This thesis portrays a literature analysis that reflects on the educational notion promoted by two milestone documents: 1) The Report “Learning: The Treasure Within”, submitted to UNESCO in 1996 by the International Commission on Education for the 21st Century and 2) the Agenda 2030 and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, more specifically Goal 4 to: “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”, unanimously adopted by the United Nations in 2015. The thesis interrogates their understanding of education utilising Klafki’s theory of Categorical Bildung, which endorses a balance between material theories of education (materiale Bildungstheorien), focusing on encyclopedic content, and formal educational theories (formale Bildungstheorien), focusing on the students’ behavior and subjective needs. The thesis illuminates the asymmetry between material and formal education found in the two documents and, referring to critical points from formal Bildung-theoretical perspectives, warns against the dangers of the global promotion of an educational notion that mainly anchors on material Bildung.
