ABSTRACT
Profound changes are occurring in society, disrupting all current systems and institutions, including and particularly those in education. In the 21st century, education needs to fully meet all of the lifelong learning needs of all people, at all stages of life, wherever a person is and whenever she/he faces a learning need. What is needed is a public educational system that is truly learner-centred and equitable, that truly serves the real-life needs, realities and motivations of all people, rather than the needs and requirements of only the most privileged or those prescribed by a small cadre of institutional experts. Such a public education system does not currently exist anywhere in the world, but an understanding for what such a system might look like and how to create it does. The new system moves beyond Industrial Age, top-down, one-size-fits-all, command-and-control approaches towards one that more closely mimics complex natural ecosystems. If implemented, this new public education system would better support and prepare all learners for the more distributed, synergistic, personalized, just-in-time, global world they now live in.
