Paper presented by Kevin Charles Kettle
Program Development Officer
SEAMEO Regional Center for Archeology and Fine Arts (SPAFA)
SEAMEO Regional Center for Archeology and Fine Arts (SPAFA)
Background: Today’s World
This is the declared UNESCO International Decade for a
Culture of Peace and Non-Violence of the World. However, while the gap between
the haves and the have-nots continues to widen, it remains to be seen whether
such words can become a reality. Although today there is greater
interconnectedness through transport, communications, trade etc., which has
almost certainly brought benefits to some sections of society, others have been
further distanced with drastic social consequences, and many people are now
struggling for existence.
Another consequence of globalization is that our
sense of space, time and culture today has become more compact. Technology,
mobility and progress have made our world seem smaller and closer. But do we
really understand each other any better?
Transnationalism has given us the illusion of a
borderless world. Information and experience through various media give us a
sense that we have ready access and virtual consumption of other cultures. We
think we are connected and, thus, an “international” community. But are we?
The false assumption of globalization is that we
actually know our neighbors. We begin to imagine that the world is ‘flat’ and
that mass and homogenized culture is everyone’s inheritance. The truth, of
course, is that globalization has opened up our awareness that today’s world is
increasingly diverse and hybrid.
In fact, there is no pure culture. All
identities are hybrid or have mixed origins. From historical times to present
reality, cultural identity is constantly changing. Because of the plural nature
of culture, we witness increasing diversity. Differences do not disappear. They
multiply. As a civilization grows, each community, state, nation and region
faces the critical issue of ‘difference’ and ‘identity’.
In order to understand and formulate one’s
identity, we have to negotiate on ‘sameness’ and ‘difference’. We have to
negotiate on ‘integration’ and ‘diversification’. This is a constantly evolving
process we experience. Given the complexities of globalization, cultural
identity is of utmost vital concern. This is because it is about survival.
The Role of EIU
What role then do educators have to play within
this landscape of today’s world? The answer is EIU, “Education for
International Understanding”.
Certainly, terminologies like ‘globalization’,
‘cultural pluralism’ and ‘cultural identity’ along with such issues as
integration & diversification may lead us to believe this is primarily a
job for policy-makers to tackle. Not so. At the bottom-line EIU holds the
conviction that education can make an impact on the minds, especially of young
school children, about cultural knowledge and sensitivity. And it is only
through cultivating knowledge and sympathy that we can begin to envision peace
and tolerance. Therefore as educators we have a crucial role to play.
The education of young people to raise
cultural awareness for international understanding is nothing new; in fact
UNESCO’s Associated Schools Project Network (ASPnet) was launched in 1953 to
promote intercultural learning. However, more recently there have been many
initiatives made by various organizations, foundations and governmental bodies
in a concerted push to strengthen and promote the idea of EIU. The need for EIU
has become a matter of urgency and it is widely considered that it should
constitute a substantive part of any country’s national curricula. This is
because young people can be encouraged and supported to become protagonists
active in their communities rather than remaining as passive recipients.
What constitutes EIU?
EIU is
akin to values-based education. The search for ways to improve the quality of
education is global and one area of focus has been that of values, attitudes,
and behavior and how to develop these aspects of character in a positive and
productive way. How do we empower individuals to choose their own set of
values? What kind of specialized training is necessary for educators to
integrate values into existing programs? How can values-based education prepare
students for lifelong learning in their communities?
These questions
were asked when Living Values: An Education Initiative (LVEI) was
conceived by twenty educators from around the world who gathered at UNICEF
Headquarters in New York City in August of 1996 to discuss the needs of
children, their experiences of working with values, and how educators can
integrate values to better prepare students for lifelong learning. They
developed a Living Values Educators Kit which became available for piloting in
March of 1997, and by late spring that year was being piloted at 220 sites in
over 40 countries. It offers a variety of experiential values activities and
practical methodologies to teachers and facilitators to enable children and
young adults to explore and develop 12 key universal values: Cooperation,
Freedom, Happiness, Honesty, Humility, Love, Peace, Respect, Responsibility,
Simplicity, Tolerance, and Unity.
