Future competences and the future of curriculum

Friday 3 November 2017 from 7:45 am to 9:45 am, UNESCO HQ Room XII

This side event is led and supported by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in collaboration with the IBE-UNESCO. It will focus on the need for countries to more effectively use national curricula as tools for enhancing the development-relevance of education and learning systems.

The IBE-UNESCO argues that achieving this goal demands the reorientation of national curricula to competence-based approaches. It also requires the transformation of teaching, learning, and assessment to best support the implementation of competence-based curricula. Furthermore, it demands focused attention on the functioning of education and learning systems to ensure that they provide enabling environments for effective implementation of competence-based curricula.

Discussions will explore the challenge of attaining and sustaining curricula relevance in fast changing 21st century development contexts, and especially within Industry 4.0. The IBE-UNESCO’s proposed institutional mechanism for sustaining relevance will be considered, and if possible, endorsed. The side event will also take into account the reality that, for the best part, the global education 2030 agenda will be implemented within Industry 4.0 which is accentuating the pace, velocity, complexity, and uncertainties in the direction(s) and details of future change. Yet while the future is complex and unknown, education and learning systems must prepare learners (both young and old) for these unknowns.

At the same time, discussions will take note of the fact that while change is inevitable, curricula reforms need the stability required to give them a winning chance. The future of curriculum itself is therefore complex. UNESCO member states are called on to discuss how to address this complexity.

The IBE has prepared four background documents to guide the future of curriculum. These documents will be used to frame discussions. The documents will be available on the IBE-UNESCO website by October 26 for review prior to the General Conference. A summary of the four documents will be presented at the side event.