Documentation of the Café Weltgeist OpenSpace Online-Conference
"Global Learning & Shaping the Future"
Nov 18, 2003
GLOBAL EDUCATION
>>> Global Education
>>> Old & New Ways of Learning
>>> Netizenship
>> 1: "In which way can schools contribute to global learning?"
>> 2: "i would like to talk with you about international examples (best practice) of access to global learning"
>> 3: "how can we teach an international group considering the cultural differences and ways of learning?"
>> 4: "what can culture be and contribute towards a positive future?"
>> 5: "How can we involve more school subjects than foreign language teaching in global learning?"
>> 6: "Educational Online Magazines - How can they contribute to Global Learning?"
>> 7: "How do we eliminate the disparity of quality and content of global education" issues?
>> 8: "How to spread the concept of netizen - of online citizen, one who participates in vital affairs"
>> 9: "how can we can overcome our box thinking, falt thinking and labeling, our imagined feeling right"
>> 10: "How do we achieve universal access at little or no cost?"
>> 11: "How can we build Global Sustainability Education in all schools worldwide?"
>> 12: "How can we connect learners and work together to create new learning communities?"
"In which way can schools contribute to global learning?"
"How can we involve more school subjects than foreign language teaching in Global Learning?"
Important results / arrangements / recommendations:
> change the educational approach in aim and method
e.g. the recent 1998 Phys. Ed. guidelines in Lower Saxony should strike everybody used to conventional PE with astounishment
> Develop learning strategies for self-learning
> change teaching modes (open / group / participatory / media...)
> change perspectives
CLASS-ACTIVITIES
> start at early age (kindergarden, primary school (age < 8 up)
> Include all subjects, including Geography, History, Politics, Natural Sciences, Religion, Music, Arts
> Solutions / Best Practices: cf. Peacechild (Mabel Toribio)
(1) treat themes IN CONTEXT
- to a far away country (preferably of different development status)
- to a different culture
- and includ sensible matters of sustainability concern
e.g. History: Peruvian parallel to Spanish History
e.g. Biology: locating different Biodiversity (and threats)
e.g. Politics: refer to Sep 11 2001 and 1973 (Chile) (great movie: "11'09'01-September 11; 11x11min short movies by 11 directors of 11 countries from Afghanistan to NY)
e.g. Music: the roots are often African-blooded (Gospel, Blues, Jazz, Reggae, Rock, HipHop, House, Techno, Salsa, ...)
e.g. Religion: worldviews, rituals, festivals (familiarities, adoptions, differences, roots: examples: life after death in different religions / traditions; or e.g. festivals: compare Christian festivals in different continents; e.g. the origins: Christmas, Easter etc. have nothing to do with Jesus and early Christian rituals, cf. Bible, but with sociopolitical accomodation with pagan peoples from 5th century onwards)
EXPAND HORIZONS beyond the school book and fence
> involve the real world
> how does it affect the children's everyday life?
> involve international communication via internet
> involve distance learning schemes
> facilitate cross-social, cross-cultural and international encounters
> facilitate youth volunteerships around age 16 (8weeks+ to 6 months)
> cooperate with educators from NGOs
- workshops in schools
- projecteering
> use the developed countries' potentials to the best advantage
> have children experience their efforts' positive impact on local/international peers, environment and all life-forms(!) ("Web of Life")
e.g. Fair Trade, Fair Trade, funding sustainability projects abroad, start intern. grassroot community AgendaAlliances
> the children will educate the adults and parents
FINANCES
> International EU support programmes for international education cooperation and exchange: Socrates and Comenius program; info
CURRICULUM
> Offer best practice solutions for introducing Global Learning into the current curriculum fence (help teachers)
> Develop and establish a core-curriculum for Global Learning (e.g. International School Peace Gardens,(Julia Morton-Marr, Canada) e.g. Peacechild in Peru (MABEL Toribio, please help with details on this!)
