Modern Education Systems

Spring, 2018
French historian, Philippe Aries, in 1960
…having studied paintings, gravestones, furniture,
and school records…

Childhood is a relatively new concept

 John Amos Comenius (1592-1670))
Children are not mini-adults, schools are
“slaughterhouses of the mind.”

Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)

Children unfold and develop, like plants, and
not a fan of schools in the traditional sense
“Civilization is a race between
education and catastrophe.”
—H.G. Wells

TENSIONS, QUESTIONS, ASSUMPTIONS

• But do we agree on the purpose of education?
• Or even catastrophe?
• Are we really “post-colonial?”
• Are we really “post-national?”
• What are our biases?
• Education for all or massification?
• Who wins? Who loses?
Modern educational systems are global
An Optimistic Vision
 Diverse Classrooms
Global Refugees

Our local communities are global

Sped-up Version | Each dot = 25 people

Global diseases are local
Climate change is local
Global Agency Lens
“Universality”

• Regulation
• Governance
• Policy
• Cosmopolitanism
OECD Comparative Lens
“Assessment”

• Ranking/Competitiveness
• Diagnostic
• Policy Recommendations

1
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
NGO and Civil Society Lens
“Bottom Up”

• Human Rights

• Advocacy

• Transparency

1
Non-Governmental Organization
Ministry of Education Lens
“Policy”

• Political

• Historical

• Standardized
Donor Lens
“Outside In”

• Loans
• Charity

• Social Enterprise
Higher Education Lens
Equality Lens
“Macro to Micro”

• Economics
• Mobility
• Legacy
• Human Rights
Networks and Technologies Lens
“Disruptions”

• Wisdom of crowds
• Transparency & accountability
• “Fake” news
• Massification
The Challenge of Lenses

• Rose-colored?
• Dirty?
• Wide-angle: sweeping?
• Near-sighted: microscopic?
• Far-sighted: telescopic?
• Fashionable over utility?
Extra Slides
World Economic Forum