A project directed by Yuri Belfali and co-directed by Mario Piacentini at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) builds on the foundational work of the TWCF-funded OECD Education for Human Flourishing project (TWCF-2021-20588)  by  developing new measures that integrate flourishing capacities into one of the world’s most influential education benchmarks: the OECD’s Program for International Student Assessment (PISA).

Assessment is a fundamental component of education systems. The way students are tested significantly shapes curriculum, instruction, and policy. Yet most countries rely on outdated systems that fail to align with the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values young people need to flourish. This initiative aims to reconcile assessment with a vision of education centered on human flourishing (i.e., lives of meaning, ethical responsibility, and wellbeing that benefit both individuals and communities.)

With the previous funding, the OECD developed the Education for Human Flourishing Framework (EFHF), formally endorsed by the PISA Governing Board which defined five core domains for flourishing: adaptive problem-solving, ethical decision-making, understanding the world, appreciating the world, and acting in the world. Each is grounded in virtues championed by Sir John Templeton, such as awe, wisdom, humility, purpose, honesty, imagination, and ethical discernment.

This next phase of the project focuses on translating that vision into practice through the design, testing, and dissemination of robust, scalable assessments. The project’s theory of change holds that if PISA elevates flourishing and moral development through credible and usable assessments, education systems worldwide will follow, reforming curricula, pedagogy, and policy in turn. The project is structured around four interconnected work areas: 1. Integration of Character and Flourishing  Competencies into PISA, 2. Development of Technology-Enhanced Assessments, 3. Reconciliation of Summative and Formative Assessment through the OECD Platform for Innovative Learning Assessment (PILA) to provide teachers with a library of interactive tasks aligned with the five flourishing competencies, freely available in multiple languages, equipping educators to nurture purpose, integrity, compassion, and agency, and 4. Policy Dialogue and Global Dissemination. 

The ultimate goal is to integrate flourishing into the 2029 PISA cycle and to create formative tools that teachers can use to nurture the whole child.