In 2020, just a few months into the Covid-19 pandemic, the UNESCO International Bureau of Education (IBE) invited 20 education experts to reflect, in a special issue of Prospects, on how this globally upending event might affect the future of education and learning. Despite the fact that no one had a clear idea of how the pandemic would unravel over anything but the short term, those reflections were not just hasty write-ups or rushed analyses poured together into a volume; instead, they came from leading scholars and practitioners who brought a great range of knowledge, a commitment to the idea of the public good and community, and intense intellectual and emotional engagement.That early collection of viewpoints was unprecedented and invaluable. One by one, the authors highlighted the need for a transformative change in education—a “global reset” (Robinson, 2020), rather than a tinkering around the edges of problems that had lingered too long. The pandemic, they argued, gives us a chance to see with new clarity many aspects of education that we have taken too much for granted and to imagine more equitable societies and education systems (Arnove, 2020; Fullan, 2020).They looked through a magnifying glass at curricula and at education and learning systems and exposed both their frailties and strengths. For instance, they stressed that the concern with access, and thus with enrollment and completion parity, has blinded many governments from seeing the crucial need to examine what and how much is actually taught and learned in schools (Hughes, 2020; Stromquist, 2020). They underscored institutionalized forms of discrimination rooted in race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, age, and abilities. They grieved insufficient scientific research to inform curriculum, teaching, and learning; inappropriate education systems; lack of textbooks and guidance for caregivers to support home-based learning; and globally fragile health structures and human services (Chabbott & Sinclair, 2020; Escotet, 2020; Soudien, 2020; Thomas & Rogers, 2020).Yet, those experts were not just lamenting curriculum, education, and learning as they were or just imagining them as they could be. They also issued a strong call to take meaningful action to bring about that desired future. They pleaded to reinforce education as a public and common good (Nóvoa & Alvim, 2020) and to build resilience and adaptability, which are crucial for the young generation to be able to navigate through the present pandemic and any in the future (d’Orville, 2020; Daniel, 2020; Moriarty, 2020).Concrete propositions were advanced that could shape both policy dialogue and iterations of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) needed to ensure they remain fit for purpose. Testing these propositions over the coming years might open the door to an evidence-based approach to reconstruction and sustainable development and juxtapose immediate concerns with aspirations for the future (Lewin, 2020).Whether the Covid-19 pandemic is a turning point for meaningful change depends on action at the local, national, and global levels (Iyengar, 2020). The current crisis is a unique opportunity for stronger collaboration, especially internationally, that might provide a better focus and deliver solutions, including digital tools. However, if we treat Covid-19 as a short-term crisis, then whatever we do to help improve education will be only temporary (Zhao, 2020).Two years later, have we really used this pandemic as a galvanizing force for change? The short answer is: not enough. But more complete answers can be found in many measures responding to the really urgent need for education transformation. To this end, the UN Transforming Education Summit, to be convened in September 2022, is meant to provide “a unique opportunity to elevate education to the top of the global political agenda and to mobilize action, ambition, solidarity and solutions to recover pandemic-related learning losses and sow the seeds to transform education in a rapidly changing world” (United Nations, 2022). There is still a window of opportunity for something good to come from something bad (the global crisis in education, with a devastating impact on the futures of children and youth worldwide) if we can rally sufficient energy and unity to build forward better.Meanwhile, a picture of how the pandemic has collided with existing factors—including but not limited to inequality, poverty, migration, conflict, and climate change—is steadily emerging.This special issue aims to take stock of the impact of the pandemic on curriculum, education, and learning. It brings together detailed reports from education experts on learning loss, technology use, remote learning, and school closures, among others, and asks how the pandemic has afflicted education through the specific vulnerabilities of various education systems.Darcy Courtland questions what knowledge was of greatest worth in the early weeks of the Covid-19 crisis and begins to reimagine the possibilities of curriculum in such unprecedented times. She unveils the capacity of a curriculum that emphasizes compassion, community, and relational accountability. Courtland then draws upon Indigenous, ecological, and postmodern curriculum theories to envisage what an educational response could look like if curriculum approaches focus on holistically nourishing the learner’s spirit, on connectedness, and on creating a sense of wonder. The current Covid-19 pandemic, she argues, requires an immediate re-conception of curriculum, as the world rapidly shifts. While also nodding to concerns about internalizing curriculum as a mastery of outcomes rather than as a consideration of lived educational experiences, Courtland extends an invitation to imagine the possibilities of a curriculum responsive to the ever-changing complexities of life.Yong Zhao warns us about a dangerous trap for educators and education policy makers as they “build back