Local relevance for a big impact

SDG 4 calls on us to “ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning,” and despite its brevity, this sentence is heavy with challenges. Not only does the world need to come to an agreement about what a quality education actually is, but issues on inclusivity, quality and lifelong access manifest themselves differently everywhere. Even something as seemingly basic as the concept of knowledge, can affect how an innovation may be received. For example, in Tonga knowledge may have an element of spirituality, and in Tanzania it may need to come from a source of hierarchical authority (Konai Helu Thaman, 2010; Vavrus & Bartlett, 2012). If our differences are not taken into account, innovations may not succeed — at least not in the way we expect them to. Since education is so rooted to context, how can we expect to solve these common challenges in a way that achieves the big impact required to meet the SDG targets by 2030?

I don’t have the answer to this, but I think it is important to consider, and I am excited to be attending UNLEASH Lab to learn from leaders and innovators in education, to have my ideas reworked, reshaped and enhanced by a diverse group of other young people who care about education as much as I do, and to have the opportunity to contribute to change.

My work experience lies in helping governments to obtain high-quality data about their education systems. This provides them with the information they need to make evidence-based policy decisions that are relevant and appropriate for their contexts. While the primary objective of SDG 4 is to improve education, a secondary objective is to gather learning assessment data from all countries to monitor the achievement of the SDG 4 targets. This requirement means that we will soon have access to a large amount of data on learning from all over the world. Perhaps this data can inform the adaptability of innovations to ensure that they address specific local problems in a relevant way, and make sure they have a big impact?

Konai Helu Thaman. (2010). Teacher capacities for working towards peace and sustainable development. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 11(4), 353–364.

Vavrus, F., & Bartlett, L. (2012). Comparative pedagogies and epistemological diversity: social and material contexts of teaching in Tanzania. Comparative Education Review, 56(4), 634–658.