Futures of Education

Futures of Education is a global initiative led by UNESCO (United Nation Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), aiming to rethink and shape the future of education.[1] The project was launched in 2019 to mobilize collective intelligence, generate debate and reimagine how education can contribute to the common good of humanity.[2]

Context

Due to accelerated climate change the fragility of the planet is becoming more apparent, inequalities, social fragmentation, and political extremism are bringing many societies to a point of crisis. Advances in Digital Communication, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology have potential but raises ethical and governance concerns, especially as innovation and technological change have an uneven record of contributing to human development.[1] The Futures of Education aims to re-imagine how knowledge and learning can shape the future of humanity and the planet, given the challenges which they are currently facing.[1]

Rethinking the role of education

Learning and knowledge are tools that can help inspire possible futures of humanity and of the planet. The challenges of today's world require innovative solutions beyond established sectoral approaches and disciplinary boundaries to re-purpose education for the future.[3]

Culture and the environment

The stability of the planet could be enabled through the mobilization of education, and the diversity of knowledge, customs and culture.[4] Research suggests that embedding a deep attachment to landscapes and tangible heritage instils a sense of care for the world, that the study, preservation and appreciation of diverse languages, knowledge and customs enrich the collective consciousness through an understanding of the relations between past, present and future societies.[5][6][3]

Education plays a role to include sustainability studies as a means of driving planetary survival. Earth science and environment studies enable learners and communities to become more cognizant of the world they inhabit and leave behind.[3][7]

A ‘community of knowledge’ is one in which the responsibility of being a ‘knowledge keeper’ is returned to everyone.[8] This paradigm shifts the focus from the perspective of ‘stakeholder’ and changes the way of contributing to knowledge, aiming to achieve sustainable development. The future of education supports the cognitive practices of the groups and communities that recreate the values of their landscapes through the practices of cultural appreciation and symbolic recognition of places.[9]

Responsible citizenship

Education plays a role in the socialising process to build equitable and sustainable societies. School curricula that include philosophy, human rights, visual learning, socio-emotional competencies, media literacy and the humanities studies are key to inclusivity and social justice. Global citizenship education and Education for Justice fosters a future generation that is conscious of the need for planetary sustainability and focused on solving global challenges, including food shortage and planetary health.[3]

Learning systems

Rethinking learning systems can foster inclusive and social cohesion. For example, cross-cutting digital and physical spaces facilitate the sharing of knowledge. Such collaborative learning spaces are a means to explore mathematics and art education while fostering collective imagination. Rethinking and adopting new internationalized learning systems will cultivate a culture of responsible citizenship and equity that legitimizes different ways of knowing, particularly those that lie outside of traditional Western paradigms.[3]

Science, technology and innovation

With artificial intelligence, technology is increasingly involved in education. New digital competencies and media literacies call for a gender transformative approach (promoting gender equality, sharing control of resources and decision-making and women's empowerment) to the digitization and use of artificial intelligence (AI).[10] Unlocking digital barriers through open educational resources enables global online learning and facilitate Education For All.[3]

Media and communication students will require ethics courses to establish their critical thinking skills and training. This will be crucial in a ‘fake news’ era when trust in media professionals is being eroded, especially when news and documentary production is impacted by the capacity of AI to manufacture authentic-looking ‘fake’ material. For instance, researchers at the University of Washington have created algorithms based on hours of video footage and audio recordings to create realistic lip-synced videos of Barack Obama.[11]

Knowledge and transformation

Envisioning the futures of education through transforming how people view education and the role of learning institutions in fostering change. Teaching of futures literacy can prepare learners to become more open and ready to face an unknown future. Reimagining the possibilities of Vocational education and training fulfills human needs and reaches beyond industrial work and the provision of income. Lifelong counseling supports people in their careers and personal endeavours so they can become constructive agents of their own reality.[3]

UNESCO's initiative

UNESCO's Futures of Education initiative mobilizes the many ways of being and knowing to leverage humanity's collective intelligence. It relies on a consultative process that involves youth, educators, civil society, governments, business and other stakeholders.[1] The mobilization and contribution of the network of UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs is a key part of the process of engagement.[3] The work is being guided by a high-level International Commission of leaders from diverse fields and different regions of the world. In November 2021, the commission plans to publish a report designed to share how education and learning can enable individuals to become what they want to become.[1]

See also

References
  1. UNESCO (2019). "Futures of Education: learning to become" (PDF).
  2. UNESCO (2019). #CommitToEducation. UNESCO. ISBN 978-92-3-100336-3.
  3. UNESCO (2020). Humanistic futures of learning: perspectives from UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN Networks. UNESCO. ISBN 978-92-3-100369-1.
  4. Gazzaniga, Michael S. (2009, 2008). Human : the science behind what makes your brain unique (1st Harper Perennial ed.). New York: Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0-06-089289-0. OCLC 262884955. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. Hadot, Pierre, 1922– (2002). Exercices spirituels et philosophie antique. Davidson, Arnold I., 19.- (Nouv. éd. rev. et augm ed.). Paris: Albin Michel. ISBN 2-226-13485-9. OCLC 401647613.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. Authier, Michel, 1949- (1999, 1998). Les Arbres de connaissances. Lévy, Pierre, 1956-, Serre, Michel, 1930-. Paris: La Découverte. ISBN 2-7071-3044-3. OCLC 144691852. Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. Rovelli, Carlo, 1956– (2014). La realtà non è come ci appare : la struttura elementare delle cose. R. Cortina. ISBN 978-88-6030-641-8. OCLC 869809336.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. Pert, Candace. (2012). Molecules of Emotion : Why You Feel the Way You Feel. Simon & Schuster, Limited. ISBN 978-1-4711-0970-6. OCLC 1090987991.
  9. Paoletti, P.; Ben Soussan, T. Dotan (20 July 2019). "The Sphere Model of Consciousness: From Geometrical to Neuro-Psycho-Educational Perspectives". Logica Universalis. 13 (3): 395–415. doi:10.1007/s11787-019-00226-0. ISSN 1661-8297.
  10. "Gender Transformative Approaches | The Evidence Project". evidenceproject.popcouncil.org. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  11. "Fake Obama created using AI video". BBC News. 19 July 2017.

Sources
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