Thinking Globally

Central to the thinking about the Ten Trends over the years has been the way in which our life as New Zealanders and our education system has been informed and influenced by the things that have happened globally. It’s difficult to imagine a time in human history where global impact has been across so many dimensions; with so many rapid advancements in technology, significant geopolitical changes, and the nature of social interactions, all whilst being more and more globally connected.

Key global education issues:

Issue	The issue explained	Links
Personalisation of learning for students	When learning is personalised, it meets the specific needs of each student. This is a response to the one-size-fits-all approach that has characterised schools and classrooms in the past.	OECD: Personalised Learning Reading 2025 CORE Education: Ten Trends 2012: Trend Personalisation Future Focused Learning is Personalised The education hub
Competency-based education Shifting learning content	This approach allows students to advance based on their ability to master a skill or competency at their own pace regardless of environment. It is tailored to different learning abilities and can lead to more efficient student outcomes. It challenges the ‘knowledge transfer’ curriculum and assessment design, and age-based groupings that have characterised traditional approaches in education.	Aurora Institute: How Competency-Based Education Differs from the Traditional System of Education OECD Future of Education and Skills 2030: Attitudes and Values for 2030
Massification of education and instruction	Refers to the escalating expansion and widening of access to education. Historically about tertiary education, but increasingly recognises the challenge exists for all levels of education, to avoid it becoming the privilege of the educated elite.	UN: Sustainable Development Goal 4 SSIR: Redefining Education in the Developing World TheirWorld: How we can get every child in the world into school with new funding approach World Economic Forum: How do we upskill a billion people by 2025?
Global skills shortages	Almost one-third of all jobs worldwide are likely to be transformed by technology in the next decade, according to OECD estimates. There is a corresponding need to achieve equitable, inclusive progress, to equip and enable the world’s people to thrive in the jobs of the future.	World Economic Forum: We need a global reskilling revolution – here's why PWC: How will automation impact jobs?
Changing nature of work - including teachers	Shifting from delivery of knowledge to supporting students to be active citizens; thinking about how to be responsible for humanity and the impact that each one of us can have on our planet.	World Economic Forum: Schools of the Future Report
Initial teacher education in crisis	Globally there is a concern about the quality of beginning teachers into the teaching workforce. A future-focused ITE system must prepare every teaching graduate with the skills to adapt to a changing education environment, requiring our current ITE approach and design to change.	NZCER: Challenges for initial teacher education in the context of 'twenty-first century' learning imperatives TALIS Initial Teacher Preparation study OECD: A Flying Start: Improving Initial Teacher Preparation Systems
Equity	Equity has become a significant issue in societies across the world. A fair and inclusive system that makes the advantages of education available to all is one of the most powerful levers to make society more equitable. Also, within our education system there are many practices to be addressed that are inequitable, or that foster inequity.	OECD Equity in Education: Breaking Down Barriers to Social Mobility Why economies benefit from fixing inequality (World Economic Forum) OECD: Ten Steps to Equity in Education Equity through education centre Derek’s Blog: Of trees and forests d-School: Equity-centred design framework
Access to quality education	Removing the barriers to access education which can be limited by a number of factors such as: financial challenges, global teacher shortage, shortage of infrastructure and resources, or global conflicts.	The Universal Declaration of Human Rights makes clear that every child has the right to a free basic education
Inclusion Inclusive learning Educationally inclusive practices	Inclusive education encompasses all aspects of learning and is supported by culture, policies, programmes and practices where everyone feels included by feeling seen, heard and valued.	TKI: Inclusive Education Universal Design for Learning Te Whāriki Online: Inclusive practice
Changing demographics and social mobility	The world is currently facing demographic and social changes at a pace that may pose significant challenges for governments and businesses. We think that empowering young people will be critical to meeting these key social challenges.	Mai Chen: Superdiversity Stocktake PWC: Demographic and Social Change
Careers Education	With young people staying in education longer, they need to make more decisions about what, where and how hard to study. At a time when automation is rapidly changing the character of the labour market, the decisions that young people are making are not only more numerous, but also more difficult. Recent research suggests that, in many countries, young people’s career aspirations increasingly bear little relation to actual labour market demand.	OECD - Dream Jobs? Teenagers' Career Aspirations and the Future of Work OECD - Teenagers’ career expectations narrowing to limited range of jobs
Climate change	In some countries, climate conditions are now starting to impact education outcomes in a variety of ways and with greater frequency. Extreme weather events may destroy or damage buildings leaving children temporarily unable to attend their learning communities.	Science News: Climate change could undermine children's education and development in the tropics Phys.org: How climate change limits educational access
Exponential and converging technologies and the impacts on learning	Cutting edge technologies changing what, how, and where we learn.	SingularityU: The Exponential Guide to the Future of Learning

Looking ahead, here are some of the global initiatives and frameworks we should be aware of as we seek to prepare ourselves for the sorts of change educators and learners are likely to face in the next 15 or more years: