3.1 UNESCO advocates…

Key elements of sustainable pedagogies

UNESCO (2023) starts to explain sustainable pedagogies in its social contract for education that meets SDG 4. They state that ‘interconnectedness and interdependencies should frame pedagogy’. This intertwining should be reflected in the relationships that exist between teachers, students and the knowledge that is offered in their education. In particular, learners should see how they are connected to the world and how all learning takes place in and is connected with the world. In this way students will begin to know how others’ actions affect them and how their actions affect others. The more classrooms, schools and other educational contexts bring students in contact with others who are different from them, the more they can learn from each other.

UNESCO (2023) emphasises that:

Cooperation and collaboration must be taught and practiced in appropriate ways at different levels and ages. Education builds the capacities of individuals to work together to transform themselves and the world when cooperation and collaboration are defining characteristics of learning communities. This can be as true for adult education and learning as it is for early childhood education.

Solidarity, compassion, ethics, and empathy should be ingrained in how we learn.

Teaching that is focused on ‘unlearning bias, prejudice and divisiveness’ will allow the people of the world to work together for the benefit of all. Empathy is another vital attribute ‘essential for building pedagogies of solidarity’.

Implications for assessment

For student growth and learning to be worthwhile and purposeful, UNESCO (2023) recommend that assessment should be aligned with pedagogies of cooperation and solidarity. They state that educational objectives should synchronise with tests, exams and other areas of assessment but also mention that important learning can not always be ‘measured or counted’ so they want to prioritise formative assessment that is teacher-driven. They mention that the emphasis on ‘competitive, high-stakes standardized assessment’ must be reduced to allow for learning sustainably.

3 What makes pedagogy sustainable?

3.2 BERA’s manifesto advocates…