Improving teachers’ skills in dealing with multicultural environments.
Responsibilities of Teachers in a Multicultural Environment
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Chapter 2 – Knowledge as the first step for Intercultural Competences
2.5 Sustainable Education and the 2030 SDG’s
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s), adopted in 2015 by all the United Nations’ Member States, outline 17 transformative goals and 169 targets, in several areas of action, to be achieved by 2030. In its Preamble, this Declaration underlines that its Agenda is “a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity”, seeking to “strengthen universal peace in larger freedom and recognising that “eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development”. This Agenda, despite its universal nature, aims at “taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting national policies and priorities”, involving the whole world. Thus, it is also the result of an “intensive public consultation and engagement with civil society and other stakeholders around the world” (article 6).
Article 8 of this Declaration is especially important regarding intercultural competences, since it highlights the “respect for human rights and human dignity, the rule of law, justice, equality and non-discrimination”, and namely cultural diversity.
Education, despite being essential for all the 17 SDG’s by 2030, is mentioned specifically in Goal 4 that stands for ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and for promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. The Education 2030 Framework for Action outlines the guidelines necessary to achieve this goal. It is particularly underlined in goal 4.7: “By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development”. In fact, Education is a goal but also a means for achieving all the other SDGs, representing, therefore, a vital approach regarding the SDGs, through the acknowledgement of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). This can be possible through, for example, Global Citizenship Education and Human Rights Education, having these subjects an important role in achieving the sustainable development goals.
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