Rewiring the Brain to be Future-ready: Integrating 21st Century Skills in Education Systems Towards Developing Peaceful & Sustainable Societies (The Blue Dot Issue 6, 2017)

In the sixth issue of the Blue Dot, we focus on the importance of these 21st century skills for the young. The issue includes a foreword by the Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India on the importance of inculcating 21st century skills in education systems and our Cover Story, which introduces UNESCO MGIEP’s LIBRE programme that follows an ‘integrated brain’ approach to education.
Additionally, we feature opinions by specialists from academia, research and the industry on the lacuna present in existing education systems and the opportunities available to address this gap by introducing socio-emotional skills and inquiry oriented learning into curricula. Amongst various experts, we hear from Ines Kudo and Joan Hartley from The World Bank on the importance of ‘Teaching empathy and compassion in schools’; Prof. K.P. Mohanan on ‘Critical Inquiry and Inquiry oriented education’ and Dr. Marilee Bresciani Ludvik on how mindfulness forms the foundation for cultivating compassion.
Further, we present excerpts from a collection of ‘Ask me Anything’ sessions focused on socioemotional skills, hosted on Knowledge Commons, UNESCO MGIEP’s knowledge sharing platform.
We have been honoured to have the opportunity to host and learn from experts such as Dr. Richard Davidson, recognised as one of ‘The 100 most influential people in the world’ in 2006 by the Time Magazine and Chade-Meng Tan, currently the Chairman of Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute and Co-chair of One Billion Acts of Peace, which has been nominated eight times for the Nobel Peace Prize.