Nov 01, 2011

The WISE Learners’ Voice exists to inspire and empower young learners, equipping them to become leading educationalists of tomorrow. At the invitation of WISE, 30 of these young learners from across the globe are participating in the Summit as full delegates.  

Equipped to be Change-Makers

In preparation of the Summit, the young learners have also participated in a 2 day WISE Learners’ Seminar. Here they engaged in collaborative learning, grappling with the real world challenges and opportunities of education in the 21^st century. 

Fostering the Spirit of Social Entrepreneurship 

The heart of Learners’ Voice was captured by Learner Ponce Samaniego, Founder and CEO of Outliers, a social enterprise in the Philippines: 

‘The real potential in being here at WISE is in talking with others who can mentor us. In the Philippines we are not educated to be entrepreneurs and take initiative for ourselves. We are lacking social entrepreneurs so I want to talk with the experts here who can help us.’ 

Leaners Taking Center Stage 

WISE is committed to ensuring that the learner perspective is centralized throughout the Summit. The Learners are engaging in various different ways: leading workshops, reporting, and speaking in sessions. Learner Zaid Haque, a student from Carnegie Mellon University, Qatar, reflected on this opportunity: 

‘There are lots of students who have really creative ideas but they don’t have any way of expressing or implementing them: this program at WISE empowers students by giving them a platform to express their ideas.’

Gavin Dykes, Learners' Voice Advisor and Fellow of Education Impact, explained the importance of engaging the Learners: 

‘Students are the most undervalued and underused constituency in education: WISE is beginning to address this problem. Here at the Learners’ Voice we have had extraordinary insights from different students. Innovation grows through sharing these insights and can be used to find solutions to global education challenges.’

A Collaborative Learning Environment

The Learners have worked together to grapple with the real-world challenges and opportunities of education in the 21^st century. Learner Al Jawhara Hassan Ali Al-Thani, student from Georgetown University, Qatar, expressed her perspective: 

‘Participating at WISE in the Learners’ Voice enables us to step away from assumptions about what education is like in other countries: what better way to do that than by being here, discussing, and learning from one another?’

A Long Term Commitment to Change

The Learners will leave the Summit equipped with the tools required to be change-makers in their home countries. The importance of this was summed up by Learner Abbas Mahmood, a student from Strathmore University in Kenya: 

‘The most important thing is not what we do here at WISE but what we do with what we learn and how we implement the lessons afterwards.’

This commitment to catalyzing long term transformation is central to the ethos of Leaners’ Voice, and to the whole of WISE. Find out more about Learners’ Voice here and read their blog here.