9 ENSURE INCLUSIVE AND EQUITABLE QUALITY EDUCATION AND PROMOTE LIFELONG LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL
In many parts of the world, women, people with disabilities, Indigenous People and victims of conflict do not have access to quality education. This goal aims to ensure everyone has access to basic education so we can understand the world around us, critically reflect on what we see, do and hear and make informed choices about our health and well-being. This goal also aims to improve school facilities, increase the number of training and vocational opportunities for people and increase the number of trained teachers available to provide a safe and positive learning environment.
Learning Objectives
- Learners will understand the role of education and lifelong learning (formal and informal) as integral to sustainable development.
- Learners will understand the value of education as a public good, fundamental human right, and also as a basis for empowerment.
- Learners will understand the role of education to help create a more sustainable, equitable and peaceful world.
- Learners will be able to raise awareness of the importance of quality education for all and find ways to motivate others to act on this issue.
- Learners will be able to understand, identify and promote gender equality in education.
Essential Questions
Media (Identification of Value/Biases):
Handout: Identification of Values/Biases in Media
https://fair.org/take-action-now/media-activism-kit/how-to-detect-bias-in-news-media/
What are the big issues being reported in your community about education?
Environment
How can we turn education about the environment into action?
Poverty, wealth and power
How is access to education related to poverty?
Indigenous Peoples
What are the barriers and opportunities for Indigenous Peoples in education?
Oppression and genocide
How do conflict and oppression impact education?
Health and biotechnology
What can education do for health promotion?
Gender politics
How is education a gendered issue?
Social justice and human rights
How are social justice opportunities and human rights impacted by education?
Peace and conflict
What is peace and global citizenship education about?
Overview of The Goal
Why is quality education important?
Everyone deserves the right to a quality education, with access to trained teachers, learning resources and opportunities beyond basic literacy and numeracy skills.
When we learn about the world around us and our place in it, we can create a world where everyone is equal.
But while more students have access to school than ever before, the quality of the education varies widely across the world – and sometimes even across a community.
Education enables upward socioeconomic mobility and is a key to escaping poverty. Over the past decade, major progress was made towards increasing access to education and school enrollment rates at all levels, particularly for girls. Nevertheless, about 260 million children were still out of school in 2018 — nearly one fifth of the global population in that age group. And more than half of all children and adolescents worldwide are not meeting minimum proficiency standards in reading and mathematics.
In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe, a majority of countries announced the temporary closure of schools, impacting more than 91 per cent of students worldwide. By April 2020, close to 1.6 billion children and youth were out of school. And nearly 369 million children who rely on school meals needed to look to other sources for daily nutrition.
Never before have so many children been out of school at the same time, disrupting learning and upending lives, especially the most vulnerable and marginalized. The global pandemic has far-reaching consequences that may jeopardize hard won gains made in improving global education.
Website: Targets for this Global Goal
https://www.globalgoals.org/4-quality-education
Learning Activities
Article: Let’s Talk About Race (NEA Today magazine, October 2019) http://www.nea.org/home/75545.htm
Website for Research: Resources from the United Nations on Education
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/education/
Website for Research: 17 ways education influences the new 17 global goals
Real progress on the global goals will be elusive unless all children receive a quality education.
https://www.globalpartnership.org/blog/17-ways-education-influences-new-17-global-goals
Website for Research: Schools around the world – in pictures
In the run-up to UN World Teachers’ Day on 5 October, Reuters photographers have documented schools around the world. Those featured include an education center without books and electricity in Vietnam, and an elite institution formerly attended by Winston Churchill and Benedict Cumberbatch.
Website Blog: Who is shaping girls’ education globally?
By Christina Kwauk and Amanda BragaTuesday, March 7, 2017
EDUCATION PLUS DEVELOPMENT
International Women’s Day emerged in the early 20th century to unite women’s movements and global issues. At that time, it often centered on voting and labor rights in North America and Europe; but as greater awareness about the global state of women’s issues developed, the day marked a moment for the United Nations to rally behind women and girls and to celebrate their achievements. For the girls’ education community, it means taking stock of progress made and setting an agenda for the years to come.
