In a world facing enormous environmental and social challenges, what does it mean to be “educated”, and what measures will we use to gauge this?
This was the question Executive Director Susan Santone posed to an international group of educators at the recent Institute for Global Education Diplomacy held Washington, DC. The Institute, sponsored by the Association for Childhood Education International, is a collaborative learning event focused on the emerging field of education diplomacy–the “cross-disciplinary, transnational sharing of theories, ideas, and concepts that advance education.” The three-day event brought together educators from every continent to share their expertise.
Santone’s session challenged participants to compare two views of education: one defined by test scores, and another that encompasses a child’s academic, social, emotional and physical development.
Participants then examined indicators of success in each paradigm and how this drives educational policies. The consensus? Test-driven curriculum is an international problem, and educators want to see broader measures of success that emphasize global readiness, health, and emotional wellbeing. The challenge ahead is to get policymakers to listen.
I would like to propose a third “view of education” — one predicated on the 21st century reality that our students’ very survival is threatened by the climate change emergency, yet we still educate as though their future is simply going to be a slightly more technologically exciting version of the present.
No amount of testing or teaching for reading/writing/math is preparing students for a future of food and water shortages or helping them build resilience for a climate-racked and carbon-constrained world. Students of all ages and at all levels should be learning how to build soil, grow food, collect rainwater and generate energy.
In learning these things, students will naturally be cutting their carbon footprints (global readiness?), improving their health and emotional well-being, and — bonus! — improving their test scores (according to research), should we feel the arguable need to carry on testing as the Earth burns.
Thanks so much for your comment. We couldn’t agree more about the need for the skills you mention. I hope you see from our website that we share the value of sustainability and building resilience. Our focus is integrating sustainability into the academic curriculum, and we actively forge partnerships with organizations that specialize in gardening, permaculture, etc.
I also like your phrase “a slightly more technologically exciting version of the present.” This echoes the idea in a past blog post, “What do we mean by innovation?” I hope you’ll check it out.
Thanks again for your comment. We hope to hear from you again soon!