seminar
Innovation to improve 21st Century education for all – the work of the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) at the OECD
The starting point of my seminar will be that education systems – which generally are rather slow to change – will require a lot of innovation to successfully address the main challenges they’re faced with in the 21st century. Technology naturally will be part of the solution, but is in fact not the main innovation itself. Various areas of innovation will be reviewed and discussed, based on recent research in CERI:
<ul>
<li>External drivers generate new skill demands which education systems are expected to meet, both on the level of cognitive and non-cognitive skills.</li>
<li>Innovative learning environments are expected to create more effective conditions for learning.</li>
<li>New learning research is creating the knowledge basis for the effective design and implementation of innovative learning modes and teaching strategies.</li>
<li>The pedagogical knowledge base of the teaching profession itself is also an important area of innovation.</li>
<li>Education systems face difficult governance challenges as systems have become more complex. Effective multilevel governance models are needed to prevent systems from fragmentation.</li>
</ul>
<p>Dirk Van Damme currently is Head of the Innovation and Measuring Progress Division (IMEP) in the Directorate for Education at the OECD in Paris. He holds a PhD in educational sciences from Ghent University and is also professor of educational sciences in the same university (since 1995). He also was part-time professor in comparative education at the Free University of Brussels (1997-2000) and visiting professor of comparative education at Seton Hall University, NJ, USA (2001-2008). He was general director of the Flemish Rectors’ Conference, the main advisory body for higher education policy in the Flemish part of Belgium between 2000 and 2003. He has been professionally involved in educational policy development between 1992 and 2008, and served as chief of staff of Mr Frank Vandenbroucke, Flemish minister of education between 2004 and 2008. His current interests are evidence-based innovation in education, comparative analyses of educational systems, new developments in the learning sciences and knowledge management in education. At the OECD he is responsible for the Innovation and Measuring Progress Division, covering both the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) and the Indicators of Educational Systems (INES) programme.</p>