Analysing and designing learning environments for the 21st century

Hanna Dumont and David Istance set out the reasons why, over recent years, has moved increasingly centre stage politically. These include the nature of knowledge economies and societies, the demands of 21st century competences, the ubiquity of ICT, frustration with the lack of success of repeated education reforms and the burgeoning research base. They call for harnessing knowledge about and applying it more systematically to education. The chapter argues why these developments call for a particular focus on innovative micro arrangements – learning environments – which are conceptualised in this OECD work at a level between individual learners and conventional educational parameters. The chapter locates the book as seeking to address the great disconnect (as it has been called) between research, on the one hand, and policy and practice, on the other.