better”: learning loss. This trap, he argues, comes with a large amount of data and with sophisticated projection methods. It presents a stunningly grim picture for education, and it invites educators and policy makers to make wrong decisions and invest in wrong things. He identifies a number of undesirable outcomes their concerns could lead to and also suggests several productive actions that can be taken when the pandemic is controlled and schools reopen.Nic Spaull argues that the Covid-19 pandemic is the largest social and economic shock of our lifetimes. As governments grappled with their responses to the virus, more than half the world’s countries closed their schools and severely limited almost all forms of public life. This will have a profound impact on children, both now and in the decades to come. As many countries start to send children back to school, a question arises: Who should go back to school first? He addresses that question in the context of a middle-income country, South Africa. Based on a review of much of the evidence available at the time of publication, he concludes that the youngest children are less susceptible to harm from Covid-19 than are older children, are less likely to spread the virus than are adults, and also have the most to lose by being out of school. Hence, they should be the ones to return to school first.Eilean von Lautz-Cauzanet argues that an urgent need exists to reform the project-based EdTech approach in a way that allows EdTech to contribute to the resilience of education systems in the aftermath of Covid-19. Looking at the contrast between the multiplication of EdTech pilot projects presented as a necessary step in a process that will eventually lead to scaled solutions and the lack of solutions that actually scale, she highlights those long-standing issues perceived as most pressing by the actors involved in project-based EdTech initiatives. Their perspective and statements allow one to grasp how the EdTech project approach favors the setup of EdTech projects that are by design unscalable, driven by a utopian perception of scalability, and instrumentalized in the name of a goal that is de facto only a branding. As a result, and despite the mobilization of tremendous resources, the EdTech project-based approach cannot be system transformative.Enyi Jen, Sven Mathijssen, and Lianne Hoogeveen discuss issues that emerged from conducting professional development activities for educators during the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2020, as post-academic educational trainers, the authors worked closely with more than 200 professional educators who participated in an international diploma program to develop their professional skills and gain positive and insightful experience. Here, they share three lessons they learned while working with professional educators: (a) teachers face new challenges in the use of educational technology, (b) teachers wonder how to motivate learners with diverse abilities in a virtual setting, and (c) building a supportive community is essential. Suggestions and recommendations are also provided.Suzanne Lischer, Netkey Safi, and Cheryl Dickson argue that the disruption caused by Covid-19 in the educational sector may last longer than originally predicted. To better understand the current situation, they analyzed the mental health status of university students during the pandemic and investigated the learning conditions needed to support students. The sample included 557 undergraduate students who took part in an online survey. Overall, the students reported coping well during lockdown but indicated that lecturers were challenged by distance teaching, which created some stress for students.Robin Donnelly and Harry Anthony Patrinos provide an early systematic review of learning loss during Covid-19. Significant disruptions to education systems had an impact on students’ learning progress. To evaluate this and, in particular, whether learning loss has been experienced, they conducted a thorough analysis of recorded learning loss evidence documented between March 2020 and March 2021. This systematic review aims to consolidate available data and to document what has been reported in the literature. Given the novelty of the subject, eight studies were identified; seven of these found evidence of learning loss by at least some of the participants, while one of the seven also found instances of learning gains in a particular subgroup. The remaining study found increased learning gains by participants. Additionally, four of the studies observed increases in inequality, whereby students with certain demographics experienced more significant learning losses than did others. The authors determine that further research is needed to increase the quantity of studies produced, their geographical focus, and the numbers of students they observe.Stacey N. J. Blackman argues that the outbreak of Covid-19 worldwide has presented an unprecedented challenge for the equity-in-education agenda, especially in developing countries of the Global South (e.g., the English-speaking Caribbean). She examines the impact school closures have had in Jamaica and Barbados and highlights the emerging disparities the global pandemic has had on education. The central organizing questions of her article are as follows: Who was affected by school closures in Barbados and Jamaica? How did the Ministries of Education (MoEs) support curriculum and instruction during the pandemic? What challenges does Covid-19 present for MoEs? What are the implications for education after Covid-19? School closure data suggest a gender disparity, with more males than females out of school due to Covid-19, from preprimary to secondary school in Barbados and Jamaica. MoEs in the region responded to school closures primarily by increasing access to technology to facilitate remote learning. Some of the challenges with continuing education for students during Covid-19 were due