Education quality, and teaching and learning in the post-2015education agenda

Abstract

At present, there is an intense and wide-ranging debate on the future of global development. This debateoccurs in a context of increasing global inequality, global economic recession, conflict, and climatechange. Discussions about the post-2015 education and development agenda in this context ambitiouslyseek to eradicate poverty, promote social and economic inclusion, tackle climate change, promoteequity, and access to quality education. While the exact goals are not yet agreed and the shape of the finalpost-2015 development is still to be settled, there is a widespread consensus that education is priorityand that equitable and quality education is core to the agenda. In this context, this paper discusses thecontinuities and discontinuities in the proposed post-2015 quality agenda through a textual analysis ofUNESCO consultations on Education for All (EFA). In particular, this article focuses on the UNESCO post-2015 position paper and the Muscat Global Education meeting agreement in April 2015. They aresignificant policy texts as they evidence the current global education discourse on education and thedevelopment agenda and reflect the broad consultations and thinking reflected in the thematicconsultations. They also are important as they seek to clarify and secure the focus on the Education for Allgoals within a future post-2015 development agenda. The analysis of these texts pays particularattention to how quality is conceptualised in these texts, how it is translated into targets and howteachers are located in the global education quality discourse.