Dear PRME Community,
In her remarks at the High-Level Political Forum Side-Event on Transforming Learning for a Better Future, the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General called to “reimagine how we learn” by developing education models that support “personal and collective agency and help teachers to contribute as active facilitators of learning[1].” There is clearly an urgent need for innovative pedagogies to develop SDG- oriented leaders, particularly in the private sector, given that business entities have a crucial role to play across society in supporting the systemic transformation of education.
I am delighted to say, that as the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), we have been invited to mobilize the private sector on behalf of the United Nations Global Compact, and to engage as a stakeholder in the upcoming Transforming Education Summit (TES), ahead of the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA). This is with the intention of transforming business and management education toward sustainable development and societal betterment with actionable solutions.
We have been invited to lead and co-organize on sessions during the 16 and 17 September, the Youth Mobilization Day and the Solutions Day of the Summit, respectively, as well as invited to provide input to how the private sector can engage in the Leaders Day on 19 September, all taking place at the UN Headquarters in New York City. On Saturday 17 September, we are organizing a panel debate on: ‘Teachers, teaching and the teaching profession’, that will focus on ‘Innovating Pedagogies to develop SDG Oriented Leaders’. Here we will bring experiences and discuss the significance and context for innovative pedagogies in the business school classroom. Much aligned with the call from AACSB to review the role of the professor as a teacher. Is s/he a pro’fessor pro’fessing? A disseminator of knowledge? a facilitator? a mentor? a challenger? a consulting partner? or some other role?
From research we know that students are best able to learn when they are engaged, when they are invited to reflect and when they are encouraged to think for themselves. However, as is often the case, professors are trained to think that ‘here is a curriculum and some matter-of-fact knowledge that students need to learn by heart’ rather than thinking ‘how do I make that student really curious to learn about this important knowledge’.
At UN TES during UNGA week, the PRME Secretariat will be engaged – beyond our panels with UN Global Compact and other UN agencies at Headquarters - in a number of side events at New York University with the Brookings Institution, in Central Park with Accenture and Microsoft, and in the PRME & UN Global Compact Office. We will provide a summary of these engagements in the next edition of the PRME Newsletter.
Warm regards,
Mette Morsing
Head of PRME, Principles for Responsible Management Education
UN Global Compact
New York
[1]https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/dsg/statement/2022-07-12/deputy-secretary-generals-remarks-the-high-level-political-forum-side-event-transforming-learning-for-better-future-education-for-sustainable-development-prepared-for
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