About Programs Fellowship News Calendar
We are living in a time of convergent crises: the global coronavirus pandemic, the climate crisis, the polarization of societies and a global learning crisis. Alongside these crises the Fourth Industrial Revolution is changing the very nature of work and economies around the world. The workforce of tomorrow will require new skills and unprecedented nimbleness.
These challenges place exceptional demands on education policymakers around the world. Education reform that is focused on developing a breadth of skills within education systems is a necessary and legitimate component of the response to all of these challenges. Policymakers have an essential role in designing the approaches that will make education reform possible. This highly interactive series of roundtable discussions brought together Education Policymakers from around the world to share and discuss their insights and approaches to addressing these challenges.
The Education Policymakers Network was established in May 2021. It is a network of 31 policymakers from 31 countries who all have responsibility for the education of 3-12 year-olds in their respective locations. All of them share a strong interest in education reform that will expand the kinds of skills young people can develop to build the skills and flexibility needed in the 21st century.
The policymaker roundtable discussions have been designed to cater to policymakers and government officials interested in, or working on, implementing holistic skills development in their education systems. It will consist of two 2,5-hour sessions, both similar in set up and content in order to allow participants from all around the world learn from peers, become part of the discussion, and share their own experiences.
The first session will be held on January 27, 2022, from 8:00 to 10:30 CET, while the second will take place the same day between 18:00 and 20:30 CET.
Each session is built around two collaborative 50-minute blocks of Amplify – Exchange – Influence – Catalyze roundtable discussions. The first block will focus on the themes of the learning circles of the Education Policymakers Network and provide the space for interactive and open discussions on the following topics:
Breadth of Skills Assessment
Join this discussion to amplify, exchange, influence, and catalyze the opportunities and challenges arising from breadth of skills assessment, what an assessment framework could and should include, and how it can be mainstreamed.
New Approaches to Early Years Education
Join this discussion to amplify, exchange, influence, and catalyze new and existing approaches to early years education, such as learning through play, and opportunities and challenges arising in its implementation.
Innovations in Distance Learning
Join this discussion to amplify, exchange, influence, and catalyze the impact of distance learning on the development of students, and the opportunities and challenges that arise from it.
Post COVID Education Purpose and Priorities
Join this discussion to amplify, exchange, influence, and catalyze how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced people’s understanding and expectations of education systems and holistic skills development, and what learnings education policymakers need to draw from it.
Towards a Global Breadth of Skills Curriculum
Join this discussion to amplify, exchange, influence, and catalyze what a global breadth of skills curriculum could and should look like, what it should aim to achieve and what limitations there are to it.
The second block of roundtables will vary slightly between the first and the second session and will consist of case studies and real life-practices presented by members of the Education Policymakers Network. All of the roundtables will be discussion based and highly interactive.
Preparing the Ground for Reform: Insights from Scotland
Education Reform in Vietnam
Unpacking Delhi‘s Happiness Curriculum: From Policy to Practice
Build Back Better: Universal Early Care and Education in the United States
Education Reform in Portugal
Education Reform in Columbia (Spanish with English translation)
Through the roundtable discussions the Education Policymakers Network seeks to:
Both sessions are open to anyone but are specifically designed for education policymakers, other government representatives and advisors, and educators working on education reform and interested in holistic skills development. Participants who join the program should work on at least one of the following areas at a regional or national level as it relates to three- to twelve-year-olds:
Did you miss the event or want to re-watch parts of it? A playlist with all the sessions is available on our YouTube channel.