A global reset of education
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A global reset of education Sir Ken Robinson1
© UNESCO IBE 2020
Abstract As the world looks to the future and ways to safely return to normal, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have a unique opportunity to reset our priorities and redefine what this normal looks like. For education communities, this is a chance to take a close look at aspects of education systems that we have taken for granted for far too long. Keywords Learning · COVID-19 · Crisis There are very few elements of human life that remain unaffected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Across the world we have entered into lockdowns, adapted our working lives or stopped them completely, changed our habits, and missed our families and friends. Perhaps one of the most remarkable effects of the pandemic has been the mass closure of physical schools, the impact of which has been felt by educators, parents and children globally. At the start of the lockdowns I began speaking to families around the world to find out how they were coping and to share their stories in order to let others know they were not alone – to show that while aspects of this situation may be unique in living history, and of course every family’s situation is unique, we are going through this together. Now as lockdowns are easing, or in some places being abandoned all together (the effects of which we will learn in time), people are naturally looking to the future and to ways in which we might safely return to normal. The most important questions to ask are what type of normal do we want to get back to, and is it the normal that we have left behind us? I believe that it should not be, and that we are at an exceptional moment in time to redirect our course. As the science community continues to gain insight into the virus itself, it is clear that this pandemic has been largely of our own making. Humanity has created conditions on earth that are hostile to our best interests and counterproductive to our
* Sir Ken Robinson [email protected] 1
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collective wellbeing. As a species we are facing two major crises. The first is the climate crisis, which was there long before the pandemic began and which is still waiting to be adequately addressed. If we do not approach the climate crisis as the emergency that it is, we will find ourselves facing extinction. People talk a lot about saving the planet, but what they mean by that is saving our existence on it. Only we can do that, and we must. The second crisis is in our ways of life through normalising stress, anxiety, and toxic patterns of behaviour. These two crises are deeply connected. Our neglect for our relationship with the natural world is as detrimental to our own wellbeing as it is to the planet. We can take lessons from one and apply them to the other. Most mass systems of education evolved from the 18th century and were modelled on the process of Industrialism. The Industrial Revolution redefined normal. The progress it made to manufacturing and technology created lasting c
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