A GLOBAL FELLOWSHIP FOR EDUCATION
Ideas Across Borders. Education Across Generations.
Founded in 1921 as the New Education Fellowship, WEF emerged from an international movement seeking new possibilities for education and human development. In 1966, it became the World Education Fellowship.
Its history has encompassed pioneering educational thought, international conferences, national sections, influential publications and engagement with wider movements for peace and international cooperation.
Today, WEF continues that tradition by providing a meeting place for people who believe that education should do more than transmit knowledge. It should help people become confident, creative, compassionate and socially responsible participants in their communities and in the wider world.
A Century of Fellowship at a Glance
1921
Our international journey began
100+ Years
of educational fellowship and exchange
Worldwide
A history of sections, conferences and collaboration
Since 1920
New Era in Education
WHAT WE BELIEVE
Education That Develops People — and Connects the World
At the heart of the World Education Fellowship is a belief in the dignity, potential and agency of every learner.
Education should enable individuals not simply to acquire knowledge, but to grow intellectually, emotionally, creatively and socially; to participate meaningfully in their communities; and to engage constructively with an increasingly interconnected world.
WEF brings together diverse educational traditions and perspectives around a set of enduring commitments.
HUMAN-CENTRED EDUCATION
Education should nurture the whole person — recognising the intellectual, emotional, creative, ethical and social dimensions of human development.
CREATIVITY & LEARNER AGENCY
Education should cultivate curiosity, imagination and the confidence to think, question, create and take increasing responsibility for learning.
LEARNING THROUGH COMMUNITY
Learning flourishes where there is respect, cooperation, belonging and shared responsibility.
EDUCATION FOR GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP
Education should strengthen intercultural understanding, democratic participation, peace and a sense of responsibility for our shared future.
FELLOWSHIP IN ACTION
Bringing People, Ideas and Education Together
WEF advances its mission through international collaboration, educational dialogue, publications, conferences and the work of its sections and partners.
The Fellowship creates spaces in which educators and others concerned with learning can exchange ideas, explore emerging challenges, share practice and strengthen connections across national and cultural boundaries.
International Conferences & Dialogue
For generations, WEF conferences have brought together educators from different parts of the world to examine the purposes, possibilities and changing realities of education.
National Sections & Global Community
WEF’s international character is expressed through sections, networks and members working in different educational and cultural contexts.
Each contributes to a wider fellowship while responding to the needs and priorities of its own community.
Publications & Ideas
From the historic New Era in Education to contemporary publications and educational resources, publishing has been central to the Fellowship’s work since its earliest years.
Educational Collaboration
WEF encourages dialogue, research, professional exchange and initiatives that advance human-centred learning, educational opportunity, international understanding and social progress.
OUR HISTORY & LEGACY
More Than a Century of Educational Fellowship
The story of WEF begins before its formal foundation and spans more than a hundred years of educational thought, international exchange and institutional change.
The New Education Fellowship was formally established in Calais, France, in 1921, under the leadership of Beatrice Ensor and an international group of educational pioneers.
By the end of the 1930s, the Fellowship had developed an extraordinary international presence: 51 sections and groups and 23 magazines published in 15 languages.
Its story would go on to intersect with major developments in international education, including the emergence of UNESCO, before the organisation adopted the name World Education Fellowship in 1966.
More than a century later, that history remains a source of learning, perspective and possibility.
1920
Education for the New Era
→
1921
New Education Fellowship
→
1927
Locarno · 2,400 participants
→
1940s
International educational cooperation
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1966
World Education Fellowship
→
2021
WEF Centenary
→
TODAY
A living international fellowship
The source records both the early journal and the very large Locarno gathering, while the 2021 international conference marked WEF’s centenary.
Education Has Always Been About More Than Schooling.
It is about the kind of people we become, the communities we create and the world we choose to build together.
Human dignity. Creativity. Cooperation. Responsibility. International understanding.
Those ideas have travelled with the Fellowship across generations — and they remain as important now as they were at its foundation.
AN INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP
Global in Outlook. Rooted in Communities.
The World Education Fellowship has always combined an international vision with locally rooted educational activity.
Across its history, sections and groups have brought the Fellowship’s principles into dialogue with different cultures, educational systems and social realities — from Europe and Asia to Africa, Australia and the Americas.
This diversity is central to WEF.
The Fellowship does not seek to impose a single educational model. It provides a community in which ideas can be explored, interpreted and developed in ways that are meaningful within different contexts.
OUR JOURNAL
New Era in Education
A Journal with More Than a Century of History
Publishing has been part of the Fellowship’s story almost from the beginning.
What became New Era in Education began as an educational newsletter in 1919 and was formally launched in 1920, before the foundation of the New Education Fellowship itself. Beatrice Ensor served as its founding editor.
Across generations, the journal has provided a forum for educational ideas, debate and international exchange.
In 2019, its 100th volume was launched at the WEF Centenary Lecture in Dubai, and historic issues covering 1920–1999 have subsequently been preserved digitally with the support of UCL Library Special Collections.
FROM THE FELLOWSHIP
Ideas, Events & Conversations
Discover what is happening across the World Education Fellowship — from international and national events to publications, educational initiatives, lectures and news from WEF sections.
WEF at 2027 KIE Conference in Kraków, Poland
Annual WEFÂ Centenary Lecture
The 2027 WEF Centenary Lecture will hold on 22 July.
December 2026 Edition of New Era
The next issue of New Era in Education, the WEF official journal will be published in December 2026.
WEF Indian Section
Get latest updates on the activities of WEF Indian
Read WEF Indian Newsletter →
EDUCATION IN A CHANGING WORLD
Enduring Principles. New Questions.
Education is being reshaped by technological change, artificial intelligence, social inequality, migration, environmental pressures and changing expectations of work, citizenship and human development.
Amid that change, some questions remain fundamental:
What is education ultimately for? How can learning strengthen both individual flourishing and social responsibility? How do we preserve human agency, creativity and dignity in rapidly changing societies? How can education deepen understanding across cultures rather than division between them?
The World Education Fellowship offers a space in which these enduring and emerging questions can be explored through dialogue, scholarship, experience and international exchange.
This is not a departure from WEF’s history.
It is a continuation of it.
BECOME PART OF THE FELLOWSHIP
Join a Global Community of People Who Care About Education
Whether you are an educator, researcher, student, practitioner, policymaker, educational leader or simply someone who shares WEF’s commitment to human-centred education, there is a place for you in the Fellowship.
Connect with a WEF Section in your country, participate in our activities, contribute to educational dialogue — or help establish a WEF community where one does not yet exist.
No WEF Section in your country?
We welcome expressions of interest from individuals and groups interested in developing new national sections.