ABSTRACT
When it comes to education, to paraphrase computer scientist Alan Kay, the best way to prepare students for the future is to equip them to invent it. The educational paradox of the beginning of the twenty-fi rst century lies in the disconnect between the superb institutional capacity of schools and their underperformance in preparing students to invent a future that appropriately addresses the global challenges and opportunities shared with their fellow world citizens. Whether these are the challenges of collectively improving the living conditions of the global poor and destitute, of achieving sustainable forms of human environmental interaction, of fi nding fair and sustainable forms of global trade, of addressing health epidemics, or of creating the conditions for lasting peace and security, few schools around the world today are equipping students with the skills and habits of mind necessary to collaborate with others, across national boundaries, in inventing and implementing lasting solutions to these challenges. These are, without a doubt, complex issues, and their resolution can involve multiple options, some of which are controversial. Preparing students to deal with such complexity and controversies is at the heart of global education. Such preparation is absent today in most schools around the world.
