Improving Education for a More Equitable World: Social Justice Perspectives

All improvement requires change, but not every change is improvement.

The Improvement Guide (Langley et al., 2009)

To many, education remains a dream of equal opportunities for all learners, regardless of their backgrounds and contexts. Confucius advocated 2,500 years ago for education without discrimination (有教无类), a dream of education for all. This evolving vision was renewed right after WWII by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, stipulating that everyone has the right to education. Although pioneers, like minority woman leader Patsy Mink, have long envisioned equal education with persevering efforts for the United States, the realities in the country and worldwide do not reflect this dream.

Educational reforms abound around the globe, but limited improvements have been made to actualize educational equity, as is reported again and again by the UNESCO in Global Education Monitoring Reports (2021) and more recently in Reimagining Our Futures Together: A New Social Contract for Education (2022). There are many interrelated factors, often working in tandem, attributing to these limited improvements. These factors include power disparity, income, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, language, ability, culture, religion, geo-politics, and neocolonialism, among others. It is important to note the context within which these factors exist. We are facing a global emergency of climate change, in an uncertain era post-pandemic. However, the people and communities most impacted by these crises are already vulnerable and the situation will only worsen if drastic changes are not made immediately; these factors will only expand existing inequalities, and in particular, further widen the existing gaps of learning access and success. We must then ask ourselves an urgent and crucial question: What responsibilities, agendas, and solutions can properly address these alarming, coalescing challenges?

Educational improvement is not merely a technical term, evidenced by the emerging, fast-growing, and interdisciplinary field of educational improvement studies (Li, 2023). It constitutes a powerful approach and a dynamic process to advance education, through which reality and uncertainty are examined and problems are tackled. It varies across educational levels, forms, and contexts, including but not limited to equity, inclusion, diversity, quality, effectiveness, and sustainability. Each deserves stronger policy actions and more integrated theories and applications, requiring capacity- and community-building, a systemic approach, and multi-perspective inquiries.

Comparative and international perspectives are essential to fulfilling the dream of educational equity. How should we critically look at and meet desired outcomes across time and space? In what ways may micro, meso, and/or macro educational strategies, structures, and processes be improved along with their environments? How do we know through rigorous methods that we ARE making progress responsively? What changes can bring about responsible and sustainable advancement in learning, teaching, and schooling? What implications may these changes have on individual systems, contexts, and the already vulnerable planet? And how may our endeavors help redefine comparative and international education in a way that reconnects it with contextualized educational policy and practice?

The 67th Annual Conference of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) was held successfully online and in Washington, D.C., on February 14–22, 2023, promoting the CIES 2023 Theme “Improving Education for a More Equitable World” with close to 4,000 global participants from various fields of education. To encourage wider CIES 2023 participation, CIES President Elect Jun Li called in April 2022 for Written Responses to the CIES 2023 Theme and the call remained open until the last conference date on February 22, 2023. After the annual gathering, an overwhelming number of submissions of written responses were received from all over the world. Additionally, the UNESCO video responses to the CIES 2023 Theme were supported by various UNESCO centers and units, such as UNESCO Futures of Learning and Innovation, and by UNESCO Chairs across the globe.

To further disseminate these Written Responses to the CIES 2023 Theme “Improving Education for a More Equitable World,” Beijing International Review of Education (Brill) supported by Beijing Normal University; ECNU Review of Education (Sage), East China Normal University; Future in Educational Research (Wiley), Southwest University; and International Journal of Chinese Education (Sage), Tsinghua University (journals in alphabetical order) agreed to make concerted efforts in publishing them as a Special Issue or Collection, together with four special papers based on the Kneller Lecture and Keynote Speeches delivered at CIES 2023.

