For many years, education has been seen as the foundation of which posits that humans increase productivity by acquiring skills and knowledge.
Now, though, in a 21st century beset with challenges - from the ravages of climate change to the emergence of artificial intelligence - it seems clearer than ever that we need a new approach, one that empowers future generations to thrive and flourish while fostering harmony with the planet.
This view is why, in a former role as Finland’s former head of education, I contributed to an international study by the Office of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on building high-performing educational systems: the (HPST) project.
That study, which ran from 2018-2021, sought to understand how the different education systems support high performance despite their diverse pedagogical approaches - and consider how they will adapt to new challenges like AI.
Now Phase 2 of the HPST project is underway, and the International Baccalaureate (IB), along with the National Center on Education and the Economy, the OECD, and others, are engaged in considering the big questions of: what would education look like if the goal is human and planetary flourishing?
It is a monumental task with many aspects to be considered, but here I will address three that I think are fundamental to any such shift:
1. Wellbeing
Wellbeing is vital for young learners and teachers alike to flourish, as evidenced by ongoing . This means the wellbeing of teachers, pupils and school staff is not a luxury - it is a fundamental necessity.
Sadly, stress, excessive workload, anxiety and burnout are common across the education system. If we want our societies to be producing young adults ready to tackle the challenges of an increasingly complex world, then we need educators who are energized, feel valued and remain in the profession.
As such, schools and education leaders - with the backing of robust, supportive government policies, ideally - must be in a position to prioritise salary satisfaction, job security and workload management.
This would mean educators are not only able to teach well, but also support students who may themselves face wellbeing challenges. This would help foster a sense of belonging and purpose and avoid issues such as emotionally-based school avoidance, which hinders learning.
2. Student competencies
Core skills and competencies - rather than memorized lists of facts - must be central to curriculums of the future. We need humans that can interact authentically with one another, with comprehension of complex systems and the ability to think critically about them, so they can creatively develop solutions.
Work in this area is already underway: in 2024, the IB released exploratory research into as a fundamental blueprint for future-ready K-12 curricula, in complement to additional studies on student agency and intercultural understanding.
Findings will inform updates to future curricula, to ensure the most relevant teaching approaches.
3. Teacher and leadership capabilities
To prepare for these shifts, teachers and leaders must start adapting now. That means ensuring professional learning and development provide space to reflect, experiment and evolve.
That might be about how AI is used to allow teachers to create individual learning pathways for students or adapt learning materials to be relevant to local contexts.
Or it may involve equipping teachers with a broader range of pedagogical techniques, so they have greater agency in their approach. This extends beyond delivering core foundational knowledge of subjects and instead enables teachers to actively support student wellbeing and to create innovative strategies for teaching, practicing and refining new competencies.
If we can get this right, it will also help education become an even greater ecosystem of learning, research, and innovation so all in the sector can evolve and adapt to whatever future challenges we face - and in doing so, ensure educational change happens at scale, across the sector.
The human connection
Education is fundamentally a human endeavour. It relies on relationships fostered by the uniquely human capacities of leaders and educators. That can never be lost. But education cannot stand still, either.
If we are to ensure that the future of education allows for a focus on wellbeing for students and teachers, and for growing competencies that support the realisation of human and planetary flourishing, then we need a coordinated and coherent effort. One that recognises fundamentally new approaches are needed.
Olli-Pekka Heinonen is the director-general of the International Baccalaureate
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