[RE]LEARN 2020 - The Learning Innovation Festival

Education has been in the midst of a global transformation effort for quite some time. While education reform has been a central focus for decades, in the last five years especially the conversation has shifted from reform to redesign—to transforming our fundamental model of teaching and learning from the “sage on the stage” model that emphasizes the acquiring of knowledge, to learner-driven personalized learning. Relatedly, these efforts have been reinforced by a global conversation and movement to competencies over content standards, such as Brazil’s new national curriculum that emphasizes broader competencies; and even national systems replacing traditional structures with transformative new ways of supporting teaching and learning, such as Finland removing the use of a national curriculum altogether. Similarly, in 2019, the OECD released their new Education 2030 “learning compass” framework, outlining not just a comprehensive framework of skills, competencies and knowledge, but embedding it in pedagogical pillars of learner agency and well-being. Such a compass sets a new north star for most learning environments and educational systems, far beyond where they currently sit today. These models and arguments for such deep transformation are warranted, as they align with our research on how children learn best and what competencies are most needed in our modern world. However, indeed, these models of learning are fundamentally different from our traditional school models. How, then, do we help our schools all around the globe make this transition?
This global tidal change of educational transformation was further compounded in early 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in mass school closures globally with over three quarters of the world’s schools closed. Overnight, millions of learning environments globally were forced to quickly and radically redesign how they deliver teaching and learning. Schools across the spectrum — from those considering deep transformation to those who were not yet on this pathway — were suddenly now all forced into rapid and deep innovation, largely having to support their learners in ways they have never considered before. In this intense and unprecedented time for education systems, where many learning environment are now in the grips of accelerating radical change within their systems, how can we help schools to harness the opportunity for innovation while also assist them in effectively navigating their way to be the needed learning environments of our modern world?
The WISE Innovation Hub is a platform and initiative supporting schools to cross this chasm and make deep transformation to learner-driven, competency-based learning environments by developing their own “engines of innovation” within their school. We support participating schools to conduct their own research, design and innovation cycles in order to drive their school’s transformation forward into the future, now. Through participating in this session, participants will learn about the strategies and tools we are using to drive evidence-based transformation, and examples of what this looks like in practice.