Humanistic education promotes sustainable development

TODAY, the intensification of global interconnectivity is a key characteristic of the twenty-first century. This has spurred governments and policymakers to envision how best to equip future-ready citizens to navigate the increasingly globalised workplaces and to achieve the 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a "blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all", which are the Sustainable Development Goals.

The solid economic relations developed between Malaysia and China have produced a series of structural changes and broad development prospects to achieve complementary advantages. Not only has the increasingly close economic cooperation between both countries promoted the growth of bilateral relations for achieving common interests, it has also laid a solid foundation for the development of education relations. The Higher Education Ministries of Malaysia and China have mutually recognised the benefits of establishing transnational partnerships to facilitate mutual recognition of higher education qualifications in order to promote cooperation in higher education and to facilitate students' mobility between both countries.

Malaysia is committed to developing the nation as a regional education hub in Southeast Asia. As of 2019, there were approximately 13,450 Chinese students studying in Malaysia. Since the recent developments in sustainable development goals are expected to impact the future of Malaysia-China bilateral relations in education, higher education providers in Malaysia may now need to focus on the pedagogical issues involving humanistic education, besides being concerned about the attractiveness of Malaysia as a regional education hub to this significant group of international students.

Pedagogy concerns arise, particularly related to online teaching and learning. While many studies are in favour of online pedagogy, some quarters continue to question its effectiveness. Critics claim that online pedagogy may drain educators' and learners' basic human ability to empathise and care for one another, rendering them insensitive and less human. In fact, China's officials have asserted that the development of online education is placing immense pressure on students, contributing to their country's obsession with academic achievement. There is growing frustration at the dehumanising effects of the "standardisation and achievements" approach.

Moreover, these officials are worried that the increase in online education appears to be driven by the business interests of the internet providers and technology companies, rather than by genuine concern about the students' educational growth. Various studies have found that most students do not make substantial use of the instructional technology effectively because they devote significant time to personal interests and amusement. Furthermore, students who have utilised such technology typically expressed their reluctance to use it again outside their universities. This collection of evidence and assertions reinforces the importance of being humanistic in education for achieving sustainable development goals in transnational education.

Humanistic education empowers interactions, in which educators should understand the diversity between learners and create a healthy educational environment that encourages human interactions. The term "humanism" shares some similarities with one of the Confucian dimensions, which is communication. When we think of communication, we tend to think almost exclusively of words. And yet, in reality, facial expressions, gestures and tone of voice often play more decisive roles. This may be the reason why people often use emoticons and other visual signs to indicate their relationships and feelings when communicating via messaging apps. Therefore, online pedagogy is only valuable when educators emphasise student-centered learning and employ active learning activities via interactions.

Humanistic education prioritises fundamental human needs and is wholly devoted to developing human nature in all of its forms. Students should be motivated to obtain continuous learning that promotes their growth. Efforts such as providing equitable access to training and eliminating gender and wealth gaps to promote students' growth, which eventually will contribute to a high-quality higher education, should be carried out. In relation to this, China has made a concerted effort to improve education for sustainable development, particularly in deprived communities, in order to relieve poverty. At the same time, poverty eradication has always been a significant component and objective of Malaysia's future development strategies, and getting an appropriate education is one approach to eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable development goals.

Online pedagogy will only be helpful to promote students' growth if educators focus on pedagogical content knowledge. When preparing to teach a lesson, educators should keep the key learning outcomes in mind. Online teaching is probably the most effective way only when educators deliver the right content to the students that facilitate them to achieve their course's learning outcomes. Students' critical thinking may suffer if higher education learning is biased toward an excessive dose of technology that prioritises technical productivity. Course contents should instead be designed to promote openness, creativity and an intellectually disciplined process of actively and skilfully conceptualising, applying, analysing, synthesising and/or evaluating among the students.

Bilateral cooperation between higher education institutions in Malaysia and China in trans-national education may offer economic and educational development benefits to both parties. While enjoying such benefits, humanistic education should be integrated into online pedagogy. Educators should take on the role of student champions, where they should strive to uphold the slogan of "do the right thing" in their effort to help the students. They must do the right thing when it comes to criticising ineffective new educational technology tools.

At the same time, educators must have an open mind to absorb valuable pedagogy that improves learning and should not forgo the humanistic mindset which is to align their course contents to promote students' growth. It is secondary whether educators communicate with the students, through which appealing platforms but educators must attempt to improve student learning and treat students as an end rather than a means. Only when educational technologies are adopted with a humanistic mindset can we accomplish genuinely sustainable development in education.

Dr Koon Vui Yee is a Senior Lecturer at Sunway University. The views expressed here are entirely the writer's own.

The SEARCH Scholar Series is a social responsibility programme jointly organised by the Southeast Asia Research Centre for Humanities (SEARCH) and the Centre of Business and Policy Research, Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TAR UC), and co-organised by the Association of Belt and Road Malaysia.