T H E S U S TA I N A B L E D E V E L O P M E N T G OA L S

T E AC H I N G G U I D E G R A D E S 6 - 1 2

Overview:
• This teaching guide provides an introduction to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a focus on SDG 4 (Quality
Education). Key questions along with primary sources are provided to facilitate comprehension and engage students critically.
Through analysis of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, students will understand the importance of the SDGs in their
daily lives and in the global community.
Students will:
• Engage in dialogue
• Utilize primary source documents
• Formulate written and oral responses
Goals:
• To answer the questions posed in this teaching guide and to better understand the SDGs broadly and SDG 4 specifically
• To realize that everyone is an active participant in his/her community, and thus, by extension, in the success of the SDGs

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Look at the image of the
17 SDGs.
Discuss:

•What do you see?

•What is your initial

impression?

•Do you think that these

goals apply universally? Why
or why not?

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 What are the Sustainable Development Goals?

•The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, are a shared agenda to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and protect the
planet.
•The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), adopted in 2000, aimed to address a range of social and economic issues including poverty, hunger, disease, gender
inequality, and access to water and sanitation.
•The SDGs go much further than the MDGs to ensure that no one is left behind.

•These are the 17 goals:

• Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
• Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
• Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages
• Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
• Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
• Goal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
• Goal 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
• Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
• Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
• Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
• Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
• Goal 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
• Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
• Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
• Goal 15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land
degradation and halt biodiversity loss
• Goal 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive
institutions at all levels 4
• Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development
 The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted unanimously
by UN Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace
and prosperity for people and the planet. At its heart are the 17
SDGs, which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed
and developing - in a global partnership. They recognize that ending

MAKING SENSE OF THE SDG S : poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies
TH E 2 0 3 0 AG E N D A F O R that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur
SU STA IN ABL E D E V E L O P ME N T economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to
preserve our oceans and forests.

➢ Can you explain the

interrelationship among the SDGs
which the following paragraph For more information go to:
references?
UN Department of Global Communications (DGC):
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/

UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA):

https://sdgs.un.org/goals
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 Preamble
• This Agenda is a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. It also seeks to strengthen
universal peace in larger freedom. We recognize that eradicating poverty in all its forms and
dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable
requirement for sustainable development. All countries and all stakeholders, acting in collaborative
partnership, will implement this plan. We are resolved to free the human race from the tyranny of
poverty and want and to heal and secure our planet. We are determined to take the bold and
transformative steps which are urgently needed to shift the world onto a sustainable and resilient
path. As we embark on this collective journey, we pledge that no one will be left behind. The 17
Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets which we are announcing today demonstrate the
scale and ambition of this new universal Agenda. They seek to build on the Millennium
Development Goals and complete what these did not achieve. They seek to realize the human
rights of all and to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. They are
integrated and indivisible and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the
MAKING SENSE OF THE SDGS economic, social and environmental.
• The Goals and targets will stimulate action over the next fifteen years in areas of critical
TH E 2 0 3 0 AG E N D A F O R importance for humanity and the planet:
People
SU STA IN ABL E D E V E L O P ME N T • We are determined to end poverty and hunger, in all their forms and dimensions, and to ensure
that all human beings can fulfil their potential in dignity and equality and in a healthy environment.
Planet
• We are determined to protect the planet from degradation, including through sustainable
Read the Preamble of the 2030 Agenda for consumption and production, sustainably managing its natural resources and taking urgent action
Sustainable Development. on climate change, so that it can support the needs of the present and future generations.
Prosperity
• We are determined to ensure that all human beings can enjoy prosperous and fulfilling lives and
➢ What does it cite as inspiration for the that economic, social and technological progress occurs in harmony with nature.
SDGs? Peace
• We are determined to foster peaceful, just and inclusive societies which are free from fear and
violence. There can be no sustainable development without peace and no peace without
➢ What do the SDGs seek to accomplish? sustainable development.
Partnership
• We are determined to mobilize the means required to implement this Agenda through a
revitalised Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, based on a spirit of strengthened
global solidarity, focussed in particular on the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable and with
the participation of all countries, all stakeholders and all people.
• The interlinkages and integrated nature of the Sustainable Development Goals are of crucial
importance in ensuring that the purpose of the new Agenda is realised. If we realize our ambitions
across the full extent of the Agenda, the lives of all will be profoundly improved and our world 6 will
be transformed for the better.
• Link to Preamble website and document: https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda
 Our shared principles and commitments

The new Agenda is guided by the purposes and

principles of the Charter of the United Nations,
MAKING SENSE OF THE SDGS including full respect for international law. It is
TH E 2 0 3 0 AG E N D A F O R
grounded in the Universal Declaration of Human
SU STA IN ABL E D E V E L O P ME N T
Rights, international human rights treaties, the
Read the “Our shared principles and
commitments” section from the 2030 Millennium Declaration and the 2005 World Summit
Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Outcome. It is informed by other instruments such as
➢ Explain why the references in this text
to human rights and the right to the Declaration on the Right to Development.
development are relevant to the SDGs.

