Lifelong Learning in Sustainable Development Goal 4: What Does It Mean for UNESCO’s Rights-based Approach to Adult Learning and Education?

TY - JOUR

T1 - Lifelong Learning in Sustainable Development Goal 4

T2 - What Does It Mean for UNESCO’s Rights-based Approach to Adult Learning and Education?

AU - Elfert, Maren

PY - 2019/8/15

Y1 - 2019/8/15

N2 - This article, which draws on a review of primary and secondary literature, will examine the question of the role of the human rights-based approach to adult learning and education (ALE) in the context of today’s global Education 2030 agenda, which is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), launched in 2015 under the title, Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. After the previous Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) focused on primary education, the prominence of the concept of lifelong learning in the SDGs – SDG 4 devoted to education calls to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” – has awakened new hopes among those who would like to see a stronger role for ALE in global education agendas and policies. In principle the ten targets of SDG 4 open up clear possibilities for ALE. However, I will argue that there are reasons for scepticism that ALE, in particular human rights-based ALE, will receive more attention under the SDGs. The paper will be structured in three sections. The first section will trace the emergence of the rights-based approach to adult education as an international educational paradigm, with particular attention to the role of UNESCO. The second section will discuss how the rights-based approach to adult education has been contested by other actors in the field of education for development. In the third and last section of the paper, drawing on some recent reports presenting empirical data on ALE, I will reflect on the future of ALE in the age of the SDGs.

AB - This article, which draws on a review of primary and secondary literature, will examine the question of the role of the human rights-based approach to adult learning and education (ALE) in the context of today’s global Education 2030 agenda, which is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), launched in 2015 under the title, Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. After the previous Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) focused on primary education, the prominence of the concept of lifelong learning in the SDGs – SDG 4 devoted to education calls to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” – has awakened new hopes among those who would like to see a stronger role for ALE in global education agendas and policies. In principle the ten targets of SDG 4 open up clear possibilities for ALE. However, I will argue that there are reasons for scepticism that ALE, in particular human rights-based ALE, will receive more attention under the SDGs. The paper will be structured in three sections. The first section will trace the emergence of the rights-based approach to adult education as an international educational paradigm, with particular attention to the role of UNESCO. The second section will discuss how the rights-based approach to adult education has been contested by other actors in the field of education for development. In the third and last section of the paper, drawing on some recent reports presenting empirical data on ALE, I will reflect on the future of ALE in the age of the SDGs.

KW - adult learning and education (ALE)

KW - education as a human right

KW - lifelong learning

KW - literacy

KW - Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

KW - UNESCO

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85068240421&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s11159-019-09788-z

DO - 10.1007/s11159-019-09788-z

M3 - Article

SN - 0020-8566

VL - 65

SP - 537

EP - 556

JO - INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF EDUCATION

JF - INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF EDUCATION

IS - 4

ER -