Reimagining education systems through collaborative research and action: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean
Global Symposium Series 

Thursday, June 4, 2026, 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. CST | 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. EDT 
Online only: https://www.brookings.edu/events/reimagining-education-systems-through-collaborative-research-and-action 

Around the world, few education systems are equipping all children and young people to thrive today—let alone prepare them for tomorrow. Efforts to reform these systems are failing not for lack of effort or evidence, but because existing systems tend to reproduce the very challenges they seek to address: knowledge flows downward, decisions are made far from classrooms, resources fail to reach those who need them the most, and the actors closest to the challenges are treated as beneficiaries rather than agents of change.   

What is needed is not incremental reform, but a fundamental rethinking of the purpose of education—and a rebuilding of systems around that purpose. Transforming education systems requires more than policy and global expertise alone. The voices, knowledge, and lived realities of those routinely excluded from these conversations must be included as well.

On June 4, join the Center for Universal Education at Brookings, Educación para Compartir, and Vozes da Educação for a symposium on education systems transformation, which will feature panels, interactive workshops, and ample time for strengthening relationships and building new connections. Grounded in Latin American perspectives, the symposium will center Indigenous communities, educators and learners in marginalized contexts, and young people whose experiences offer critical insight into what it takes for children and young people to thrive. The program will showcase collaborative research and action as an approach that bridges research, practice, and policy, while elevating locally rooted solutions on key issues such as education in emergencies, youth workforce, and pedagogical transformation.

This event is a part of the Global Symposium Series 2026 and builds on the collaborative work of the Knowing Doing Network (KDN). It is co-hosted and co-designed by An Giang University, the Center for Universal Education at Brookings, EducAid Sierra Leone, Educación para Compartir, Mizizi Elimu Afrika, Society for Access to Quality Education (SAQE), and Vozes da Educação. 

This event will be open to attend in person in Mexico City with most sessions held in Spanish and limited sessions interpreted into English. The opening plenary will be available to watch online in English and Spanish.

La plenaria de apertura podrá seguirse en línea en inglés y español.