The Five W’s of Learning: Rethinking Educational Quality for Post-2015

• In Event: Defining and measuring learning in the Post-2015 Development Goals

Abstract

Learning, and the quality of education, will no doubt play a central role in the broad post-2015 development goals. But the role that it plays will be determined in large part by what we term here the “five W’s of learning: Who are we talking about? What is it? Where is learning the most challenging?
The why of learning: From access to quality. And finally, how to improve learning? These seemingly simple questions imply many assumptions about both the science and policy associated with defining and measure learning in the context of educational development. Just to take the first question –“Who?” Previous goals were mainly focused on implementing universal coverage (access) to primary school. Will the next focus be on universality, or on those who have learned the least, or both, or other parameters? The implications are enormous for the investments to be made, and have further impacts on the types of measurement tools to be designed. Even as the new UN goals begin to emerge, there is a great deal left to debate and decide before implementation can take place. In this paper, each of the 5 W’s is briefly explored, along with implications for what types of educational investments in learning quality should be made in the post-2015 period.

Author

• Dan Wagner, University of Pennsylvania