Rethinking Schooling for the 21st Century

human rights and attitudes, values and dispositions aligned with ESD/GCED
such as justice, tolerance and empathy are frequently referenced in curricular
documents analysed for this study (see Appendix II-12). However, as is often the
case throughout the region, the education system in the Philippines is burdened
by a plethora of diverse, sometimes contradictory aims. Under Article XIII, Sec.
17 and 18 of the 1987 Constitution, the Commission on Human Rights was created
that, besides endorsing human rights education, fosters patriotism, nationalism
and appreciation of national heroes, while also encouraging critical and creative
thinking, broadening scientific and technological knowledge, and promoting
vocational efficiency (Article XIV, Sec. 3, No. 2, Philippines, 1987). The education
system places a strong emphasis on shaping Filipinos into skilled, competitive
employees and entrepreneurs. The coding data show that the K to 12 curricula,
based on the 2011 Basic Education Program, heavily emphasises the fostering of
cognitive skills (critical and systemic thinking), problem solving and ‘life skills’
(see Appendix II-11; Appendix II-13), in pursuit of the objective of cultivating
‘holistically developed Filipinos with 21 st century skills’. But, once again, tensions
between this conventional (and conventionally instrumentalist) emphasis on the
role of schooling in producing human capital and the promotion of economic or
environmental sustainability go unacknowledged.
In Thailand, the role of education in meeting the economic needs of the state is
clearly manifested in both the 1999 National Education Act (NEA) and the 2008
Basic Education Core Curriculum, which aim to produce the ideal Thai worker of
the future. The Curriculum emphasises five development-related competencies,
namely, communication, critical thinking, problem solving, technological
application, and life skills (Basic Education Core Curriculum, 2008, p. 5). This
list of skills, and the language in which they are formulated, closely echoes
Singapore’s agenda for nurturing ‘21 st Century Competencies’, where critical
and inventive thinking, communication, collaboration and information skills are
portrayed as necessary for survival in the ‘globalised world we live in’. 50
A strongly statist and instrumentalist orientation is also manifested in curricular
references to the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP), adopted in Thailand
following the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. This is despite the fact that the aims
of the SEP itself — highlighting principles of moderation, self-immunity and risk
management (Prasopchoke, 2010) — would seem to be closely aligned with SDG
Target 4.7. Creating a knowledge-based economy features among its numerous
goals, which also include building a just society, promoting lifelong learning,
balancing food and energy security, strengthening economic and security
cooperation across the region, and fostering environmental sustainability.
In a manner similar to Bhutan’s efforts to promote Gross National Happiness
(GNH) internationally, Thailand puts emphasis on SEP in official documents and
tries to position itself as a leader in taking the transformative steps needed
to shift the world onto a more sustainable and resilient path. However, while
50 See https://www.moe.gov.sg/education/education-system/21st-century-competencies.
Rethinking Schooling for the 21 st Century:
The State of Education for Peace, Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship in Asia
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