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So I hope you enjoy the show. Good evening. This is your host, Buffy Williams, and you're listening to the New Heights Educational Group, the New Heights Show on Education. Tonight's topic is a look at the Global Education Monitoring Report 2020.
A recap on last week's show, we talked about the expanding of financial literacy in K through 12, and how integral it is in the future of our economic literacy for the world. On tonight's episode, we explore the 2020 report looking at Global Education Monitoring, which is a wrap-up of the second roundtable that I had episode the other day where we talked about with professionals, about their experiences from Singapore to the U.S. and India and other places across the world. But let us hear your thoughts.
Call us at 917-948-7542, or put your comments in the chat, or tag us on social media using the hashtag NHEG, or as always, you can post your comments on Twitter at Buffy underscore Williams, or on the speaker, Instagram, or YouTube. But remember that my fellow co-host, Erica Hanson, show airs on Thursdays at 2 o'clock p.m. Mountain Standard Time, 1 o'clock p.m. Pacific Standard Time, and 4 o'clock Eastern Standard Time.
The Global Education Monitoring Report 2020 takes a look at a lot of different issues in education globally, and they also look at inclusion and equity, and they look at those, of course, as two separate entities because they are. But one of the important things is that this report is designed to be progress towards a sustainable development of a better educational system, and it targets specific areas. Again, it addresses inclusion in education and draws attention to the overall form of how we go about educating our children in K through 12. And it also looks at the background in the ability of these countries to be able to provide a better educational system.
So with that, it's designed to bring awareness to ensure that we have an inclusive and equitable quality of education globally, and there's a global partnership to ensure that looking at the morale and knowing that it's imperative that we ensure that every child has a right to an appropriate education and a high quality education. But the report also explores the challenges that countries face and educating students with the trying to achieve the same vision globally with the different aspects of taking into account not all countries have the same resources and the cultural differences within those countries. And so in achieving the vision and trying to demonstrate a concrete policy on examples from countries around the world and how they manage and tackle the success of their students and how the differing of maybe just the understanding of what does the word inclusion mean for us. Sometimes there is what does lack of teacher support mean for our country or absence of data in a particular area or appropriate infrastructure and looking at community support and maybe even on targeted finance.
So just getting on the same understanding level between the different countries of what these things mean to them is kind of the basis for the reports. First, this is what we want to try to achieve, but these are the challenges that we may face in doing that, understanding what aspects of each country, how they feel about education in these particular key areas, and how those things may impact their overall goal. And so they also look at the construct of different laws and policies within these countries, and also looking at the educational inequalities. Also, it talks about the progress of telling the story behind education and kind of where we've come from and looking at a new platform where we can kind of explore the different educational profiles.
So it also offers an online platform where you can go and look at educational profiles that describe how countries, laws, and policies on inclusion and education may be different, and that is going to be part of the April 2020 report. And then later on, they will have a regional report that looks at a collaborative effort and a deeper look or deeper dive into inclusion in education in Latin America and the Caribbean that will come out in July and August of this year. And then later on in December, they will have a comparative study and a regional report of Central and Eastern Europe and then Central Asia. And so if you're interested in looking at the continuation of this particular report, and I should also note that the Global Education Monitoring Report on Inclusion is put out by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.
So again, that's the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. And this is a report that is designed to keep us all abreast of what their global mission is, and Global Education Monitoring is an independent editorial report that offers evidence-based annual reports and its headquarters is in Paris. So this report monitors the progress towards education, target goals, sustainable development of goals, and it is also adopted by the United Nations members. And its mandate is drawn from the World Education Forum and the Education 2030 Framework for Action.
And so that's their strategic plan and their focus in moving towards their 2020-30 goals. And so implementation of the national and international strategies help the partners within this Global Monitoring Report that are stated in here kind of have a framework of where they're trying to take education globally and how can we collaboratively focus on the key topics to achieve these actual goals. And they also have an international advisory board. But some of the leading principles for this 2030 agenda is sustainable development that comes from the No Child Left Behind, and it aims to ensure that inclusion and equity or equity ability, I can't even give my words out tonight, equity ability and quality education promote long-term learning opportunities for all students.
And so it also kind of aims to eliminate as much as possible any gender disparities in education and tries to ensure that all levels of education, vocational and voluntary and targeted aims of education is provided. And also looking at the safety and non-violence or a non-violent movement towards bettering education and how can we be more inclusive and effective in our learning environments. And so it's an actual working document and it's just used to provide a basis for consultation and stimulate discussion that can elicit a more robust feedback on what the multiple stakeholders need to take into account as education evolves and the concept of inclusion and education is evolving. So as it relates to concerns and inclusive education, this is kind of like a relatively new term.