to a lack of infrastructure and amenities to support remote learning. Implications for education post-Covid-19 are considered.Margaret MacDonald and Cher Hill discuss the educational impact of the Covid-19 rapid response on teachers, students, and families in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Their article focuses on teachers’ and families’ responses to change, vulnerability, transitions, work/home life balance, holistic teaching practices, and communication. They end with recommendations relating to the communication and implementation of health, care, and educational practices that better attend to vulnerable populations and address social emotional wellness.Radhika Iyengar and Haein Shin argue that contextual and social realities must be built into any educational program for activism to take place. Their case study examines an education and environment program that has adapted to the social distancing measures of Covid-19, resulting in an even more community-reliant and community-driven program than the program designers initially intended. The Eco Ambassador Program used environmental activism within a space that supported mental health during Covid-19 social isolation. While community engagement and action were elements of the program, the program was transformed to use new levels of social capital in its network as a means to overcome the obstacles presented in regular programming. Many aspects of the critical pedagogy of space were used to conceptualize this educational program during the pandemic. The limitations of in-person interactions in defined learning spaces led to more technology-reliant programming, hence broadening the space of place-based learning, while enabling personal spaces and personal environments to become new learning spaces.Lordina Juvenile Ehwi and Richmond Juvenile Ehwi offer insights into the impact of the lockdown on private schools and the responses it elicited, which were limited, especially across the African continent. They examine the impact of the lockdown on private basic schools in Ghana and how they responded to the closure. The authors find that the schools’ closure had a negative impact on private basic schools in five crucial ways: disruption to teaching and learning, difficulty in retrieving unpaid teaching fees, inability to pay staff salaries and statutory payments, underutilization of existing assets, and the cost of storing unused stock. They offer suggestions to the government to support private schools that are broadening educational access at thin profit margins.Verena Letzel-Alt, Marcela Pozas, and Christoph Schneider argue that learning from home during the Covid-19 pandemic brought numerous changes, challenges, and stressors to students’ daily lives. In this context, major concerns have been raised based on the reports of students’ negative experiences resulting from social distancing and isolation. Given the impact of Covid-19 on many aspects of students’ lives, in particular their social and school experiences, research that provides insights into the consequences of this health crisis for students’ well-being has become important. Their article aims to explore students’ experiences of social distancing and its relation to their negative emotional experiences during Germany’s first Covid-19–related school closure. Findings indicate that both primary and secondary students missed their friends and classmates and that primary school students perceived higher levels of social distancing. However, a linear regression analysis indicated that the older the students were, the more negatively affected they were by social distancing. The implications of the study’s results and further lines of research are discussed.Sohela Mustari, Mehe Zebunnesa Rahman, and Susmita Kar describe the socio-psychological effects of school closure on school-going urban girls in Dhaka, Bangladesh, during the Covid-19 pandemic. They illustrate the life of urban students in Bangladesh during the school-closing time and relate it to their previous everyday life. The authors assert that the strengths of traditional schools have important relevance to socialization, which was significantly disturbed during the pandemic, due to home confinement. Based on both qualitative and quantitative data, the following components led to an understanding of the schools’ role in the socialization of urban female students in Bangladesh: emotional attachments, interpersonal interactions, and physical activity. During confinement, the absence of these components put the students’ socialization process at risk, resulting in socio-psychological changes in activities and behavioral patterns. Finally, the authors recommend not considering online classes as the “new normal”; instead, working toward vaccination and obtaining suitable health equipment for the reopening of traditional schools will do more to ensure the socio-psychological health of future generations.Abdulla Sodiq and Rhonda Di Biase present an exploratory analysis of the external secondary examination system in the Maldives. They analyse different dimensions of secondary and higher secondary education enrolments and attainment levels and consider the implications from the reliance on British international examinations for students and schools. In addition, they explore the National Curriculum and equity in secondary education in relation to gender-specific outcomes and outcomes for students in rural atolls in comparison to the outcomes in urban capital island, Male’. The authors conclude by considering alternatives to the reliance on international examinations and potential options for national certification that may be more aligned to local needs and relevant to the context. If Covid-19 does indeed present an opportunity to think innovatively and leverage off the disruption caused by the pandemic, they see this analysis of the current status quo as a first step in considering future possibilities in the Maldives.