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The programme that explains the present by exploring the past.

The Forum: 21st Century Education

Discussion & Talk

21st Century Education

29/09/2012 GMT

BBC World Service - The Forum, 21st Century Education

What is education really for and how should we improve it?  Presented by Martin Rees.

Prominent international thinkers debating big ideas.

The second of five Forum programmes in which eminent thinkers lead discussions about the most pressing challenges in today’s world: this week, Professor Martin Rees, UK’s Astronomer Royal, and his guests talk about education. 
Should education prepare people for work, or make us think more creatively, or to be better citizens? What can we expect of digital technology: how much will this change the way we learn and could it help those currently excluded from education? And what about those often mentioned economic benefits of a good education, how real are they? Joining Martin Rees and an audience of academics and students at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, are Paris-based educational consultant Alexandra Draxler, educational policy advisor Alison Wolf and digital entrepreneur Conrad Wolfram. 

Illustration by Emily Kasriel: Educating the next generation with creativity and rigour.

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