What counts as critical thinking varies by culture, reshaping global education policy
A new study shows that 'critical thinking' — a cornerstone of global education policy — isn't universal but shaped by local history and values. The finding has immediate implications for governments and international bodies attempting to export one-size-fits-all education frameworks, suggesting they need local adaptation to actually work.
Originaltitel: Critical education for sustainable development: exploring the conception of criticality in the context of global and Vietnamese policy discourse
<p>This paper analyses how ‘criticality’ is negotiated in the global policy frameworks on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and re-conceptualised in Vietnamese ESD policymaking. Taking the context of Viet Nam, this paper reflects on what constitutes criticality in education in the light of cultural and historical contexts of the education systems. The comparative perspective helps explore whether (1) universal or decontextualised ‘criticality’ exists or (2) whether ‘criticality’ is culturally negotiated based on the premise that educational imaginaries of societal formation and transformation are historically and contextually embedded and contingent. In addition, this paper connects the ongoing debate on the critical potential of ESD within the field of environmental education (EE) research to comparative education research by highlighting both what a comparative perspective might offer to EE research and what recent developments in EE research might contribute to comparative education research.</p>