the transformational potential of education as a route for sustainable collective futures. To do this, we need a new social contract for education that can repair injustices while transforming the future.

This new social contract must be grounded in human rights and based on principles of non-discrimination, social justice, respect for life, human dignity and cultural diversity. It must encompass an ethic of care, reciprocity, and solidarity. It must strengthen education as a public endeavour and a common good.

This report, two years in the making and informed by a global consultation process engaging around one million people, invites governments, institutions, organizations and citizens around the world to forge a new social contract for education that will help us build peaceful, just, and sustainable futures for all.

The visions, principles, and proposals presented here are merely a starting point. Translating and contextualizing them is a collective effort. Many bright spots already exist. This report attempts to capture and build on them. It is neither a manual nor a blueprint but the opening up of a vital conversation.

we need a new

social contract for education to repair injustices

while transforming the future

REIMAGINING

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c o n t r a c t f o r

e d u c a t i o n R E P O R T F R O M T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L C O M M I S S I O N O N T H E F U T U R E S O F E D U C AT I O N

Foreword Audrey Azoulay Director-General of UNESCO

If anything has brought us together over the last year and a half, it is our feeling of vulnerability about the present and uncertainty about the future. We now know, more than ever, that urgent action is needed to change humanity’s course and save the planet from further disruptions. But this action must be long-term, and combined with strategic thinking.

Education plays a vital role in addressing these daunting challenges. Yet, as the pandemic has shown, education is fragile: At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, 1.6 billion learners were affected by school closures across the globe.

Never do you appreciate something more than when faced with losing it. For that reason, UNESCO welcomes this new report, Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education, prepared by the International Commission on the Futures of Education under the leadership of Her Excellency Madame Sahle-Work Zewde, President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

Since being founded 75 years ago, UNESCO has commissioned several global reports to rethink the role of education at key moments of societal transformation. These began with the Faure Commission’s 1972 report Learning to Be: The World of Education Today and Tomorrow, and continued with the Delors Commission’s report in 1996, Learning: The Treasure Within. Both of these reports were insightful and influential; however, the world has fundamentally changed in recent years.

Like the reports that preceded it, the Sahle-Work Commission report is broadening the conversation on philosophies and principles needed to guide education to improve the existence of all living beings on this planet. It was developed over a two-year period and builds on extensive consultations with more than one million people.

If the report teaches us one thing, it is this: We need to take urgent action to change course, because the future of people depends on the future of the planet, and both are at risk. The report proposes a new social contract for education – one that aims to rebuild our relationships with each other, with the planet, and with technology.

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This new social contract is our chance to repair past injustices and transform the future. Above all, it is based on the right to quality education throughout life, embracing teaching and learning as shared societal endeavours, and therefore common goods.

Realizing this vision of education is not an impossible task. There is hope, especially among the younger generations. However, we will need the entire world’s creativity and intelligence to ensure that inclusion, equity, human rights, and peace define our future. Ultimately, that is what this report invites us to do. For that reason alone, it has valuable lessons for each and every one of us.

Audrey Azoulay Director-General of UNESCO

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Foreword HE Sahle-Work Zewde Chair of the International Commission on the Futures of Education President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

The future of our planet must be locally and democratically envisioned. It is only through collective and individual actions that harness our rich diversity of peoples and cultures that the futures we want can be realized.

Humanity has only one planet; however, we do not share its resources well or use them in a sustainable manner. Unacceptable inequalities exist between different regions of the world. We are far from achieving gender equality for women and girls. Despite the promise of the ability of technology to connect us, vast digital divides remain, particularly in Africa. There are extensive power asymmetries in people’s ability to access and create knowledge.

Education is the key pathway to address these entrenched inequalities. Building on what we know, we need to transform education. Classrooms and schools are essential, but they will need to be constructed and experienced differently in the future. Education must build skills needed in 21st century workplaces, taking into account the changing nature of work and the different ways that economic security can be provisioned. Furthermore, global financing for education must be expanded to ensure that the universal right to education is protected.

Respect for human rights and concern for education as a common good must become the central threads that stitch together our shared world and interconnected future. As this report argues, these two universal principles must become foundational in education everywhere. The right to quality education everywhere and learning that builds the capabilities of individuals to work together for shared benefit provide the foundation for flourishing, diverse futures of education. With consistent commitment to human rights and the common good, we will be able to sustain and benefit from the rich tapestry of different ways of knowing and being in the world that humanity’s cultures and societies bring to formal and informal learning, and to the knowledge we are able to share and assemble together.

