Rethinking Education Towards a global common good 1

Rethinking Education Towards a global common good? 1

What is UNESCO? • UNESCO is a major United Nations policy agency founded in 1946 and with headquarters in Paris. The first Director General was the eminent biologist Sir Julian Huxley. • Its remit is: • Education; Science; Culture, together with Social Science and Communications: www. unesco. org • It provides the annual Global Monitoring Report on Education for All: www. efareport. unesco. org • Some other UN agencies are: United Nations International Childrens’ Fund or UNICEF; Food and Agricultural Organization or FAO; International Labour Organization or ILO.

Looking backward to see ahead • In re-visioning education for the future we must build upon the legacy of past analyses • 1972: The Faure Report: • Established the two interrelated notions of learning society and lifelong education at a time when traditional education systems were being challenged e. g. Compulsory Miseducation, Paul Goodman(1971) and De-Schooling Society, Ivan Illich (1973).

Looking backward to see ahead • 1996: The Delors Report: • Proposed an integrated vision of education based on the two concepts of learning throughout life and the four pillars of education (learning to know, to do, to live together, and to be).

Paradoxes and Tensions associated with societal development Poverty reduction Vulnerability, inequality, and exclusion Economic growth Ecological stress, unsustainable production/consumption Interconnected world Division, intolerance and conflict 5

A central concern for Sustainable Human and Social Development 6

Humanistic Approach to Development and Education Fundamental Principles Ø Concern for sustainable human and social development Ø Recognizing the diversity of lived realities Ø Reaffirming a core of ethical values Fundamental purpose of education: To enhance and sustain the dignity and capacity of the human person in relation to others and to nature 7

What does a humanistic approach to education and learning mean?

Contents and methods An Integrated Approach to Learning • Independent judgement; • Sense of personal responsibility; • Tapping the buried treasure of hidden talents • Learning for work and life; • Competencies to deal with unforeseen situations • Alternating study & work Learning to Be Learning to Know Learning to Do Learning to Live Together • Foundational skills; • Presupposes ‘learning to learn’ • Foundation for lifelong learning • Preparation for the learning society • Understanding others; • Respect for human dignity and diversity; • Learning for responsible and active citizenship

Contents and methods Renewed focus on social and civic learning SDG 4 Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all Target 4. 7 By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development 10

Contents and methods Renewed Focus on Learning to Learn The illiterate person in the 21 st century is not the person who cannot read – it is the person who does not know how to learn, relearn and unlearn [Alvin Toffler] Transferable competencies, “soft skills”, or “ 21 st century skills”: Critical thinking Problem solving Independent judgement

Policy Foundational Importance of Teachers - Changing role of teachers: Guides/Facilitators of learning. Guide through the ever-expanding maze of knowledge - Develop competencies to critically process information: Social and ethical dimensions of learning - Reversing the de-professionalization of teachers in both North and South - Recognize the importance of educators beyond the formal 12 sector (community learning centers, youth groups…)

Policy Focus on Equity - An education that does not marginalize or exclude - Recognition of open and flexible lifelong learning systems - Inclusive policy-making - Protecting the right to basic education and equal opportunity at post-compulsory levels - Reduce disparities in educational outcomes among groups. 13

Governance Rethinking Learning in a Complex World Complexity characterized by blurring of boundaries between: Ø Formal and informal learning Ø Global and national policy-making Ø Public and private education

Principle of Education as a Public Good under strain Ø Expanded access to education and increasing pressure on public financing; Ø Greater involvement of non-state actors to supplement public financing and in response to a growing demand for voice in public affairs; Ø Changing scale, scope and penetration of private engagement into all aspects of the educational endeavour; Ø Risks related to commodification, marketization of education. 15

Education as a common good Beyond the dichotomy of the public and the private, the principle of education as a common good: Ø Reaffirms the collective dimension of education as a shared societal endeavour; Ø Integrates an acknowledgment of the diversity of contexts and conceptions of human well-being while reaffirming a core of shared values; Ø Emphasizes the participatory process of public policy formulation and implementation. 16

Education and knowledge as common goods The governance of education can no longer be separated from the governance of knowledge. Creation, transmission, acquisition, validation and use of knowledge common to all people engaged in a collective societal endeavour. Knowledge as the common heritage of humanity. 17

Some Questions Are the aspirations set out in Re-thinking Education utopian or can they be realised in practice? What actions would be needed to begin the process? What is the role of international policy agencies? What is the role of civil society?

Some Further Reading • UNESCO Report: Re-thinking Education: Towards a global common good? (2015), UNESCO, Paris, • http: //unesdoc. unesco. org/images/002325/232555 e. pdf • Morgan, W. J. and I. White, ‘Looking Backward to See Ahead: The Faure and Delors Reports and the post-2015 development agenda’, (2013), Weiterbildung, Issue 4, 40 -43 (and further articles in this series). • Global policy agencies and visions for 21 st century lifelong education. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 34 (5) 2015. • ‘Rediscovering the Ubuntu paradigm in education’, International Review of Education, 62 (1) 2016.

Thank You-Diolch yn Fawr! • • • Professor W. J. Morgan Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods, Cardiff University Morgan. J 74@cardiff. ac. uk