Social Literacy

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)2030 and the role of teaching and learning in the 21st century

Part 1

Abstract

Education demand changes and has changed much, but schools have yet to revise their pedagogy to reflect current trends and technologies. 21st-century education is not only limited to boosting economic growth by enhancing skills and opening up opportunities for sustainable livelihoods but also to enable people to lead a life of dignity (SDG-India). This article wants to acknowledge the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030, especially Goal 4, which ensures quality education for all and guaranteeing effective learning outcomes, and the RTI 2009, Chapter III (9)(h) ensures good quality elementary education conforming to the standards and norms specified.  By considering these two independent variables this paper emphasizes and justifies the role of educators and their competence or knowledge in specified areas (literacy) necessary for building a new generation for the 21st Century to reflect current trends and technologies. 21st-century education is not only limited to boosting economic growth by enhancing skills and opening up opportunities for sustainable livelihoods but also to enable people to lead a life of dignity (SDG-India). This article wants to acknowledge the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030, especially Goal 4, which ensures quality education for all and guaranteeing effective learning outcomes, and the RTI 2009, Chapter III (9)(h) ensures good quality elementary education conforming to the standards and norms specified.  By considering these two independent variables this paper emphasizes and justifies the role of educators and their competence or knowledge in specified areas (literacy) necessary for building a new generation for the 21st Century.

Introduction

First, we want to know that education opens the door to sustainable development. Quality education necessarily ensures an active engagement of learners with learning typically leads to better learning outcomes such as retention, understanding, and active use of knowledge. (Perkins, D. 2006). It has enabled individuals to become academicians, entrepreneurs, businessmen, and government leaders (cisco). However, despite numerous efforts to improve educational standards, school systems are struggling to meet the demands of 21st-century learners and employers.

Knowledge is available at the click of a mouse, but learning to apply it requires a teacher who can instruct, facilitate, guide, and support as needed. In their detailed study on how people learn, Bransford et al. explain that people construct new knowledge and understandings based on what they already know and believe. In practice, this means that teachers must know a greater range of teaching styles required to ensure that each and every child receives the attention and support needed to acquire deeper levels of knowledge and understanding, and develop a broader array of skills. Great teaching is the prerequisite for better outcomes in the long run.

 The Partnership for 21st-century skills (2000) identified six key elements for fostering 21st-century learning: a) emphasize core subjects, b) emphasize learning skills, c) use 21st-century tools to develop learning skills, d) teach and learn in a 21st-century context, e) teach and learn 21st-century content, and f) use 21st-century assessments that measure 21st-century skills.

This article defines the core subjects and themes that frame 21st-century teachers’ literacy requirements for the desired learning outcome. Within 21st-century learning, the framework includes learning traditional school subjects and contemporary content themes in combination with the interdisciplinary 21st-century themes. The core subjects and themes that frame 21st-century learning, include traditional core subjects while emphasizing; 1.civic literacy, 2. global literacy, 3. financial literacy, 4. health literacy, 5. environmental literacy, and 6.visual literacy.

Chapter 1 Civic Literacy

It is almost universally accepted that citizens need basic knowledge and skills to effectively participate and lead democratic societies. It is the commitment of the educational institutions to developing students’ knowledge, skills, and attitude that they need to work effectively in a diverse society to create more just and equitable workplaces, communities, and social institutions.

NCF 2005,  (Chapter 1 page 7.), “ Citizenship in a democracy involves many intellectual, social and moral qualities…a democratic citizen should have the understanding and the intellectual integrity to sift truth from falsehood, facts from propaganda and to reject the dangerous appeal of fanaticism and prejudice … should neither reject the old because it is old nor accept the new because it is new, but dispassionately examine both and courageously reject what arrests the forces of justice and progress…..

Sustainable Development Goal 2030 (16.3) Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels ad ensure equal access to justice for all, (16.7) Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory, and representative decision making at all levels, and (16.8) Broaden and strengthen the participation of developing countries in the institutions of global governance.

The most important aspect of the civic literacy dimension is the development of the academic program with support from teachers who are able to create democratic cultures in the classroom; they have the skills and understanding needed to construct frameworks in which children, from an early age, are motivated to take an active part in democratic activities in schools and consequently in the wider society.

Scholars of the 21st century opined, ‘Successful and lasting democracies are dependent on informed, engaged, and active citizenry. The knowledge and skills to participate effectively in civic life through knowing how to stay informed, understanding governmental processes, and knowing how to exercise the rights and obligations of citizenship at local, state, national, and global levels. Individuals also have an understanding of the local and global implications of civic decisions (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2009). While schools were historically intended as a means for students to receive civic education it is necessary to support the democracy of our country.

General Pedagogy, Interdisciplinary instruction maximizes critical thinking for students and builds instructional bridges between teachers. Civics and current events lessons increase this success. While the formal curriculum consists of the courses, lessons, and learning activities students participate in, as well as the knowledge and skills educators intentionally teach to students, the ‘hidden curriculum’ and ‘pedagogy’ consists of the unspoken or implicit academic, social, and cultural messages that are communicated to students while they are in school.

