United Call to Action

Education systems continue to emphasise a narrow definition of student success based on assessments limited to a few academic disciplines. These models are being challenged by radical and fast-paced societal, environmental and technological changes. We must reform education systems to focus on developing individual and collective capacities to support human flourishing. 

1 Legacy systems

National Education Association. (n.d.). History of Standardized Testing in the United States. Retrieved from

https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/student-engagement/tools-tips/history-standardized-testing-united-states 

U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Testing in American Schools: Asking the Right Questions, OTA-SET-519 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, February 1992).

College Transitions. (n.d.). Average SAT score over time. Retrieved from 

https://www.collegetransitions.com/blog/average-sat-score-over-time/#:~:text=In%202023%2C%20the%20average%20SAT,the%20SAT%20dropped%20this%20year. 

LearnTechAsia. (n.d.). 2020, August 23). Sir Ken Robinson on Education & Creativity. LearnTechAsia. 

https://learntechasia.com/sir-ken-robinson-education-creativity/#:~:text=He%20believed%20that%20children%20are,no%20fear%20of%20making%20mistakes. 

Learning without Frontiers. (2012, February 1). Noam Chomsky: The purpose of education [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdNAUJWJN08 

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). (n.d.). Programme for international student assessment. https://www.oecd.org/pisa/ 

Perkins, D. (2010). Making Learning Whole: How Seven Principles of Teaching Can Transform Education, Jossey-Bass. ISBN 978-0470633717

Perkins, D. (2014). Future Wise: Educating Our Children for a Future World. Jossey-Bass. 978-1118844083

2 Fast-paced changes

Altinay, Hakan, ed. (2011). Global Civics: Responsibilities and Rights in an Interdependent World. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.

Centre for Social Justice. (n.d.). [Homepage]. Retrieved from https://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/ 

Cheesewright, T. (2019). High Frequency Change: Why We Feel Like Change Happens Faster Now, and What to Do About It. Madrid: LID Publishing.

Climate Network. (n.d.). Our Work: Transformative National Climate Action Plans. [Webpage]. Retrieved from 

https://climatenetwork.org/our-work/transformative-national-climate-action-plans/ 

Economist Intelligence Unit. (2023). Democracy Index 2023. [Webpage]. Retrieved from https://www.eiu.com/n/campaigns/democracy-index-2023/ 

Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures. (2019).  Global Citizenship Otherwise Study Guide.  Retrieved from 

https://decolonialfutures.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/decolonial-futures-gce-otherwise-1.pdf 

Institute for Applied Philosophy. (2021). What is the Fourth Industrial Revolution? [Webpage]. Retrieved from https://iap.unido.org/articles/what-fourth-industrial-revolution 

International Organization for Migration. (2022). World Migration Report. [Webpage]. Retrieved from https://worldmigrationreport.iom.int/ OECD. (n.d.). Education 2030. [Webpage]. Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/education 

Safe AI. (2023). Statement on AI Risk. [Webpage]. Retrieved from https://www.safe.ai/work/statement-on-ai-risk 

Schlanger, Zoë. (October 13, 2018). Philosopher Invented a Word for the Psychic Pain of Climate Change. (n.d.). [Webpage]. Retrieved from 

https://qz.com/1423202/a-philosopher-invented-a-word-for-the-psychic-pain-of-climate-change 

Schwab, K. (2017). The Fourth Industrial Revolution. London: Portfolio Penguin.

Thunberg, Greta. (2022). The Climate Book. Allen Lane.

Union of Concerned Scientists. (n.d.). Climate Change. [Webpage]. Retrieved from https://www.ucsusa.org/climate 

WEF. (2023a). The Future of Jobs Report 2023. [PDF]. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2023/ 

WEF. (2024). The Global Risks Report 2024. [PDF]. Retrieved from https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Global_Risks_Report_2024.pdf 

WEF. (2023b). This Timeline Charts the Fast Pace of Tech Transformation Across Centuries. [Webpage]. Retrieved from 

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/02/this-timeline-charts-the-fast-pace-of-tech-transformation-across-centuries/ 

3 Need for reform

Bromley, P., Furuta, J., Kijima, R., Overbey, L., Choi, M., & Santos, H. (2023). Global determinants of education reform, 1960 to 2017. Sociology of Education, 96(2), 149-167. https://doi.org/10.1177/00380407221146773

Kohn, A (2008). Progressive education: Why it’s hard to beat, but also hard to find. Alfie Kohn. https://www.alfiekohn.org/article/progressive-education/ 

Mehta, P. B. (2024, January 3). The specter of nationalism. Foreign Policy. https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/01/03/nationalism-elections-2024-democracy-liberalism/ 

Quinn, D. (1999). Beyond civilization: Humanity's next great adventure. Harmony Books. 

