Executive Summary
It is vital to explore the most innovative educational research and practices in both developed and developing countries because they have potential for pushing forward the frontiers of education and effective learning.
The traditional strategy for expanding high-quality education has been to build more schools and employ more teachers. However, the high cost of this solution limits it to the most affluent nations. What at first may seem “off-the-wall” ideas, emerging from different corners of the world, show potential for reinventing learning and overcoming financial and geographical obstacles. They may bring about new, low-cost, participative learning models in the most deprived areas through, for example, mobile technology. Alternatively, advances in cognitive science may offer insights into the processes and functions of learning, or games technologies may be integrated into education. These innovations could well be the first tentative steps towards major advances in the design and delivery of education. The real challenge will be to share, manage and upscale these quantum leaps in thinking.
Executive Summary
I. Teacher Training and the Digital Age
Lord David Puttnam
Teachers and their pupils represent the most promising foundation for a sustainable society in the face of a challenging future. However, there will not be a future for any of us unless we become more imaginative regarding education. Governments will need to be far more serious about funding teachers and education than in the past, and that means ensuring that education policies are not just sufficiently funded but are agile enough to respond to broader societal changes, not least as a result of the development of the digital world.
Teacher training has tended to be seen as something done to teachers rather than being integral to the profession. The development of online technologies offers the possibility of dramatically improving both the productivity and the effectiveness of education. Countries need to revisit educational prejudices and budgets and make time spent in school more productive in terms of breadth of knowledge, and teachers need to ensure that this time is as efficiently and effectively spent as possible, irrespective of the technology. Pupils are very unlikely to remain engaged if an educational environment is much less stimulating than the outside world. We need to increase the participation of children from developing countries in higher education, otherwise we risk exacerbating divisions between regions. Furthermore, there is inter-generational alienation. The young no longer trust us and we need to win back their trust and respect.
Getting education right is not just one priority among others, but the key one for every nation. No education system can be better than the quality of teachers and the standards required of them. Teacher training in a digital age must be non-negotiable and continuous. Finally, there must be undisputed acceptance of the education of women.
II. Innovation and Learning in China
Prof. Zhou Qifeng
Innovation has been identified as the main engine for future development. It has been recognized that the current pattern of growth is unsustainable. We are faced with high levels of consumption of raw materials, environmental degradation, and unequal distribution of economic development. The Chinese government proposed a program in 2006 whereby China will become innovation-driven by 2020, and highlighted that capacity building for innovation had become the core of national strategies. The importance of stressing innovation through educational reforms was stressed. The consensus
is that the key is to transform China into a country with high-quality human capital.
A series of policies has been put into effect, centering on the national strategy of scientific and technological development, and developing the capacities of individual institutions and the system as a whole. Universities currently play an important role in innovation, with 52% of basic research funding going to research institutions in 2008. Peking University has taken strides towards becoming a world-class research institution, and has implemented initiatives on geology and paleobiology, conservation of national biodiversity while improving local living standards, and continuing education for disadvantaged groups.
III. Innovative Practices for Learning
James Bernard
Most educators do not know how to use innovative teaching practices in the classroom. However, innovative practices in schools and teaching can change children’s lives. Students need to have the ability to drive their own learning journey, regardless of classroom size, and teachers must be ready to facilitate that. The support of teachers is key to student-driven learning, but teachers should also have the support of school leadership. Innovative schools must also have the support of the school system, and new trends such as cloud computing should help support evolving school systems. Public and private sectors need to partner effectively to create change. Finally, it is critical to work with the next generation of teachers so that they can use their technological skills to help students gain the skills they need.
The Partners in Learning initiative by Microsoft works by building capacity, i.e. helping teachers use technology more effectively in the classroom and helping school leaders manage schools. Secondly, it is about growing learning communities by building networks among teachers worldwide. Thirdly, it is about expanding teaching and learning practices. An excellent education is a basic right and an imperative; technology is an enabler and connector, but it has to be used appropriately; and effective and immersive learning practices can improve outcomes. Committed participants are essential to advancing education.
IV. Learning through Earning
Martin Burt
Maybe education today is not about access but about quality. Therefore, we are faced with the possibility that just building schools is not the solution: people drop out of school because they are from poor households, go to bad schools etc. The fact is that in many countries the budget of the education ministry has doubled without a corresponding doubling of results, because the funding is for the ministry and not education. We have added earning to the principle of learning through doing, and this has resulted in an entrepreneurial spirit, raising 100% of its $300,000 (US) budget on campus, with no reliance on government funds or donations. We are now working with 50 partners in 27 countries.
We need to try to be innovative, to believe that education can pay for itself, and that the solution to the problem of education may be in appealing to the dignity of those we are trying to serve.
Mike Baker, Moderator
David Puttnam, how do we innovate to ensure education is owned by teachers? Might it be better for teachers to decide their own professional development rather than having it prescribed?
David Puttnam
Teaching has remained substantially the same for generations. Teachers’ CPD should be part of their obligation, but improvement of their skills should also be reflected in their salaries.
Mike Baker
Where do innovations come from, students, institutions or governments?
Prof. Zhou Qifeng
Institutions should help students develop their curricula.
Mike Baker
How do we scale up what you are doing to a wider range of teachers?
James Bernard
We have teachers share best practices through cross-border exchange; we need to scale it worldwide by getting teachers connected online.
Mike Baker
Martin, how do you scale up your model and will it apply to other types of economy?
Martin Burt
We are open to ideas, because it is counterintuitive to say that education pays for itself.
From the floor
Could we introduce generalized assessments to validate the initiatives you suggest? Secondly, why do you see private systems as a threat? Thirdly, how do we overcome the infrastructure deficit?
David Puttnam
It would be helpful to develop a commonality of interests to drive innovation. I see privatization as partially a threat to the ethos of learning.
James Bernard
We are at a point where infrastructure is becoming more cost-effective, but you need to couple it with teacher training and school leader training.
Martin Burt
Infrastructure in our case is what society and the market wants. It is about teaching the teachers.
From the floor
Professor Zhou, do you have any initiatives to extend your graduate program to other universities?
Prof. Zhou Qifeng
We encourage cooperation among Chinese universities and with institutions outside China.
From the floor
Would Microsoft be willing to partner with the Middle East as well?
James Bernard
We see tremendous opportunities, and we would like to explore innovative education and spread this knowledge into other parts of the Middle East and Africa.
Martin Burt
It is sometimes easier to adopt a technology in the case of South-South cooperation, because the solutions and approaches may be similar.
From the floor
Can we re-frame and so get beyond the relationship between public and private? Can Microsoft help in terms of remote access? When will states recognize the need to change educational curricula?
Martin Burt
Our role as civil society is to challenge the system, because it is bankrupt.
James Bernard
We can help in rural areas if there is a basic infrastructure there in the first place.
Martin Burt
Regarding the third question, we need to work together and allow governments to adopt a flexible approach.
Mike Baker
What concrete action point would you like to bring forward on this topic?
David Puttnam
The private-public debate should not be allowed to result in a land grab, and the private sector should not be allowed to pay lip service to education.
Prof. Zhou Qifeng
People from China, Korea and other Eastern countries should be aware that this is a wonderful platform to exchange ideas.
James Bernard
People should work in public-private partnerships to use technology effectively in the classroom and promote learning technologies.
Martin Burt
Education should be about the dignity of the students and unleashing the resources of the poor rather than money.