Critical Economic Literacy (CEL)

Although the UN SDGs and in particular Target 4.7 are commendable, there however seems to be a gap in both measuring and addressing how in particular, the learning outcomes and learner attributes where students "understand the interdependence of global and local concerns" or how the skills to be "informed and critically literate" actually come about (Cath da Silva, 2020).

So much of the teaching and practice on GC and sustainability tends to be “downstream” – mitigating negative impacts while not questioning the systems/mental models that create the problems. These mental models tend to come from the Neoliberal economic stories that we have been told, but they have led to much of the crises in our local and global communities. 

Since so much of our global crises have economic roots, it is imperative that some level of economic literacy (not just financial literacy) should be part of Global Citizenship Education. And the first step is to help promote Critical Economic Literacy (CEL) in teachers.

CEL seeks to give teachers a better grasp of how pervasive economic theories and policies work, and to equip them with analytical tools to critique the Neoliberal Economics that inevitably show up in every subject field and grade level. As teachers have more CEL, they are then in turn able to teach and create learning experiences that enable students to think critically about the Economics at work in and around them and how these have local, national and global interdependence and impacts.

The Solution

Create a Teacher Learning Community where teachers meet over an 8 week period to explore Economics while at the same time seeking to implement CEL to their teaching to promote Global Citizenship in their students. 

This is how we can get to SDG 4.7! 

References

Cath da Silva, A. (2020, November 18). Important dimensions of SDG target 4.7 are missing in UNESCOs monitoring framework. United Nations Association of Norway; FN- sambandet. https://www.fn.no/nyheter/important-dimensions-of-sdg-target-4.7-are-missing-in-unescos-monitoring-framework

S, D. (2020, November 26). What to do When Your Bathtub Overflows. [Photograph]. Service Restoration. 

Unesco. (2015, April 20). Global Citizenship Education: Topics and learning objectives. [image]. UNESCO. https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/global-citizenship-education-topics- and-learning-objectives