Shaping Future Citizens: Examining UNESCO’s AI Competency Framework for Students

• In Event: International Studies SIG Structure Poster Session

Abstract

This study critically examined UNESCO’s AI Competency Framework for Students as a governing device through which the organization asserts its authority in shaping educational futures. Drawing on the concepts of educational imaginaries and anticipatory governance, the research explored how the Framework problematizes current education systems and presents AI as both inevitable and transformative. It revealed how students are positioned as ethical, human-centered users and co-creators of AI. While this framing aligns with UNESCO’s broader agenda to advance SDG 4, it is shaped by Global North epistemologies and overlooks alternative imaginaries of AI competencies. This research contributes to global education governance literature by illustrating how UNESCO mobilizes AI competency to produce governable futures.

Author

• Baiwen Peng, University of Minnesota