SDG 4
Its aim is to increase knowledge of potential strategies to meet the fourth United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 4), which strives for quality education. The SDGs form part of the United Nations (UN) “2030 Agenda for ustainable Development”, which was unanimously adopted in 2015 by all UN Member States as a “plan of action for people, planet and prosperity”. Structure and agency theory form an important starting point of this article, allowing the en targets within SDG 4 to be separated and viewed from micro-, meso- and macro-level perspectives. This analysis explores the idea that reaching the SDG 4 targets is a responsibility shared among individuals, education and training institutions, and regulating governments.
United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 4) on “quality education” (WEF 2016) from micro-, meso- and macro-level perspectives.1 Its aim is to explore the complexity of raising educational quality around the world, suggesting he need for multiple actors to cooperate closely (Boeren 2016). The article draws on structure and agency approaches (see e.g. Giddens 1984; Bourdieu 1984) 2 to ofer deeper insight into the roles that individuals, education and training institutions, stakeholders and regulating governments may play in achieving the specifed education targets by 2030.
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, followed by a discussion of the current global education policy climate, which is strongly oriented towards various benchmarks, indicators and targets (see Ozga 2012). A separate section focuses on structure and agency approaches, underlining their contribution to educational change. Building further on this line of thought, the ten specifc SDG 4 targets on “quality education” are broken down and approached from micro-,
meso- and macro-level perspectives, mapping insights from structure and agency approaches onto each of the ten targets. The article concludes with some critical notes and suggestions for further discussion, both for policy, practice and future research.
The Sustainable Development Goals
“Quality education” is a goal in itself, it is important to avoid regarding the 17 SDGs as fragmented “work packages”. Many of the goals can, in fact, be interpreted as correlating with each other. For example, research on the benefts of educational attainment shows that those with higher skills levels tend to secure betterpaid jobs, enjoy better health, be more involved in their communities, and practise more active citizenship (see Schuller et al. 2004; McMahon 2010; Psacharopoulos and Patrinos 2018). We also know that there is a correlation between education participation rates and governmental investment in industries, innovation and infrastructures (Groenez et al. 2007; Blossfeld et al. 2014). This suggests that education can act as a powerful “engine” to develop a more cohesive and equal society. Nowadays, educators also pay attention to gender equality (SDG 5), for example through initiatives to encourage more girls and women to enter the felds of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) (see Panetta and Williams 2018). A highly qualifed workforce is a demonstrated driver of decent work and strong economic growth (SDG 8) (see Woessmann 2016; Frey 2017), which in turn contribute to achieving the goals on poverty (SDG 1) and hunger (SDG 2). Quality education can also include increasing skills in relation to learning for sustainability, such as care for our planet (SDGs 12 and 13). The fnal goal, SDG 17, focuses on the role of partnerships in order to reach the SDGs and makes explicit reference to the need for governments to work together and cooperate with a wide range of stakeholders in the private and non-proft sectors. Education, however, is not mentioned at all in the discussion of SDG 17. This goes against the research evidence on the benefts of education and training, which touch on the domains of all the other SDGs, both at the level of the individual and of society. Further understanding the possibilities for individuals, educational institutions, relevant stakeholders and governments to work together to achieve both SGG 4 and the other Goals might thus increase knowledge of potential routes to progress. This article focuses on what these diferent players can contribute in relation to the ten specifc targets of SDG 4 on quality education.
