“Since wars begin in the minds of men and women, it is in the minds of men and women that the defenses of peace must be constructed.”
A Vision for Creating a Better World
A vision of creating a better world through education began to occur with the creation of the United Nations and UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1945. Some of the greatest minds in the world took part in the first conversations and initiatives on a global basis.
World peace, eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue were wondrous aims set forth amidst a world scarred and still healing from two world wars, and for the first time awakening to surging needs of our planet which transcended the need of any one country. Education for each individual was seen as essential in both the development of each person and of society as a whole. In the seventy-five years that have passed, there has been much progress, and yet war, poverty, and many other issues remain. We are therefore left with a simple question: Why?
Why do these problems persist?
What didn’t work? What did work? And most importantly if we continue down the same path, where will be in the next 100 or even 50 years?
Before moving to a discussion of the future, let’s first look at what’s been done thus far to see what building blocks exist. It’s helpful to consider some of the major milestones, initiatives, and “game changers,” that have taken place in global education through UNESCO and other organizations leading the way in creating a better world through education for all.
I’ll use World War I as a starting point. This is not to say that there weren’t discussions and initiatives to create a better world before this. It’s only to say that this was the first time that much of the world had agreed to address problems together. The formation of the League of Nations founded in 1920 was a breakthrough for the world at large in that it ushered in an era of global cooperation which we still have today. In addition, and much less known is that it triggered the need for international schools such as the International School of Geneva (ECOLINT) which still is proudly “educating for a better world” since opening in 1924. This and others like it began to grow until the present day where there are over 8000 international schools serving millions of students.
Educating for a better world
Unfortunately, the massive wounds of WWI were not enough to stop a second World War in 1939. Thus, movement in global cooperation to create a better world took a major pause to save the world from complete demise. It wasn’t until after WWII with the creation of the UN and UNESCO that we see a major commitment from countries around the world to pursue a better world through education.
The UN, of course, took the place of the League of Nations along with many of its committees. One such committee, The International Committee of Intellectual Co-operation (CICI) was a predecessor of UNESCO. As the quote at the beginning of this blog points out, UNESCO was focused on war as the primary culprit of the world problems, and why not? With the state of the world just coming off a second world war in less than 50 years, it was critical to determine a way to avoid such a crisis again.
Those involved quickly recognized that much of the world was illiterate, in poverty, and largely at risk, and unless this was addressed, a better world for all would not be possible. UNESCO, therefore, embarked on the first major global initiative to address these issues. The Fundamental Education program was launched in 1946 stressing that the “aim of all education is to help men and women to live fuller and happier lives”.
While the Fundamental Education program did not ultimately achieve its objective, it did place education at the forefront as an essential tool for development, and this is still very much integrated in the agenda of the UN Development goals today. I would go further to say that it was one of the first initiatives where much of the world recognized that “we” as a global community needed to address these issues together. With the boldness of the UNESCO action with Fundamental Education, we might have what one could call the first, “we can create a better world” education initiative.
Unfortunately, it would be the last purely education initiative. With the world experiencing unprecedented economic growth, this now became the focus. In 1960, the UN ushered in its First Development Decade. Economics was at play, and consequently the economists had the greatest voice in the room. Organizations such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) founded in 1961, and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) founded in 1965 took precedence.
Education and man’s destiny
It was not until the seventies that the UN Secretary General tried to put education back in the forefront. As a result, “Learning to Be: The World of Education Today and Tomorrow” was published in 1972 by the International Commission on the Development of Education. Known as the Faure Report for its chairperson and former French prime minister Edgar Faure, it provided a look at education as it was in the early seventies and proposed a vision for future. Its preamble entitled “Education and Man’s Destiny,” is a clear indication of its intent and scope.
They saw education “for all those who want to make the world. . . a better place.” The Faure Report represented a “counter perspective” from to the development conversation dominant in the sixties. Their advocacy for learning that must be lifelong, and for a learning society were far reaching concepts at a time when we were in the early stages of learning about ourselves as a world community. The work is still credited today for catalyzing the concept of lifelong learning.
The next major effort by UNESCO to provide a vision for education was the Delor’s report published in 1996. The report called “Learning: The Treasure Within” was originated under the “Education for the Twenty-First Century” program. The historical context at the time had changed substantially with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. In addition, the west was being introduced to east with the opening of China. A more modern version of globalization was beginning to take place as technology drove faster communication and great mobility which led to a faster transference of new ideas and ultimately new products.
Learning to live together
The planet was beginning to “shrink” in areas never considered before. Hence, the Delors report focused on “learning to live together,” as the most important of its four pillars of learning along with “learning to know,” “learning to do” and “learning to be” which built off its predecessor the Faure report. Although criticized for their idealism, the concepts, and ideals behind the Faure and Delors reports still influence UNESCO and the UN today and are considered foundational works in regard to the role of education for a better world.
There have been three other major initiatives that have taken place in creating a better world through education. The first was the 1990 World Conference on Education for All in Jomtien, Thailand which brought together representatives from over 150 countries. The result was the adoption of the World Declaration on Education for All with a focus on universalizing basic education. This was followed ten years later at the dawn of the new millennium at the World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal with the adoption of the Dakar Framework for Action and a commitment to reach the goals of Education for All by 2015. A third meeting took place at the World Education Forum in 2015 held in Incheon, Korea resulting in the Incheon Declaration: Education 2030: Towards inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all.
“Building on the legacy of Jomtien (Thailand) and Dakar (Senegal) and reasserting that education is a fundamental human right and a public good, the Forum charted a new course that is tailored to our times of rapid change and that commits to ensuring all children, young people and adults are empowered with the knowledge and skills they need to live in dignity and contribute to their societies as responsible global citizens.” WORLD EDUCATION FORUM FINAL REPORT
Conclusion
From this short summary, it’s clear that there have been, and continue to be, significant efforts toward creating a better world for all through education, and yet we are left with a world rife with challenges that seem to grow with time, no matter how much is put into creating something better. No doubt we live in a complex world with competing needs and opinions about what is needed. Even amongst those organization whose sole purpose is to improve the world for all, there are differences in priorities, methodologies, and approaches. This will not stop, nor should it because it has value in that it provides the needed vetting of the best way forward. One can look back at the history of these efforts and ask why we haven’t progressed further, or one can look back at the journey and applaud how far we have come, and how much we have overcome in the process.
An optimist’s view? Perhaps, but clearly there have been many before me who believed that something better was possible, something ideal, something even utopian. In another post, Envisioning a Better World, I discuss the concept of utopia, how it began, how it has evolved, and the important role it can play as we pursue a better world for all.