Framing Education
as a Public Good
Fernando Reimers
Three Contributions…
• Ideas Matter to Public
Education
• Ideas are Developed through
Dialogue
• Value of Global Coallitions to
Advance Public Education
Three Important Ideas…
• professional and trade interests of
educators are intertwined
• collaborative government-union
approaches to strengthening education
are more productive
• efforts to strengthen the teaching
profession should be aligned with an
ambitious vision of environmental
sustainability, human rights, democracy
and social justice
A little history
1802, first public office to oversee education
1828 Ministry of public instruction
US Illiteracy Rates (%) for 14 years and
older
25
20
15
10
5
0
1870
1900
1930
1950
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
1) public education was not built in a day, or
even in a few years, it is a historical
project that spanned multiple generations,
2) it was a project that was simultaneously
about educational ideas about purpose,
content and method, and a political project
of mobilization of support,
3) the project has had detractors and
different points in history, and most
importantly, that the project is not over, it
is up to us to define the course of this
project over the next century.
Seven Challenges
to Public Education
Ideology
Economic Adjustment.
Inequality
USA Educational Attainment 25 years and
over
Rise
Democratic
Expectations
Expanding Aspirations
• From Access to Learning
Outcomes
• Expanding Definitions of Literacy
• Expanding Expectations of
Agency
Expanding Aspirations
Benjamin
Bloom 1956
Lorin Anderson
1990
• Reading literacy: An individual’s
capacity to: understand, use,
reflect on and engage with written
texts, in order to achieve one’s
goals, to develop one’s
knowledge and potential, and to
participate in society.
PISA Literacy Studies
• Mathematical literacy: An
individual’s capacity to identify
and understand the role that
mathematics plays in the world, to
make well-founded judgements
and to use and engage with
mathematics in ways that meet
the needs of that individual’s life
as a constructive, concerned and
reflective citizen.
• Scientific literacy: An individual’s scientific
knowledge and use of that knowledge to
identify questions, to acquire new
knowledge, to explain scientific
phenomena, and to draw evidencebased
conclusions about science-related issues,
understanding of the characteristic
features of science as a form of human
knowledge and enquiry, awareness of how
science and technology shape our
material, intellectual, and cultural
environments, and willingness to engage
in science-related issues, and with the
ideas of science, as a reflective citizen.
Transformation
of
Work
The best way to predict the future…
is to create it. Peter Drucker.
The best way to predict educate for the future…
is to create educate to invent it.
Innovation
Demography
608,783,000 Children 5-9 years
old
United
States
3%
Rest of
the
World
97%
608,783,000 Children 5-9 years
old
India
20%
Rest of the World
49%
China
14%
Brazil
3%
Nigeria
4%
Indonesia
4%
United States of
Pakistan
America
3%
3%
608,783,000 Children 5-9 years
old
India
20%
Rest of the World
31%
Japan
1%
Kenya
1%
Sudan
1%
Turkey
United Republic 1%
of Tanzania Viet Nam
1% Russian
1%
Federation
China
14%
Nigeria
4%
Indonesia
Egypt
1%
4%
1%
United
States
Philippines
Democratic Republic
Mexico 2% Ethiopia
Bangladesh Brazil Pakistan of America
of the Congo
3%
2%
2% 3%
3%
3%
2%
• As people are living longer
they will need to develop new
skills for a long life, including
managing their health and
learning to learn
• And we will want and need to
learn throughout life.
Professional Substantive
Conversation
Curriculum, Pedagogy, Learning
and Teaching
Global
Competence
Knowledge
and Skills
about the
World and
Globalization
Internationally
Competitive
Curriculum
World
Standards
Labor Force with
High Levels of
Educational
Attainment
Economic Risks
•
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•
•
•
•
•
Food price volatility
Oil price spikes
Major Fall in the US$
Slowing Chinese economy (<6%)
Fiscal crises
Asset price collapse
Retrenchment from globalization (developed)
Retrenchment from globalization (emerging)
Burden of regulation
Underinvestment in Infrastructure
Geopolitical Risks
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
International terrorism
Nuclear proliferation
Iran
North Korea
Afghanistan Instability
Transnational crime and corruption
Israel-Palestine
Iraq
Global governance gaps
Environmental Risks
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Extreme weather
Drought and Desertification
Water Scarcity
National Catastrophes (cyclone)
National Catastrophes (earthquakes)
National Catastrophes (island flooding)
National Catastrophes (coastal flooding)
Air pollution
Biodiversity loss
Societal Risks
•
•
•
•
•
Pandemic
Infectious disease
Chronic Diseases
Liability Regimes
Migration
Technological Risks
• Critical information infrastructure
breakdown
• Nanoparticle toxicity
• Data fraud/loss
Imagine…
A world
of empowered
global citizens
Standing on the shoulders of
giants…
To help the young…
Invent the Future