So back in the 60s, we considered the idea of children with disabilities should be as far as inclusion should be at that time segregated from their peers so that they could have health care professionals look after their primary needs. But then when we moved on to the 70s, countries started to challenge that approach of the medical approach and children with special needs and it kind of moved more towards educational systems and human rights and granting students with disabilities, the right to education, the right to be mainstream within the classroom. And then in the later in the in the late 70s, the principles of inclusion included students with disabilities or going to maybe even special schools or being integrated into the regular schools. And so there's been this gradual shift in the official language of students with handicaps to students with disabilities and there has been this global agenda to kind of move that segment of the population forward in a more inclusive way.
And so we're looking at expanding education for all students, instead of focusing on students with special needs or special educational needs, it's more inclusive that they want to help children from all backgrounds. And so they want it just to be one general focus of all students and taking into account that all students have from different backgrounds have unique characteristics and unique interests, unique abilities and unique learning needs. And so and that all students have a fundamental right to education. And so they want to look at all aspects of all children rather than separating the children or labeling them in that particular way.
And I also should note that within this particular report, there are 40 individuals from the particular organizations or the particular countries that were used as a focus group to also offer additional information on this particular topic. And so tonight we are discussing the Global Medical Monitoring Report 2020 and how we look at education from a global aspect. And again, I want to note that I did a round table discussion on the 8th of this month and that is uploaded on Spreaker as well. And it is our long episode.
So if you're interested in listening to some educational professionals from around the world, I encourage you to go on Spreaker or YouTube and or SoundCloud and also listen to that particular round table. It's the second round table that we've done. And I was the host for round table two. And my co-host, Erica Hanson was the host for round table one.
So with that said, we're going to take a short break and I hope that you join us after the break. Right now, you might be struggling through your classes or even failing them. You might be worried that you may not finish high school. There might have even been a thought that you may not be smart enough.
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Check us out at svhs.co. Welcome back. I'm your host, Buffy Williams, and you're listening to the New Heights Educational Group, the New Heights Show on Education. And to next topic is the Global Education Monitoring Report 2020.
And just before the break, I gave us a synopsis of the report and the things that they're actually focusing on within this particular report. And some of the principles that are involved in this examination of education and the global movement towards bettering education is some of the inclusive concepts that, you know, all the countries must take into account. They need to look at the needs of the poor, of course, and the most disadvantaged within our population. And that includes, you know, when we're looking at our disadvantage, it's no longer, you know, one segment group.
Because if we're looking at this from a global perspective, we have, you know, children who are working, we have children who live in remote areas, or who are even nomads or have ethnic or linguistic minorities in a particular country or a particular area, which means it may not be their native tongue. And then you have, you know, younger people, we have adults who are affected by conflict. We have our HIV and AIDS population and our population of those who are hungry and poor health. And then, of course, those who have special learning needs.
And so when we think about education and being inclusive, all of those disadvantaged populations are involved within that. And thinking about how we can be, have principles that are non-discriminatory and also provide support for these populations. Of course, we know we have rights for persons with disabilities and they have, you know, policies that are, of course, without discrimination or discrimination based and promote equal opportunity for being inclusive within the educational system at all levels. But as we define inclusive for education and looking at it with a global dialogue and thinking about how are these concepts understood, is it a narrow focus on students with disabilities or are we looking at it from a broader meeting that encompasses all learners and focuses on policy that makes some groups more vulnerable or feel like they're excluded from education, because, you know, that has been part of the framework that they're discussing as well, and it focuses on a full range of participation from all countries to look at the most vulnerable of our population and those that are at risk or marginalized by, you know, what we consider inclusive education.
And we also want to understand within the report that they're explaining that once they are included, that that's not the ending, that's not the end all be all or the end point for where you should go with education. Okay, now that we've included them, now what are we going to do is what the report addresses. And so a lot of the things they're not restricted to questions about strictly education, it also involves a range of elements that are talk about the educational experiences and what that outcome is going to be. And also, you know, what is going to be the education content, what is going to be the learning material that the students will use, teaching teachers to be prepared for being more inclusive and looking at the infrastructure and the learning environment that the students will be in.
And also, what are the community norms globally in these communities and also having an available space for dialogue and criticism so that they can look at are the textbooks promoting one ethnic group of another or does it contain discriminatory content and how can it be more equitable and fair across the board for all cultures globally. And so two of the other highlights, some of the other highlights that they have within the report include the divergence between inclusive education and, you know, how it's been criticized and the lack of conceptual focus and looking at the key differences in interpreting. Can this difference be implemented? I mean, can, you know, these differences across these cultural and global spectrums, can they actually be implemented?
