Resources
Explore a wide range of valuable resources on GCED to deepen your understanding and enhance your research, advocacy, teaching, and learning.
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The General History of Africa: A UNESCO Flagship Programme for Operational Strategy Priority Africa Year of publication: 2024 Corporate author: UNESCO As part of UNESCO’s Operational Strategy for Priority Africa (2022 – 2029), the General History of Africa (GHA) Flagship Programme responds to the challenge of reconstructing Africa and its diaspora historical memory and conscience by revisiting Eurocentric and colonial biases in the representation of their history and societies. It aims to advance a common identity and pride in Africa’s heritage, progress towards greater justice and an inclusive and fair future through the reappropriation and production of knowledge on Africa and its diaspora history in a manner that could contribute to the transformation of education in Africa and beyond. The GHA is aligned with the African Union Agenda 2063, The Africa We Want, the Charter for African Cultural Renaissance, and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 
The Seen Unseen: Improving Education for the Invisible Billion Difference Learners (The Blue Dot Issue 5, 2017) Year of publication: 2017 Corporate author: Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) MGIEP believes that addressing the needs of children with difference learning offers a unique opportunity to build the competency of understanding, respect and appreciation between the children and the rest of their peers in school.It provides the Institute favorable conditions to put in practice how inclusive education is a necessary condition for building peaceful and sustainable societies. Many of the Information Technology pedagogical tools developed by the Institute lend themselves to children with difference learning.Transforming the education system in such a manner will allow mainstream schools to provide a learning platform that breaks down barriers across learning types and provide the equitable access to education that is a fundamental Sustainable Development Goal.We are, in this issue of The Blue Dot, privileged to read from some of the world’s best experts on the subject describing the challenges at hand and suggesting ways and means of addressing the lacuna present in curricula and policy. As always, we dedicate a special section to reflecting the voices of young people in our discussion. I am especially honoured and delighted to present a foreword from a young entrepreneur who has not allowed his neurobiological dyslexic condition to prevent him from pursuing his dreams to help others. 
Rewiring the Brain to be Future-ready: Integrating 21st Century Skills in Education Systems Towards Developing Peaceful & Sustainable Societies (The Blue Dot Issue 6, 2017) Year of publication: 2017 Corporate author: Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) In the sixth issue of the Blue Dot, we focus on the importance of these 21st century skills for the young. The issue includes a foreword by the Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India on the importance of inculcating 21st century skills in education systems and our Cover Story, which introduces UNESCO MGIEP’s LIBRE programme that follows an ‘integrated brain’ approach to education.Additionally, we feature opinions by specialists from academia, research and the industry on the lacuna present in existing education systems and the opportunities available to address this gap by introducing socio-emotional skills and inquiry oriented learning into curricula. Amongst various experts, we hear from Ines Kudo and Joan Hartley from The World Bank on the importance of ‘Teaching empathy and compassion in schools’; Prof. K.P. Mohanan on ‘Critical Inquiry and Inquiry oriented education’ and Dr. Marilee Bresciani Ludvik on how mindfulness forms the foundation for cultivating compassion.Further, we present excerpts from a collection of ‘Ask me Anything’ sessions focused on socioemotional skills, hosted on Knowledge Commons, UNESCO MGIEP’s knowledge sharing platform.We have been honoured to have the opportunity to host and learn from experts such as Dr. Richard Davidson, recognised as one of ‘The 100 most influential people in the world’ in 2006 by the Time Magazine and Chade-Meng Tan, currently the Chairman of Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute and Co-chair of One Billion Acts of Peace, which has been nominated eight times for the Nobel Peace Prize. 
International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Education, Planning Education in the AI Era: Lead the Leap; Final Report Year of publication: 2019 Corporate author: UNESCO The current report is an exhaustive account of the discussion and debate at the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Education (hereafter referred to as ‘the conference’) held in Beijing from 16 to 18 May 2019. Under the overarching theme of ‘Planning Education in the AI Era: Lead the Leap’, the conference was structured into seven plenary sessions and 16 breakout sessions complemented by a live exhibition and study tours to facilitate forwardlooking debates, share cutting-edge knowledge and AI solutions, and deliberate on sector-wide strategies. 
The Impact of AI on Curriculum Systems: Towards an Orbit-Shifting Dialogue (In-Progress Reflection; no. 32, 2019) Year of publication: 2019 Corporate author: UNESCO International Bureau of Education (IBE) ‘Artificial Intelligence’ (AI) refers to the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence. In order to achieve transformational change in contemporary curriculum systems and learning environments, we need to engender an orbitshifting dialogue about the potential relationship between AI and education, in terms of both independent variables (threats), and dependent variables (opportunities). Through such a dialogue, we need to create foresight indicators that can predict the process of this relationship. It is, however, crucial that the relationship between AI and education is strong and directly proportionate. If the potential of the relationship is not exploited sufficiently, then underdeveloped education systems will lag behind and fail to achieve their potential for transformation, whether radical or incremental. Indeed, some may even become obsolete. The paper contends that in order to effectively contribute to the knowledge economy and to sustainable development in the age of the 4th Industrial Revolution (characterized by a fusion of cyber-physical technologies) modern educational systems need to overcome obstacles to innovation in order to maximize the potential for transformative change. To achieve this will require an ‘orbital shift’ in educational planning, practice and resourcing, to enable schools to respond more effectively to the rapidly changing needs of young people, society, the economy and environment in the third decade of the 21st century. Schools, educational institutions and environments, need to transform from being primarily spaces for teaching and taking exams, into spaces for innovation and personal learning, based on a culture of actively listening to the voices, choices, needs and goals of learners. Teachers need to become facilitators, coaches and mentors for learners. Schools need to create AI-enabled, flexible, collaborative working spaces. Visionary, energetic educational leaders need to communicate effectively with all stakeholders, including employers and parents, to inspire and manage change and smart decision-making to develop schools of the future. The aim of this reflection is to initiate an ‘orbit-shifting’ dialogue about the potential of AI applications to transform all components of the curriculum system to meet emergent 21st century educational goals. The conceptualization aims to explore the variable roles and impact of curriculum learning and assessment on these emerging educational goals. Theme 1 of the paper outlines the concepts and characteristics of a range of existing AI systems and their potential to enhance teaching learning and assessment. Theme 2 reflects on the potential to embrace AI systems across the curriculum system. Theme 3 proposes an action model to enable AI to have an ‘orbit shifting impact’ on all the components of the curriculum system (i.e. learners, teachers, learning environments, leadership and management, content, pedagogy and assessment) by enhancing opportunities for individualization, creativity and uniqueness. 
