UNESCO’s Five Pillars of Education in the 21st Century

Teaching and Learning.

Intended Learning Outcome:

1. Compare the basic concept of traditional and 21st century literacies and
skills.
2. Explain the features and critical attributes of the 21st century literacies.

UNESCO
EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT 2005-2014

UNESCO’S Education for Sustainable Development Initiative (2012) presented a

conceptual framework for ongoing, lifelong learning. This model organizes learning into
the following five pillars:

a) Learning to Know – the development of skills and knowledge needed to function

in this world e.g. formal acquisition of literacy, numeracy, critical thinking and
general knowledge
b) Learning to DO – the acquisition of applied skills linked to professional success.
c) Learning to Live Together – the development of social skills and values such as
respect and concern for others, and the appreciation of cultural diversity.
d) Learning to BE – the learning that contributes to a person’s mind, body, and
spirit. Skills include creativity and personal discovery, acquired through reading,
the Internet, and activities such as sports and arts.
e) Learning to Transform Oneself and Society – when individuals and groups gain
knowledge, develop skills, and acquire new values as a result of learning, they
are equipped with tools and mindsets for creating lasting change in
organizations, communities, and societies.

UNESCO’s role and, in fact, the tasks of Member States are defined by the four
major thrusts of ESD: improving quality basic education; reorienting educational
programs; developing public understanding and awareness; and providing training.
ESD has its roots in the history of two distinct areas of interest of the United Nations
– education and sustainable development. Many milestones have marked the journey
towards sustainable development. While some attention was paid to social and
economic issues, the focus was largely on addressing the ecological impact of ever
increasing unrestricted development. From the time sustainable development was first
endorsed in 1987, the UN General Assembly explored the parallel concept of education
to support sustainable development.
Education for Sustainable Development: - concerns all levels of education and all
social contexts (family, school, workplace, community);
- allows learners to acquire the skills, capacities, values and knowledge
required to ensure sustainable development
- fosters responsible citizens and promotes democracy by allowing individuals
and communities to enjoy their rights and fulfil their responsibilities
- provides essential learning tools and content to allow individuals to survive,
to develop to their full capacities, to live and work in dignity, to participate fully
in development, to improve the quality of their lives, to make informed
decisions, and to continue learning. (World Declaration on Education for All,
Jomtien, 1990, Art. 1, para. 1.)

LEARNING TO KNOW

- Emphasis has to be on combining a sufficiently broad general education

with the possibility of in-depth work on selected number of subjects.
- Learning how to learn by developing one’s concentration, memory skills
and ability to think.
- Less with the acquisition of structured knowledge but more with the
mastery of learning tools. It may be regarded as both a means and an
end of human existence.
- Students need to develop learn-to-learn skills. Such skills are learning to
read with comprehension, listening, observing, asking questions, data
gathering, note taking, accessing, processing, selecting and using
information so that students can become lifelong learners.
- The role of the teacher then is as facilitator, catalyst, monitor and
evaluator of learning because the process of learning to think is a lifelong
one and can be enhanced by every kind of human experience.

LEARNING TO DO

- the acquisition of a competence that enables people to deal with a variety

of situations, often unforeseeable, and to work in teams, a feature to
which educational methods do not at present pay enough attention.
- Demonstrates that in order to live and work together productively and
harmoniously, we must first find peace within ourselves, expand our
acceptance and understanding of others, and continually strive towards
 living the values which enable us to contribute more fully to the
development of a peaceful and just society.
- Preparing someone for a clearly defined task and the ascendancy of
knowledge and information. Employers are seeking competence, a mix,
specific to each individual, or skill, social behavior, of an attitude for
teamwork, and of initiative and a readiness to take risks.
- It is clear that technical and vocational education and training need to
encompass all pillars of learning in order to prepare the individual with
the knowledge, skills, qualities, values, attitudes, and abilities to
communicate effectively and work together productively with others.
- Represents the skillful, creative and discerning application of knowledge
because one must first learn how to learn effectively, how to think
creatively, critically and holistically, and how to deeply understand the
information that is presented, and its systemic implications for individuals
and for society, in both the short and longer term.

LEARNING TO LIVE TOGETHER IN PEACE AND HARMONY

- can be achieved by developing an understanding of others and their

history, traditions and spiritual values.
- Implies that the teacher should help the students to develop an
understanding of other people and appreciation of interdependence since
we live in a closely connected world.
- Is a dynamic, holistic and lifelong process through which mutual respect,
understanding, caring and sharing, compassion, social responsibility,
solidarity, acceptance and tolerance of diversity among individuals and
groups (ethnic, social, cultural, religious, national, and regional) are
internalized and practiced together to solve problems and to work
towards a just and free, peaceful and democratic society.
- Involves developing, broadening or changing perceptions of an attitude
toward ourselves and others and consequently, the way we behave in
our daily encounters and interactions with others.
- The concept entails the capacity to develop one’s own potential while
learning to successfully manage relationships with others.

LEARNING TO BE

- education must contribute to the all-round development of each individual

– mind and body, intelligence, sensitivity, aesthetic sense, personal
responsibility, and spiritual values.
 - The complete fulfillment of man, in all the richness of his personality, the
complexity of his forms of expression and his various commitments – as
individual, member of a family and of a community, citizen and producer,
inventor of techniques and creative dreamer
- As a dialectical process, this starts with knowing oneself and then opens
to relationships with others.
- Is founded on a humanistic philosophy of education which aims at the
overall development of the human person as an individual and as a
member of society.

Conscientization is the process of becoming aware of the contradictions existing within

oneself and in society and of gradually being able to bring about personal and social
transformation.

Learning to be summarizes the universal aims of education:

1. Towards a scientific humanism – based on scientific and technological training
2. Creativity – means preserving each individual’s originality and creative ingenuity,
along with realism; transmitting culture without stifling the individual; encouraging
the use of one’s gifts, aptitudes and personal forms of expression without
cultivating egoism, and paying attention to the individual’s specific traits without
overlooking collective activity and welfare.
3. Towards social commitment – consists of preparing the individual for life in
society, moving him/her into a coherent moral, intellectual and affective universe
composed of sets of values, interpretations of the past and conceptions of the
future; a fundamental store of ideas and transformation, a common inheritance.

Towards the complete man – respects the many-sidedness of personality as essential

in education if the individual is to develop for himself/herself as well as for others.

LEARNING TO TRANSFORM ONE’S SELF AND SOCIETY

Knowledge, values and skills for transforming attitudes and lifestyles

 work toward a gender neutral, non-discriminatory society
 develop the ability and will to integrate sustainable lifestyles for ourselves and
others
 promote behaviors and practices that minimize our ecological footprint on the
world around us
 be respectful of the Earth and life in all its diversity
 act to achieve social solidarity
 promote democracy in a society where peace prevails
Education for Sustainable Development:
 integrates the values inherent in sustainable development into all aspects of
learning
 encourages changes in behavior to create a more viable and fairer society for
everyone
 teaches people to reflect critically on their own communities
 empowers people to assume responsibility for creating and enjoying a
sustainable future