You know, we have this focus and we say that we're going to look at all of the elements and how we can educate across the world. But is this something that we can actually merge together and do in keeping in mind that they're going to be barriers based on the different geographic locations of the schools and of the students and taking a broader view at education and looking at the universal support that we can give students and thinking about all students who are at risk and definitely students with disabilities and how can we include them in mainstream classes and not assume that everything that they have available to them that they have the adequate resources? You know, can this transition can be difficult, especially for the most vulnerable of our populations because sometimes people, when we institute policy, we think that once the policy is instituted, then there's going to be this major swift change and change happens slowly. Policy is something that drives it.
Yes, but it's partially a mindset. You know, people have to get their minds wrapped around. What are these changes we're making? Why are we making these changes?
Again, a clear understanding of what the concepts are and where we're trying to move forward so that everyone is working on as closely related to the same page as possible and recognizing, you know, that there will be differences and there will be challenges that will be faced, but as long as you're working towards providing inclusive education and adjusting and making adjustments according to the recommendations that come forward from parents and community leaders and stakeholders and everyone involved in school systems and administrators and looking at those recommendations and of course making adjustments as those concerns or maybe even feedback that these things are working come forward. And so the report also addresses the different dimensions and degrees and elements of inclusion, you know, related to the different communities. It talks about the interpersonal relationships and the informal groups and formal groups, the classroom structure, classrooms, schools and communities, but it also looks at the different dimensions of the physical, social groups, psychological aspects, what is perceived as inclusion by the student and what is perceived as exclusion by the student. And also systematically, you know, things that affect the most vulnerable population as I noted, you know, such as fees, you know, if the students are part of a migrant family or a refugee family, are there barriers there because they don't have the proper documentation that they need and wanted to be educated within the actual system?
And then some of the final elements that they talk about are the national and legal frameworks regarding education policy and governance and how we can finance it, definitely the curriculum and the learning materials and also the facilities and infrastructure that go along with getting the community involved and having all the necessary ingredients for this suggested framework to work. And also, you know, they are looking at the final report, you know, to examine the role and the different elements, again, as it relates to the support of this inclusional policy, as it relates to, you know, because it's always helpful when you have governance backing you and looking at local inclusion of the learners and who is vulnerable within this particular segment and how geographically it could be balanced in any situation that brings about some disparities there. And so if you're looking for a report that looks at not only education locally, but a global look, again, at education, this is a report that comes out, and again, it is an independent project and the source is the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization. And so I encourage you to go online.
It is a free report that you can look at the framework for yourself and look at the roles in which this report analyzes the role of, you know, the legal tools that are needed to support the development of this educational structure that they're proposing in a more inclusive educational system and looking at it from an international perspective. And so it also sets the stage, and because we can't very well talk about educational reform without looking at the contextual backdrop and I did allude to that earlier. So it does mention the U.S. is 1954 Brown versus education of Topeka County decision, which was a landmark case for civil rights.
And so looking at going forward, you have to also look at the past and look at your past, maybe missed steps, and how we were not able to provide inclusion and equity to students. And so, you know, if our governance is weak, then it can prevent and impede policy and how we're going to move forward within our educational systems, and we also have to take into account that our teachers and our school leaders need our support. And any of these formulas are going to be funding, and so we need to be in support of education or educational leaders and motivate our teachers to be able to implement these things, because there will be structural barriers, you know, give them the autonomy that they need to be able to adapt the curriculum, to be able to have the support that they need as far as educational aid, if they need them within the classroom, if they're going to be more inclusive, but that doesn't come about without funding. So we have to look at if we're going to be more inclusive, you know, is there going to be transportation issues?
Is there an infrastructure problem with our road conditions in getting students who may have some type of physical barrier and having, you know, the buildings designed properly so that these things are accessible? So, you know, there are totally separate issues, inclusion and equity in education and educational system as a whole, and looking at students who may be disadvantaged or disproportionately affected by some of these things. And so we have to look at the communities, current practices, beliefs and attitudes regarding education and educational opportunities, and looking at, you know, how these initiatives can focus on involving parents and community leaders to look at the accountability piece because we are all responsible for providing students with a better education. So I hope that, you know, this overview of the 2020 Global Education Monitoring Report was helpful and informative for you, and I want to thank you for joining me on tonight's episode.
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