Principles
We want to work towards common goals that are important for society as a whole, both from a micro and macro perspective.
Together, we have written texts that clarify how we see our mission in context, and the overarching principles on which Educate is based. It gives us direction.
Horizontal aims of Educate
In addition to the learning outcomes for all courses, seminars, workshops and other educational activities at Educate, we also have horizontal objectives that link our activities and build bridges between the learning outcomes of the different activities.
The horizontal aims are to empower and enable teachers to solve problems in pedagogical environments, promote and participate in peer learning and co-creation, and expand their pedagogical repertoire to facilitate lifelong learning.
De horisontella målen är att stärka och ge läraren möjlighet att lösa problem i pedagogiska miljöer, främja och delta i kollegialt lärande och samverkan, och utöka sin pedagogiska repertoar för att underlätta livslångt lärande.
Sustainable development
What does sustainability in education mean?
Jönköping University works actively to contribute to the sustainable development of society through education, research and collaboration. The work is done both locally and globally and is based on the Global Goals in Agenda 2030, adopted at the UN Summit in 2015.
You can read more about sustainable development at JU.se.
The background to Educate's mission (President's decision § 958) describes several challenges we face as individuals, as a university and as a country. It also expresses a need to meet these challenges in a sustainable way.
Jönköping University (JU) is facing major challenges. In part, this is due to societal changes in conjunction with the COVID-19 pandemic; for example, students’ and teachers’ experiences (positive as well as negative) of distance learning have shown the need to evaluate and develop previously accepted pedagogical methods. Distance examinations held during the pandemic have also highlighted the need to develop improved examinations in order to achieve a higher degree of precision and legal certainty. JU also lacks a university-wide seminar culture for pedagogical issues. Competence in teaching and learning in higher education is dispersed across the university’s four schools with little or no collaboration. The existing range of courses on academic teaching and learning needs to be developed to cover both theoretical knowledge and practical know-how.
Meeting these challenges will require a sustainable, functional organisation that can offer pedagogical support and inspiration to JU’s teachers. In order to build such an organisation, we intend to establish a Centre for Academic Teaching and Learning at Jönköping University. This will be accomplished by expanding the scope of the University Library’s assignment to encompass support for the pedagogical development of JU’s teaching staff.
What do the Sustainable Development Goals say?
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 have a specific target on education development, 'Good Education for All', Goal 4. In order to work in a sustainable way, we strive through our mission and our horizontal aims to respond to the challenges presented in the background to the mission, and to work towards the SDGs.
Targets
Several of the targets of Goal 4 are highly relevant to us, and the content we create at Educate. For example, there are strong links to working with equal opportunities, broadening participation and broadening recruitment, the latter of which has also been included in the Higher Education Act since 2001. Universities and colleges must actively promote and broaden recruitment to higher education in their activities.
Target 4.3
EQUAL ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE TECHNICAL, VOCATIONAL AND HIGHER EDUCATION
By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university.
Target 4.4
INCREASE THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WITH RELEVANT SKILLS FOR FINANCIAL SUCCESS
By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.
Target 4.5
ELIMINATE ALL DISCRIMINATION IN EDUCATION
By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations.
Find out more about what you can do to adapt your own teaching in the Educate guide to Broadened Participation. We can also recommend the Broadened Participation workshop and the Broadened Patricipation ATL3 course to help you develop your understanding and skills around broadening recruitment and participation while maintaining quality.
Target 4.7
EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP
By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development
Target 4.A
BUILD AND UPGRADE INCLUSIVE AND SAFE SCHOOLS
Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all.
You can read more about the development of learning environments in the context of Educate's ongoing activities under Teaching labs and ALC.
