Linking SDG 4 & SDG 16: Why Education Underpins the Realization of a Better Future, and Why We’re Failing (76645)
Session Chair: Patricia Walsh Coates
Saturday, 17 February 2024 15:35
Session: Session 4
Room: Kirimas
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
We consider the challenges facing education in the third decade of the twenty-first century, not least as it pertains to the imperative of development. The greater accessibility of higher education, the emphasis on STEM, the marketization of the academy, and now the advent of AI, have resulted in substantial pressures on the higher education system. At a time when more people than ever can access higher education, we seem to have reached a point where trust in political and social institutions has eroded to a consequential degree. The paper considers the link between education and the realization of the SDGs – specifically SDG 16. Without an ‘alert and knowledgeable citizenry’ the ability of institutions to copperfasten any gains we may have made will be lost. The structure of incentives around higher education, both in terms of policy, education provision and consumption, is examined and considered in light of the crisis of confidence in political and social institutions. Just when the problem is at its most critical, Artificial Intelligence presents the most significant threat to the higher education mission. Without a profoundly radical response from education leadership and public policymakers, neither of which seem likely at present, further decline in education standards and by extension informed publics is inevitable. The only realistic capacity our modern global society has to offset the troubling convergence of technical mastery and socio-cultural polarization is the inoculative properties of critical reflection and higher order thinking skills. This is precisely what we have begun to lose.
Authors:
Kenneth Houston, Mahidol University International College, Thailand
About the Presenter(s)
Dr Kenneth Houston is a University Assistant Professor/Lecturer at Mahidol University International College in Thailand
See this presentation on the full schedule – Saturday Schedule
Conference Comments & Feedback
Place a comment using your LinkedIn profileShare this Presentation
Comments
Powered by WP LinkPress