Introduction
What is happening to our world? The human race is in a twilight zone between a dying civilisation on life support and an emerging one trying to find its legs. Jeremy Rifkin
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. Charles Dickens
One era is coming to an end and another is beginning - a complex and contradictory process no less world changing than previous transitions to settled agriculture and industrial society.
As a part of this world-wide transformation (what can be termed the 'global triple revolution' or GTR), Australia is faced with three interdependent sets of fundamental changes and challenges:
- The development of an education revolution that includes profound changes in science and technology
- The emergence of what may be best termed an economic, environmental and social sustainability revolution
- The imperative of a health and human rights revolution.
Each will challenge the assumption that we have no choices, as if we are predestined to continue with business as usual.
Each will obviously take time, energy and resources to develop. They will not just happen. Each will require new networks and alliances and leadership beyond a cycle of superficial quick fixes.
And each of these three revolutions will have to be pursued at all levels - international, national, community and personal.
The cross-fertilisation of these three revolutions, notwithstanding the obstacles on the road to real change and the powerlessness deeply felt by many people, will mark a sharp turning point in the development of education, schooling, the economy and society.
Schools, colleges, universities together with other workplaces - and families and local communities - are where these revolutions are already occurring, coalescing and affecting everyday life.
The Education Revolution
The first of these revolutions is that which is often termed the information and communications technology (ICT) revolution.
It is more accurately called the education revolution, embracing developments in teaching and learning as well as educational leadership and governance and thus being broader and more inclusive than new technology (nanotechnology, information and communications technology, biotechnology, etc.) per se.
The education revolution is at the core of a rapidly changing world filled with new problems as well as exciting new possibilities to tackle major challenges in the economy and society.
As outlined in the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians, among the challenges facing all nations are two educational goals:
- Equity and excellence in education and schooling
- Opportunities for all young people to become successful learners, confident and creative individuals and active and informed citizens.
The education revolution is propelled by a profound demographic, social and cultural shift. For example, immediately after WW II, only 1 in 10 children in Victoria completed a school program that may have led to university or college; today, nearly 8 out of 10 do so.
This shift to mass secondary and tertiary education means that high-quality (and lifelong) education is increasingly becoming an important right for all.
The Sustainability Revolution
The second set of challenges and changes is the sustainability revolution, with profound implications for the economy.
Sustainability integrates educational, environmental, social and economic issues. It prompts thinking, working, living and learning in radically new ways. The old way is to try to understand and act on these kinds of issues separately in silos.
The 'environment' is also viewed broadly, including the natural, built and social environments. Issues such as clean water, soil and air, biodiversity, global warming, urban sprawl, public transport, green buildings, etc. obviously cut across the natural, built and social.
How is it emerging?
It includes concern for the environment, the economy and social justice. It pivots on an understanding that our survival and well-being are dependent on the health of natural systems - clean air, clean water, healthy soils and forests and biodiversity.
And education for environmental sustainability involves both deep knowledge and understanding about, and personal and collective action for, creating sustainable schools, communities and societies.
Based on the practical experiences of educators and community members, two key questions need to be explored:
- How education has a pivotal role to play in preparing and empowering people to create a sustainable future
- How education for sustainability is, in turn, at the leading edge of real educational change and improvement, with the potential to transform learning experiences and outcomes.
This two-way benefit from learning how to solve environmental and other problems means that educational renewal and steps toward a sustainable future co-develop and reinforce each other.
The Health and HumAn Rights Revolution
The third revolution is the health and human rights revolution. As has unfolded over many decades in all countries and founded on centuries of people's aspirations and struggles including around issues such as education, the human rights part of this revolution is partly a powerful revolution of rising expectations.
Human rights include civil and political rights such as the right to vote, free speech, freedom of assembly, freedom from discrimination, freedom of worship and the right to a fair hearing.
There may not be the same level of awareness, however, of social, economic and cultural rights such as high-quality education and health care.
Any one right (such as the right to education) is thus a mix of both social, economic and cultural rights and civil and political rights.
But the right to education is not close to being realised anywhere.
In Australia, with the 2006 Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities, Victoria became the first Australian state to provide for formal protection of civil and political human rights. But this does not extend to social rights such as the right to education.
While most countries have signed up to international conventions, the on-going challenge is to provide the national legislation, policy, resources and support to fully realise all human rights in practice.
As the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission, Catherine Branson QC, has observed:
"My experiences as a judge left me persuaded ... that in Australia we have legislatures that are insufficiently rights-conscious and bureaucracies that are insufficiently rights-sensitive. I don’t mean to suggest that our government is on a mission to breach human rights principles. But I most certainly mean to suggest that, currently, human rights is hardly a flicker in the eye of most law-makers and decision-makers. That has to change".
Why health and human rights? Besides the right to the highest attainable standard of health, promoting and protecting health in school communities and respecting, protecting and fulfilling human rights are obviously linked in so many ways such as:
- A lack of attention to human rights (e.g., the right to a safe learning environment) can have serious health consequences
- Health policies and programmes in educational settings can promote human rights
- Vulnerability to ill-health can be reduced by taking steps to respect, protect and fulfil human rights.
Likewise, good governance in schools, which means empowering parents, teachers and students to co-shape their own future, contributes to both better health and better human rights.
Conclusion
These three revolutions - inescapable changes and challenges that can defy conventional wisdom - continue to compel a fundamental rethink of how we live, learn, lead, organise and manage.
This website features all three revolutions and their interplay - from the perspective of school communities and school councils.
