As the Breadth of Skills: Education Transformation in-person program concluded on Thursday afternoon and network members prepared for their return journeys home, together they considered the question: what’s the next step for the Education Policymakers Program?
The months ahead present opportunities to continue collaborations, strengthen networks, and explore new ways of learning and sharing.
Big ideas introduced in the course of the week, including mega-trends that will affect society, and terminologies introduced by UNESCO frameworks, indicate a new light to shape the thinking coming out of these sessions, as fellows now look to how they can implement and support change in their home countries as a result of their collaborations at Salzburg Global Seminar, in partnership with the Lego Foundation.
For the fellows, deconstructing the idea of what it is that comprises ‘breadth of skills’ will help them plot new ways of looking at idea-creation and solutions, particularly against the backdrop of continuing transformation. Throughout the week, discussions around changes in teaching and learning as a result of the pandemic provided a keyhole into what the future of education systems can look like.
After invigorating breakaway sessions in the Max Reinhardt Library and the Chinese Room, participants gathered in the Fellows Hall for an in-depth discussion on a timeline for the rest of 2022, as well as to discuss the outcomes of the in-person program. Certain responses were across the board: more time for discussions, more work in the learning circles, and more speakers and presentations to represent different regions. There was also an emphasis on the importance of assessments and reflexivity in learning groups and discussions, with a general agreement to move around the groups in order to get different perspectives on the five thematic areas.
The timeline consists of four key events. The first is another meeting in June to touch base on the outcomes of the in-person programme and the virtual learning groups. August will be an opportunity for members to visit each other’s countries to gain a better understanding of each other’s education systems. The Seminar has 12 travel bursaries for 2022, with the priority given to members who joined virtually. Then comes roundtable discussions and presentations of country case studies within the groups.
To round off the year, everyone will be back in Salzburg in December for a final in-person programme, with publication outputs expected in the early part of 2023.
As program director Dominic Regester highlighted, “At its heart, the network has four key goals: amplify, exchange, influence, catalyze.”
