3-4 November 2022. Dublin Castle, Ireland.
The fifth-ever European Congress on Global Education took place in Dublin from 3-4 November. It was a joint initiative of the Council of Europe’s North South Centre and the EU’s Global Education Network Europe (GENE) with the aim of building broader and deeper political support and commitment to global education. (Source) The event was hosted by the Government of Ireland, co-chaired by the Government of Luxembourg and convened by GENE. Read more.
October 26th – 7pm – Online
Learn about Ireland’s SDG Advocate Training for Adult and Community Educators.
Read Development Perspectives Facebook post on the SDG Advocate Showcase 2022.
Every year since 1983, Soka Gakkai International (SGI) has published a peace proposal authored by its President Daisaku Ikeda. These proposals put forth ideas addressing global issues, grounded in hope and Buddhist humanism to help build the foundations of the culture of peace. Commemorating the 40th peace proposal, a panel discussion was held with peacebuilders and educators from around the world – live on Facebook.
Event Page.
Press coverage: article in the Seikyo Newspaper, Japan.
7th September 2022, Symposium on Global Citizenship as a Pedagogy of Hope, British Educational Research Association Conference, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
聖教ニュース
英国教育研究学会で創価の教育思想巡る分科会
2022年9月16日
英国教育研究学会の年次会議が6～8日、英リバプール市のリバプール大学で開かれ、創価の教育思想に関する分科会が7日に行われた。
テーマは「希望の教育学としての世界市民教育」。5人の学識者が講演した。
カナダのゲルフ・ハンバー大学の「世界市民に関する創価教育研究所」のポール・シャーマン所長は、事例研究を通し、創価大学における教育の模様を紹介。米ニューヨーク州立大学のナムラタ・シャルマ博士は、「人類と自然の共生」「貢献的人生」など、創価教育の特徴を挙げ、世界市民の育成に必要な要件について論じた。
ロンドン大学教育研究所のアレクシス・ストーンズ上級専任教員は、世界市民の定義を再確認しながら、教育が果たしうる役割を指摘。同研究所のアームナ・パシャ博士は、イスラムの思想を基にした新たな教育の在り方を述べた。同大学開発教育研究センターのダグラス・ボーン所長は、希望を与える学習の方途を語った。
IOE@120: Critical Engagement with Educational and Social Thought, Practice and Development: bit.ly/3QyBdBF
It was a pleasure to review this report recently launched at the seventh International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VII) which suggests that adult education does not reach those who need it most. Link to the report: https://www.uil.unesco.org/en/grale5
May 18-20, 2022
Many thanks to the Global Citizenship Foundation for connecting diverse people and communities through the #ICTE2022 Conference!
https://www.globalcitizenshipfoundation.org/profile/dr-namrata-sharma
Symposium “Theorizing Nonviolence and Peace in Curriculum Studies: International Conversations on Interdependence in a Worldwide Pandemic”
Presentation: A Value-Creating Approach to Curricula in India: Gandhi and the Legacy of Nonviolence
21 April 2022
Abstract
It is common practice to use theoretical frameworks developed in the West for education worldwide, but important contributions come as well from non-Western education perspectives that shed light on the emergence of ideas within given regional diasporas.
Value creation serves as a valuable lens through which to examine the ideas and relevance of the Indian peace activist Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) and the Indian heritage of the principle of nonviolence. The term “value creation” encompasses a Japanese approach to curriculum (based on the work of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, 1871–1944 and developed by Daisaku Ikeda, 1928–). It is founded on an interdependent view of life and aimed at developing learners’ capacity to enhance their own existence and contribute to the well-being of others. Using value creation as a lens can help examine the emergence of alternative curricula in the Indian diaspora that are based on such interdependent worldviews and offer an integrated approach to education.
The contributions of alternative paradigms and perspectives can allow for a discourse on the indigenous nature of ideas that are rooted in Eastern philosophies based on similar interdependent worldviews. A value-creating framework can also be useful to examine the Indian educational scene and the many attempts that have been made for the individual learner to be the focus of education. India’s colonial past, the damaging effect of Macaulay’s minute in 1835, and other endeavors to wipe out traditional Indian thought have had lasting ramifications, including the tensions that continue to exist between indigeneity and the colonialism legacy of framing curricula in a way that is often divorced from the learners’ natural environment as well as cultural and social context.
The violence committed on the Indian curricula must be combated by bold actions and by putting an emphasis on the particularities of the learner. There is a need to re-envision alternative perspectives for value-creating curricula focused on the happiness and all-around development of the learner. Further, for learning to be truly dialogic, efforts must be made for the curriculum to be non-centric, that allows learning from diverse knowledge and wisdom. Questions central to curriculum, teaching, and learning must include, for example: Can there be an inclusion of diverse knowledge systems? Are teachers and students able to encounter multiple perspectives of viewing self, society, and Nature (for example, the indigenous Eastern perspectives explored in this paper)? At a policy level, integrating a more global dimension to learning can include study of the educational philosophies of well-known Western educators, such as John Dewey (1859–1952), as well as educators from different geographical regions. For example, university and national directives can deliberate a more substantial use of the educational ideas of Gandhi, Makiguchi, and Ikeda, with relevance for a practicum-based study for teacher education. This paper will conclude on a reflective note of the author’s experiences of studying and working in higher education across countries in the East and West, and by offering suggestions for education across nation-states to bring in diverse ontological understandings and perspectives into nonviolence curriculum.
DrNamrataSharma 