Sustainability and Social Justice
Document Type
Article
Abstract
We conduct a critical discourse analysis of the extent to which Sustainable Development Goal 4, “to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all and promote lifelong learning,” promotes a utilitarian and/or transformative approach to education. Our findings show that despite transformative language used throughout the Agenda, the SDGs primarily espouse a pro-growth model of development and a utilitarian approach to education. We conclude that for SDG 4 to truly contribute to sustainable development and transformation, there must be a shift in the dominant educational discourse so that issues of social and environmental justice are placed at the heart of educational priorities. Ultimately, present a cautionary note to the euphoria surrounding these goals by exposing the extent to which SDG4 is inconsistent with transformative education.
Publication Title
Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies
Publication Date
3-1-2017
Volume
15
Issue
1
First Page
181
Last Page
204
ISSN
2051-0969
Keywords
critical discourse analysis, education policy, Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, transformation, Utilitarian
Repository Citation
Mitter, Radhika and Brissett, Nigel O.M., "For Function or Transformation? A Critical Discourse Analysis of Education Under the Sustainable Development Goals" (2017). Sustainability and Social Justice. 56.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_idce/56
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Copyright Conditions
This article is posted here for personal use, not for redistribution. The article was published in the Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, vol. 15, no. 1, 2017, http://www.jceps.com/archives/3326.
