The journey of challenges and victories: exploring the transformation action framework in the GenAI era from multifaceted policies

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) stands as a cornerstone of the technological revolution, significantly impacting the global educational landscape. This prompts worldwide governments and educational institutions to craft strategic frameworks. This study aims to analyze GenAI’s influence on the education system, particularly focusing on transformations in educational paradigms, modalities, pedagogical logics, and educational contexts. It seeks to establish a transformation action framework for the education system in the GenAI era. Utilizing Meta-ethnography, the research synthesizes, analyzes and interprets 11 policy and guideline documents from UNESCO, OECD, ministries of education and universities, which reveal trends towards personalized and interactive educational forms, shifts in the role of the teacher, and updates in student learning modes. The study explores GenAI’s integration into education at macro, meso, and micro levels. At the macro level, the framework identifies how GenAI drives a productivity revolution and reshapes human resource demands, alongside societal attitudes and educational actions adapting to this transformation. At the meso level, it reflects on educational pattern and logic shifts, delving into the evolution of educational modalities, entities, media and content. At the micro level, it deconstructs new teaching and learning scenarios in the GenAI era, closely examining the evolution of the role of the teacher and student learning modes, scrutinizing the core value of education as a fundamental human right and constructing a vision for future education in the GenAI era. The findings underscore the need for comprehensive transformation in the education system to adapt to GenAI-driven changes, updating educational content and methods to enhance teaching efficiency and quality as well as fostering holistic student development. These insights offer theoretical and practical guidance for the educational sector to respond to GenAI-driven technological changes, aiming to equip the education system to overcome challenges, seize opportunities and prepare talents needed for the future society.