Sustainable Development Through Quality Education: How To Walk The Talk

A sense of 'purpose' is the driving force behind our interactions with the world. As we rebuild from a global health crisis, the importance of individual purpose and the expression of our combined societal values, is under the spotlight. We are becoming more aware of our interdependence with nature, and the impact of our actions on the urgent challenges of the planet. Hence, the need to incorporate 'sustainability' is a necessity rather than a trending fad.

Resonating with sustainable development

Sustainability is crucial to meeting our needs today, without hampering the capacity of future generations to meet theirs. Only by truly understanding the meaning and relevance of sustainability in our lives and for the planet we live on, can we implement positive change. Today, the world is facing several critical challenges and global leaders are seeking solutions through sustainable development.

The UN has outlined 17 sustainable development goals for 2030, with education high on the priority list after 'No Poverty', 'Zero Hunger' and 'Good Health and Well Being'. In fact, education is a widely acknowledged solution to achieving these core goals. As such, access to quality higher education is rendered a basic right for young individuals to grow into responsible, ethical and knowledgeable citizens.

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) 

The UNESCO roadmap, ESD for 2030, sheds more light on the role of education for sustainable development and urges people to consider if what they are learning is truly relevant to their lives, and will contribute to Earth’s survival. In India, the NEP 2020 has highlighted the need to reconfigure the entire education system to foster learning methodologies, in line with achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN. When held to high standards, education can encourage the development of conscious, ethical leaders and mitigate future misconduct.

ESD incorporates critical environmental issues such as climate change and geographical changes into core subjects such as math, science, and art, and prompts institutions to revise learning cycles and applications. The aim of this initiative is for students to relate what they learn in the classroom to their real-life actions, meaning they are better equipped to change behaviours early in life and embrace sustainable lifestyles.

The Role of Quality Education in ESD

There is a continuous and massive exchange of knowledge today, thanks to dynamic social media and content tools. However, this is not a substitute for a quality education, which not everyone has access to. Quality education goes beyond conducting and attending classes traditionally, to encompass a purposeful learning plan intended to prepare learners' participation in a global society. It should equip them with the technical and interpersonal skills needed to make informed decisions, and take responsible actions for their own long-term development as well as the communities at large. 

If quality education is the answer to global sustainability problems, how do we unlock its potential?

The toolbox to get there

There is significant responsibility on educators as they apply best-in-class pedagogical practices with sustainable learning goals in mind. Education for Sustainable Development is indeed a tough challenge to address within a fixed number of classes and assessments, but thankfully, there are tools at hand to help tackle it.

To achieve sustainable development goals, it is essential to adapt learning methodologies for the future of work and education. Global universities are realising the importance of curating a responsive curriculum that seeks to instil essential attributes that empower students to grow, emerging skill sets required to secure a job, and an appreciation of how their actions impact the environment and humanity.

Quality education is supported by accurate and meaningful assessment practices that lead to higher-order thinking and a deep understanding of concepts. Academic integrity tools, including online platforms, empower educators and students to uphold this fundamental vision by curbing behaviours that undermine learning. For example, students involved in contract cheating or academic plagiarism rob themselves of true learning and widen future knowledge gaps. Using academic integrity tools to check the originality of student work pre and post submission, helps to identify this intentional cheating and address skills gaps, towards better learning outcomes. 

Time-saving, technology-assisted grading solutions help educators improve grading efficiency and consistency, to spend more time on teaching. They facilitate transparent feedback while identifying knowledge gaps early on, to scaffold student learning. That way, both students and teachers are aligned on expectations and the progress of learning objectives. Furthermore, educators can harness these tools to identify patterns in students’ assessment performance to adjust their own instruction and help shape the future curriculum.      

Quality education paves the way for a more sustainable future, while simultaneously elevating student success and development across the board. Designing a responsive education strategy is key to achieving this. One that is transparent includes sufficient training and decision support, and is centred on applied learning in the classroom, will deliver the key sustainability outcomes the world needs.     

Chaitali Moitra

Guest Author The author is Regional Director - South Asia, Turnitin