Abstract
Education is often perceived in policy agendas as playing a transformative role in realising sustainable development and the SDGs on the continent. The assumption is based, however, on an insufficiently critical understanding of the historical role of education in supporting unsustainable development. The article provides a critical account of the relationship between education policy and sustainable development in Africa as an aspect of the postcolonial condition, i.e. as an aspect of the colonial legacy and of Africa’s position in relation to contemporary processes of globalisation. It is argued that if education is to play a transformative role in relation to sustainable development then education policy needs to be fundamentally reoriented and harnessed to wider processes of economic, cultural and political transformation in the interests of social and environmental justice.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 223-237 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Asia Pacific Education Review |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Early online date | 18 May 2019 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jun 2019 |
Research Groups and Themes
- SoE Centre for Comparative and International Research in Education
- SoE Centre for Higher Education Transformations
- SoE Educational Futures Network
Keywords
- Sustainable development
- Education for sustainable development
- Africa
- Postcolonial condition
Access to Document
- Full-text PDF (final published version)
This is the final published version of the article (version of record). It first appeared online via Springer at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12564-019-09600-5 . Please refer to any applicable terms of use of the publisher.