Toward a Cosmopolitan Vision of 21st-Century Education

• In Event: Hilton Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: International Education and Policy

Abstract

All over the world, governments propagate the urgency to educate students for the twenty-first century. Such justifications are typically grounded on economic rationality and informed by Human Capital Theory (HCT) leading to the corporatization of schooling. As such, I propose two other theories – Human Capabilities Approach (HCA) and Cosmopolitan Capacities Approach (CCA) – that are centered on human well-being and the flourishing of others in a global age. I draw attention to the way twenty-first century education is articulated in two schools via frameworks and highlight the limitations when such frameworks are directed by HCT. I then demonstrate how the incorporation of HCA and CCA can encourage a more ethical vision of education conducive to our interconnected age.

Author

• Suzanne S. Choo, Nanyang Technological University - National Institute of Education