Resources
Explore a wide range of valuable resources on GCED to deepen your understanding and enhance your research, advocacy, teaching, and learning.
11 Results found
Happy Schools Guide and Toolkit: A Resource for Happiness, Learners’ Well-Being and Social and Emotional Learning Year of publication: 2021 Corporate author: UNESCO | UNESCO Bangkok The Happy Schools Guide and Toolkit is designed to support teachers and school leaders in primary and secondary schools across the Asia-Pacific region, in thinking about how they can create their own Happy School. It has therefore drawn from aspects of the Happy Schools Framework, which can be most readily addressed at the school level. While the Happy Schools Guide is targeted towards school leaders and teachers at the school level of administration and pedagogy development, the Happy Schools Toolkit is conceived for teachers at the classroom level. 
Thinkpiece on education and conflict Year of publication: 2009 Author: Lynn Davies Corporate author: UNESCO This paper looks first at the learning sites generally (violent schools, schools as a weapon of war, curriculum and textbooks). It then focuses on specific groups in conflict – gender, language, refugees, child soldiers. Thirdly it discusses education policy and donor intervention; and finally talks of the role of research. All these overlap hugely. This is not a prescription for how the Global Monitoring Report should be structured, but identification of themes and lessons learned that seem the most significant. 
Green School Quality Standard: Greening Every Learning Environment Year of publication: 2024 Corporate author: UNESCO Climate change threatens our planet and future. Schools and other learning institutions are central places for accelerating climate action among learners and local communities. By empowering teachers and students to understand climate change in their own context contribute to making societies more sustainable and climate resilient. This publication provides for the first time ever a quality standard for greening schools and other learning environments. It outlines four core areas for integrating sustainability principles and climate action: 1) school governance, 2) facilities and operation, 3) teaching and learning, and 4) community engagement. Through the Greening Education Partnership, this standard establishes a common language for all stakeholders to jointly reach the global target of greening at least 50% of schools in all countries by 2030. Policy-makers and ministries in charge of education accreditation schemes, as well as educators, learners and communities are encouraged to use the green school quality standard and join the climate-ready school movement to ensure that every learner is equipped to address climate challenges. 
Why the World Needs Happy Schools: Global Report on Happiness In and For Learning Year of publication: 2024 Corporate author: UNESCO Seeing a teacher smile. Hearing students laugh. Feeling a hug from a friend. Smelling fresh air. Tasting a nutritious school meal. These five senses can stimulate happiness at school and improve the learning experiences, outcomes and well-being of students. Through the ‘Happy Schools’ initiative, UNESCO is placing happiness at the core of the transformation of education. It encourages education systems to recognize happiness as both a means to and a goal of quality learning. The initiative is informed by a growing evidence base linking happiness with better learning, teaching, well-being and overall system resilience. This report presents the UNESCO global Happy Schools framework consisting of 4 pillars – people, process, place and principles – and 12 high-level criteria to guide the transformation of learning. It offers a holistic model for embedding happiness into education policies and cultivating it in schools through systemic changes. The report illustrates how the ‘Happy Schools’ initiative aims to create top-down and bottom-up transformation, encouraging governments to recognize happiness as a core objective of education. It supports the scaling of promising practices of joyful learning from the school to the policy level. 
UNESCO Strategy on Education for Health and Well-Being: Contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals Year of publication: 2016 Corporate author: UNESCO This strategy builds on UNESCO’s longstanding commitment to strengthen the links between education and health, reflecting international recognition that a more comprehensive approach to school health and coordinated action across sectors is needed. As stated in the 2015 Incheon Declaration, education develops the skills, values and attitudes that enable citizens to lead healthy and fulfilled lives, make informed decisions, and respond to local and global challenges. It updates previous UNESCO strategies and expands on UNESCO’s work on HIV and on promoting comprehensive sexuality education and safe and inclusive learning environments, placing more emphasis on the role of schools in promoting health. More specifically, it reflects recent developments in the global education, HIV and health agendas, and is aligned with the new UNAIDS 2016-2021 Strategy and the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular SDG 3 Health, SDG 4 Education and SDG 5 Gender Equality. 
Educating for global competence: preparing our youth to engage the world Year of publication: 2011 Author: Veronica Boix Mansilla | Anthony Jackson Corporate author: Asia Society | Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) Contemporary societies are marked by new global trends - economic, cultural, technological, and environmental shifts that are part of a rapid and uneven wave of globalization. The growing global interdependence that characterizes our time calls for a generation of individuals who can engage in effective global problem solving and participate simultaneously in local, national, and global civic life. Put simply, preparing our students to participate fully in today's and tomorrow's world demands that we nurture their global competence.This document introduces a definition of global competence developed by the Global Competence Task Force - a group of state education agency leaders, education scholars, and practitioners - under the auspices of the Council of Chief State School Officers EdSteps initiative (CCSSO-EdSteps) and the Asia Society Partnership for Global Learning (see page (iv) for task force participants). The definition builds on seminal work within the states and a broad range of organizations working to advance global knowledge and critical thinking skills. A process of careful articulation and vetting yielded the definition of global competence here proposed:Global competence is the capacity and disposition to understand and act on issues of global significance.Globally competent individuals are aware, curious, and interested in learning about the world and how it works. They can use the big ideas, tools, methods, and languages that are central to any discipline (mathematics, literature, history, science, and the arts) to engage the pressing issues of our time. They deploy and develop this expertise as they investigate such issues, recognize multiple perspectives, communicating their views effectively, and taking action to improve conditions.Educating for Global Competence: Preparing Our Youth to Engage the World is intended for classroom teachers, administrators, informal educators, policymakers, community leaders, researchers, parents, students, and all other stakeholders interested in preparing our youth for the 21st century. Becoming better at education for global competence involves rethinking practices and recognizing that there are no simple recipes for success. As such, this book is meant to be used flexibly - browse, make connections, and concentrate on the chapters that you find most pertinent to your work. Experiment with ideas, challenge concepts, and share with colleagues. Ultimately this book must work for you. It is meant to be read in the way that best meets your needs, inspires your curiosity, and proves fruitful in the classroom.Chapter one offers a rational for global education in our nation and worldwide. Chapter two introduces a conceptual framework for global competence and explains the key role of disciplinary and interdisciplinary foundations in student learning. Chapter three, four, five and six focus, respectively, on four core capacities associated with global competence: investigating the world, recognizing perspectives, communicating ideas, and taking action. Chapter seven considers core principles of instruction for teaching global competence. Chapter eight looks at what students and education institutions can do to promote global competence - and how they might create a culture of global competence for youth and adults. Finally, chapter nine places global competence in the larger framework of public education systems in and beyond the United States. 
