Three insights emerge from the crisis as launch pads from which to make such a leap. Firstly, institutional closures and emergency efforts for educational continuity have made it clear that learning does not need to be constricted within the four walls of an educational institution, but, with the right relationships and mind-sets in place, can occur anywhere and at any time. Secondly, the crisis has revealed that education systems are not too heavy to move and, although it is challenging, it is possible for education actors to reach agreements that can make significant change happen in education. Finally, the crisis has emphasised that only resilient education systems that plan for disruption, and that withstand and recover from adverse events, will be able to fulfil the fundamental human right to education, whatever the circumstances, and foster the level of human capital required for successful economies and societies.
Today’s education systems therefore face the critical task of balancing the crisis-induced urgent challenge of building greater resilience and the important challenge of increasing responsiveness to the changing needs of learners in a post-industrial society. But what are resilience and responsiveness in education? Throughout 2020, the Education Policy Outlook (EPO) has been drawing on insights from a decade of policy analysis, as well as other relevant OECD work and ongoing collaborations with over 40 participating education systems, to develop a Framework for Responsiveness and Resilience in education.
This Handbook carries that work forward, adapting it to the specific needs of education systems organising the academic term of the second half of 2020 in the context of an ongoing pandemic to continue supporting countries in 2021 and beyond. The Handbook is based on analysis of international thematic evidence, selected pre-crisis policies with evidence of progress towards stated objectives, and relevant promising initiatives currently being implemented in participating education systems, as well as exchanges with countries participating in the activities of the Education Policy Outlook. In addition to these bilateral exchanges, this Handbook also integrates highlights of discussions at the Education Policy Reform Dialogues 2020: Shifting education practices towards a more resilient new normal, which took place virtually on 26-27 October 2020, for which an earlier version of this report acted as background document for the event.