At The International Educator (TIE), we believe that true educational innovation stems from recognizing and honoring the diverse ways students learn. Every learner brings a unique set of strengths, perspectives, and experience, and it is our responsibility as educators to ensure these are celebrated and nurtured. As part of our ongoing commitment to amplifying efforts that promote diverse and innovative learning, we are excited to spotlight initiatives that challenge the traditional norms of education and focus on fostering a culture of inclusivity.
In Spring 2024, a group of educators came together to form the Coalition to Honour All Learning. Together, they drafted a United Call for Education Systems Reform:
“Education systems continue to emphasise a narrow definition of student success based on assessments limited to a few academic disciplines. These models are being challenged by radical and fast-paced societal, environmental and technological changes. We must reform education systems to focus on developing individual and collective capacities to support human flourishing.”
The short document acknowledges the value of existing educational systems but recognizes the need for collective improvement. The educators who contributed to the discussions leading to the drafting of the Call had been working together for a number of years on the Ecolint Learner Passport. l’École internationale de Gèneve / the International School of Geneva (Ecolint) spearheaded the Learner Passport under the guidance of Conrad Hughes and Irina Lupu. The Learner Passport provides a holistic view of students’ learning. It allows students to identify their own competencies and share them with universities and employers in a more comprehensive manner than a traditional transcript. In this way, the Learner Passport complements work by other organizations, such as the Mastery Transcript Consortium and MelbourneMetrics.
Following the publication and sharing of the Call, educators everywhere were asked to add their names as signatories in support of the notion that schools can improve. This is, frankly, the easy part. Now the hard part. What would it take to follow up, in a serious manner, on the number of issues that educators confront on a day-to-day basis? Can we be effective by addressing one issue at a time, or must all issues be simultaneously addressed? To truly make headway with reform, do we need to start from the ground up with a newly reimagined process of educating children? How can we make significant reform inroads in our existing schools despite the number of relatively fixed parameters and hindrances to major innovations?
Take the example of the work on creating new manners of communicating student achievement with universities. A common challenge for all three organizations is to make the initiative important and large enough that universities have to take notice. The founder of Mastery Transcript, for example, was told that if just a couple of schools were sending progressive transcripts, they’d likely be ignored. But if there were enough schools sending these newly rethought transcripts, then universities would have to figure out how to work with them. This led to the creation of the Mastery Transcript Consortium. Additionally, MelbourneMetrics reports that approximately half of Australian universities now accept their transcript. In other words, change is possible, but it is unlikely to come from lone examples, no matter how creative and individual. Through working together, our voices are louder, and the impact of our work is more likely to be noticed.
Dedicated to sharing innovative ideas in the international school community, The International Educator (TIE) aims to spotlight schools and educators leading the way in inclusive practices for honoring all learning. Share your story! Submit a brief overview of your school's innovative education reforms, highlight the purpose behind your initiatives, and the actions taken to bring them to life.
Paul Magnuson founded the educational research program at Leysin American School and teaches international education at Moreland University. He is a frequent TIE blogger.
Irina Lupu is the Ecolint Learner Passport lead at the International School of Geneva (Ecolint).
Shwetangna Chakrabarty is the Editor of The International Educator (TIE).