The biggest challenge for education today is breaking out of the current paradigm — the idea that 1000 hours of school class‐time each year is worth far more than the 4800 waking hours each year a kid spends out of class, as though it’s only what happens in class that’s relevant. That’s just ridiculous. We need to move to “anywhere, anytime learning,” especially as kids start demonstrating a bit more independence, responsibility and autonomy — just as they’ll have to when they leave school.’

The written school report and the parent-teacher interviews are products of another era when we didn’t have access to the internet and emails. Every school has their own version of the report, which can provide a lot of information or sometimes little information about a child’s progress. Then there’s the parent-teacher interview, which, in some cases, can be education’s version of speed-dating. These communication channels are usually dominated by one voice: the teacher’s.

Here is attached a publication which has a twofold aim – to help students learn a language creatively whilst at the same time raising awareness of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through bringing together a range of innovative ideas for teaching creatively and addressing these key issues. The activities include enabling students to think creatively about sustainable food and food supplies, creating energy which does not harm the environment, and collaborating with other students globally to diminish the digital divide.

Achieving our goals has become even more challenging. We live in a VUCA world – volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. We need a learning system that ensures an “education worth having” – one that is fit for purpose enabling learning for all; one that is increasingly productive; one that allows all to “learn a living”.