Every Learner Matters

Introduction Transcript

Speaker: [Mel Ainscow]

Every Learner Matters has been established to encourage global conversations around the theme of inclusion and equity in education.

We know from recent estimates, for example, that something like 270 million children around the world receive no education, presumably because where they live, there are no schools or there are not teachers. What we don’t know with any accuracy, however, is how many millions of children start school, drop out, become excluded, or in other ways marginalised within the system.

So these conversations are intended to look at what’s happening around the world and to make comparisons so that we can learn from one another.

The idea of this global conversation emerged from a visit I made some months ago to Australia. Whilst I was there, I had the privilege of visiting schools, talking to teachers, children and families, and finding out what was going on.

I saw many examples of good practice — schools that are doing wonderful things. Very creative teachers who are trying to reach out to all children and young people in their local communities.

But as I talked to people, I also heard about the sorts of barriers they were experiencing as they try to move in this more inclusive direction.

Many of those barriers seem to be associated with policies. As in all countries, educational policy in Australia is very complicated. You’ve got national policies, but you’ve also got state policies. You’ve then got separate forms of state schools, some of which are more desirable than others. As a result, it creates a kind of competitive environment.

Of course, some families and some young people do very well out of it. Others don’t. And some do extremely badly out of it.

As a result of this visit, I sent an email to various colleagues in different parts of the world to explain what I’d seen and heard, and what it made me think about — particularly in terms of my own country.

Actually going to another country acts like a mirror. It makes you think about your own country in a way that I hadn’t anticipated.

My email triggered a whole series of discussions amongst other people. They talked about what I was saying — sometimes agreeing, sometimes disagreeing — but also started to compare their own ideas as they reflected on what was happening in their own countries in light of what I had witnessed in Australia.

So this is the simple idea that we’re trying to create in Every Learner Matters.

We should say that we borrowed the title from a UNESCO handbook published in 2017. It’s a guidebook for ensuring inclusion and equity in education. You can find it free in different languages on the UNESCO website.

The committee that formed that guide came up with a simple motto: every learner matters and matters equally.

It’s a motto. It’s a principle. Every learner matters and matters equally.

So we’ve taken part of that title for this global conversation. We hope that by listening to colleagues from different parts of the world, we’ll reflect on our own countries and our own situations in the spirit of that principle: every learner matters and matters equally.

Speaker: [Richard Ingram]

We know that Every Learner Matters, but what can we do about this?

Through these conversations — and any actions that follow them — we hope to raise the profile of inclusive education and to demonstrate to policymakers and school leaders that there is a global demand for more inclusive, engaging, inspiring and relevant education systems.

To facilitate this, we will hold one-hour online meetings each year. The first will explain the rationale for Every Learner Matters and agree a structure for each conversation.

This will be followed by three further meetings, each focusing on an analysis of developments in one country. These sessions will involve carefully chosen speakers with insider knowledge of policy developments in their country, who will make short presentations to stimulate discussion.

Each case study will be considered through four key questions:

• Is the education system being considered adequately preparing all learners to thrive in a complex and changing world?

• How far is existing educational policy fostering inclusion and equity in education?

• Are these policies working for all children and young people?

• If not, what are the barriers, and how might they be addressed?

Through these questions and the discussions around them, we aim to examine the root causes of exclusion from education and present potential ideas to those in a position to make transformative change.

Speaker: [Anton Florek]

So how are we going to do this?

The Every Learner Matters project is hosted by the Staff College, based in the United Kingdom. Through The Staff College, we have created a dedicated website where recordings of each individual conversation will be posted and made available to all throughout 2026.

We anticipate that February, March, June and September will be the most likely dates for the current series of conversations.

At the end of each annual cycle, the three of us will create a series of think pieces, which will be published by the Staff College and made openly available.

Our main means of communication with you will be through the website and its mailing list.

So if this series of conversations is of interest to you — whether you are a researcher, a practitioner or a policymaker — please join us. Sign up, and we hope to see you at the first conversation.