The work of Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen, such as Development as Freedom, suggests that studying development offers a fertile ground for investigation and training. The beauty of the whole idea is that this possibility transcends traditional divisions of the world into more and less developed, and lends itself to encompassing components of the emerging idea of human security. Thus, the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) can be seen as a resource for education at various levels.
Almost all States are committed to achieving the eight MDGs by 2015: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and develop a global partnership for health. Several studies on the MDGs and breakdowns of their attainment are emerging.
MDGs can be a component of quality global education at all levels. They can be used to teach students about the UN system, specific States, gender equity/disparities, global health, disease trends and social change, to mention a few. Relevant resources from the websites of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Environmental Programme, the United Nations Development Fund for Women and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS can serve as additional resources.
In the interest of brevity, I will focus on how such resources can be employed in university education. The MDGs can be integrated into university teaching by instructors following classical, critical or empowerment pedagogical orientations. Existing and emergent data on national goals and relevant publications on the topics are amenable to analysis in disciplines such as anthropology, business, communication, ecology, economics, international studies, journalism, liberal studies, political science, public health, sociology and women’s studies. Can one make meaningful contribution to theory, policy and practice, as domains and/or a continuum using the MDGs? The answer is yes. Numerous possibilities are offered by focusing on a specific MDG at the national and global levels, or considering the entire millennium project enterprise.
For those interested in analyzing the political, cultural and social dynamics, the MDGs can be useful to show levels and trends in development that answer questions pertaining to factors such as who is affected by what, when, where, how much, how long, etc. Additionally, national-level data can be subjected to comparison aimed at bringing the national scene into sharp relief, or demonstrating convergence. Because the MDGs are interrelated, they could be analyzed for relationships and effects on each other. Studying these goals in various combinations is arguably endless when follow-up studies are factored into consideration. The problems of timeliness, resources and the cost of textbooks are circumvented by the availability on the Internet of MDG-related materials as full-text documents. There is no shortage of books and/or peer-reviewed journals either. Thus, interdisciplinary collaboration can facilitate the incorporation of the MDGs into many courses.
The MDGs can also be included in the core curriculum in schools. Themes such as inequality, international health, globalization, social problems, sustainable development, global terrorism, peace and human rights can be accentuated by including the MDGs as a module or an ongoing lesson. Whether students end up as economists, business planners, researchers, social workers or politicians, they will have been exposed to important information for them to claim the status of informed global citizens in the era of globalization. The MDGs also are relevant to business (demand and supply of commodities and services), health-care service delivery and research, politics and public policy, community development, democratization, international cooperation and peace. Thematic or statistical analyses (micro and macro levels), modelling, baseline and follow-up studies are available by using downloadable data from the UNDP website. Instructors can save time because relevant study and reference materials are readily available online. Additionally, linking MDGs to policies of major financial institutions, such as the World Bank, can be a fruitful way of teaching complexity of international policies.
Goals of equity, global justice and international peace can thus be promoted on campuses, thereby making students part of the community of global actors. Instructors can include evaluating the impact of covering MDGs in coursework of student action on global development, human rights or peace. Such evaluations can, in turn, form the basis for evidence-based teaching and influence policy and action. Over time, the possibility of organizing symposia and workshops to share experiences in using MDGs as a teaching tool can also be explored. |
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