Presidential Address: After Reform: Improving Education for a More Equitable World

Group Submission Type: Special Session

Description of Session

We have never been short of educational reform in recent decades. It has been observed, however, that educational reforms in big and small systems around the globe have not met the real demand for learning, teaching and/or schooling. Whilst there are exceptions, many education reforms are largely unsatisfactory, ineffective, futile, or even completely failed. Alternative approaches for educational change continue to be longed for.
From a comparative and historical perspective, it is not difficult to conclude that changes in education have taken shape in three common pathways, i.e., revolution, laissez-faire (sufficiency-based), or improvement. The last approach is widely believed – relatively speaking – to be the most beneficial yet the least costly, as revolutionary changes are often socially costly while the approach of laissez-faire remains unrealistic nor is it ethical. Based on my forthcoming book entitled Educational Improvement Science: The Art of the Improving Organization, I redefine education by advocating three key ideas for educational change for a more equitable world: 1) education as improvement; 2) schools as improving organizations; and 3) educational change as professional improvement community (PIC) building. With such forward-looking reflections in our troubled times, I re-envision education as both freedom and co-prosperity for us all on a shared planet.

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Chair

• Ruth Emilie Scott Hayhoe, O.I.S.E. University of Toronto

Keynote Speaker

• Jun Li, Western University