Trends Shaping Education 2010 is the lat…

Trends Shaping Education 2010 is the latest biennial book written by the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) and published by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Aimed at a broad range of educational stakeholders, the 94 page report presents 27 social, economic, demographic and technological trends which stand to impact education, worldwide.

I feel there are two key factors which substantiate the information presented in the book and make it valuable to educators and venturers alike.  Firstly, the trends outlined in the book are rooted in data from recognized sources including the OECD, the United Nations and the World Bank.  While other trend reports may simply be speculative predictions by single authors, the data centric structure of this book, written by a team of six authors, gives it a high degree of transparency and creditability.  Secondly, the book is global in perspective, offering macro snapshots of some of the major worldwide developments affecting education, such as globalization, dynamic social challenges, shifting employment trends and the influence of technological change.  Venturists seeking to develop solutions for education markets around the world, will likely find the scope of this book helpful and informative.

In criticism of the book I would argue, as indeed the authors suggest, that its global focus and dependence on available statistics, the same characteristics which make it so valuable to readers, also bias “the report’s coverage towards measurable economic, social, environmental, demographic and educational fields and ones where the measurement has been in place long enough to give a picture of developments over time. Some of the factors importantly shaping education are highly subjective and cultural in content, making them difficult to pin down at any one time, let alone over time, and these are not covered” (OECD, 2010, p.9).

In conclusion, for those education professionals and venture capitalists seeking credible statistics and analysis of a variety of broad global factors and trends potentially shaping education, I would recommend this report and future iterations of it.

Reference:

OECD. (2010), Trends Shaping Education 2010. OECD Publishing. DOI: 10.1787/trends_edu-2010-en

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