What does UNESCO say about education?
Education transforms lives and is at the heart of UNESCO's mission to build peace , eradicate poverty
and drive sustainable development
In 1993 UNESCO set up an independent international commission on education for 21st century
education, chaired by Jacques Delors
Report of the UNESCO on 21st Century Education
UNESCO has produced several reports on 21st
-century education, with a focus on the changing
landscape of education in the digital age and the importance of preparing learners for the future.
One notable report is the “Education for All Global Monitoring Report,” which provides a
comprehensive overview of progress towards the goal of universal access to education. This report
focuses on the importance of quality education in the 21st century and the need to ensure that all
learners have access to the knowledge and skills they need to participate in the digital economy
and to address the complex challenges of the future.
Another report is the “UNESCO Global Report on the Future of Education and Skills,” which was
released in 2021. This report explores the future of education and skills development in the context
of rapidly advancing technology and the changing nature of work. It provides insights into the
skills that will be most in demand in the coming years and the implications for education and
training systems.
Both of these reports, along with others produced by UNESCO, provide valuable insights and
recommendations for education stakeholders, including policy-makers, educators, and learners, on
how to prepare for the future and ensure that all individuals have the knowledge and skills they
need to succeed in the 21st century.
UNESCO report rethinks education for the 21st Century
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has been actively
promoting the rethinking of education in the 21st century. This is due to the rapidly changing
technological and societal landscape, which has resulted in a need for new competencies and skills
to prepare individuals for the future.
UNESCO's report on "Education in the 21st Century" highlights the importance of developing
critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration skills, as well as a strong ethical
foundation. In addition to academic knowledge, it emphasizes the need for education that promotes
intercultural understanding, respect for diversity, and responsible citizenship.
The report also emphasizes the need for education systems to be inclusive and equitable, with a
focus on providing quality education for all individuals, regardless of their background or
socioeconomic status. This includes a strong emphasis on the role of technology in education, with
the use of innovative and interactive learning methods that can support the development of
21stcentury skills.
Overall, UNESCO's report on education in the 21st century calls for a transformative and inclusive
approach to education that prioritizes the development of the whole person, rather than just
academic knowledge.
From the mid-1990s perspective of a world seen as awash in change and complexity, a
UNESCO commission under the leadership of Jacques Delors proposed four pillars that
education could rest upon.
To “simultaneously provide maps of a world in constant turmoil and a compass that will enable
people to find their way in it”, the Delors commission proposed learning to know, learning to do,
learning to live together, and learning to be as four fundamental types of learning. Each deserved
equal attention. And together they were to form a whole that would guide education across the
human lifespan.
Reworking each of these pillars in relation to building capacity for commoning actions and
strengthening the common good offers a compass and map well suited for the collective challenges
of our present historical juncture.
Learning to study, inquire and co-construct together
Within a commons framing, acquiring knowledge needs to be recast as not simply enabling
individuals, but rather as connecting individuals to one another and interegenerationally to the
common knowledge resources of humanity. A commoning paradigm requires attention to the
collective ways knowledge is accessed, used, and created. The knowledge pillar supporting
education would then need to be oriented towards learning to study, inquire and co-construct
together. This revision would highlight the social dimensions of learning, as well as the diverse and
networked dimensions of knowledge. Reworking the “learning to know” pillar in this way would
point educators towards constructivist pedagogical approaches and towards viewing their students
as learning communities. It would highlight the knowledge commons as an intergenerational
resource and conversation that has been built and nurtured across millennia.
Learning to collectively mobilize
The Delors Commission’s discussion of “learning to do” almost exclusively narrowed to the issue of
putting learning into practice in the workplace. A commons framing would recast this in terms of
skills and competencies that enable collective action. The collaboration capability thus foregrounded
would be valuable in the world of work and far beyond. The doing pillar that supports education
would need to be oriented to learning to collectively mobilize. Focusing educational efforts on
empowering learners to take action together surfaces the importance of deliberation, cross-cultural
communication and coalition building.
Learning to live in a common world
Setting “learning to live together“ as a key pillar puts education on the right track. As the COVID
disruptions have unfolded, humanity has been reminded just how closely we are linked to one
another biologically, politically, and socially. (Though at times this last has painfully manifested
through its absence and deferral.) While “together” is a robust concept, we cannot let it only mean
peaceful “living with others” co-existence. Tolerating and respecting the rights of others and the
ways of being of others is a first step. But, the challenge for humans living on planet earth in 2021 is
to make healthy, sustainable ways of co-living: with one another and with the planet. Orienting this
pillar towards learning to live in a common world elevates the importance of education that engages
with our common humanity and with the natural world of which we are a part. This change enables
us to reshape common living as intertwined and a fundamentally shared experience.
Learning to attend and care
When the Delors Commission presented “learning to be”, it placed great emphasis on the
development of one’s personality and being able to act with independence, judgment and personal
responsibility. The role of education in supporting people in freedom of thought, critical thinking,
and the realization of their own self-chosen purposes is not to be overlooked. At the same time, we
have seen the insidious dangers of acquisitive individualism and diminished empathy that appear
when autonomy comes entirely at the expense of an understanding of relationality. Applying a
commons framing to the pillar of education that emphasizes the development of the complete
person, we would do well to think in terms of learning to attend and care. This would entail
understanding ourselves as persons who are simultaneously capable and vulnerable. It would force
us to reflect on how we affect and are affected by others and the world. It would require that
educators focus their work on the rights and responsibilities that come into play in our relationships
and interdependencies. A commoning paradigm would take problems of caring-about, caring-for,
care-giving and care-receiving as inextricably social and moral questions that call for individuals to
take action together and share responsibility. Considering this one of the fundamental pillars of
education would put our relationships with one another and with a more-than-human world at the
center of educational practice.
This piece has suggested that core educational foundations can be usefully reworked to value and
empower individuals as they also leverage mutuality, cooperation and collective action for a better
world. The Delors four pillars can be updated to better support educators who are working to design
meaningful learning experiences. Using a commons framework to foreground what we share
together, what we do together, and what we build together helps us reimagine the skills and
competencies most needed in the present for the futures we want to create.
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