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Catch up on what’s happening in the world of global citizenship education.

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Enhancement Workshop on GCED Curriculum Development and Integration for Mongolian Project Coordinators: A Synergy between Mongolia’s Passion and Korea’s Expertise 2018-12-28 An enhancement workshop for the Mongolian GCED curriculum developers was held by APCEIU on 15 to 18 November. Seven participants, including researchers at the Mongolian Institute for Educational Research (MIER), a professor at the Mongolian National University of Education, and a teacher at a GCED model school, attended the workshop as representatives of the GCED curriculum development project team in Mongolia. For the workshop, Seoul Ancheon Elementary School and the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE) provided special cooperation. Mongolia has been developing and disseminating GCED curriculum in collaboration with APCEIU since last year, and its major outcome, a teacher’s guide on GCED will be published next year. In support of the project, the purpose of the workshop was to provide an opportunity for the Mongolian project team to collect resources and feedback from GCED experts and schools in Korea for the development of the Mongolian teacher’s guide on GCED. In his welcoming remarks, Utak Chung, Director of APCEIU, expressed thanks to the Mongolian government’s wholehearted support and the project team’s devotion in the GCED curriculum development. He wished for the workshop to provide upmost valuable supplementation to the development of the Mongolian teacher’s guide on GCED, and to serve as an opportunity to deepen the solidarity between the two countries under GCED.  Throughout the 4-day workshop, the participants deepened their understanding on GCED through hearing the experience on the development of the GCED curriculum guide in Korea, receiving lectures on transformative pedagogies for GCED, visiting a GCED research school, and engaging in consultation with Korean GCED Lead teachers and curriculum developers from KICE. With the invitation by the Seoul Ancheon Elementary School to the report meeting on the GCED research school activities, workshop participants gained on-site experience by closely observing GCED classes in play and exchanging dialogue with teachers and students at the school. Sid Sanjaabadam, Research Director of MIER, proclaimed as the spokesperson to use the acquired experiences and resources to enhance the Mongolian teacher’s guide on GCED. Also, she hoped for the outcomes of the Mongolian team’s endeavor to reciprocate as valuable resources to Korea, creating a cycle of mutual support and cooperation between the two countries.    URL:Enhancement Workshop on GCED Curriculum Development and Integration for Mongolian Project Coordinators: A Synergy between Mongolia’s Passion and Korea’s Expertise > APCEIU News - APCEIU (unescoapceiu.org) The 2nd International Conference on GCED: In Search of Solutions to Tackle Global Challenges 2018-12-26 With the rise of radicalism and nationalism, we have faced the increasing number of hate crimes against specific race, ethnicity, gender or cultural group and, consequently, an antagonistic atmosphere has been prevalent across the globe. Under these circumstances, there has been an ongoing demand for rethinking the role of Global Citizenship Education(GCED). In response, APCEIU held the 2nd International Conference on GCED from 13 to 14 September 2017 in Seoul to gather GCED practitioners and experts all over the world. Under the overarching theme of ‘in pursuit of GCED in a challenging environment’, this Conference was co-organized by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea in partnership with UNESCO HQ. This Conference successfully provided a platform where participants discussed the challenges we have face globally, nationally and locally when it comes to implementing GCED and reflected upon the direction of GCED.   During the two-day conference, more than 400 educators, policy makers, scholars and youth representatives from 60 different countries had attended. Kim Sang-kon (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education of the Republic of Korea), Norbu Wangchuk (Minister of Education of the Kingdom of Bhutan) took part in the Conference. This Conference attempted to provide interactive sessions which encourage participants to actively participate in, consisting of various plenary sessions and concurrent sessions. The plenary sessions intended to give an integrated overview on the theme of the Conference, while the concurrent sessions consisted of diverse programmes as panel discussions, case presentations, participatory workshops, theater and debate chamber. Beyond its emphasis on the importance of global citizenship, this Conference enabled discussions on how to make the world more peaceful, inclusive and sustainable and how GCED can address current imperatives. The first day of the Conference was initiated by a panel discussion which brought together a panel of experts and practitioners from respective fields of GCED. Entitled ‘how can we pursue GCED in a challenging environment’, the panel discussion touched upon the challenges that they have faced and the achievements made by tackling these challenges in each field, region and practice. The plenary session 2 took the format of a town hall meeting in which every participant exchanged their perspectives and actively debated with each other. More than 400 participants shared their views and ideas through Mentimeter, the real-time online voting tool.  