Michael Stevenson leads innovation around the world on education purposes, policy and delivery. He is Senior Adviser Education and Skills at the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, where he established and leads the High Performing Systems for Tomorrow initiative.

In the interview below, Mackay and Stevenson discuss his latest paper, released by the Centre for Strategic Education in Australia as part of its leading education series. Drawing on themes encapsulated in a series of OECD papers, Stevenson explores new thinking on the purposes of education. After an opening reflection on societal goals and the priorities for education systems, he presents the concept of Education for Human Flourishing. He then discusses underpinning orientations; three competencies that people might need; the opportunities for assessment; and potential directions for how people should learn. In the final section he suggests trajectories for education system design and concludes that there will be opportunities to validate and strengthen this thinking, but also to enrich it with new ideas and approaches, through research, dialogue and consultation.

Watch the interview below and read the full paper here.