Human rights education in the school systems of Europe, Central Asia and North America: a compendium of good practice Year of publication: 2009 Corporate author: Council of Europe | OSCE. Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights | UNESCO | UN. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN. OHCHR) “Human Rights Education in the School Systems of Europe, Central Asia and North America: A Compendium of Good Practice” is a compilation of 101 examples of good practice in human rights education in primary schools, secondary schools and teacher training institutions in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) area, which is also covered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and, partially, the geographical mandate of the Council of Europe (CoE).The term “human rights education” is often used in this resource in a broader sense, to also include educationfor democratic citizenship and education for mutual respect and understanding, which are all based on internationally agreed human rights standards. These three areas are seen as interconnected and essential within educational systems in order to prepare youth to be active, responsible and caring participants in their communities, as well as at the national and global levels.Human rights education has been defined as education, training and information aimed at building a universal culture of human rights. A comprehensive education in human rights not only provides knowledge about human rights and the mechanisms that protect them, but also imparts the skills needed to promote, defend and apply human rights in daily life. Education for democratic citizenship focuses on educational practices and activities designed to help young people and adults to play an active part in democratic life and exercise their rights and responsibilities in society. Education for mutual respect and understanding highlights self-respect, respect for others, and the improvement of relationships between people of differing cultural traditions.This book aims to support quality teaching in these areas and to inspire educational policymakers (those working in education ministries and local school boards) and administrators, teachers, teacher trainers, non-formal educators and all other interested actors, as well as to facilitate networking and the exchange of experience among education professionals. 
EIU Best Practices Series No. 1: Schools for the Child: Child Sensitive Good Practices in Sri Lankan Schools Year of publication: 2006 Corporate author: APCEIU This monograph is one of APCEIU's EIU Best Practices Series, which aims to encourage educators, scholars, and activists to implement and share local initiatives on EIU. The Series No.1 is a research study undertaken to identify positive practices that can foster peace education in post-conflict communities of Sri Lanka. Specifically, three schools are observed to understand how the model of peace education and multiculturalism can be promoted through educator’s creativity, dedication, and vision, curriculum revision, eco-friendly school environment, and use of external and community resources. The study showcases that culturally sensitive and mindful pedagogical practices are needed to generate understanding of peace. 
EIU Best Practices Series No. 4: Implementation of Civic Approach for Development of Positive School Environment and a Culture of Peace Year of publication: 2006 Corporate author: APCEIU This monograph is one of APCEIU's EIU Best Practices Series, which aims to encourage educators, scholars, and activists to implement and share local initiatives on EIU. The Series No.4 is an experimental research conducted by the Information and Research Center to promote culture of peace and teaching and learning outcomes that support positive development of school environment. Three pilot schools in Kazakhstan were analyzed upon implementation of teacher training workshops, instructional materials, and programs in civic and human rights education. 
Happy Schools Art E-Exhibition Year of publication: 2016 Corporate author: UNESCO Bangkok Happy Schools Art E-Exhibition What does a Happy School look like to you? A happy learner is more likely to be a thriving one – better able to solve problems and apply critical thinking skills, more self-confident and likelier to form and foster positive relationships with others. Happy learners require Happy Schools, those that ensure the holistic development and well-being of students and the wider school community. In today’s rapidly changing world, we are faced with increasing mobility, life stress, competition, information overload, inequalities and environmental concerns. As these symptoms of ‘unhappiness’ begin to emerge, the Happy Schools Project calls for the need for education systems to reposition the school as more than a service for educational instruction, but rather, an environment which allows for social and emotional growth and development for learners to contribute to a more peaceful, just and equitable world. As part of UNESCO Bangkok’s Happy Schools Project, the Happy Schools team hosted an art contest in early 2016 in an effort to capture actions, moments and ideas that are promoting happiness in schools. All residents of the Asia-Pacific region were invited to submit images of any kind (photos, drawings, cartoons, paintings, graphics, and posters) along with a caption/description that captures the concept of Happy Schools. Thirty winners were selected from the pool of entries for the Happy Schools Art Exhibition and Report Launch (of the Happy Schools: A Framework for Learner Well-being in the Asia-Pacific report. The artwork will be on display for the Happy Schools Art Exhibition from 25 March to 3 April, 2016 at The Commons in Bangkok, Thailand, and available to view here as an e-exhibition.