In the concurrent session 1 titled ‘exploring practices of GCED and their impact,’ participants discovered how GCED has been practiced and what kind of difficulties it has been facing specifically throughout primary and secondary education, higher education and civil society organizations. This session encompassed practices on GCED in all types of education-formal, informal and non-formal.The second day kicked off with the plenary session 3, which was led by a brief performance that embodied an ethos of global citizenship. The topic was ‘GCED in Action’ and the performance was given by the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA). The session was designed to provide hands-on experience wherein the audience can feel the importance and message of GCED through the medium of theater. Furthermore, as GCED is considered to be delivered through diverse mediums such as participatory activities, the concurrent session 2 attempted to focus on democratic dialogism, transformative pedagogy and how to teach controversial issues.  In addition, comprised of distinctive three sessions, each session in the concurrent session 3 addressed supportive conditions to scale up GCED. Each session covered education policies, curricula and teacher education respectively, shedding light on the challenges that we have faced in implementing GCED and sharing the recommendations suggested by experts in their fields.  The youth debate chamber, a special session, was organized during the concurrent session 3. Under the motion of ‘Can global identity and national identity coexist? ,’ the four debaters were divided into two groups which held different views-pros and cons. The audiences were required to cast their votes in favor of the side they support two times-in advance of the debate as well as after the debate, and the side that obtained the biggest number of votes in the end won the debate.  Interestingly, the result of the initial vote was reversed at the moment of the final vote.   Subsequently, Cho Heeyeon, the Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education gave a special lecture on ‘Global Citizenship Education for Empathy & Coexistence’, which introduced the process and accomplishments of GCED in the context of education in Seoul.  The 2nd International Conference on GCED provided opportunities to exchange and deduce various ideas to effectively resolve issues by which GCED is currently confronted. The Conference (except concurrent sessions) was live-streamed online for those who were interested in GCED.   URL:The 2nd International Conference on GCED: In Search of Solutions to Tackle Global Challenges > APCEIU News - APCEIU (unescoapceiu.org) GCED Online Campus: Online Courses for Global Citizens has Launched! 2018-12-26 APCEIU has launched its e-learning platform on Global Citizenship Education ‘GCED Online Campus’ which offers various online courses on GCED to educators worldwide. (http://www.gcedonlinecampus.org/) As an e-learning platform on GCED, the online courses are expected to serve as a channel to introduce GCED to educators with its transformative approaches, as well as to deepen their understanding on thematic issues and practical knowledge. Two online courses titled ‘Glocal Justice and Peacebuilding’ and ‘Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Understanding’ are offered from 12 November 2017 till 10 December 2017, targeting educators who are interested in GCED and wish to deepen their understanding on the thematic issues of GCED, justice & peacebuilding and intercultural understanding. ‘Glocal Justice and Peacebuilding’Led by Dr. Toh Swee-Hin, the course invites educators, professionals and peacebuilders working in formal as well as non-formal educational contexts to learn about the relationship between conflicts and social justice at local and global levels. The course introduces peacebuilding initiatives to transform conflicts in both South and North contexts, identifies the root causes of conflicts and finally explores strategies that will allow nations and citizens to breed a Culture of Peace.(For more information, click here) ‘Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Understanding’The course ‘Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Understanding’ is offered by APCEIU’s partner institution, The Network University (TNU). The course is led by a team of three instructors, Ditta Dolejsiova Trindade, Gerd Junne, and Vic Klabbers. Targeting education and development practitioners, social and youth workers as well as policy-makers and civil servants, the course will enrich the participants with critical understanding on the importance of cultural diversity and intercultural understanding in a globalized world. In addition to getting acquainted to various theories, the participants will also work on their development strategy which can be utilized in their own context even after the course. Starting with the opening of the two courses, more courses will be launched soon after. Courses from GCED 101, an introductory course to GCED, to advanced courses on thematic issues and pedagogical approaches will continue to interest potential participants. Moreover, various types of resources on GCED are also available on the website, including lesson plans, and teaching materials on GCED to be used by teachers around the world. GCED Online Campus is open to all educators who are interested in and ready to learn about GCED. Please visit the website for more information on GCED Online Campus and the courses currently being offered (http://www.gcedonlinecampus.org/). URL:GCED Online Campus: Online Courses for Global Citizens has Launched! > APCEIU News - APCEIU (unescoapceiu.org) Participants of PVE-E © UNESCO Предотвращение насильственного экстремизма посредством образования в Центральной Азии 2018-12-17 The UNESCO Almaty Cluster Office in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and UNESCO Headquarters, in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), held