Globalization of the economy, increasingly diverse and interconnected populations, and rapid
technological change are posing new and demanding challenges to individuals and societies alike.
School systems are rethinking the knowledge and skills students will need for success and the
educational strategies and systems required for all children to achieve them. In both Asia and
North America, urban school systems are at the locus of change in policy and practice—at once
the sites of the most-critical challenges in education and the engines of innovation needed to
address them. Therefore, Asia Society organized the Global Cities Education Network, a network
of urban school systems in North America and Asia, to focus on challenges and opportunities for
improvement common to them, and to virtually all city education systems.
A critical element of high-performing school systems is not only that they benchmark the
practices of other countries but that they systematically adapt and implement these practices
within their own cultural and political contexts. The Global Cities Education Network is intended
as a mechanism for educators and decisionmakers in Asia and North America to collaboratively
dream, design, and deliver internationally informed solutions to common challenges with which
education systems are currently grappling.
The network engages in cycles of in-depth inquiry, planning, and action to address specific topics
related to the themes of transforming learning and achieving equity. Each cycle involves
knowledge sharing and problem solving, including at Global Cities Education Network Symposia
and the production of research and knowledge products, such as case studies, background papers,
and meeting reports. The overarching goal is to develop practical wisdom from the research and
experience of the world’s leading experts that reflects proven or promising efforts in network
cities and that can be used to enhance the effectiveness of network and city school systems
worldwide.
This report, prepared for the first Asia Society Global Cities Education Network Symposium,
held in Hong Kong in May 2012, examines the current definitions of 21st century skills and looks
at why and how they should be taught. Asia Society is grateful to the authors, Anna Rosefsky
Saavedra and V. Darleen Opfer of the RAND Corporation, for their support and assistance with
the Global Cities Education Network.
We would like to thank the sponsors of the Global Cities Education Network, including
JPMorgan Chase Foundation, MetLife Foundation, Carnegie Corporation, Pearson Foundation,
and Hewlett Foundation.
We hope that this series of reports provides knowledge and experience useful to cities in Asia,
North America, and elsewhere eager to create the conditions that will promote success for all
students in today’s interconnected world.
Tony Jackson
Vice President, Education
Asia Society