Learning to Live Together (LTLT), by aiming to create more peaceful, tolerant,

equitable and inclusive societies, represents a powerful concept in transforming

education. This is particularly important, given the multivariate challenges to
global peace and sustainability in the 21st Century. Indeed, the pressures of
demographic diversity, economic development, technological advancement and
challenges to peace and sustainability including global climate change, all
require an education that can prepare students to address common challenges
together. This is by no means a simple task; it requires a multi-dimensional
approach to education and one that ensures policy, curricula, teachers and
assessment work together to foster a culture of LTLT within education systems as
a whole.
As this report has revealed, all ten countries under analysis have committed to
fostering a culture of LTLT through their education systems and across each of
these domains: policy, curricula, teachers and assessment. While many of the
selected countries reflect LTLT in their national policy frameworks, it appears that
the way they define the purpose of education varies. Focuses differ, for example,
from fostering peace to equality and human rights to economic development to
the strengthening of national unity and to preparing students for the demands of
the 21st Century. Specific education policies in areas
such as peace, human rights, gender and the environment are all notable
examples of how countries are pursuing LTLT in their policy frameworks. Other
countries, however, may lack a clear vision as to how these wider social
challenges can be addressed through education.
Despite strong commitment to LTLT through existing policy frameworks, is it
difficult to assess how these policies translate into practice. With regards to
curricula, there is growing recognition of the importance of ensuring students
develop LTLT illustrative competencies so as to develop as well-rounded
responsible and active citizens in an increasingly globalized world. This is
particularly true of curricula that have recently undergone review and reform.
The curriculum in some countries has become progressively multi-dimensional,
taking into account not only learning areas and clusters, but also crosscurriculum priorities and competencies. In the ten countries, LTLT is pursued
through different subjects including: 1) values education or life skills; 2) history
and the social sciences as academic carrier subjects or 3) physical education
and the arts as non-academic carrier subjects. However, LTLT learning
processes and illustrative competencies can be developed across the curriculum
and in all subjects, indicating that LTLT is not - and arguably should not be
taught only in isolation. The review has also revealed that it is important to
consider how subject content may be more representative of diverse
populations, whether through history, languages or religious studies and that
subjects and activities with potential for LTLT are allocated the least time in the
classroom as opposed to traditional subjects such as language, mathematics and
science. Extracurricular activities also present important ways of cultivating the
complementary learning processes through sports, activities and student
organization, yet it remains unclear how far they are considered important in
their potential impact on students.
Teachers also have an incredible potential to shape their students lives and
nurture the development of LTLT illustrative competencies. As has been observed

in this report, the learning processes, the discovery of others and experience of
shared purposes, require pedagogies that involve collaborative and participatory
teaching and learning strategies for students to develop competencies such as
empathy, tolerance, communication and teamwork. Teacher policies that serve
to engender these values and attitudes in teachers, and provide adequate
investment in pre- and in-service teacher training opportunities are essential to
the development of LTLT in students. Among the selected countries, teachers
may find the adopting frameworks for the deployment of LTLT competencies
difficult in practice, either due to limited understanding of wider concepts or
teaching strategies, or insufficient time to plan innovative and creative lessons.
Insufficient attention paid to LTLT illustrative competencies in assessment may
also devalue their significance among teachers and students alike. Although
there are encouraging initiatives at international and national levels for assessing
these skills and competencies, there remains very little information as to how far
they can and have been measured. While national examinations may not present
the most appropriate form of assessment for competencies such as empathy or
teamwork, there is need to further explore how they can be integrated.
Formative assessment, especially at school level, has been identified as an
appropriate tool to measure these competencies among the selected countries.
Yet constraints include the lack of information on these practices and their
results, as well as the limited capacity for formative assessment. This requires
revisiting national assessment frameworks to identify exactly how they could be
adapted to measure these important competencies, increasing support to
teachers in conducting classroom and school-based assessments and further
developing international, regional or sub-regional assessments that encompass
the social and emotional domains.

7 REFLECTIONS & CONCLUSIONS

Learning to Live Together: Education Policies and Realities in the Asia-Pacific
Each of these areas: policy, curricula, teachers and assessment, demonstrate
that LTLT can be integrated into education systems in concrete ways. What may
seem like small initiatives in one area can, put together, form part of a holistic
education centred around the LTLT philosophy. To this end, recognizing the
importance of education to enhance the discovery of others by developing
competencies such as empathy and tolerance, and strengthen teaching and
learning strategies to promote the experience of shared purposes through
teamwork and leadership, is essential. Addressing the gaps identified in this
report may provide opportunity to strengthen LTLT in education systems under
analysis. As a new vision for education beyond 2015 takes shape, it is important
to reflect back on the four pillars of learning envisioned in the Delors report, a
guiding document in our conceptualization around the aims and purpose of
education, and in particular, the fundamental pillar of learning to live together. It
is hoped that this report serves as a call to action, promoting LTLT as a simple yet
significant educational tool to foster more peaceful, just and inclusive societies.