Rethinking Schooling for the 21st Century

encompassing consciousness of a common humanity that transcends national or
ethnic divisions.
Primary and junior secondary schooling are typically tasked with legitimating
and reinforcing commitment to the pursuit of national prosperity and power.
UNESCO’s efforts to promote humanistic values and consciousness of a global
community constitute an attempt not to displace, but to supplement conventional
patriotism. Nurturing the capacity and willingness to criticise particular national
policies is not the same as disowning commitment to the nation itself, as the
Indian writer-activist Arundhati Roy once appeared to do when declaring herself
‘a mobile republic’ (Vickers and Kumar, 2015, p. 23). For the vast majority of
people across Asia (and beyond) — if not for wealthy and privileged super-elites
— the nation-state remains unquestionably the most important guarantor of
security and basic entitlements, as well as a crucial focus of collective identity.
If sustainable development and global citizenship are to be pursued through
schooling, this needs to be done in a manner that respectfully accommodates
the nation-building agenda specific to each country. Especially where the state
is relatively new or a sense of national insecurity prevails, the process of nationbuilding
may remain fraught and complex — potentially complicating the task of
implementing SDG Target 4.7.
Why Are Different School Subjects Relevant for SDG 4.7?
In discussing the curricular treatment of SDG 4.7, it has become customary to
treat ESD and GCED as relevant only to subjects ‘widely considered a part of
social studies, including civics and citizenship education, moral education,
history and geography’ (UNESCO, 2016a, p. 32). However, as already noted, to
the extent that it requires a reconceptualisation of the overall aims of schooling,
rather than just minor technical adjustments, education for peace, sustainable
development and global citizenship requires a thorough curricular overhaul. This
section discusses what this entails for some of the key school subjects.
Citizenship Education and GCED
GCED is sometimes perceived as a form of civics for the 21 st century, or associated
with ‘global civics’ (Altinay, 2011) or ‘global competencies’ (OECD, 2016a). But
caution is required in making this association, in particular given the colonial
baggage of the term ‘civics,’ especially South and parts of Southeast Asia. There,
civics was designed by colonial officials to nurture grateful, pliable and obedient
recipients of the state’s benevolence (Kumar, 2015). The idea of an active and
reflective citizen who engages with the state under a participatory model of
democracy was alien to the spirit of civic education under colonial conditions. At
the same time, in countries that escaped formal colonial rule or were ruled under
Communist auspices, the imperative of securing obedience to state authority
also tended strongly to shape the design and content of civics or equivalent
subjects (e.g. ‘Politics’).
Rethinking Schooling for the 21 st Century:
The State of Education for Peace, Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship in Asia
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