The European Wergeland Centre

Families in a Changing Europe – Challenges, Conflicts and Intervention

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Congress objective and theme

The 6th ESFR Congress will focus on the implications of contemporary social, cultural and economic changes, and the challenges these raise for family relations, family practices and family policy.

Since the late 1980’s, the cultural, socio-economic and political landscape of European societies have altered considerably. Many of these changes may have profound implications for the institution of the family, the internal dynamics of family relations and for policy intervention. Demographic changes, along with the current economic crisis and increased migration, raise new questions about relatedness and the balance between family obligations and those of the welfare state. New forms of gender relations, new reproductive technologies and a larger variety in family formations challenge traditional views about what a family is and should be. Different family norms and practices due to greater ethnic and cultural variation give rise to legal problems as well as negotiations of values and belonging. These changes have led to new research interests concerning family practices, family policy, relatedness, family crisis and intervention which the Congress seeks to approach from a wide range of thematic domains in psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science, legal studies and history.

Families incorporate historical events. Through verbal or non-verbal communication, memories of such events may be shared, disputed, or silenced within the family. Especially in the case of major and traumatic events, not just the events themselves but the memories of them have a great impact on families. If history had taken a different course, the family would have been different today: family members and family or individual properties may have been lost, all or some family members displaced, the patterns of communication almost certainly changed.

There will be a special focus in how families are shaped through memories of traumatic historical events. Central examples of such events are the Holocaust and genocides of other continents, wars, refugee situations, and the (end of the) Cold War. The session will give an opportunity to explore and discuss the impact of memories of such events in sedentary and migrant families. Contemporary migration and globalization processes form an important dimension.

Some questions raised and addressed will be:

Which historical events continue to have an impact on families in contemporary Europe?
How are mechanisms and processes of remembering, silencing, secrets and forgetting connected?
How are public memory cultures, memory politics and private memories interlinked?
What are the links between memories and identities?
How do surviving family members and later generations actively or passively embrace, transform and transmit such memories?
What are the lines of conflict and power in family disputes about memories and memory management?
How do families relate to historical events that did not affect them directly,

The symposium will be chaired by: Irene Levin, Oslo and Akershus University College, Claudia Lenz, The European Wergeland Centre and Marie Louise Seeberg, NOVA – Norwegian Social Research

Key note speakers:

Prof. Hans Bertram, Humboldt University, Berlin

Prof. Claudine Attias-Donfut, Centre Edgar-Morin, L’ Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris

Prof. Chiara Saraceno, Wissenschaftszentrum für Sozialforschung, Berlin

Prof. Susan Golombok, Director, Centre for Family Research, Cambridge University

Dr. Albert Kraler, International Centre for Migration, Wien

Prof. Edward Melhuish, Director, Institute for the Study of Children, Families & Social Issues. Birkbeck, University of London

Prof. Rosa Rosnati Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan

Prof. Lieselotte Ahnert, Institut für Entwicklungspsychologie und Psychologische Diagnostik, Wien

Prof. Jennifer Mason, Morgan Centre for Study of Relationship and Personal Life, University of Manchester

Prof. Meinrad Perrez, Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg

Prof. Karin Wall, The Institute for Social Sciences, University of Lisbon

Conflict and Cooperation. Addressing Sensitive and Controversial Issues in History Education

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Seminar on Conflict and Cooperation. Addressing Sensitive and Controversial Issues in History Education

Belfast, Northern Ireland 19-23 September 2012

The seminar will take place in Ballycastle, Northern Ireland on 19-23 September 2012. This Seminar on Conflict and Cooperation gives participants the opportunity to see conflict and cooperation from multiple perspectives, and to profit from being part of this transnational event. Participants may offer their own workshop, highlight their own teaching material, discover new material and network with other educators in their field.

This conference is a unique opportunity to be part of the newest research on this matter, and to be able to give contribution to recent EUROCLIO programmes.

The seminar is linked to Exploring European History and Heritage projects, funded by the European Union within the Lifelong Learning Programme.

Identity – State – Education

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0100

The Centre for Learner Identity Studies (CLIS), Edge Hill University’s Faculty of Education Research Centre, is hosting their fourth annual conference themed around ‘Identity – State – Education’ and invite practitioners, researchers, and policymakers interested in these issues nationally and internationally to attend and to engage with and share research focused around questions of learner identity.

