Reflections on Power and Education Transformation

For the past several years, my colleagues at CUE and I have been reflecting on a critical question: How can education systems sustainably transform to better serve young people? Specifically, how can we help systems build strong academic competence alongside what are often called 21st-century skills??

We’ve been thinking deeply about what’s needed to achieve this transformation. In one of our reports on this topic, Transforming Education Systems: What, Why, and How,? we introduced a high-level framework centered on three key elements—the "Three Ps":?

• Purpose: Developing a shared vision of the purpose of education.?

• Pedagogy: (Re)designing education systems by prioritizing the pedagogical core.?

• Position: Aligning system elements to support the (re)designed pedagogical core.?

However, in this first iteration, we left out a crucial element: power.?

To sustain transformation, all parts of the education ecosystem must be aligned and invested in the vision. This requires a deep understanding of power—who holds it, how it’s distributed, and how it can be shared. But sharing power is easier said than done.?

What does sharing power look like? It can take many forms.?

• A teacher asking students what they want to learn more about at the end of a class—an act of bravery that can guide the next day’s lesson plan. In my recent book, The Disengaged Teen: Helping Kids Learn Better, Feel Better, and Live Better, we highlight how this small gesture can help boost student motivation, agency, and learning outcomes.?

• A decisionmaker in the district education office consulting school leaders, educators, and families when developing new policies.?

• Decisionmakers in the capital cities consulting community members in the most rural provinces.?

• Global organizations collaborating on goal setting, design, and budget decisions with national, subnational partners.?

For the past year, we at CUE have been exploring power-sharing in practice with our partners through the Knowing-Doing Network (KDN). This has included reflecting on our own role as a global center headquartered in Washington, D.C. It hasn’t always been easy—we’re learning as we go—but it’s been an incredibly rewarding process.?

Together with our KDN partners, we’ve been sharing what we’ve learned so far. Our insights range from the philosophical (e.g., how to balance consensus decision-making with the need for progress) to the practical (e.g., affordable ways to provide simultaneous translation in multiple languages during convenings).?

If you’re interested in these ideas, check out our Collaboration Conversation Series on power, localization, and education system transformation. We’ve already had our first webinar, which set the stage, and our next one is coming up on December 10th. Additionally, this week our Echidna Scholars are sharing their insights in the December 4th symposium Centering marginalized Girls and Women for More Inclusive Policy.? The Echidna Scholars program has been a deeply influential initiative for our Center over the years, especially in pushing us to reflect on what it means to share power. We hope you’ll join us on this journey toward meaningful and sustainable change.?

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