Event 

A new social contract for education: introducing UNESCO’s 2021 global education report "Reimagining our futures together".

Thursday 17 March, 2022 – Thursday 17 March, 2022
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

This is a virtual event.

This seminar starts with provocations. Introduced by the Global and UK Education Policies strand of the Policy, Pedagogy and Practice Research Centre, School of Education, we will discuss the recent global education report "Reimagining our futures together: a new social contract for education" (UNESCO, 2021). Dr Tingting Yuan and Dr Jenny Hatley will lead the session.

We take this opportunity to reflect critically on our commitment to the role of education in our institution and society when thinking about future generations. As reported by UNESCO, it is meaningful to look at the future of education in challenging current national and international contexts. A new social contract for education requires us to think differently about learning and the relationships between students, teachers, knowledge and the world.

How are we going to think differently about learning and these fundamental relationships?

There are essential questions to ask of education as we look to 2050 and we pose the following provocations for the Research Seminar:

  • What should we continue doing? What should we abandon? What needs to be creatively invented afresh?
  • Will current educational inequalities only worsen with time until curricula become irrelevant? How will these possible changes impact on our basic humanity?

We invite colleagues, students and all those who are committed to the future of education to join us in this debate.

About the speakers

This seminar is convened by the Global and UK Education Policy strand of the Policy, Pedagogy and Practice Research Centre, School of Education. Dr Tingting Yuan, Coordinator for the Global and UK Education Policy Research Strand and Dr Jenny Hatley, Programme Leader, Education and Childhood Studies will lead the session and give an overview of this landmark educational report, "Reimagining our futures together: a new social contract for education" (UNESCO, 2021).

Re-imagining our futures together: a new social contract for education (UNESCO, 2021)