IndexThe school environmentIndia and the transformation of educationDiscussion and implicationsConclusionDespite the growing attention to research on the school environment globally, research in India has not received a widespread attention. The document is an attempt to focus attention on the importance of the school environment by understanding it in light of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Sustainable Development Goals assume paramount importance and will play a vital role in achieving quality education globally. They set clear goals for all stakeholders, including researchers, so they see that everyone is moving in a shared direction. The paper discusses the role of the school environment in achieving goals 4, 5 and 10. Additionally, research on the school environment is reviewed and gaps are identified. The document highlights India's current progress towards educational goals and offers implications for improving them. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Three years ago, in September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These included a new set of goals, set collectively, which we identify as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Therefore, the 2030 Agenda serves as a general framework and, together with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the 169 targets under these goals, constitutes the general framework for global cooperation. The idea of sustainable development was born in 1987 with the establishment of the Brundtland Commission. They defined sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the current generation without making a deal with the ability of subsequent generations to do the same. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 2015-2030, encompass an incredibly diverse range of areas mainly classified into 3 dimensions: economic, social and environmental objectives. These 3 dimensions are further divided into 17 goals such as: eradication of poverty and hunger, good health and well-being, clean and affordable energy, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, climate action, peace and justice among the others, with education being one of their objectives. These focus on development for the period 2015 to 2030. Education covers Goal 4 of the SDGs. The SDG targets to be achieved under Goal 4 list building educational structures and in particular learning environments that are effective, inclusive, non-violent and safe. She advocates for these facilities to be child, disability and gender sensitive. School Environment There is tremendous variation in the definitions and subdimensions of school. There is also a great degree of confusion and back and forth over the use of terminologies to address the school environment – including school climate, school culture, school ecology. This question has been raised by many researchers (Houtte, 2005). Attempts to address confusion, however, are more widespread in organizational psychology, of which school climate is a product, than in education. Nonetheless, such attempts have been useful in clarifying the great confusion (Denison, 1996; Schneider, Ehrhart., Macey, 2013). However, when observed from the bird's eye perspective, the essence of all these brings the same thought. They all talk about improving the overall school life experiences a child is likely to havewill encounter and which could consequently influence its development and results. School climate is seen as the quality and character of school life (NSCC, 2007). The importance of school climate research has grown exponentially over the past three decades. Early attempts to conceptualize school climate made use of Halphin and Croft's (1963) model, Moos' (1974) framework, and Taguiri's system to understand school climate (Anderson, 1982). With the growing body of research, conceptualization has become a daunting task, yet these names remain pioneers in the study of school climate. The effect of school climate corresponds to all stages of a child's development: physical, cognitive, emotional, moral or social. The school environment is studied from a multitude of perspectives such as academic achievement, mental health and well-being, and safety, among others. Thapa, Cohen, Guffey and Alessandro (2013) identify five dimensions from which the school climate is essentially viewed. These are: safety, relationships, teaching and learning, institutional environment and school improvement process. Under this umbrella of dimensions comes a number of specific outcome variables, namely academic achievement, equality, awareness, attitudes, bullying, school dropout, school connectedness, violence which have been observed with effect on the school environment. The most studied of which is the role of the school environment on students' academic performance. The empirical relationship between them has also been demonstrated through several meta-analyses (Bektas, Çogaltay, Karadag, Ay, 2015). Another interesting fact related to school climate research is that the empirical body remains largely biased towards correlational methods over experimental methods when studying school climate (Thapa, et. al., 2013). The review of school climate research highlights a need for research in the Indian context to align with the depth of school climate research globally. Aligning with global research trends on the school environment would help not only understand the school environment holistically but also identify context-specific problems and solutions efficiently. This would put us on track to achieve the sustainable development goals related to the learning environment. India and the transformation of education All 193 members of the United Nations have adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, of which India is a part. The data suggests that no country has fully achieved the targets, but India is far behind. According to the 2018 Global SDG Index ranking, India is ranked 112th out of 156 countries still lagging behind countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and African countries like Ghana, Tunisia. India performs moderately poorly in education (SDG 4) and extremely poorly in gender inequality (SDG 5), social inequalities (SDG 10) and seven other categories. India has performed poorly in other international studies such as PISA and OECD, the results of which are in line with the above indicators. Government organizations around the world place importance on improving school climate as a means of improving the quality of education. For example, the U.S. Department of Education launched a program in 2007 called “Safe and Supportive Schools.” The United Nations Handbook for Child-Friendly Schools (UNICEF, 2009) addressed the school environment from a multitude of perspectives. We talk about location, design, construction of schools, also addressing the.
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