Purpose driven education systems

• In Event: Learning what our children have learnt during the pandemic

Proposal

The Covid-19 related school closures have had devastating effects on children’s learning, compounding a pre-existing learning crisis. Recent evidence and simulations suggest that learning losses must be adequately addressed to avoid long term negative consequences. Doing so requires prioritizing critical foundational skills that serve as the building blocks for later learning. The Covid-19 crisis highlights the importance of understanding why and how higher-performing education systems have achieved success, and what lessons such systems hold for others.
In many low- and middle-income countries that have achieved significant gains in learning outcomes, higher income and resources and greater knowledge of what to do to achieve learning cannot explain the differences in outcomes relative to lower performing countries. In this paper, we propose a conceptual framework for understanding drivers of education system performance and use it to argue that consensus-based commitment to the purpose of learning is a critical missing link to addressing the learning crisis. We then apply the conceptual framework to examples of successful system improvements, showing the role that “purpose” played in driving learning improvements in Brazil, Tanzania, and Kenya. Finally, we propose efforts that can foster commitment to the purpose of learning in education systems. These include conducting or funding learning assessments to spur political and citizen-led attention and pressure to act; supporting domestic think- and do-tanks; and funding or investing in programs and scholarships for tomorrow’s leaders.

Author

• Michelle Kaffenberger, RISE Programme, University of Oxford