This report is the result of the collective work of the International Commission on the Futures of Education, established by UNESCO in 2019. Recognizing the commitment and contributions that came from all members of our diverse and geographically distributed group, I would particularly like to thank António Nóvoa, the Ambassador of Portugal to UNESCO, who chaired the Commission’s research and drafting committee. The proposals presented in Reimagining Our Futures Together arise out of a global engagement and co-construction process which showed

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that creativity, perseverance, and hope are abundant in a world of increasing uncertainty, complexity and precarity. In particular, the futures of the following critical thematic issues which need rethinking are examined: sustainability; knowledge; learning; teachers and teaching; work, skills, and competencies; citizenship; democracy and social inclusion; public education; and higher education, research, and innovation.

The Commission’s work over the past two years was shaped by the global health pandemic, and members of the Commission were acutely aware of challenges faced by children, youth, and learners of all ages who faced extensive school closures. It is to the students and teachers whose lives were disrupted by COVID, and to their remarkable efforts to ensure wellbeing, growth, and the continuation of learning in trying circumstances, that we dedicate Reimagining Our Futures Together.

Our hope is that the proposals contained here, and the public dialogue and collective action called for, will serve as a catalyst to shape futures for humanity and the planet that are peaceful, just, and sustainable.

HE Sahle-Work Zewde Chair of the International Commission for the Futures of Education President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

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International Commission on the Futures of Education

H.E. Sahle-Work Zewde, President, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, and Chair of the International Commission on the Futures of Education

António Nóvoa, Professor at the Institute of Education of the University of Lisbon, and Chair of the research-drafting committee of the International Commission on the Futures of Education

Masanori Aoyagi, Professor Emeritus, University of Tokyo

Arjun Appadurai, Emeritus Professor, Media, Culture and Communication at New York University and the Max Weber Global Professor at the Bard Graduate Center in New York.

Patrick Awuah, Founder and President, Ashesi University, Ghana

Abdel Basset Ben Hassen, President, Arab Institute for Human Rights, Tunisia

Cristovam Buarque, Emeritus Professor, University of Brasília

Elisa Guerra, Teacher and Founder, Colegio Valle de Filadelfia, Mexico

Badr Jafar, CEO, Crescent Enterprises, United Arab Emirates

Doh-Yeon Kim, Professor Emeritus of Seoul National University, Former Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Republic of Korea

Justin Yifu Lin, Dean, Professor, Institute of New Structural Economics, Peking University

Evgeny Morozov, Writer

Karen Mundy, Director UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) & Professor (on leave), University of Toronto – Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Fernando M. Reimers, Professor, Harvard Graduate School of Education, USA

Tarcila Rivera Zea, President, CHIRAPAQ Centre for Indigenous Cultures of Peru

Serigne Mbaye Thiam, Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senegal

Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Former President of Latvia, currently co-chair, Nizami Ganjavi International Center, Baku

Maha Yahya, Director, Carnegie Middle East Center, Lebanon

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Acknowledgements

This report would not have been possible without the valuable contributions of numerous individuals, networks and organizations.

The Commission would like to thank all those who contributed independent reports, background papers, as well as the individuals, organizations and networks that took part in the global consultations on the futures of education (see appendices for lists of contributors and contributions).

Invaluable input was provided by the Advisory Board on the Futures of Education representing leading figures and key strategic partners in global education, research and innovation (see appendix for full list or individuals and organizations).

A special thank you to the following experts who worked closely with the Secretariat at UNESCO in the process of analysis and drafting and who reviewed early versions of the manuscript: Tracey Burns, Paul Comyn, Peter Ronald DeSouza, Inés Dussel, Keri Facer, Hugh McLean, Ebrima Sall, François Taddei, Malak Zaalouk, and Javier Roglá Puig.

Finally, the Commission would like to sincerely thank UNESCO, and in particular, Ms Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education, for her leadership, as well as Sobhi Tawil, Director of the Future of Learning and Innovation Team, and his team, for the tireless support provided to the work of the Commission. Team members included Aida Alhabshi, Alejandra Castaneda, Catarina Cerqueira, Anett Domiter, Keith Holmes, Iaroslava Kharkova, Stephanie Magalage, Jack McNeill, Fengchun Miao, Michela Pagano, Maya Prince, Noah W. Sobe, Elena Toukan, and Mark West. The team was further supported by many colleagues across the organization who contributed in a variety of ways to the Futures of Education initiative.