“Our shared principles and commitments” section:

https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda 7
 CASE
STUDIES
ON
SDG 4

SDG 4:
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality
education and promote lifelong learning
for all

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 Explore the UN websites below and specifically look at the targets for SDG 4
SDG 4
TA R G E T S
➢ Have these targets been achieved in your school or community? If not, do
you think that they can be achieved?
➢ Think about countries where the targets of SDG 4 have not been met. What
can the global community do to help these countries improve access to
inclusive and equitable quality education?
➢ How does SDG 4 relate to some of the other SDGs?

Have a discussion about these questions or other relevant related topics.

-UN Department of Global Communications (DGC): https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/

-UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA): https://sdgs.un.org/goals
-UN Development Programme (UNDP): https://www.undp.org/sustainable-development-
goals?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItOW56-SHgQMVwg6zAB3nKwyLEAAYAiAAEgJaG_D_BwE

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 ABOUT MALALA YOUSAFZAI

Malala Yousafzai became an international symbol of the fight for girls’ education after she was attacked in 2012 for opposing
Taliban restrictions on female education in her home country of Pakistan. In 2009, Malala had begun a blog under a pseudonym
about her fears that her school would be attacked; even after her identity was revealed, Malala and her father continued to speak
out for the right to education.

The attack on Malala in 2012 received worldwide condemnation. She and her family moved to the UK, where she and her father
co-founded the Malala Fund to raise awareness of the importance of girls' education. She became the youngest-ever Nobel Peace
Prize laureate in 2014, and was designated a UN Messenger of Peace in 2017 to focus on empowering girls and ensuring their
right to education.

FOCUS AREA: GIRLS’ EDUCATION

Quality education is the foundation for improving all lives. Unfortunately, millions of children - especially girls - remain out of
school, and bolder efforts are needed to achieve universal education goals.

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 C ASE
ST UDY
SDG 1 :
SDG 4

Please watch the following video and consider these

questions:
➢ Why does Malala’s story resonate so powerfully
on the global level?
➢ How does Malala’s message highlight the
importance of education, especially for girls? Malala’s remarks at the Transforming
Education Summit 2022

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 C ASE
ST UDY
SDG 2 :
SDG 4

Please watch the following video on a UNICEF

initiative in Côte d'Ivoire through partnership with
Conceptos Plasticos, a Colombian start-up company.
➢ Discuss the challenge of getting an education
when there is no infrastructure/building for
students and teachers to meet.
➢ How does this video show the interrelation
between SDGs? Building Schools with Plastic Bricks
➢ This video highlights collaboration between
various entities (the government of Côte d'Ivoire, For more information: UNICEF breaks ground on
UNICEF, and a private Colombian company). Africa’s first-of-its-kind recycled plastic brick
Why is such cooperation effective? factory in Côte d'Ivoire 12
 You learned about:

-Malala's story and the struggle for access to quality education.

-UNICEF's innovative solution to lack of classroom infrastructure.

➢ Discuss your reactions to these two examples. Why is SDG 4

DISCUSSION important?

➢ What are some of the main obstacles to achieving SDG 4

globally? Can you come up with some recommendations?

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 Review these primary source documents to see
how the UN has focused on education:

➢ The Preamble and Article 26 of the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-
declaration-of-human-rights
➢ The section on Goal 4 in the 2030 Agenda for
PRIMARY SOURCES Sustainable Development
https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda
➢ Transforming Education Summit 2022:
https://www.un.org/en/transforming-education-
summit
Case Study:
SDG 4

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 Consider the questions below based on the information found in the
primary sources:
➢ What is the role of the UN in guaranteeing and improving access to
quality of education?
REFLECTION ➢ How does education contribute to sustainable development and vice
QUESTIONS versa?
➢ How does access to education relate to the UN’s three pillars
(Peace and Security, Human Rights, and Development)?
➢ How do the SDGs provide a roadmap for the international
community? Do you see relevance in your local community?

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 Additional Resources (including those found in previous slides):
SDG S -World's Largest Lesson
-The Lazy Person's Guide to Saving the World
-UN Development Programme (UNDP) SDG Website
-UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) SDG Website
-UN Department of Global Communications (DGC) SDG Website

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