World Health Organization. (2023, October 12). Climate Change. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health

Young, J. (Host). (2024, February 6). What if myths, metaphors, and riddles are the key to reshaping k-12 education? [Audio podcast episode]. In EdSurge. ISTE and ASCD.

4 Individual and collective capacities to support human flourishing

Literature:

Agile Alliance. (2001, February 13). Manifesto for Agile Software Development. Agile Manifesto. https://agilemanifesto.org/ 

Alexander, P., & Perche, J-O. (2024, February 1). Intellectual wellbeing in schools: The radical ecological challenge of valuing the future differently. Medium. https://medium.com/@patrickgalexander/intellectual-wellbeing-in-schools-the-radical-ecological-challenge-of-valuing-the-future-ee76659cc80d 

American Montessori Society. (n.d.). What Is Montessori? Retrieved from https://amshq.org/About-Montessori/What-Is-Montessori

Caplan, B. (2018). The Case Against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money. Princeton University Press.

Dickson, A. (2016, September 20). How Utopia shaped the world. BBC Culture. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20160920-how-utopia-shaped-the-world

Hendrickson, B. (2023, October 22). So you’d like to read Egan!: A quick-start guide for seven different types of people. The Lost Tools of Learning. https://losttools.substack.com/p/so-youd-like-to-read-egan 

K-12 Digest. (n.d.) What would it take to put nature on your school board? Retrieved from https://www.k12digest.com/what-would-it-take-to-put-nature-on-your-school-board/ 

Michalec, P. (2023). Classrooms as Sacred Space: Structures for Holistic Teaching and Learning Practices in Higher Education. Religions, 14(2), 190. 

Meier, D. (2002). These Schools Belong to You and Me. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

Noddings, N. (2013). Caring: A Relational Approach to Ethics and Moral Education (2nd ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press.

Nussbaum, M. (2013). Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach. Cambridge, Mass. Harvard University Press.

Progressive education. https://www.progressiveeducation.org/get-involved/campaigns/campaigns-working-on-education-reform/ 

Reich, J. (2024). Iterate: The secret to innovation in schools. John Wiley & Sons.

Reggio Emilia Project. (n.d.). Values. Retrieved from https://www.reggiochildren.it/en/reggio-emilia-approach/

Richardson, W. (2015). Freedom to Learn. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

Sen, A. (2009). The Idea of Justice. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674060470

Taylor, L., Zhou, W., Boyle, L., Funk, S., & De Neve, J-E. (2024). Wellbeing for Schoolteachers (Report No. 2). International Baccalaureate Organization. https://ibo.org/globalassets/new-structure/research/pdfs/wellbeing-for-schoolteachers-final-report.pdf 

Tenkely, K. (n.d.). What is Sacred in Education? Retrieved from http://thelearninggenomeproject.com 

Vander Ark, T. (2024, January 11). Outdoor and experiential learning across the country. Getting Smart. https://www.gettingsmart.com/2024/01/11/outdoor-and-experiential-learning-across-the-country/

Organisations or initiatives referenced:

Agora - https://hundred.org/en/innovations/agora

AI for Education - https://www.aiforeducation.io/

Aurora Institute - https://aurora-institute.org/

Big Questions Institute - https://bigquestions.institute/

Coalition of Essential Schools -http://essentialschools.org/

Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) - https://casel.org/

Ecolint Learner Passport - https://honouralllearning.ecolint.ch/ecolint-learner-passport

Eduscrum - https://eduscrum.org/

Forest School Association - https://forestschoolassociation.org/what-is-forest-school/

Global Citizenship Collective - PDF Document

Global Citizens Diploma - https://globalcitizendiploma.org/

Green Schools National Network - https://greenschoolsnationalnetwork.org/

Inspire Citizens - https://inspirecitizens.org/

Lead Inclusion - https://www.leadinclusion.org/

Mastery Transcript - ttps://mastery.org/stay-connected/work-with-us/

Regenerative Economics - https://www.regenerativeeconomics.earth/

Reggio Emilia - https://www.reggiochildren.it/en/reggio-emilia-approach/