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Contents

Foreword v by Director-General Audrey Azoulay

Foreword vii by H.E. President Sahle-Work Zewde vii

International Commission on the Futures of Education ix

Acknowledgements x

Executive summary 1

INTRODUCTION 7 The survival of humanity, human rights, and the living planet are at risk 8 The need for a new social contract for education 10 Redefining the purposes of education 11 Organization of the report 14

PART I BETWEEN PAST PROMISES AND UNCERTAIN FUTURES 17

CHAPTER 1 TOWARDS MORE EQUITABLE EDUCATIONAL FUTURES 19

Incomplete and inequitable expansion of education 20 Persistent poverty and rising inequality 24 A web of exclusions 25

CHAPTER 2 DISRUPTIONS AND EMERGING TRANSFORMATIONS 29

A planet in peril 30 The digital that connects and divides 34 Democratic backsliding and growing polarization 39 The uncertain future of work 40

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PART II RENEWING EDUCATION 46

CHAPTER 3 PEDAGOGIES OF COOPERATION AND SOLIDARITY 49

Reimagining pedagogical approaches 51 Pedagogical journeys at every age and stage 56 Renewing the mission of higher education 59 Principles for dialogue and action 60

CHAPTER 4 CURRICULA AND THE EVOLVING KNOWLEDGE COMMONS 63

Participation in the knowledge commons 65 The enabling role of higher education 75 Principles for dialogue and action 77

CHAPTER 5 THE TRANSFORMATIVE WORK OF TEACHERS 79

Recasting teaching as a collaborative profession 81 The life-entangled journey of teacher development 84 Public solidarity to transform teaching 87 Universities’ ongoing relationships with teachers 88 Principles for dialogue and action 90

CHAPTER 6 SAFEGUARDING AND TRANSFORMING SCHOOLS 93

The irreplaceable role of schools 95 The necessary transformation of schools 96 Transitions from school to higher education 102 Principles for dialogue and action 103

CHAPTER 7 EDUCATION ACROSS DIFFERENT TIMES AND SPACES 105

Steering educational opportunities towards inclusion and sustainability 108 Expanding ‘when’ education happens 113 Broadening the right to education 116 Principles for dialogue and action 117

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PART III CATALYZING A NEW SOCIAL CONTRACT FOR EDUCATION 119

CHAPTER 8 A CALL FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION 121

A new research agenda for education 123 Expanding knowledge, data, and evidence 126 Innovating educational futures 129 Principles for dialogue and action 132

CHAPTER 9 A CALL FOR GLOBAL SOLIDARITY AND INTERNATIONAL

COOPERATION 135

Responding to an increasingly precarious world order 136 Towards shared purposes, commitments, norms and standards 139 Cooperation in knowledge generation and the use of evidence 140 Financing education where it is threatened 141 The role of UNESCO 142 Principles for dialogue and action 143

EPILOGUE AND CONTINUATION Building futures of education together 145 Proposals for building a new social contract 147 Calls to action 153 Dialogue and participation 156 Invitation to continue 158

APPENDICES 161 Selected references 162 Independent reports 162 Background papers 164 Global consultation inputs 166 Publications by the International Commission on the Futures of Education 167

International Commission on the Futures of Education 168 Mandate 168 Members 168

The Futures of Education initiative 174

Contributors to the global consultation 175

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Executive summary

Our world is at a turning point. We already know that knowledge and learning are the basis for renewal and transformation. But global disparities – and a pressing need to reimagine why, how, what, where, and when we learn – mean that education is not yet fulfilling its promise to help us shape peaceful, just, and sustainable futures.

In our quest for growth and development, we humans have overwhelmed our natural environment, threatening our own existence. Today, high living standards coexist with gaping inequalities. More and more people are engaged in public life, but the fabric of civil society and democracy is fraying in many places around the world. Rapid technological changes are transforming many aspects of our lives. Yet, these innovations are not adequately directed at equity, inclusion and democratic participation.

