L4D Learning for Democracy

" Why innovation? Why learning?

In 2009, nearly 20% of 15-year-olds participating in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which measures learners’ knowledge and skills in mathematics, reading and science, failed to perform at levels commonly seen as the basic minimum needed to function in the contemporary world. That percentage was higher in some systems. The speed of change is itself a very powerful argument for innovation. Education cannot and should not change as rapidly as the technologies or the events of the world in which young people are being raised. But it does call for innovation so that they will be better equipped to live in that rapidly changing world. Young people, surrounded by digital media and interacting with each other in different ways from generations past, are themselves part of the rapid change.

The arguments for innovation are thus based both on observation that existing models are failing too many young people and that the goal posts have not ceased to move and more is constantly being expected. With this comes the more demanding agendas for learning manifest in the contemporary discourse: deep learning (genuine understanding of subject matter and the ability to use and apply it), 21^st-century competences (including the capacity to work together creatively), and laying robust foundations for lifelong learning. 

This should avoid viewing learning as a narrow technical matter for individuals at the expense of education. The continued need for socialization into shared culture and the development of robust personal values has if anything been accentuated in light of changes in the work, family and media environments of young people. Our focus is not on learning as a private matter associated first and foremost with the individual, but as an accomplishment with and through others – i.e. learning environments."