Website for Research: LEARNING to Realize Education’s Promise (World Development Report)
Kurt Niedermeier, Niedermeier Design, Seattle, Washington.
The World Development Report 2018 (WDR 2018)—LEARNING to Realize Education’s Promise—is the first ever devoted entirely to education. And the timing is excellent: education has long been critical to human welfare, but it is even more so in a time of rapid economic and social change. The best way to equip children and youth for the future is to place their learning at the center. The 2018 WDR explores four main themes: 1) education’s promise; 2) the need to shine a light on learning; 3) how to make schools work for learners; and 4) how to make systems work for learning.
https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/wdr2018
Website for Research: International Youth Day is a Chance to Push for Children’s Education
BY MUZOON ALMELLEHAN AUGUST 12, 2017
In this International Youth Day op-ed, UNICEF’S youngest goodwill ambassador, 19-year-old Muzoon Almellehan, explains current situations faced of the world’s most vulnerable young people.
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/international-youth-day-is-a-chance-to-push-for-childrens-education
Website for Research: Stories of Agents of Change
Check out even more stories below of young people taking action to address issues of education in their communities and around the world:
11-year old girl starts non-profit delivering school supplies to other kids in need
Two boys distribute thousands of gently used books to schools, libraries, hospitals
A Pakistani brother and sister bring education to children unable to attend school
UNICEF appoints 19-year-old education activist and Syrian refugee as Goodwill Ambassador
Hundreds of children march for right to education around the world
15-year-old builds more opportunities for girls and people of color to get interested in science
Videos
Ted Talks on Education
This is a wonderful playlist of Ted Talk of experts in global education. Worth a listen!
https://www.ted.com/playlists/124/ken_robinson_10_talks_on_educ
Why Education Matters to Health: Exploring the Causes
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
In one disadvantaged Richmond community, educational opportunities are a lifeline for community residents to better health, yet the relationship between education and health is often complex.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3rsdBBFAN8
Check out the videos below to consider what education means to different people all over the world. What lengths do people go to in order to claim their right to an education? Should education be a universally guaranteed human right?
Typhoon Damaged School Reopens
Syrian Refugee Teacher Opens Camp School
Malala Yousafzai on the Power of Education
Further Research and Activities
Assessment and Reflection
Reflection Journal
Quote: “Everyone who remembers his own education remembers teachers, not methods and techniques. The teacher is the heart of the educational system.” Sidney Hook
- Describe the learning activities (articles, videos, etc.) and your experience – What did you do/hear/see?
- Interpret and evaluate the events from your perspective – What do I think about it now? How does it relate to other things that I know?
- Explain your experience; reveal your new insights, connections with other learning, your hypotheses, and your conclusions.
- Reflect on how this information will be useful to you – What questions do I have? Have I changed how I think about the situation? Where do I go from here?
- What did you particularly value and why?
- Is there anything you would do in the next unit? What have you learned? What will you do with these lessons?
Renewable Assignment Options
Host a documentary screening. Find films that focus on quality education nationally or internationally. Invite classmates, colleagues and community members to join in on a creative learning experience.
Start an awareness campaign. Explore the Malala Fund website for useful facts and figures. Use these to start an awareness campaign or initiative that focuses on educating others on the lack of quality education around the world.
Work to achieve quality education in your own community. Focus on accessible supplies, accessible buildings and structures, sports equipment and educational opportunities for students.
Help others understand how a lack of quality education affects everyone. Design a campaign to give people the opportunity to explore their right to education and learn about others around the world who are denied this right.
“What to Read?” by cogdogblog is licensed under CC BY 2.0
SET UP A LITTLE FREE LIBRARY Research tells us that kids who grow up in houses with lots of books are more likely to succeed academically; but many families struggle to purchase books, and libraries aren’t always accessible. Little Free Libraries have been popping up in communities all over the world to give communities a low-cost way to share books and grow a love of reading. Learn more about Little Free Libraries here, including advice for educators who want to build one as a class project.
Ask students to identify a particular education policy that is impacting their lives. Then challenge students to reach out to a key decision maker on that policy and speak their mind. Support them in crafting arguments and supporting claims with evidence.
