Why should lifelong education be considered a good for all humanity? Revisiting UNESCO's view through Comenius' lens
Abstract
The article contributes to a rich debate on the meaning of lifelong education and learning that has been undertaken at the levels of policy, practice and academia, especially with regard to approaches of international organizations (here UNESCO). It represents one of the attempts for reorientation using a classical thinker, who serve as important sources of inspiration at a time of transitions and crises of a globalized world.
The author's explicit orientation is on ideas that have long been embraced by UNESCO's education policy. He views them through a lens that is significantly influenced by Comenius.
Comenian philosophy is presented both as a strong basis for affirming and as a reason for partially revisiting UNESCO's position. The article builds on a combination of theoretical inquiry and critical analysis of policy documents.
In his work, Comenius formulated key and timeless arguments in favour of a universal approach to education throughout the human lifespan, and he also justified why education is a prerequisite for the ability to do rightly and correct what is wrong. Comenius emphasised the ability "to understand rightly, to do rightly" as dependent on wisdom, and universal education as a pathway to wisdom.
Consequently, universalism in Comenian terms is bound to appreciate such forms of education that roughly correspond to the ideal of Bildung. It is argued that what UNESCO refers to as universalism is not genuine universalism because it does not appreciate education as a source of inner cultivation - one of the prerequisites of doing rightly.