The Sustainable Development Goals, also known as SDGs, are 17 global goals adopted in 2015 under the 2030 Agenda. You may already be familiar with them, and you might even have made some changes in your courses to ensure you’re addressing them. If you need ideas and tips on how to introduce SDG 4: Quality Education in the classroom, you’re in the right place.
In this week’s post, we’ll cover what the SDGs are, and more specifically, SDG 4: Quality Education. Additionally, we’ll provide a practical guide to help teachers like you work on this SDG in class.
If you have 5 minutes, you have everything you need to become an SDG pro. Ready?
We remind you that our blog has already covered SDG 1, SDG 2, and SDG 3. Take a look at those posts!
What are the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), and what do they entail?
The SDGs, also known as Sustainable Development Goals, are 17 objectives adopted globally by the United Nations in 2015. They are a call within the 2030 Agenda, global and universal, to end poverty, address climate emergencies, and empower girls and women by 2030.
The 17 SDGs are as follows:
- No Poverty
- Zero Hunger
- Good Health and Well-being
- Quality Education
- Gender Equality
- Clean Water and Sanitation
- Affordable and Clean Energy
- Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
- Reduced Inequality
- Sustainable Cities and Communities
- Responsible Consumption and Production
- Climate Action
- Life Below Water
- Life on Land
- Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
- Partnerships for the Goals
These 17 SDGs, which are aspirational on a global scale, are being promoted by citizens, companies, governments, and institutions. In this context, the educational sector is essential for raising awareness and working toward these objectives. By integrating the SDGs into the classroom, we are helping to build a society committed to sustainable development and equal opportunities.
In this virtual exhibit, you’ll see photos and summaries of each SDG. It can be helpful both for reflecting on these goals and for showing your students virtually what each SDG entails, experiencing it as if it were a photography exhibit.
SDG 4: Quality Education, what does it entail?
When reviewing the list of 17 SDGs in the 2030 Agenda, we find SDG 4: Quality Education. This goal is defined by the United Nations as ensuring inclusive, equitable, and quality education while promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all people.
Access to quality education has always been an issue, and without additional measures, no beneficial results are expected before 2030, the date set by the United Nations. The estimated outcomes are devastating: around 300 million children and young people will lack the necessary literacy skills to succeed in life.
This SDG is crucial, as achieving quality education will influence the achievement of other SDGs among the 17 to be reached by 2030. A society that enjoys quality education is less likely to live in poverty, will offer more equitable opportunities for men and women, promote greater equality between countries, and more.
Measures such as free primary and secondary education, increasing the number of teachers, improving infrastructure, and embracing digital transformation are essential to reach this goal.
Why does this happen?
We may wonder why these inequalities in access to quality education occur. There can be many factors, some of which are:
- Economic limitations and high dropout rates in marginalized areas
- Digital disparities and low connectivity and digital adoption in some regions and countries
- Unequal access to education for girls and women
- Limited access to clean water and nutrition
How can we work toward Quality Education?
Many measures must be taken to ensure quality education, and many are within the hands of governments. Some of these measures are:
- Providing free primary and secondary education so that everyone has access to a minimum level of education
- Ensuring the inclusion of vulnerable or marginalized groups
- Investing more and better in education
- Increasing the number of teachers
- Improving school infrastructure
- Ensuring equitable education for girls and women
- Embracing digital transformation
Practical Guide to Integrating SDG 4: Quality Education in Class
Want to develop SDG 4 in the classroom? Here are some ideas that will surely be very useful:
- Integrate SDG 4: Quality Education into your course curriculum. This SDG can be easily addressed in many subjects. For example, in Language, you can read texts and articles that discuss unequal access to education. In subjects like Social Sciences, you can analyze the state of access to education worldwide and look at the unequal access in countries with more poverty. In Mathematics, you can include statistics and data on access to education in class problems. And so much more! As you can see, every subject can incorporate the topic of SDG 4.
- Remember to include this SDG in your learning scenarios and teaching units. If you decide to tackle this SDG in your classroom planning, you should know that you can easily link it to have it documented.
- Provide educational resources to your students to expand their knowledge: here are some resources provided by the UN to address educational issues worldwide.
- Infographic on the state of education worldwide
- Global education statistics
- Video on educational inclusion
- Children’s book on the SDGs (Frieda and the Sustainable Development Goals)
- Boost your students’ motivation and interest in the SDGs with interactive quizzes. These will allow you to assess their knowledge of the topic in a dynamic and engaging way. You can use Additio App’s quiz feature to carry this out.
How will you introduce SDG 4: Quality Education in class?
In this practical guide, we’ve given you some tools to discuss SDGs with your students in the classroom, but there are many more that could work well. Have some ideas? We’re on social media for you to tell us all about it: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube.
Remember, with Additio App, you can carry out competency-based assessments, putting students at the center of learning, keeping them informed about their progress, and helping them identify areas for improvement and strengths.
With over 150 features, Additio helps enhance both teaching and student learning. You can try the tool for free with the Additio Starter plan, which provides access to most features, and see if the platform truly fits your needs.
See you soon!
