plan4learning

These are questions that must be re-evaluated within every education system striving to offer a quality education to children and youth. There is universal agreement on the importance of learning foundational skills such as literacy and numeracy, even though many students around the world do not achieve even these basic abilities. But education systems must also contemplate the higher-order forms of learning necessary to achieve individual well-being, sustainable livelihoods, and other important educational goals.⁽¹⁾

UNESCO argues that education systems will need to adapt in order to tackle contemporary challenges and contribute to sustainable development and peacebuilding. This implies a need to rethink the kind of knowledge, skills and competencies needed for the future as well as the nature of the learning that might facilitate them. Furthermore, while a great deal of learning should take place in schools, learning should also be supported in all life contexts (in the family, at school, in the community, and in the workplace) and through a variety of modalities (formal, non-formal, and informal).⁽²⁾ Subscribe to the IIEP Learning Portal to join the discussion on what learning means and how to achieve it.