a Sub-regional workshop on the prevention of violent extremism through education on 13-15 November in Almaty.UNESCO’s approach to preventing violent extremism through education is related to its work on Global Citizenship Education (GСED). Based on its long-standing commitment to peace and human rights education, GCED strives to foster respect for all, create a sense of belonging to humanity and help learners become responsible and active citizens. Thus, the GCED creates conditions for strengthening learners' commitment to renouncing violence and promoting peace and creating conditions for protection from hatred, discrimination and violent extremism.The workshop was organized within the framework of the partnership of UNESCO and UNODC on “Global Citizenship Education for the Rule of Law: Doing the Right Thing”.The purpose of the workshop was to strengthen the capacity of education stakeholders to implement educational measures and approaches that help to prevent violent extremism in an effective and appropriate manner. More specifically, the workshop provided a common discussion platform for a clearer understanding of the issues of violent extremism in the Central Asian region, and allowed to discuss new tools and innovative approaches. Workshop participants also identified follow-up activities to be implemented with the Education Sector in view of supporting national prevention efforts. During the workshop, participants visited the Nazarbayev Intellectual School and Almaty State College of Tourism and Hospitality Industry and observed classes on Global Citizenship Education and values.The workshop brought together education stakeholders from all over Central Asia, including representatives from the ministries of education and community development, universities and research institutes, as well as youth organizations and civil society. International experts, UNODC, UNESCO as well as other UN agencies and international organizations also took part in the event.Related Links: More information on UNESCO’s work in the Prevention of Violent Extremism through Education. More information on UNESCO/UNODC Initiative on Global Citizenship Education for the Rule of Law: Doing the Right Thing Training Teachers to Prevent Violent Extremism Among Youth in Tajikistan Prevention of Violent Extremism Through Education and Internet - UNESCO contributed to the High-Level International Conference Media coverage of the workshop:KazInform, BAQkz, 24kz, Egemen Qazaqstan, Turkystan URL:http://en.unesco.kz/preventing-violent-extremism-through-education-pve-e-in-central-asia © UNESCO UNESCO advocates for a system-wide change as a means of effective implementation of SDG4 2018-12-14 UNESCO Representative and Participants of the Symposium are holding the new publication Guidelines on Developing and Strengthening Qualifications Frameworks in Asia and the Pacific © UNESCO How education systems of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), including countries of Central Asia, should develop and contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? How education standards should be improved? What are the mechanisms for regional partnerships among countries in order to achieve SDGs? The 5th Congress of Teachers and Educators of the CIS Member States “Development of educational systems in CIS countries in the context of SDGs” answered these and other important questions in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on October 11-12. The congress, organized by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic, intended to establish conditions for regional synergy and identification of new mechanisms for cooperation among the CIS member states in the field of education. On behalf of UNESCO, Mr. Wesley Teter from the Section for Educational Innovation and Skills Development of the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, made two presentations on how mainstreaming competencies for sustainable development in education systems and developing national qualification frameworks (NQFs) could contribute to the implementation of all SDGs. In particular, the UNESCO’s first presentation suggested that effective implementation of SDG4 could be done through a system-wide change by embedding inclusion, equity and gender equality in education policy and plans, making effective use of ICT to facilitate access and participation in learning, etc. Approaches and guidelines to develop and enhance NQFs were also presented during the Symposium. In total, 450 participants attended from CIS and other countries, including the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, its former President Roza Otunbayeva, and Minister of Education and Science of Kyrgyzstan. URL:http://en.unesco.kz/unesco-advocates-for-a-system-wide-change-as-a-means-of-effective-implementation-of-sdg4 Students in school © Pixabay Стратегическая встреча профессионалов образования в Алматы 2018-12-14 The UNESCO Almaty Cluster Office for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan (UNESCO Almaty) is organizing e the Sub-Regional meeting on Education 2030: Implementing the Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) in Central Asia" in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on 22-24 February 2017. High-level policy-makers from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Mongolia will meet with experts from international agencies, civil society, private sector and universities from Central Asia to identify Sustainable Development Goal (SDG4) implementation strategy options and to establish a working group for sub-regional cooperation. Central Asian countries are faced with geopolitical challenges, which limit their access to global implementation initiatives and regional assistance networks on Education 2030. Hence, this meeting aims at