Givan heralds international recognition for TransformED
Date published:
Education Minister Paul Givan has addressed the Core Knowledge Foundation’s National Conference in Florida, where he outlined his vision for reforming and improving education delivery in Northern Ireland.
The Core Knowledge Foundation Conference brought together some of the world’s most influential voices in curriculum and cognitive science to explore how knowledge-rich curricula can raise standards and close attainment gaps.
Paul Givan participated in a plenary session, chaired by Robert Pondiscio, senior visiting fellow at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute entitled ‘No Boundaries, Just Possibilities: A Worldwide Call to Action for Knowledge Building in Education’, along with New Zealand’s Education Minister, Erica Stanford and Sir Nick Gibb, former Minister of State for Schools.
The Minister said:
“It was a great honour to meet Professor E.D. Hirsch whose work has helped inspire my TransformED strategy and to share Northern Ireland’s recent experiences with an international audience.
“At the heart of the Core Knowledge Foundation’s approach is a belief that all children — regardless of background — deserve access to a shared, content-rich curriculum. This vision aligns closely with my TransformED strategy, which sets out to ensure that all learners are supported to reach their full potential through the curriculum, high-quality teaching and evidence-informed practice.
“During the conference, I also had the opportunity to speak personally with a range of internationally renowned educational experts and authors including Professor Dylan Wiliam and Professor Daniel Willingham — conversations that offered valuable insights and will help inform educational reforms in Northern Ireland.”
During the visit, the Minister attended a number of meetings with key officials from Miami Dade and Orange County about the Florida school system, performance and curriculum and standards. The meetings provided opportunities to discuss the TransformED Strategy and the ongoing Strategic Review of the Northern Ireland Curriculum. Emphasising his commitment to reforming the local education system, Paul Givan concluded:
“In many education systems internationally, there remains a strong correlation between socio-economic disadvantage and educational outcomes. There is much we can learn from some of the highest performing school boards in the United States and approaches that could be applied in Northern Ireland.
“The Core Knowledge Foundation commitment to educational excellence and equity mirrors my own and I have left Florida with valuable insights and ideas to inform my educational reforms in Northern Ireland. It is encouraging to see that our TransformED strategy, already well-received at home, is now gaining international recognition.”
Notes to editors:
- The mission of the Core Knowledge Foundation is to advance excellence and equity in education for all children. To achieve this mission, they offer detailed curricular guidance and materials to schools, teachers, parents, and policy makers - to anyone who believes that every child in a diverse democracy deserves access to enabling knowledge.
- Attendees at the conference included:
- E.D. Hirsch Jr, American educator, literary critic and theorist, who is the founder of the Core Knowledge Foundation;
- Dylan Wiliam, Emeritus Professor of Educational Assessment at UCL Institute of Education and author of Developing Curriculum for Deep Thinking: The Knowledge Revival (2025) and Robert Pondiscio, senior visiting fellow at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute;
- Daniel Willingham, is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia and is the author of several books, including the best-selling Why Don't Students Like School?, and most recently, Outsmart Your Brain. In 2017 he was appointed by President Obama to serve as a Member of the National Board for Education Sciences.
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