Civic literacy in Math

There is enormous potential to integrate civics/politics/ethics into the study of mathematics as a tool to leverage student interest, engagement, and achievement. Without making meaning and sense of mathematics, students cannot extrapolate or transfer their knowledge to new domains that prepare students for full participation in society (PISA).

For example, addition and subtraction can help to create a personal budget and trigonometry can help to determine the amount of material needed to complete a home improvement project. Understanding primary mathematical concepts increase self-sufficiency. Virtually every major public issue—from health care to social security, from international economics to welfare reform—depends on data, projections, inferences, and the kind of systematic thinking that is at the heart of mathematics.

The following areas seem ripe for interdisciplinary work:  Elections: The election season provides excellent opportunities to engage in statistical work, predictive modeling, and historical vote returns, and, of course, the maneuvering involved with polling and numbers tampering.

Discussion of Current Events Issues should incorporate discussion of current local, national, and international issues and events, esp. those important like GST calculation/ role of the common man in the economic growth of the country of / ho do bank rate directly affect the living condition of the people, etc., 

Civic literacy in Science.

Service-Learning: Schools should design and implement programs that provide students with the opportunities to link service-learning to the formal curriculum and classroom instruction. Science teachers are role models when it comes to infusing service-learning into academic work. Global Warming – International pollution solutions, Environmental ethics, etc. Students learn key principles in water quality and conservation while conducting field research outdoors and creating place-based projects. We can engage students as citizen scientists. A civic scientific literacy approach also provides opportunities for instructors to update and refresh topics that they can bring to the classroom. One appeal of the civic literacy approach is that it encourages students to contemplate the role that science plays in their everyday lives and to apply and evaluate the relevance of science to public policy and concerns. 

This is the case for learning in any scientific discipline, for example, in biology, people who understand the basics of the carbon cycle will be better equipped to evaluate policy and debate about global warming, and students who understand the basic, yet fundamental concepts of evolution can better appreciate and contribute to issues such as species conservation.

When the civic literate teacher engaging the subject's sex/gender differences, many important civic issues and related acts will confirm what they already believed about behavior and cognitive differences between male and female were misunderstanding. Students who learn about this can therefore be better equipped to make reasoned and mindful personal, occupational, and political decisions.

Studies points, high-quality, school-based civic learning fosters civic knowledge, skills, and attitudes; promote civic equality; builds 21st-century skills; improves school climate, and lowers school drop-out rates.

Studies points, high-quality, school-based civic learning fosters civic knowledge, skills, and attitudes; promote civic equality; builds 21st-century skills; improves school climate, and lowers school drop-out rates.

Extracurricular Activities:

Schools should offer opportunities for young people to get involved in their schools or communities outside of the classroom. Simulations of Democratic Processes: Schools should encourage students to participate in simulations of democratic processes and procedures.

Proper implementation of service-learning helps the teacher to be multidisciplinary and be able to address all the 5 Ps of SDG 2030 like; People, planet, prosperity, partnership, and peace.

Theme-based experienced learning (TEL).

Learning involves transactions between the person and the “real-world” environment and not limited to books, teachers, and the classroom. Stimulus-response theories of learning describe relationships between environmental stimuli and responses of the organism. Environment shapes the behavior of an organism and the behavior of an organism shape the environment. Here learning is the result of the transaction between social knowledge and personal knowledge. Theme-based Experienced Learning (TEL) begins with a student’s inquiry into a problem that cannot be answered with a simple yes/no or true/false; students must discuss, defend, and debate issues related to the theme. Designing thematic instruction around essential questions requires that students learn both contents and develop critical analysis skills. The student then develops a plan to address the problem, tests their plan against reality, and then applies what they’ve learned to create a solution. The experiential component of this model is the application of knowledge. Effective interdisciplinary thematic instructions demand high-order thinking from both teacher and student often requires additional research and preparation, (action research). Theme-based experienced Learning focuses creation of inquiry, creation of new knowledge since each act of understanding is the result of a process of continuous construction and invention through the interaction process of assimilation and accommodation. What students learned in the way of TEL becomes an instrument of understanding and dealing effectively with the situation which follows. In the process of learning, students and teachers move in varying degrees from initiator to executor, researcher to the inventor, actor to the observer, and from specific involvement into general analytic detachment.

Eg. When the students are assigned to learn whether the people in a democracy ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory, and representative decision making at all levels (SDG 16.7), the teacher is developing the theme ‘Participatory Democracy’ and giving the opportunity to students to experience the peoples’ behavior during the election. Here the multidisciplinary project can be developed by coordinating the lessons from class VIII (NCERT) English, math, science and social science, and ICT.

Reference :

Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. Washington DC: National Academy Press.

Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006: Implementation Issues, CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress.

Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational technology conglomerate headquartered in San Jose,

Partnership for 21st Century Skills (now the Partnership for 21st Century Learning, or P21) was founded as a non-profit organization by a coalition that included members of the US business community, education leaders, and policymakers.

Pacific Policy Research Center. 2010. 21st Century Skills for Students and Teachers. Honolulu: Kamehameha Schools, Research & Evaluation Division.

PISA- The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a triennial international survey which aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students who are nearing the end of their compulsory education. PISA is initiated by OECD- Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development- 36 countries form America Europe, Asia and Australia .