The Case for Changemaker Education

If your teenager didn’t know how to add two numbers together, you would know there is a problem. Math, like reading, is generally understood to be an essential skill for functioning in the world. But what if your teenager didn’t know how to read others’ emotions and act on that interpretation? What if they couldn’t collaborate well with others? What if they were not equipped to handle uncertainty, adapt to change, and creatively problem-solve in the face of unexpected challenges?   

Our world is changing in profound ways. While we don’t know which problems will appear tomorrow, we do know that they will be increasingly complex and interconnected. That’s why more than ever we need people to jump in, work together, and solve problems in imaginative ways. In partnership with the Edge Foundation - Ashoka is working to shape a new societal narrative about what success looks like growing up, and what it means to support young people to be able to thrive in the present and actively shape the future for the better.  In May and August of 2020, the Edge Foundation distributed a YouGov poll to gauge demand for changemaking as a core measure of success in education. The results were overwhelmingly positive: teachers, parents and young people themselves expressed their wish that education focused more on enabling students to be and become changemakers.  

The good news is that both Ashoka and the Edge Foundation have spent the last few years developing a rich evidence base for how schools, companies, and communities can encourage changemaker mindsets, skills, and behaviours.  

In this breakthrough session, we will be convening an expert panel to show how the demand for Changemaking in education is being met by supply of ‘Changemaker Education’ in schools, colleges, and universities across the UK - from early years through higher education.