The Role of Educators
As noted by
the LVEI team, the call for values is universal as educators, parents and more
and more children are increasingly concerned about and affected by violence,
growing social problems, the lack of respect for each other and the world
around them, and the lack of social cohesion. Educators are, therefore, once
again being asked to address problems that have arisen within their societies.
As UNESCO’s
Commission, headed by Jacques Delors, reports in Learning: The Treasure
Within (1996)
"In
confronting the many challenges that the future holds in store, humankind sees
in education an indispensable asset in its attempt to attain the ideals of
peace, freedom and social justice. The Commission does not see education as a
miracle cure or a magic formula opening the door to a world in which all ideals
will be attained, but as one of the principal means available to foster a
deeper and more harmonious form of human development and thereby to reduce
poverty, exclusion, ignorance, oppression and war."
Role of SEAMEO-SPAFA
Southeast Asia is the cradle of some the world’s
richest and most diverse cultures evident by the existence of several hundred
ethno linguistic groups of people. As a region, there are as many shared
similarities as there are unique distinctions. It is essential that we identify
and teach the special characteristics that define each country that makes up
the wonderful region called Southeast Asia. Along with this, we also impart the
cultural heritage and values that sustain our people.
In line with the above principles, SEAMEO-SPAFA
and UNESCO-APCEIU have undertaken the project of creating an EIU teaching tool
kit. This takes the portable and compact form of a card game. There are 64
cards that contain questions and answers on Southeast Asian arts, culture and
general knowledge, targeted at students aged 10 and above. Not only will the
game itself encourage active interaction amongst students, teachers can also
readily use the cards for quiz sessions in class.
This project specifically for youths is just the
first step. The wealth of knowledge that we can pass on to our young generation
is vast. As a fast-developing region, cultural identity is constantly
hybridizing and diversifying.
In this context we hope the EIU tool kit could help to promote a
better understanding and appreciation of other customs, traditions and values.
Over the past four years SEAMEO-SPAFA has also held 2
international conferences and 10 workshops on the topic of culture and
development in Southeast Asia. From these activities we have now produced two
practical Guidelines* kits with a focus on cultural analysis. The ideas
and activities presented in these Guidelines kits can easily be adapted
and adopted by educators for practical classroom implementation. As noted above
cultures are in a constant state of change and thus cultural analysis is an
adaptive evolving process. As a process it raises awareness of relationships of
power, influence, initiative and creativity. It encourages us to examine and
better understand our own culture as well as the cultures of others we engage
with. Importantly it helps us predict cultural constraints and devise ways to
identify potential conflicts and thus manage to resolve possible conflict
situations. We believe the SEAMEO-SPAFA series of activities on culture and
development can thus contribute effectively towards EIU and also reinforce the
four pillars of Learning for the 21st Century: learning to know,
learning to do, learning to be, and learning to live together.
The scope and challenges that EIU face are
immense but at the same time, rich and rewarding.
Education for International Understanding really
can make a significant contribution to the steadily gaining impetus to ensure
mutual understanding & respect in our quest for peaceful developments
within our societies.
NOTES
SEAMEO-SPAFA is the Southeast Asian Ministers of
Education’s Regional Centre for Archaeology and Fine Arts based in Bangkok,
Thailand.
UNESCO-APCEIU is UNESCO’s Asia Pacific Centre
for Education for International Understanding based in Seoul, South Korea.
- Guidelines for Managing the Integration of Culture into Development Programmes are available for electronic download from the SEAMEO-SPAFA Web Site at www.seameo-spafa.org
- Hardcopies can be obtained from SEAMEO-SPAFA, 81/1 Sri Ayutthaya Road, Bangkok 10300, Thailand. Telephone (662) 280 4022-29.
- Please also contact SEAMEO-SPAFA at the above address should you require an EIU card game kit.
This paper is
adapted from The Importance of Education for International Understanding
(EIU) presented at the World Teacher’s Day 2006 International Conference on
05 October 2006 at the panel discussion on Education’s Role in Responding to
Social, Cultural, and Ethical Challenges.
The paper was prepared by Kevin Charles Kettle, Tang Fu Kuen, and
Pisit Charoenwongsa. Presentation was made by Dr. Pisit Charoenwongsa,
Director, SEAMEO-SPAFA.
Ulasan