Education for Intercultural Understanding in Australian Schools: A Review of its Contribution to Education for a Sustainable Future

Abstract

AbstractEducation for Intercultural Understanding seeks a better world. Its principal goal is education for change through addressing social issues with an intercultural perspective arising at the local, national and especially international levels. Underpinning this cross-curricular dimension is education for a sustainable future - a core concern of Environmental Education.This article will review Australia's engagement with international and intercultural education within formal education with a specific focus on its contribution to a sustainable future. It identifies recent influences that have shaped school policy and practice in this area. Lost opportunities are discussed as well as the scope for future developments, in particular within the socially critical fields of Citizenship Education, Futures Education, Global Education and Anti-racism Education as well as Environmental Education and Education for Sustainable Development. This paper is an extract from a recent report commissioned by the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Centre for Education for International Understanding (APCEIU).