connecting the implementation of global and Asia-Pacific education strategies with aspirations of Central Asian states. During the meeting, the Central Asian countries will have an opportunity to discuss the planning, implementation and monitoring of the SDG4-Education 2030 agenda, while taking into consideration sub-regional specificities.Participants will communicate with sub-regional, regional and global actors to identify available resources as well as capacity development and data needs in Central Asia. The 2016 Global Education Monitoring Report “Education for people and planet: Creating sustainable future for all” will also be launched at the event. This report analyses complex links between education and major development sectors, with an implication for education policy. Related link URL:http://en.unesco.kz/sub-regional-meeting-education-2030-implementing-the-sustainable-development-goal-4-in Participants of the National Workshop © UNESCO Developing Online Curriculum on Education for Sustainable Development and the 21st Century Competences 2018-12-13 On 14-15 June 2018, in Bishkek, UNESCO Almaty Cluster Office, in cooperation with the National Commission of the Kyrgyz Republic for UNESCO, organized the National Workshop on Developing Online Curriculum to Mainstream Education for Sustainable Development and the 21st Century Competences. The workshop launched a project on mainstreaming ESD and the 21st century competencies, with financial support from Estonia. The project will contribute to promoting quality education through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). In particular, it will provide digital content on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) for secondary education in order to improve access to information and promote interactive learning and strengthening teacher competencies in ESD and ICT in education. Experts from the Ministry of Education and Science, universities, civil society, international agencies, including UNESCO, UNICEF, Open Society Foundation, and Asian Development Bank, as well as international experts from Estonia and Russia participated in the meeting. Ms. Larisa Rozhdestvenskaya from Tallinn Russian Gymnasium shared the Estonian experience in promoting e-learning and developing online initiatives and materials at education institutions. The discussions helped contextualize the project implementation within the global trends, the existing ESD practices in Central Asia, national strategies and on-going initiatives in Kyrgyzstan and plan the way forward. In particular, participants suggested possible ways of introducing socio- emotional competencies for youth to live healthy lives and become active citizens into the curriculum of educational institutions. They identified factors necessary for changing the way of thinking, persistence of behavior, learning approaches, communication skills, etc. As an outcome of the meeting, a working group was established to develop online content to mainstream ESD and the 21st century competencies at the secondary education level in Kyrgyzstan. One additional positive sides of the seminar was providing a common platform for cooperation among the various stakeholders to gain a better understanding of the issues, needs and prospects of introducing ESD and ICT in education in Kyrgyzstan. URL:http://en.unesco.kz/developing-online-curriculum-on-education-for-sustainable-development-and-the-21st Participants from Central Asia © UNESCO Future of Education for Sustainable Development 2018-12-13 UNESCO Almaty Cluster Office participated in the Technical Consultation Meeting on the Future of Education for Sustainable Development on 9 and 10 July 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand. Over 270 participants from 116 UNESCO Member States and Associate Members gathered to discuss the future direction of governments and UNESCO in promoting Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). With UNESCO’s Global Action Programme on ESD (GAP) ending in 2019, UNESCO is preparing the future programme for ESD, to be linked specifically to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNESCO Member States and Associate Members were invited to Bangkok to discuss a draft position paper on the future of ESD, prepared by UNESCO. Opening the meeting, Ms Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, said: “ESD is at the forefront of a major trend in education. We are increasingly asking if what people learn is truly relevant to their lives, if what they learn helps to ensure the survival of our planet. ESD can provide the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes that empower people to transform themselves and transform societies. ESD has therefore been duly recognized as part of the global education agenda – as a key element of Target 4.7 of Sustainable Development Goal 4 on Education. ESD is also a key enabler for the achievement of all the SDGs.” The technical consultation meeting provided room for reflection and discussion in different settings, such as town hall debates touching on themes such as the SDGs, transformative action and the technological future, a world cafй session, panel debates, group work and regional discussions. Central Asian group discussed the ESD future vision and proposed strategies to achieve this vision in Central Asia. Envision of future ESD in Central Asia by Central Asian group ©UNESCO An important theme was the role of community as a platform for ESD action. An inspiring example was presented by sustainability practitioner Ms Tomi Matsuba, who lives in the village of Omori, Japan. This village’s inhabitants practice a special sustainable lifestyle. The unique village, part of the silver mining area of Iwami-Ginzan, which is inscribed as a UNESCO cultural heritage site, has reinvented