{"id":7027,"date":"2017-09-04T05:06:42","date_gmt":"2017-09-04T05:06:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/?p=7027"},"modified":"2017-09-04T05:06:42","modified_gmt":"2017-09-04T05:06:42","slug":"mentioned-in-despatches-by-unesco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/2017\/09\/04\/mentioned-in-despatches-by-unesco\/","title":{"rendered":"Mentioned in despatches by UNESCO"},"content":{"rendered":"

I see that Paul Vare and I have been\u00a0mentioned \u201cin despatches\u201d [*] by UNESCO in its SDG Learning Objectives<\/em><\/a>. \u00a0It is, of course, always nice to have your work noticed.<\/p>\n

The report begins:<\/p>\n

\"Education is UNESCO\u2019s top priority because\u00a0it is a basic human right and the foundation on which to build peace and drive sustainable development. UNESCO is the United Nations\u2019 specialized agency for education and the Education Sector provides global and regional leadership in education, strengthens national education systems and responds\u00a0to contemporary global challenges through education with a special focus on gender equality and Africa.<\/p>\n

UNESCO, as the United Nations\u2019 specialised\u00a0agency for education, is entrusted to lead and coordinate the Education 2030 Agenda, which is part of a global movement to eradicate poverty through 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Education, essential to achieve all of these goals, has its own dedicated Goal 4, which aims to \u201censure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.\u201d The Education 2030 Framework for Action provides guidance for the implementation of this ambitious goal and commitments.\"<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In this, I particularly noted: \"Education, [is] essential to achieve all of these goals, ...\". \u00a0This is obviously the case, particularly in the sense of \"inclusive and equitable quality education [to] promote lifelong learning opportunities for all\" (see above). \u00a0However, as this sort of education has been complicit in getting us into the mess we're in (as others have argued many times before), this isn't enough. \u00a0Perhaps the Foreword would acknowledge this, I wondered. \u00a0Here it is, written by Qian Tang, Assistant Director-General for Education:<\/p>\n

UNESCO has been promoting Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) since 1992. \u00a0It led the UN Decade for ESD from\u00a02005 to 2014 and is now spearheading its follow-up, the Global Action Programme (GAP) on ESD.<\/p>\n

The momentum for ESD has never been stronger. \u00a0Global issues \u2013 such as climate change \u2013 urgently require a shift in our\u00a0lifestyles and a transformation of the way we think and act. \u00a0To achieve this change, we need new skills, values and attitudes\u00a0that lead to more sustainable societies.<\/p>\n

Education systems must respond to this pressing need by defining relevant learning objectives and learning contents,\u00a0introducing pedagogies that empower learners, and urging their institutions to include sustainability principles in their\u00a0management structures.<\/p>\n

The new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development clearly reflects this vision of the importance of an appropriate educational\u00a0response. \u00a0 Education is explicitly formulated as a stand-alone goal \u2013 Sustainable Development Goal 4. \u00a0Numerous education related\u00a0targets and indicators are also contained within other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).<\/p>\n

Education is both a goal in itself and a means for attaining all the other SDGs. It is not only an integral part of sustainable\u00a0development, but also a key enabler for it. \u00a0That is why education represents an essential strategy in the pursuit of the SDGs.<\/p>\n

This publication is designed as a guide for education professionals on the use of ESD in learning for the SDGs, and\u00a0consequently to contribute to achieving the SDGs. \u00a0The guide identifies indicative learning objectives and suggests topics\u00a0and learning activities for each SDG. \u00a0It also presents implementation methods at different levels, from course design to\u00a0national strategies.<\/p>\n

The guide does not aim to be prescriptive in any way, but to provide guidance and suggestions that educators can select and\u00a0adapt to fit concrete learning contexts.<\/p>\n

I am confident that this guide will help to develop sustainability competencies for all learners and empower everyone to\u00a0contribute to achieving our ambitious and crucial global agenda.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Well, up to a point. \u00a0The first thing to note is that this is all about ESD which wasn't mentioned in what went before. \u00a0There, it was 'education' which was stressed. \u00a0But then, the report is all about ESD, and the title perhaps ought (more honestly) to have been ESD learning objectives. <\/em>\u00a0It's understandable, of course, that UNESCO has hitched its broken-down ESD wagon to the more resilient and sprightly SDG horse. \u00a0However, whether anyone will take any notice as it trundles its way through the streets is a moot point.<\/p>\n

UNESCO did at least resist writing \"The momentum of<\/em> ESD has never been stronger\". \u00a0In that, it knows the truth of the matter. \u00a0How bitterly it must regret all the waste of time and effort over 15 years when it could have been focusing, from 2003, on reforming education itself as a part of Education For All [EFA]. \u00a0Whatever happened to that idea?<\/p>\n

More later, no doubt, on those tedious learning objectives themselves.<\/p>\n

.............................<\/p>\n

[*] \u00a0\u00a0Vare, P. and Scott, W., 2007. Learning for a Change: Exploring the\u00a0Relationship between Education and Sustainable Development. \u00a0Journal of Education for Sustainable Development. 1(2), 191\u2013 198.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I see that Paul Vare and I have been\u00a0mentioned \u201cin despatches\u201d [*] by UNESCO in its SDG Learning Objectives. \u00a0It is, of course, always nice to have your work noticed. The report begins: \"Education is UNESCO\u2019s top priority because\u00a0it is...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":237,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comment","category-new-publications"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/237"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7027\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}