> Survival Education is an officially introduced term reflecting the affective and urgent side of sustainability education (developed by the Sustainability Education Group at "Interdisciplinary Conference on the Evolution of World Order") (Julia Morton-Marr, Canada)
> link up to the schools' horizon: "By giving schools and students a frame of reference within which they can begin to understand the information they are recieving, though global learning. There seems to be a gap between comprehension of information and implementation of that information. There is also a major problem with overload that is being received by students." (Julia Morton-Marr)
Best Practice Examples for
1. Introducing Global Learning in schools
2. Facilitating integration for teachers
3. Combining theory with Practical Action
4. ?
Important results / arrangements / recommendations:
> Establish Global Sustainability Education (GSE) in all schools worldwide.
> Orchestrate it worldwide at the same time
> Promote it at grass roots level and with the heads of education policies
> Focus on our planet and people, species survival.
> Survival Education or Peacebuilding Education needs a core of subjects such as the recycled arts, environmental education, cultural understanding, conflict resolution, intercultural studies, consumer studies and the language arts and the Performing Arts.
> The Earth Charter and the development of a GSE Covenant are appreciated but considered difficult to achieve. Our group hopes that the Internet and this conference will help us move forwards
> Solutions / Best practices:
1.) CURRICULUM
- Jane Goodall Roots and Shoots
- International School Peace Gardens, (Julia Morton-Marr, Canada)
- Peacechild in Peru (MABEL Toribio, please help with details on this!
2.) SCHOOL PRACTICE
- it is already compulsory in Ontario schools (due to dedicated pioneer Tom Lyons) (Julia Morton-Marr, Canada)
- it is practiced in homeschooling groups in Florida: recycled art, park clean-ups, Jane Goodall Roots and Shoots group, events (Dee Malloy, USA)
> Apply a GSE curriculum in FREE learning groups, such as home schools, alternative schools...
> use the power of the internet for ACCESS to meaningful content, knowhow and contacts
1. GSE Curriculum Pioneerships
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?
Important results / arrangements / recommendations:
Issues affecting global learning include -
> provide access to appropriate resources, including funding
> provide open communication, which also results of research and development
> apply social entrepreneurship as a means to solve the issue of funds
- conventionally, motivation of research and development is economic gain
- how can companies be motivated to adopt corporate citizenship practices without forced govt regulation that may promote corruption ?
> open source communication is an important tool in the promotion of global education
- how can it be expanded making it a more widely utilized mechanism of education ?
> the Western styled institutions limit freedom to formulate creative ways in delivering education (Sipho, PLEASE GO INTO DETAIL)
HOT TOPICS
1. Knowledge acces and transfer
2. Opening online-access
3. How to include non-educational institutions as businesses into supporting the cause of improving education
Important results / arrangements / recommendations:
There was little exchange for some reason, we will provide information and examples of best practice application of online magazines as co-creative educational online learning environments in the post-conference information.
> Solutions / Best Practice Examples:
- http://www.fluter.de
Initiated by the German Federal Centre for Political Education, realized in cooperation with a young agency, Fluter Online Magazine features monthly topics as racism, homosexuality, sustainability, violence, with many prominent youth culture voices, presenting innovative projects, featuring fresh daily content, provided by a hundred partner editors, also running sub-sections to be edited by young authors. For some reason, linking up to young authors is difficult, but page visits are rising strongly. Workshops in schools and a print edition are the current new steps upwards. The readers learn about Fluter in school advertisements, but the dominant use is in spare time information, not class-room application (no educational tools and format provided! ). 400+ forum posts a month display an interested readership.
- http://www.exilclub.de
school groups research biographies of prominent exilants, online, and also meeting them in person, and designing an online-presentation hosted on the ExilClub website; in cooperation with leading afrogerman Hiphoppers etc. The project received recognition by Kofi Annan. Sadly, the format lost authenticity since the main sponsor overtook the original creator's place, chasing / handcuffing the editors, and not even providing a single contact-facility on the website.