In her presentation at the FOSIT Symposium 2023 on SDG 4, Beatrice Schulter, director of RECI, highlighted the Italian distinction between “istruzione” (formal education) and “educazione” (holistic education).
She emphasised that SDG 4 encompasses not only formal, but also non-formal and informal education. She also put lifelong learning in focus, which extends beyond knowledge acquisition and include the development of skills necessary for a successful life.
Beatrice also addressed the crucial influence of educational infrastructures adapted to an understanding of learning as an active process driven by the learner, and the need to increase the number of teachers qualified to facilitate active learning.
She concluded by calling for collective action to significantly strengthen the financing of education worldwide, to decolonise education financing, and to democratise education governance. She reminded the audience that SDG 4 is the key to global development towards justice, peace, human dignity, and prosperity.
In the afternoon, Beatrice Schulter facilitated an interactive workshop on the topic “How to build a good school – beyond just bricks”, where participants exchanged on their experiences in education projects. With the help of various engaging and liberating methods the participants reflected their approaches critically and jointly developed ideas on how to make one step forward towards more holistic approaches.