SDG4 High-Level Steering Committee’s Key Messages for the Pact for the Future Year of publication: 2024 Corporate author: SDG4 High-Level Steering Committee Education is a fundamental human right and a public good. Quality education and lifelong learning provides individuals with knowledge, skills, and values to lead a meaningful and productive life, and thus it is essential for personal development, empowerment and wellbeing. Education has a transformative power and drives progress across all Sustainable Development Goals. Investing more, more equitably and more efficiently in education transforms the future of humanity and the planet. The Pact for the Future must put education at its center. 
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. 
How Can We Accelerate Transformations to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? Insights from the 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report (Policy Brief, No. 158) Year of publication: 2024 Author: Stephanie Rambler | Shivani Nayyar | Astra Bonini Corporate author: UN. Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN. DESA) Key Messages » Progress on the SDGs requires integrated approaches operating at a systemic level that address multiple goals simultaneously. Interventions toward progress on a given target must also generate positive synergies with other targets, while resolving tradeoffs. » Transformative change does not follow a linear path, and policy needs will vary across contexts and phases of transformation. Policies should respond to impediments unique to each phase– emergence, acceleration, or stabilization. » New capacities are needed in all countries for cohesive, forwardlooking, and science-based SDG action. This includes capacity in foresight analysis, innovation and strategy development, risk management, negotiation, mediation, and building resilience. » Investments need to be scaled up in science that can drive necessary transformations, especially in the Global South, including “socially robust” science that speaks to contemporary social challenges and that engages diverse stakeholders. 
Constructions of Generational Relations: Childhood and the Theme of National Socialism in Primary-School Education Year of publication: 2012 Author: Alexandra Flügel The original title: Konstruktionen des Generationalen Verhältnisses: Kindheit und das Thema Nationalsozialismus im Grundschulunterricht(Kinder und Zeitgeschichte: Jüdische Geschichte und Gegenwart, Nationalsozialismus und Antisemitismus, Supplement 8, pp. 75–84) This is a qualitative study, based on the results in Fügel 2009, of German primary school children’s communication about Nazism and the Holocaust. It demonstrates how interwoven these exchanges are with general German memory discourses about these topics, but also how the children already at the age of 9–10 reflect upon their need to learn about this dark side of German history.The above abstract is taken from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Education Research Project. Please also consult the full list of abstracts in 15 languages and the accompanying publication Research in Teaching and Learning about the Holocaust: A Dialogue Beyond Borders. Ed: IHRA, Monique Eckmann, Doyle Stevick, Jolanta Ambrosewicz-Jacobs, 2017, Metropol Verlag at www.holocaustremembrance.com/resources/publications. 
Teaching/Learning the History of a Land with Diverse Socio-religious Groups: A Socio-constructivist Approach Year of publication: 2012 Corporate author: University of Balamand A survey of the opinions of some students indicated that they viewed the teaching/learning of history they had undergone in pre-university levels of education as a wasted effort. The teaching consisted of narration, while the learning took the form of memorization of contents to be recited at the time of the examination. The majority considered a revision of the method of teaching history to be a national and cultural necessity. Given that the teaching of history has in view the acquisition by the student of basic skills, such as analysis, synthesis and composition, there is a need to change the teaching/learning process from narration to a targeted development of civic consciousness and critical thinking. The problem is posed within three frameworks: The geographic-demographic framework relating to the composition of the Lebanon; the psychological-educative framework relating to the understanding of history and how it is constructed. through the utilization of critical thinking; the social-educational framework relating to the educational paradigm to be used in the teaching of history and the intellectual activity of the student. This requires the intertwining of several educational elements such as the utilization of the various historical sources, discussing the sequence of events therein and reading them critically, while at the same time studying the thinking of the personalities who influenced the historical developments, and their cultural backgrounds. The main questions here is: Why do we teach history in schools? At which level do we start? What are the targets in each level? The answers to these questions can be many: Defining the national identity; strengthening civic thinking; developing a national culture; making the student aware of what ties the Lebanon to the surrounding region; acquainting ourselves with the cultural heritage of the people; strengthening the attachment with the land; teaching to learn to accept the other. Following an investigation of the Lebanese directives for the teaching of history, as well as the international ones, a hypothesis was proposed: the development of objective critical thinking through the study of history would consolidate the concept of the acceptance of the other. Indeed, the religious and sectarian pluralism of the Lebanon constitutes a source of cultural wealth. It is a factor of national cohesion. The history is a history of a land of many peoples with differing religious persuasions.