Workshop on Education
| Time: |
|
19 July 2002, 09:00-12:30 |
| Location: |
|
CCV A |
|
Moderator(s): | | • Mr. Pape Diouf, Chargé d'enseignement, Graduate Institute for Development Studies (IUED)
|
|
Presenters/ Participants: | | • Ms. Monique Prindezis, Peace Education International
• Ms. Myriam Bouverat, Fondation éducation et développement (FED)
• Ms. Cora Weiss, International Peace Bureau (IPB)
|
| Reporter: |
|
Kelvin Cheung (ICVolunteers) |
| Language: |
|
French/English |
| Key words: |
|
Education, development, peace, human rights, World Bank, funding, civil society |
|
|
|
The workshop focused on different aspects of education, including peace education, education for
development and human rights education. The Chair, Mr. Pape Diouf of the Graduate Institute for
Development Studies (IUED) highlighted that forces of social change, such as globalisation and urbanisation, together
with the pressing issue of war have raised questions for education which require serious reflection and debate. Referring to the activities of
Ecole Instrument de Paix, Ms. Monique Prindezis highlighted what she perceived to be the fundamental principles of human rights education. She
underlined that human rights
education should be based for the building of democracy in schools, and that this should be enforced among both teachers and students. In addition, she noted that human rights education was about a 'spirit of living', rather than the learning of rules and theories. Ms. Myriam Bouverat
of the Fondation education et développement believed that education for development should integrate different types of knowledge:
knowledge about the economy, the environment and society. She also advocated a critical approach to learning –the constant raising of questions, rather than the passive absorption of
knowledge. Ms. Cora Weiss of the International Peace Bureau noted that the key to promotion of peace lies not in disarmament strategies (e.g.
the exchange of weapons against jobs or money), which are often only effective in the short term, but rather in the cultivation of peace-consciousness at the early stages of children's education. Using examples
from Albania, Niger and Cambodia, Ms. Weiss talked about the different ways through which this consciousness can be cultivated, e.g. developing manuals for
teachers, organising of seminars for the community. Interesting questions
Mr. Chang-Liu Li, a professor in political science from Taiwan, emphasized that when developing educational programmes in human rights/peace/development, one
needed to be sensitive to the issue of cultural differences alongside universal values (as defined for instance by the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights). This point was
acknowledged by the speakers, who suggested that policy makers and educators
should closely work in collaboration with the local communities whenever possible, in order to develop programmes that are appropriate for the relevant
culture. The issue of funding was also raised. A representative from the World Bank informed the
speakers and audience of how her organisation could assist civil society organisations working in the area of education. In particular, she outlined a recent
"fast-track initiative", which aims to enable 47 countries from around the world to meet the millennium goals in education set out by the United Nations. Conclusions
The Chair encouraged the audience to reflect upon aspects of education explored in this workshop, to share ideas, and to
seek out for solutions to problems in a
collaborative manner. While there is little doubt that education does have an important role in promoting human rights, peace and development, civil society and other actors must now ensure that the benefits of education are realised in practice.
Presenters' Documents Available
  19.04_chang-linli.doc (54 K)
 Click
here for all available presenters' documents
Click
here for all available summaries
 Please
read about the summaries
|
