Preparing learners to thrive in a changing world
Conclusion
Where do we go from here?
The research we present in this report provides valuable new insights into how students feel about their education and how prepared they (and their teachers) feel students are for their futures. What is clear is that is that at a time of profound global change, great schools, great teachers and a clear, purposeful curriculum remain the foundations of great education.
Our findings demonstrate that students and teachers are thinking about the holistic development of the ‘whole’ learner – with an equal emphasis on the importance of what they know and what they can do (their subject knowledge and their skills), and how they are (their wellbeing and self-management skills) and how they relate to others (their communication and interpersonal skills).
This message, the findings and these conversations will continue to inspire our work now and in the future. We see this research as a starting point and will continue researching these critical areas with our community.
Teams across Cambridge are already working to incorporate what we have learned so far into our existing programmes, and to plan new initiatives that will enable us to make an ever-greater contribution to our students’ futures.
As part of a global university that is thinking deeply about the ethics of AI and other digital technologies, we will be sharing the findings of the research with our colleagues and across the wider ecosystem of technology companies to inspire further action.
Enhancing our curriculum, assessments, support and resources is an ongoing process involving careful planning and trialling, and schools need time to prepare for the changes. Nevertheless, we are already working on innovations that we will be able to share with our community in the near future.
For example, we are developing a Getting Started With Executive Functions guide with Professor Sara Baker, one of the experts who has contributed to this research project. This resource will explain the research background on how executive functioning skills develop, and how teachers can support them in the classroom. As such it will help to address the challenges of developing students’ self-management skills.
One of the most pressing priorities that this research has highlighted is the need to support students in recognising the ways they are preparing for their futures, beyond deep subject knowledge. By extending our existing skills audit (referenced in the self-management skills section), we can give students clearer sight of the skills that are developed implicitly and explicitly alongside subject knowledge.
We want to develop a Skills Profile tool that will help students to make informed decisions about what subjects they want to study at Cambridge International A Level based on the breadth and depth of the skills they want to develop.
We will also hold an Education Summit to continue to unpack the implications of our findings with world-leading experts, employers and senior education leaders. Most importantly, we will establish a permanent student consultative forum to continue to understand how students are feeling about their education and their futures, to inform our direction.
It is evident that we need to help young people see the future as something they can shape, so they feel more comfortable with uncertainty and change. ‘Futures thinking’ – a process that allows you to imagine and plan for possible futures – can unlock this. We have already used this process with some of our schools to help understand the futures of learning, and are working on how to share this concept more widely with our community.
As well as equipping students academically for their futures, it is vital that we support their wellbeing, not least by enabling them to have meaningful conversations and build productive relationships. We are planning to extend our award-winning Wellbeing curriculum to make it relevant for students aged 14 and over. We will also prioritise collaborating with schools to develop a shared language of wellbeing and collaboration.
These are just a few of the many initiatives that will be enriched when we look to the outcomes of this report, and we will keep our community up to date with our progress over the coming months.
Above all, though, what shines through the thousands of interactions we have had throughout this work is the insight and energy of the students, the enthusiasm, commitment and empathy of their teachers, and the passion for education shared by everyone we have spoken to. It is a huge privilege to be part of this inspiring education community and to be able to play a part in enabling students all over the world to shape their own futures.
This is just the start of the conversation. We will continue engaging with students, educators, and the wider international education community and beyond in a deeper discussion of the insights and action outlined in this report and in further reports. To keep up to date on our progress, and find opportunities to be part of these conversations, click here↗.
"The findings already offer powerful signals for what education must confront and design for. With deeper multi-stakeholder integration and a bold, future-oriented lens, this work has the potential to influence global practice at scale."
Dr Iwan Syahril, Global Education Advisor and former Director General of the Ministry of Education, Indonesia