The conference theme is intentionally broad so as to include a wide variety of papers and perspectives. The role of the state in the provision of mass education is changing in many countries around the world, in response to a wide range of pressures - including, for example,
marketization, neo-liberalism and globalisation - which are having dramatic impacts on structures of educational provision, delivery and governance. The frame of reference within which educational
outcomes are considered is also changing -with the rise, for example, of PISA assessments and international educational ‘league tables’ - and educational systems face new modes of pressure for performance and reform.

In many states also curriculum is under scrutiny: in some cases, for example, the role that the school curriculum has conventionally been understood as serving in identity formation is being problematicised and challenged, in the name, for example, of the politics of multiculturalism and recognition, and in other contexts the reverse appears to be happening, with the conventional ‘identity management’ role of curriculum subjects like history, social studies or civics being reasserted. Similarly, school curricula are under scrutiny from economic and ‘knowledge economy’ perspectives and ‘conventional’ subjects and modes of delivery are in question.

All of these developments have profound consequences for the identity of state education systems and for the ways in which the identities of institutions, curricula, learners and educational professionals are constructed across the whole range of compulsory and post-compulsory education.The conference represents an opportunity
for these complex issues to be considered and debated from a wide range of disciplinary, institutional and national perspectives.

Keynote Addresses

The conference will include keynote addresses by:

• Professor Audrey Osler, Leeds University - ‘Patriotism, the state and learner identities:
contrasting narratives from Cyprus and the UK’

• Professor Lisbeth Lundahl, Umeå University - School markets and pedagogic identities.
The Swedish example

• Professor Melanie Nind, University of Southampton - Inclusion, evidence and voice: global concerns and everyday matters

• Professor Ken Jones, Goldsmiths, University of London - Schooling and Social unrest: a productive relationship?

Conference timings

The conference will open at mid-day on the 11th July, run all day on the 12th July and close at 1pm on the 13th July.

The Summer Academy: Democracy at School

Sat, 7 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0100

The Summer Academy: Democracy at School is a cooperation between the Polish Ministry of National Education (MEN), Centre for Education Development, Poland (ORE), The European Wergeland Centre (EWC) and Council of Europe (CoE), and is based on the shared values and principles of these institutions.

It offers training in the field of education for human rights and democratic citizenship to teams of school heads, teachers and representatives of local NGOs and parents’ associations.

The Academy 2012 combines a one week (7-15 July) face to face training in Poland and a 10 month online follow-up, as well as preparatory tasks. Closely linked to the participants’ own experiences and expectations, the training uses a whole school approach focusing on school governance, teaching methods, classroom climate and partnership with the local community.

It is available for participants from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine (the Eastern Partnership countries), Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Poland, Russia and Sweden.

Working languages: ENGLISH, RUSSIAN

Simultaneous translation will be provided.

More information..

Human Rights in Action

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0100

The South East Europe (SEE) Summer Academy ‘Human Rights in Action’ is a joint initiative between the Ministry of Education and Science, Montenegro; the Bureau for Educational Services, Montenegro; the Council of Europe (CoE) and the European Wergeland Centre (EWC).

It will be held in Cetinje, Montenegro, 20-28 June 2012.

The SEE Summer Academy translates CoE’s policy into practice by offering a training in line with the CoE Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship (EDC) and Human Rights Education (HRE) and based on CoE manuals to education professionals and community representatives from South East Europe.

The purpose of the Academy is to strengthen the capacity of school heads, teachers and representatives from NGOs or parents’ associations to implement and promote EDC and HRE principles and practices in their schools and local communities.

Participants join the Academy as a team of three members coming from the same school and local community. It is available for teams from the following countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey and Kosovo (1).

Based on a similar training model of the Summer Academy “Democracy at School”, which takes place annually in Poland, the SEE Academy uses a whole school approach to EDC/ HRE. Thus, it addresses multiple levels of EDC/ HRE work, ranging from the individual teachers, the classroom, and the school to the community. A central part of the training is the development of an action plan by each team to implement upon return, with concrete activities and projects to promote EDC and HRE.

An experienced international team of trainers will run the training program in English. The training will be based on the following CoE manuals:

The SEE Summer Academy aims to strengthen the cooperation between the participating countries through the exchange of experiences and good practices in the field. The CoE South East Europe Network of EDC/HRE Coordinators will function as a liaison body for the Academy.

(1) All reference to Kosovo, whether to the territory, institutions or population, in this text shall be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo.

Eighth International Conference on Holocaust Education

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0100

June 18-21, 2012

The objective of this conference, organized by The International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem, is to present educational opportunities for expanding knowledge of the core issues of Holocaust history, literature, art, music, medicine, law, theology, and philosophy and to make them applicable in the lives of students.

