Understanding the Educational Relationship and the Learning Processes. Reflections on the UNESCO 2015 Report

Abstract

A frequent criticism of reports of this kind is to consider them well-prepared and well-intentioned but in some way rhetorical or “theoretical” due to a lack of context and political agency for their development, making them rather irrelevant from the practical standpoint. This view overlooks the fact that UNESCO’s voice is of great importance as an international reference due its ethical and academic foundation, precisely because it stands above the small-scale policies and local interests in each country’s sphere of education. In fact, the report itself recognizes that it is a “call for dialogue and discussion”, so this should be an important benchmark to assess whether it provides the necessary relevant arguments for the dialogue to be fruitful in the sense of guiding actions aligned with their principles. Its strength lies precisely in its lack of political agency because it calls on many bodies and actors – national, regional and local – to take up their responsibility and the challenge of interpreting and adjusting their practices in keeping with the pertinent references.

Keywords
Education, sustainability, consensus, public good, quality, change.