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Featured Presidential Session: Learning, Education, and the Unknown Tomorrow: Competences for the 21st Century

Tue, March 27, 1:15 to 2:45pm, Hilton Reforma, Floor: 4th Floor, Don Alberto 1

Group Submission Type: Panel Session

Proposal

A considerable number of factors place unprecedented pressure on education systems to change swiftly and profoundly. They include rapid advances in communications and information technology, growing urbanization, concerns for environmental sustainability, shifts in geopolitics, demographic patterns and labor markets, increasing unemployment, especially of young people, and the growing divide between rich and poor. Students need new and complex skills and competencies, not only to lead economically productive lives but also to transform themselves into "self-directed learners who can address their own wants and concerns and can advocate for their goals and aspirations" (UNESCO and UNICEF 2013, p. 24). Given unpredictable changes in products, technologies, work organization, international trade patterns, etc., no one can easily anticipate the kinds of skills workers will require later on. Therefore, it is important to consider how education systems prepare students who can adapt to and even influence the work demands they will face. Education systems are also expected to convey values that will help develop more just and inclusive societies; they must also provide a variety of learning experiences to train a competent and active citizenship, and ensure quality and equity in learning outcomes. Thus, questions related to the relevance and quality of learning are now more pertinent than ever.

It is largely for the reasons articulated above that the place and role of curriculum deserve increased attention in both educational and international development. For some years now, the work of the UNESCO International Bureau of Education (IBE) has maintained that "curriculum matters" more than is often realized by education policy-makers, planners and many researchers. But given all the changes and challenges that lie ahead, this message is increasingly pertinent-and justifiably deserves reiteration. Indeed, concern for the quality and relevance of the curriculum penetrates to the heart of any education and development discussion, demonstrating why this must be highly emphasized in our complex, ever-changing and rapidly globalizing world. The panel revisits the concept of competences; it argues for its repositioning in current education debates on sustainable development and lifelong learning and for ensuring a wider policy dialogue. It also argues for an urgent need to identify new competencies, as emerging from a societal agreement about what sort of education is likely to respond properly to the needs and challenges of our society in the foreseeable future. The panel discussion starts with the assumption that curriculum is not static, but a social, cultural and political process, in continuous transformation and evolution.

The panel draws on extensive personal and professional experience of leading scholars in the field, and their substantial contributions to thinking and writing about future competencies, curriculum and learning. Their analyses bridge theoretical scholarship and applied work relating to matters of curriculum policy and practice. Their dialogue, steered by the UNESCO IBE, a global center of excellence in curriculum, is meant to stimulate ongoing debate about the future competences needed in the 21st century.

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