Kids on Earth

The Learning Potential of 5 Billion Minds

Howard Blumenthal, Robert C. Pianta

$78.99

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Harvard Educational Publishing Group
30 September 2025

Educational strategies & policy; Organisation & management of education

In this visionary effort, students take the lead in reimagining public education for the twenty-first century, advocating for a more active, personalized, and relational approach to learning

Twenty-first century youth are hungry for new ways to learn. Their world is global, mobile, and rich with opportunities previous generations couldn't possibly have imagined. As they make clear in this book, the old standards of schooling no longer apply. In Kids on Earth, Howard Blumenthal and Robert C. Pianta go straight to the source to rethink public education for the five billion young minds likely to learn by 2050, asking students about learning for their future.

Blumenthal and Pianta interview children and teenagers from more than seventy countries, along with parents, teachers, and learning experts, to build, from their perspectives, a scalable global framework for radical educational change. 'New School', in contrast to old school, is a foundational concept with three guiding pillars: learning is active, learning is personal, and learning is relational. Its teachings emphasize cognitive science, memory, and relationships- aligning learning with contemporary lived experience. New School also appreciates 'Not School', external instruction that involves media, technology, and other forms of learning. Integrating these spheres, Blumenthal and Pianta argue, would better reflect our hyperconnected, innovative world, motivating students to succeed within it.

Kids on Earth calls not for reform but reinvention, an ambitious, all-hands-on-deck effort to remake school for current and future generations, preparing them best for global citizenship. Unlike many books on education, this volume gives kids the chance to make it alright.

By: Howard Blumenthal, Robert C. Pianta
Imprint: Harvard Educational Publishing Group
Country of Publication: United States [Currently unable to ship to USA: see Shipping Info]
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9798895570333
Pages: 248
Publication Date: 30 September 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Howard Blumenthal is best known as the cocreator and producer of the public television series for children and teenagers, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? He is a longtime media executive, strategist, producer and writer, who now focuses on growing up, learning, and primary/secondary education for children and teenagers all over the world. Robert C. Pianta is the Batten Bicentennial Professor of Education in the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Virginia. He is an international leader in research on teacher-student relationships and early education. His work has appeared in leading journals and has shaped educational practice and policy.

Reviews for Kids on Earth: The Learning Potential of 5 Billion Minds

""Kids on Earth brings together the voices of young people around the globe with the best science and deepest wisdom on human learning to offer a refreshingly clear, powerful framework for transforming how we think about educating 21st century kids. Straightforward and compelling--every adult should read this book."" --Camille A. Farrington, senior advisor, University of Chicago Consortium on School Research ""This is not your ordinary education book. Get ready for a completely different way of thinking about schools and learning, inspired by the scores of children and teens whose voices and ideas fill out nearly every chapter."" --Lisa Guernsey, senior director in education policy, New America