Day one of the conference will be a day of concentrated, in - depth learning on the core issues of the Holocaust.

More than 30 presentations on 20 different topics in the various areas of Holocaust research and scholarship by Yad Vashem and Israeli scholars will be presented.

Day two will be dedicated to the pedagogy of classroom implementation.

100 outstanding interdisciplinary, educational workshops will be based on the same core issues of the first day. This will enable workshop participants to investigate the various disciplines of Holocaust study and engage in meaningful discussions on the applicability of the Holocaust to today’s issues in both the classroom and greater community.

A call for papers will be issued for this day of the conference ONLY.

Day three will target specific audiences that are at the forefront of Holocaust education throughout the world:

Directors and Educational Directors of Holocaust museums and centers and Jewish museums worldwide
Jewish educators in both formal and informal Jewish Education
Educators teaching a Holocaust curriculum on the college/university level and in public/ private and parochial high schools

History of Nazi Germany, Institutions, Human Rights

Thu, 31 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Human rights, historical and political education programmes on Nazi Germany for members of the police forces and employees of the judiciary and public administration

The conference “History of Nazi Germany – Institutions – Human Rights” marks the end of a 30-month project organised by the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial and funded by the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future. The goal of this project was to develop teaching concepts and materials for seminars aimed at members of the police forces and
employees of the judiciary and public administration which would bring together historical learning and human rights education.

Further project partners included the University of the Hamburg Police, the Department of Public Management at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, the Hamburg Council’s Public Administration College and the Prison Office at the Hamburg Ministry of Justice.

Apart from presenting the results of the project, the conference also aims to place them in the context of current debates on historical learning, human rights, Holocaust and democracy education as ways of dealing with historical injustice. Researchers, educational staff from concentration camp memorials, information disseminators and other professionals involved in the field of human rights and historical-political education were invited to present their approaches to educational work with groups from the police, the judiciary and public administration and to discuss the opportunities for (and possible limits to) human rights education in the context of historical learning at the sites of Nazi crimes.

More information...

CHE - The Civic and History Teachers’ Education in Europe

Wed, 30 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100

The final conference of the Life-Long-Learning project is open to the public. It will take place from 30th May to 2nd June 2012 in Vienna.

During two and a half years, experts from 32 European countries, including the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Turkey, have collected and analysed relevant data and information on teacher education in the subjects Civic/Citizenship Education, History as well as Social Studies, Cultural Studies and Politics. On the basis of a standardized questionnaire they investigated the structures, concepts and standards of initial education for teachers of these subjects. Forms of assessment and of tutorial systems were also in the focus of interest.

For the first time, at this conference, results of the comparative analysis will be presented. The presentations will focus on topics such as:

A European survey on institutional structures, models, concepts and curricula of teacher education in the CHE-subjects
Similarities and differences in the Civic and History Teachers’ Education in Europe
Interdisciplinary relations between History and Civic/Citizenship education
The professional training of teachers for Civic and History education
Training for Media literacy and ICT-competences of teacher trainees
Are teachers trained to deal with current and/or historic conflicts?

By highlighting the theoretical and didactic concepts and the rationales that lie behind the teacher training models the project aims to contribute substantially to an evidence based discussion on teacher education for key subjects of the historio-political education in Europe.

For more detailed information, the draft programme and the registration details see the CHE-homepage

Strasbourg celebrates Europe

Wed, 9 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100

The Council of Europe is partner to the City of Strasbourg in celebrating Europe for the entire month of May.

Almost 50 events will be organised for the occasion, on several themes: going beyond borders, discovering European cultures, sharing common values, Franco-German friendship, democracy and European citizenship.

The novelty for this year is an instructional game on human rights and cultures of our member countries (‘Play the game with the 47 Council of Europe member countries’), enabling participants to test their knowledge and win gifts galore. A display in kit form concerning the rights in the European Convention on Human Rights is placed at the disposal of any interested schools.

Information Source: http://www.coe.int/20120509-multimedia

Human Rights Education Symposium

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Human Rights Education Symposium (HRES) on the topic “Educational Materials of Human Rights Education” held in Luzerne April 28, 2012

The HRES aims at serving as a platform for practice-oriented exchange and reflection regarding central issues in the fast developing field of Human Rights Education. The Symposium's focus on teaching and learning material mirrored a need to stake stock, communicate about functions and uses of materials as well to communicate about standards and evaluation. In plenary sessions and workshops, these questions were discussed, often related to the presentation of concrete projects and the materials developed and applied by them. EWC member Claudia Lenz held a workshop on the Intercultual Glossary Project (see attached presentation).

