Circular Pedagogy 2.0: An Evolving Human-Centered Framework for Learning

Redesigning learning requires a fundamental paradigm shift that places the human dimension at the heart of educational transformation. Societies need to work towards Education for Sustainable and Inclusive Development (ESID) as a real commitment to humanity’s prosperity and thriving, not as a discourse to fill documents that lack any purpose and are vacuous in their nature. Equity, diversity, and inclusion should not be viewed as isolated principles; they need to be understood as integral components of learning systems that cultivate proactive, collaborative, human-centred, and interconnected environments. Circular Pedagogy 2.0 extends this vision by recognising learning, teaching, research, and innovation as interconnected and continuous roles shared by both educators and learners throughout every stage of the educational process. Research and innovation are considered integral parts of the learning and teaching process and are identified as fundamental to enabling knowledge transfer through cooperation and participation. While teachers remain the formal stewards of learning, they must also embrace reciprocal learning by valuing students’ diversity, acknowledging their contributions through diverse experiences, perspectives, and knowledge. Equally, students should become active researchers, teachers, and innovators, engaging critically with theory and real-world challenges through dialogue, inquiry, and reflection to foster a culture of continuous learning and knowledge sharing. Proactive learning environments that nurture curiosity, analytical thinking, and creativity reinforce education as a shared process of knowledge co-creation and transfer, as the role of teaching should not be understood or constrained to a job title but as an additional skill to be developed. Consequently, Circular Pedagogy 2.0 represents an evolving human-centred framework for developing inclusive, sustainable, and socially responsible human capital beyond purely economic objectives, as we need to consider how the economic, social, environmental, and political pillars are guided by humans, with the associated benefits and harm they can do. Therefore, there is a need to rethink the significance of a human-centred approach to learning and re-learning attuned to the needs of the real world.