Rethinking Schooling for the 21st Century

Making sense of the quantitative results required an interpretive framework
sufficiently flexible to holistically capture the state of education in relation to
peace, sustainable development and global citizenship — the task addressed in
Part II of this report. Interpreting the quantitative data involved drawing on a
wide range of existing research — ethnographic, sociological and historical — in
education and related fields. The framework identified three kinds of intertwined
challenges to efforts to promote peace, sustainability and global citizenship
through education: (1) challenges of instrumentalism and ethics; (2) challenges
of nationalism and identities; and (3) challenges of competitiveness and
regimentation. The second part of the report contextualises the results of the
coding exercise and discusses regional trends in light of these challenges.
Finally, the report concludes with considerations for the future. It suggests
future actions by Member States and UNESCO to harness the potential of SDG
4.7 and set the direction of reform for education systems globally.
UNDERSTANDING THE CHALLENGE OF
EDUCATIONAL CHANGE
Discussions of educational reform often involve little or no reflection on the
nature and purpose of schooling, either as a pedagogical or social institution.
National and international documents typically take for granted education’s
importance for progress towards social, cultural and economic goals. It has been
viewed by modernising elites primarily as a tool for disciplining citizens and
optimising their ‘human capital’. But education in its fullest sense depends on
the realisation of a conception of teaching as a relational activity, rather than
simply as a transmission belt for the inculcation of pre-packaged knowledge and
skills.
We expect schooling to play a crucial role in shaping future generations —
as citizens, workers and (hopefully) fulfilled human beings. In this respect,
transmitting received concepts or notions constitutes, or should constitute, only
a first step. At the most basic level, successful transmission itself depends on the
articulation of key ideas in the relevant vernacular. In the case of concepts such
as ‘sustainable development’ and ‘global citizenship’, this is no straightforward
task. Like many important ideas floated as embodiments of global consensus
since the mid-20th century, these still await satisfactory translation into major
national or regional languages. The engagement of teachers and students with
such ideas depends on how readily they are expressed and comprehended in the
language of the classroom. This cannot be brought about simply by central diktat,
but requires a more complex and demanding process of debate, negotiation and
persuasion involving teachers and the broader public.
Rethinking Schooling for the 21 st Century:
The State of Education for Peace, Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship in Asia
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