International Day of Education
Today, 24 January, we celebrate International Day of Education, proclaimed by the United Nations to highlight the fundamental role of education in promoting peace and development. This year, the commemoration is held under the theme: “The Power of Youth in the Co-creation of Education.”
Given the current global risks to peace and the enormous potential of education to advance societal development and consolidate peace, employing education with evidenced social impact to prevent violence represents a path in which we can all participate.
An increasingly recognised expectation of society is that the educational actions implemented should demonstrably improve people’s lives, in other words, generate social impact. All members of the population, including those with fewer resources, have the right, and rightly demand, that the funding for educational programmes and professionals, to which they also contribute through their efforts, translates into meaningful improvements for individuals and the wider community.
Such social impact cannot be achieved if educational actions are not co-created; that is, if they are not developed collaboratively with the diversity of people involved. The importance of co-creation in scientific processes and its direct relationship with the social impact of their outcomes is evident. When the voices of those involved are absent from the design and implementation processes, fundamental errors can occur, sometimes producing the opposite of the intended outcomes or causing revictimisation. One example is certain educational programmes designed to prevent child sexual abuse, which, rather than preventing it, have been shown to have counterproductive effects. These mistakes could have been avoided if the voices of the victims themselves had been included.
There are, however, educational actions that are demonstrating social impact in a wide variety of contexts, in which young people are not merely participants, but the very creators of the actions, working in collaboration with researchers, teachers, families, and volunteers. These actions have been shown to positively influence academic performance, well-being, and the creation of violence-free environments that enhance coexistence. Identified as Successful Educational Actions, they are being implemented in numerous schools and other settings across different countries and cultures and have evidenced results supported by international scientific research. Furthermore, implementing these actions does not require additional financial resources; it requires only the shared commitment to co-create with the entire community, guided by the aspiration to improve the lives of all those involved and their communities. These Successful Educational Actions are demonstrating how co-creation in education with social impact can foster individuals and environments that contribute to a world free of violence.
Predoctoral researcher at the University of Barcelona