itself by exploring alternative paths to prosperity rooted in values of sustainability. Another panel debate addressed the challenging relationship between sustainable development and economic growth, and how education could help reconcile the two. Professor Arjen Wals, who holds the UNESCO Chair at Wageningen University, Netherlands, said: “For the economy to grow, people need to buy new things all the time, which leads to the depletion of natural resources and the creation of waste and pollution. Furthermore, the current growth paradigm reduces human beings to consumers”. The panelists agreed that a fundamental change in the way we think and act was needed, and that education must promote alternative values to consumption. The new ESD programme, to be developed on the basis of the position paper, is scheduled to take effect at the beginning of 2020, and to cover the period until 2030, in line with the target date of the SDGs. Technical Consultation Meeting URL:http://en.unesco.kz/future-of-education-for-sustainable-development Workshop participants © UNESCO “Всемирный день учителей” в Казахстане под тематикой «Право на квалифицированного учителя» 2018-12-13 World Teachers' Day, celebrated annually on 5 October, focused this year on the right to qualified teachers. Considering that teacher educators have a vital role to play in training qualified teachers, UNESCO Almaty Cluster Office marked the occasion by organizing the Workshop for Teacher Educators on Mainstreaming Education for Sustainable Development in Kazakhstan. In collaboration with the National Center for Professional Development “Orleu”, the workshop trained 25 teacher educators, who deliver capacity building programs to teachers throughout the country. The workshop used the methodology for enhancing skills of teacher education institutions, under the framework of the UNESCO project’s «Sustainability Begins with Teachers in Central Asia.” During the opening of the workshop, Lina Benete, Head of the Education Unit at UNESCO Almaty, noted the importance of qualified teachers to achieve quality education and that the workshop was a start to a long-term collaboration with Orleu in the field of training and retraining of teachers in Kazakhstan. The main workshop objectives were to provide a common understanding around key concepts and principles of transversal competencies and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and ensure practical learning on developing activities, cases, interactive tests and projects for learners to instill competencies for sustainable development. The workshop included group work to develop an ideal lesson based on the concept of ESD as well as all presented tools such as Disney’s 3 Chairs method. Orleu teacher educators from its 16 branches across Kazakhstan provide annual professional development courses for more than 73,000 teachers at all education levels. Workshop participants ©UNESCO “For me, the understanding of transversal competences, the experience of developing a project as an instrument of education for sustainable development, and testing on the Kahoot platform became valuable.” Ildana Khalitova, workshop participant URL:http://en.unesco.kz/world-teachers-day-in-kazakhstan-right-to-qualified-teachers Working group members © UNESCO The First Meeting of the Working Group on Developing Online Curriculum to Mainstream Cross-Cutting Competences for Sustainable Development 2018-12-13 On September 20, 2018, UNESCO Almaty Cluster Office, in cooperation with the National Commission of the Kyrgyz Republic for UNESCO, organized the first meeting of the Working Group on Developing Online Curriculum to Mainstream Cross-Cutting Competences for Sustainable Development. The first meeting of the Working Group was organized in the frames of project on mainstreaming ESD and the 21st century competencies, with financial support from Estonia. The project will contribute to promoting quality education through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). In particular, it will provide digital content on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) for secondary education in order to improve access to information and promote interactive learning and strengthening teacher competencies in ESD and ICT in education. Ten members of the Working Group, international experts from India and Estonia, UNESCO Almaty, and the UNESCO National Commission participated in the meeting. The event outlined the way forward for a project to develop online curriculum to mainstream interdisciplinary competences for sustainable development. As background for discussion, Aditi Pathak from the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) presented an online interactive learning platform developed for digital intercultural exchange. In another key presentation, Veronika Svists from an Estonian NGO “Mondo” spoke about the NGO’s offline and online materials on globalizing world and protection of human rights to support teachers in planning the learning process in different countries, including Estonia and Ukraine. Following the presentations, Working Group members identified specific education for sustainable development topics in line with the State educational standard of general school education in Kyrgyzstan. They also discussed the process for adapting existing content and developing new teaching and learning materials and developing an online interactive learning platform. As a result, the group came up with a preliminary project work plan, including the target audience, objectives of a course, subjects of modules, timeline, and potential distribution of responsibilities. UNESCO Almaty serves as the Secretariat of the Working Group. Related link URL:http://en.unesco.kz/the-first-meeting-of-the-working-group-on-developing-online-curriculum-to-mainstream