Education is the process of learning and expanding culture, and, as it contributes to the improvement of the human condition through better knowledge, health, living conditions, social equity and productivity, is a central tool for social progress. Education is expected to foster social progress through four different but interrelated purposes: humanistic, through the development of individual and collective human virtues to their full extent; civic, by the enhancement of public life and active participation in a democratic society; economic, by providing individuals with intellectual and practical skills that make them productive and enhance their and society’s living conditions; and through fostering social equity and justice. The expansion of formal education, which was part of the emergence of the nation states and modern economies, is one of the most visible indicators of social progress. In its expansion, education created a complex web of institutions distributed according to different paths along the life course, from early education through the school cycles to the final stages of higher education, continuing with the provision of forms of lifelong education. This web of institutions is subject to breaks and cleavages that reflect their diverse and multiple historical origins and purposes and the asynchronous developments in different regions. From primary schooling, education institutions grew horizontally (by learning fields, subjects, or occupations) and vertically (by levels and credentials.) The allocation of children and young people to different tracks and institutions, by a mixture of choice and assignment, is a core process in formal education that often reflects and reproduces preexisting inequalities. The chapter presents the main actions needed to allow education to fulfill its promise to promote social progress considering the four purposes of education. On a global level more research informed policy is required and a balanced approach to educational reform, including teacher education, by putting more emphasis on the civic and humanistic purposes. Governance structures that are flexible, participatory, and accountable considering the political and social context are recommended. The new agenda of Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 established in 2015 calls for a new cooperative paradigm based on the concept of “full global partnership” and the principle of “no one will be left behind.” Sustainable Development Goal 4 for Education aims “to ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning”. This provides a broad framework for education’s contribution to social progress. To achieve this, it is necessary: (1) to expand access and improve the quality of early childhood education, as a precondition for life-long educational success in all its goals; (2) to improve the quality of schools, including in learners’ direct interactions with their peer groups, educators and the surroundings; in institutional characteristics such as group size, student-teacher ratio, teacher qualifications and spatial and material conditions, and in the provision of a meaningful and relevant curriculum; (3) to enhance the role of educators, considering that teachers are not just carriers of knowledge and information, but role models that have a significant impact on children’s dispositions towards learning and life more generally; (4) to make higher and vocational education more inclusive and socially relevant, thereby enhancing the opportunities for students of all sectors of society to further their education in a meaningful and practical ways, eliminating social and cultural restrictions to access and reducing the dividing lines between high and low prestige and esteem between institutions and careers. Additionally, appropriate use of the opportunities created by the new digital technologies is recommended. These are not a magic bullet that will replace existing educational institutions and create a new learning world. But they can be powerful instruments to improve the quality and relevance of education and its contribution to social progress.Culture, “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits” (Tylor 1870) is the most distinctive element of human societies, and in its broadest sense education is the process of facilitating learning or the acquisition of culture. Education takes place informally, starting with the interaction of children with their parents and relatives, but becomes to a large extent formal in complex societies, as it is codified (in primers, manuals, catechisms, handbooks) and provided by specialized institutions (churches, schools, universities, professional guilds, academies) according to specific methods (lecturing, memorization, demonstration, interpretation, collaboration, practice, experimentation).In most societies, education is a valued asset: more education is expected to enhance specific dimensions of culture (religious beliefs, citizenship, professional skills, humanistic values, critical thinking), fostered by different institutions and sought by individuals and families as a means of achieving or securing social and economic standing and prestige. As the notion of social progress becomes entrenched, more and better education becomes considered one of its main instruments.The expansion of formal education, which followed the emergence of the nation state and the modern economy, is one of the most visible indicators of social progress. Until the early 19th century, advanced learning was limited to a small elite of priests, bureaucrats and specialists, provided by universities and other prestigious learning centers, usually associated with the churches. The notion that all persons should be able to read the sacred books was part of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions, but was never fully practiced and mostly limited to men (Hanna 2007, Vincent 2000, Gawthrop and Strauss 1984, Botticini and Eckstein 2012). This notion was adapted and spread out by the modern, industrialized Western nation states, and exported to some degree to their colonies and areas of influence. By the end of the 19th Century, the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand had already reached universal schooling, followed closely by Northern Europe. In Asia, expansion of primary education started in Japan, followed later by Taiwan, Thailand, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. In Latin American and Africa, it expanded first in areas with strong European immigration, such as Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Southern Brazil, as well as in South Africa and Zimbabwe (Benavot and Riddle 1988).
Conclusion
The section focuses on characteristics of institutions, educators and principals that contribute to their ability to work towards the four goals enabling social progress rather independently of specific cultural and national contexts. They are expected to put learners in the position to actively participate in shaping their educational careers, gather information and have confidence in their ability to overcome challenges and uncertainty. Learners have to be prepared for overcoming social barriers – both of a personal nature and with regard to society in general.Educational institutions should not only focus on their respective educational duties but also recognize their shared responsibility for social progress, for successful incoming and outgoing transitions and for the complete educational careers of their students. This responsibility about what happens before and after learners are part of their own institution also needs to be better anchored within universities. This is recommended as they are actively involved in the training of educators in many countries.
Track2Training 