This paper considers that education is for the ‘common good’ and explores the ways in which the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be both a motivator and guide as to how this might be achieved. In particular three SDGs relating to human rights, education and the environment will be explored and developed to illustrate how they might form the basis for developing an education environment in which the ‘common good’ is paramount rather than the need for school league tables and standardised testing of students. The premise that schooling is about preparing our children and young people to take their place as responsible adults in the wider world is the underpinning paradigm for this paper.

The concept of the ‘common good’ is explored to reveal that while the term may be considered as an ideal to attain, it can also be used to allow for persecution and division in an autocratic and inward looking society. It raises the need for a global understanding of the term if the educational ideal is to be achieved.

The UNESCO publication (2015) asserts that there is a need to consider the guiding principles of education “as a human right and as a public good” (p. 11). Hollenbach (2002) considered the common good as being “the good realised in the mutual relationships in and through which human beings achieve their well-being” (p. 81). The perception of the ‘common good’ in today’s world would appear to be directed by governments who formulate policies and give directives to state agencies to direct how they work within society to both overtly and covertly meet the underlying principles of the political party in power.

Governments taking such power to themselves may argue that this is the only way to protect its citizens, but it has the potential to open the door to misuse of such power under the guise of being for the ‘common good’. The neo-liberal zeitgeist of standardisation would dictate that schools are about attainment targets for students, leading to school curricula and teaching strategies being about making sure that students can pass tests rather than learning for life. In this model, there is no place for the development of critical thinking skills, nor of deep inquiry strategies. In contrast, Rennie, Venville and Wallace (2012) regard schools as having the “social role of preparing our youth to be responsible adults and sensible citizens” (p.viii). The authors see the starting point of this approach as the “proposition that we live in a global community” (p.viii). Alderson (2016), in discussing citizenship education and its possible dilemmas, asserts that knowledge about rights should be a crucial inclusion in school curricula. She comments that “…rights serve as powerful structures that can help to prevent and remedy wrongs, and they work as enduring high standards and aspirations” (p.1).

The three SDGs under consideration link to the world in which we live and the ways in which they can influence our concept of what might make the basis for schooling that values the ‘common good’. The concept underlying this thinking is that we have a common dwelling place on a planet revolving in orbit around our sun. As such, each of us has a responsibility to care for our dwelling and look out for the interest of others. Each abuse of this world has an effect on all of us. The author contends that by diversifying the concept of schooling and the nature of school curricula to emphasise these three goals then we have the opportunity to have education systems that have the overarching aim of being for the ‘common good’ of society.

The issue of how the ‘common good’ might be achieved through education was examined through a focussed review of the literature found within UN documents, contemporary texts and academic journal articles. The review searched for the key words ‘common good’ and how they are linked to human rights, education and the environment. In particular, literature that expands on and exemplifies the SDGs under consideration. The principal researched texts include the following: 1. The Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR, 1948) is the basis for any consideration of Human Rights and is relevant to the consideration of the ‘common good’ because of its emphasis on respect and care for each other. 2. The United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training (UNDHRET, 2011) provided the basis on which to build a curriculum with a focus on an education that promotes “universal respect for and observance of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, in accordance with the principles of the universality, indivisibility and interdependence of human rights” (Article 1.2). 3. SDG 16 links to human rights with its intent of promoting peaceful and inclusive societies that provide justice for all through effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. SDG 4 aims at the establishment of inclusive and equitable education and to promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. SDG11 has the intention of creating an environment in which all human living communities are inclusive, resilient and sustainable. The common theme across all three SDGs is the establishment of societies in which all people can fulfil their potential as citizens in their community. 4. The Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration (2019) is an important document within the Australian context particularly for young Australian Aboriginal students and its provisions matched to the outcomes of the three SDGs. 5. The prescient Delors Report (1996), Learning: The treasure within indicated the way in which education could be fashioned to meet the ‘common good’ and was scrutinised to search for links to the research topic. 6. Education 2030, Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action (2015) was referenced to highlight the specific aims of SDG 4 although many of its comments also apply to SDG 16 and SDG 11. 7. The Forum for a new World Governance drafted a Charter of Emerging Human Rights in a Globalised World (2012) that adds to the original UDHR (1948) by reviewing the way in which emerging nation states and digital technologies influence the global community.

The aim of this research was to clarify the ways in which the goals of SDG 16, SDG 4 and SDG 11 can together provide a framework for a curriculum that enables students to understand their place in the world and the affects and effects that actions have on others in their society. That society might be the school or classroom group of students of which they are a part. Starting with the concept of society being in the school or classroom, the students can be encouraged to consider: 1. How they regard each other as evidenced through personal interactions that have a positive negative affect on members of their social group. 2. Physical actions such as careless littering of the outside spaces or wasting of water can have an adverse effect on the environment as a whole. 3. Relating each seemingly small action to its wider impact can reinforce the overarching goals of the three SDGs. 4. Translating that learning to their wider world beyond the school or classroom can enable the students to consider the ‘common good’ as a motivator for personal interactions and the wider environment. 5. Diversifying the school curriculum from a limited focus on academic outcomes leading towards developing a generation of young people who will work towards meeting the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals. A children’s rights environment within the school should encouraged all staff to: 1. Create an atmosphere within the school community that embraces diversity of ethnicities, language, cultural background, physical and cognitive abilities. 2. Develop learning and teaching approaches that encompass the diverse learning styles of students and a variety assessment modes through which they can present their knowledge and understanding. 3. Encourage all students to develop their individual personalities and have a sense of personal worth.

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