The publication initiative is the first of its kind with joint endeavors of different journals for the global CIES community and wider readership, thanks to the strong support by Xudong Zhu and Michael Peters, Shuangye Chen, Shengquan Luo and Hongbiao Yin, and Jinghuan Shi, the four journals’ editors-in-chief, respectively, and by CIES President Jun Li, a professor at Western University in Canada who also served as President of the Chinese Society of Education. The four Special Collection and Special Issues were grouped into the following themes by the four journals:

Improving Education for a More Equitable World: Comparative and International Perspectives by Beijing International Review of Education

Improving Education for a More Equitable World: Social Justice Perspectives by ECNU Review of Education

Improving Education for a More Equitable World: Futurist Perspectives by Future in Educational Research

Improving Education for a More Equitable World: Chinese and East Asian Perspectives by International Journal of Chinese Education

This paper reflects the common introduction in the first half, shared by all four journals with their individual permission, while the second half introduces individual articles published exclusively by ECNU Review of Education after its blind review process. The Special Collection presented here to our readers covers the theme “Improving Education for a More Equitable World: Social Justice Perspectives.” It includes, two Written Responses and one Keynote Speech as inspirations for us to explore how education may be improved for a more equitable world, total of three articles as responses to the CIES 2023 Theme.

The first article in this Special Collection is by Linda Darling-Hammond, titled “Reinventing Schools for Equity,” which is based on her keynote speech delivered on February 14, 2023, at the CIES 2023 conference, further solidifying her role as a thought leader in the field of education. In her insightful exploration, she dissected the intricate anatomy of educational inequality, linking it to the allocation of wealth, unequal school resources, and the coexistence of poverty and segregation. She emphasized the pivotal role of well-prepared teachers and contended that their absence perpetuates a cycle of inadequate learning. In the face of a rapidly evolving world, Darling-Hammond suggested a shift in the traditional educational paradigm, calling for reinvented schools that prioritize personalized, inquiry-based learning and cultural competence, and proposing a new approach from conventional methods to match global requirements. She underscored the need for progressive school funding, emphasizing the holistic support required for students, transcending academic dimensions. Her article prompts reflections on improving education as a keystone for a more equitable world in an era in which education is increasingly recognized as a tool for fostering global equity.

In parallel, the second article to the CIES 2023 Theme included in this Special Collection was written by Jiangxue Pan and Bo Wang on “Quest for Equitable Education in Phases: Insights From an NGO in China.” This article explores the complex landscape of China's basic education system, revealing the persistent challenges of inclusive and quality education for all. The authors highlighted that even though China's remarkable economic growth and academic excellence are noteworthy, disparities in educational resources between the coastal and inland regions remain stark. They noted the government's efforts to address these challenges through reforms such as the “Double Reduction” policy. However, the evolving landscape underscored the critical role of third-sector organizations, particularly non-profit NGOs such as Adream. It was established in 2008 by one of the authors, Jiangxue Pan, a financial expert and visionary woman leader. Adream has undertaken a transformative mission advocating fair access to quality education in disadvantaged regions of China. The NGO's three-phase evolution, from establishing Dream Centers to mobilizing stakeholders for system-wide expansion and improving the ecology of learning, stands as a testament to the transformative impact NGOs can have in bridging educational gaps. Together, the authors’ portrayal of the challenges and triumphs within China's landscape of improvement paints a colorful picture. They underscore the shared responsibility of governments, businesses, and NGOs in steering educational reform toward a more inclusive and equitable future.

The third article to the CIES 2023 Theme by Jing Lin, Shue-Kei Joanna Mok, and Virginia Gomes in this Special Collection focuses on “Educating and Embodying Deep Values for a More Equitable World for Both Humans and Beyond Humans.” It presents a way to go beyond the economic aspect of “distribution of equal resources” by complementing the other two articles in this Special Collection. Their advocacy goes beyond conventional discussions of equity, emphasizing the philosophical role of love in fostering a more equitable world. They highlight the need for and shift toward a more soulful and interconnected approach in which education cultivates kindness and empathy. They also presented an excellent discussion on going beyond the competitive paradigm of education and believed that education should foster an inward journey of learning, cultivating the heart for kindness, compassion, and empathy. The last article introduces contemplative teaching and learning pedagogies as essential tools for cultivating holistic educational experiences and promoting solidarity in facing both local and global challenges. This outlook adds a critical layer to the ongoing conversation, highlighting the need to address inequity at the root level by embracing the interconnectedness and transformative power of love, oneness, empathy, and interconnectedness in education for a truly equitable world.

In the quest for an equitable world, Darling-Hammond's call to reinvent education and the other two narratives converged on the pivotal role of love, underscoring the need for a soulful shift in educational paradigms. As we embrace Adream's transformative journey, the collective vision begins with an interconnected world in which education prioritizes kindness and empathy. This holistic approach, beyond economic objectives, forms the basis for a future characterized by genuine equity and compassion.