ReSource is based on collaboratively surfacing creative solutions to complex challenges. Tomas Trust presented us with the ultimate challenge in 2017: “What could BCA do to shift the Irish education system on a more creative direction?”. Our approach – from convening all voices in the system for a deep dive process of listening – through to the resulting outcomes – BEACONS adopted by OECD and the commitment to a Citizens’ Assembly on Education – is outlined below.
This is a disruptive moment in education when the historical focus on knowledge transmission is giving way to the centrality of student agency in a process of life-long learning for a world in transition. In offering a common vision and principles for the future of education, the OECD’s recent Learning Framework for 2030 draws attention to a world that is increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. Confronted with the challenges of environmental, economic and social disruption it asks how educational systems can ‘develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that today’s students need to thrive and shape their world effectively?’ Meanwhile PISA tests for measuring creativity are also being explored.
This challenge is being experienced across the Irish education system in an accumulation of initiatives and innovations which can sometimes feel overwhelming for those at the coal-face. The junior cycle reforms are well under way and senior cycle reform is in the offing. A Transitions Group has been considering the challenges at the threshold between the 2nd and 3rd levels.
Meanwhile, Irish society continues to value and takes a huge interest in the education of its children. There is a sense of possibility in the air and a declared ambition to create the best education system in Europe by 2026. Seasoned observers assert ‘it is a good moment in education’. The capacity of the system to reset is powerful.
Of course old structures, old mind-sets and old habits die hard particularly when confronted with the inevitability of change as the educational ground shifts beneath our feet. The pervasive presence of mental health challenges among student cohorts remind us that the system is not working well for many and not just for the non-academic male. School managements and teachers report overwhelm at the increasing volume of social problems they encounter in the classroom as well as the waves of initiatives, both curricular and non-curricular, that they have to grapple with.
So, while we know and can sense the direction of travel that is needed, how do we accommodate the challenge of disruptive change in a system as inherently conservative and complex as education? How do we make the journey to a system that is both rewarding for teachers while meeting the needs of active learners? How do we create the collective will and understanding that will allow us to transition from the familiar through the chaos of change to the envisioned future?