Everyone today has a heavy obligation to both current and future generations – to ensure that our world is one of abundance not scarcity, and that everyone enjoys the same human rights to the fullest. Despite the urgency of action, and in conditions of great uncertainty, we have reason to be full of hope. As a species, we are at the point in our collective history where we have the greatest access ever to knowledge and to tools that enable us to collaborate. The potential for engaging humanity in creating better futures together has never been greater.

This global Report from the International Commission on the Futures of Education asks what role education can play in shaping our common world and shared future as we look to 2050 and beyond. The proposals presented arise out of a two-year global engagement and co-construction process which showed that vast numbers of people – children, youth and adults – are keenly aware that we are connected on this shared planet and that it is imperative that we work together.

Many people are already engaged in bringing about these changes themselves. This report is infused with their contributions on everything from how to reimagine learning spaces to the decolonization of curricula and the importance of social and emotional learning, and taps into their real and growing fears about climate change, crises like COVID-19, fake news and the digital divide.

Education – the way we organize teaching and learning throughout life – has long played a foundational role in the transformation of human societies. It connects us with the world and to each other, exposes us to new possibilities, and strengthens our capacities for dialogue and action. But to shape peaceful, just, and sustainable futures, education itself must be transformed.

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A new social contract for education

Education can be seen in terms of a social contract – an implicit agreement among members of a society to cooperate for shared benefit. A social contract is more than a transaction as it reflects norms, commitments and principles that are formally legislated as well as culturally embedded. The starting point is a shared vision of the public purposes of education. This contract consists of the foundational and organizational principles that structure education systems, as well as the distributed work done to build, maintain and refine them.

During the twentieth century, public education was essentially aimed at supporting national citizenship and development efforts through the form of compulsory schooling for children and youth. Today, however, as we face grave risks to the future of humanity and the living planet itself, we must urgently reinvent education to help us address common challenges. This act of reimagining means working together to create futures that are shared and interdependent. The new social contract for education must unite us around collective endeavours and provide the knowledge and innovation needed to shape sustainable and peaceful futures for all anchored in social, economic and environmental justice. It must, as this report does, champion the role played by teachers.

There are three essential questions to ask of education as we look to 2050: What should we continue doing? What should we abandon? What needs to be creatively invented afresh?

Foundational principles

Any new social contract must build on the broad principles that underpin human rights – inclusion and equity, cooperation, and solidarity, as well as collective responsibility and interconnectedness – and be governed by the following two foundational principles:

$ Assuring the right to quality education throughout life. The right to education, as established in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, must continue to be the foundation of the new social contract for education and must be expanded to include the right to quality education throughout life. It must also encompass the right to information, culture and science – as well as the right to access and contribute to the knowledge commons, the collective knowledge resources of humanity that have been accumulated over generations and are continuously transforming.

$ Strengthening education as a public endeavour and a common good. As a shared societal endeavour, education builds common purposes and enables individuals and communities to flourish together. A new social contract for education must not only ensure public funding for education, but also include a society-wide commitment to include everyone in public discussions about education. This emphasis on participation is what strengthens education as a common good – a form of shared well-being that is chosen and achieved together.

These foundational principles build on what education has allowed humanity to accomplish to this point and help to ensure that, as we move to 2050 and beyond, education empowers future generations to reimagine their futures and renew their worlds.

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Between past promises and uncertain futures

Widening social and economic inequality, climate change, biodiversity loss, resource use that exceeds planetary boundaries, democratic backsliding and disruptive technological automation are the hallmarks of our current historical juncture. These multiple overlapping crises and challenges constrain our individual and collective human rights and have resulted in damage to much of life on Earth. While the expansion of education systems has created opportunities for many, vast numbers have been left with low-quality learning.

Looking to the future it is all too easy to paint an even darker picture. It is possible to imagine an exhausted planet with fewer spaces for human habitation. Extreme future scenarios also include a world where quality education is a privilege of elites, and where vast groups of people live in misery because they lack access to essential goods and services. Will current educational inequalities only worsen with time until curricula become irrelevant? How will these possible changes impact on our basic humanity?

No trend is destiny. Multiple alternative futures are possible, and disruptive transformations can be discerned in several key areas:

$ The planet is in peril but decarbonization and the greening of economies are underway. Here children and youth already lead the way, calling for meaningful action and delivering a harsh rebuke to those who refuse to face the urgency of the situation.

$ Over the past decade the world

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