The one-day symposium, attended by about 200 participants can be regarded as a successful innovation, it served as an important platform for discussion and networking for HRE experts as well as students and educators from a variety of countries.

EEA/Norway Grants Conference and Contact Seminar

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway share a mutual interest and responsibility with other European countries in promoting security, equality of opportunity, environmental sustainability and a decent standard of living for all in the European Economic Area.

Through the EEA and Norway Grants, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway contribute to reducing disparities in Europe and to strengthening bilateral relations with 15 EU countries in Central and Southern Europe.

The Grants are targeted at areas where there are demonstrable needs in the beneficiary countries, and that are in line with wider European shared interests and goals.

Key areas of support are environmental protection and climate change, research and scholarships, civil society, health and children, gender equality, justice and cultural heritage.

Grants are available for NGOs, research and academic institutions, and the public and private sectors in the 12 newest EU member states, Greece, Portugal and Spain.

Focus on research, innovation and education

With governments across Europe struggling to respond to high unemployment levels, there is a renewed urgency in addressing the skills gap. Boosting transnational mobility helps students acquire new skills and strengthens future employability. The EEA and Norway Grants support student mobility through scholarship programmes worth €32.8 million in 11 countries. In Bergen, Norway’s second largest city, opportunities under the Grants will be presented for educational institutions at a event on April 26 and 27.

The aim with the EEA grants is to contribute towards social and economic cohesion, and strengthen bilateral relations between Norway and the newest EU countries. A part of the EEA funding is reserved for mobility grants and institutional cooperation between educational institutions.

The aim of the conference is to inform about the main lines of each programme, present possibilities for mobility and institutional cooperation, and establish contacts and initiate cooperation between educational institutions in Norway and other countries.

The target group is education institutions on all levels, in particular institutions within higher education.

Mobility grants can be given to students from all levels of education, academic staff, researchers, teachers and management in primary and secondary education.

Institutional projects of cooperation can involve different types of institutions: schools, higher education institutions, scientific communities and companies.

EWC's Executive Director is taking part in the conference.

Shaping Europe - Civic Education in Action

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0100

A Scholarship Programme for Young Professionals Active in Citizenship Education from Central and South-Eastern Europe.

Call for Applications – Closing date: May 31st 2012

The German Federal Agency for Civic Education (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung/bpb) and the Robert Bosch Stiftung are awarding 16 scholarships to young professionals from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. It is open for people at the beginning of their careers who wish to work internationally. Applicants are expected to be already engaged in civic education and promoting democracy and social responsibility in their home countries.

It is an opportunity to work in a German educational institution and to participate in the network of European citizenship education. The programme aims to strengthen and develop efforts in civic education in Central and South-Eastern Europe. The programme language and the working language in the institutions is German.

Three different programmes (duration: 10-12 weeks) are offered. You need to choose one programme. Details are found in the German version of the application forms on www.bpb.de/inaktion.

A: Joining an existing project
You will contribute to an existing project in a German educational institution.

B: Implementing an own project
You will work on your own project in cooperation with a German educational institution.

C: Planning a study trip
In cooperation with your German host institution you will prepare a short study trip to your home country.

Your profile
You want to promote democracy in your own country. You are active in civil society and you work for a NGO, a civic education institution, an initiative or a network dedicated to supporting civil society. You are interested in international, cross-border cooperation. You want to expand your professional horizon and improve your skills.

Programme and Application in detail
Before applying please check if you meet the following prerequisites:

You have good German skills in order to communicate with your German colleagues.
You are a citizen of Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia or the Czech Republic.
You are working as a free-lancer or full time in the field of civic education.
You hold a university degree or have comparable qualifications and are at the beginning of your professional career.
You are committed and can work independently.

The scholarship
In joining the programme you will profit from long-standing experiences and international contacts. Beyond that, the programme includes:

An internship in a civic education institution in Germany
Introductory, intermediate and evaluation seminars in Germany (compulsory)
Accommodation, food and spending money
An optional family allowance
Health, accident and liability insurance
The opportunity to attend training events
Travel expenses to Germany and back, and to the seminars and training events within Germany
Participation in the NECE Conference 2013 including travel and participation costs (for details see German FAQ pdf)
A certificate for successful completion of the programme
Opportunity of networking with people working in other programmes of the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the Federal Agency for Civic Education.

Information can be found in the German FAQ pdf on the website. The introductory seminar is held in September 2012, the evaluation seminar takes place in May 2013. The exact date of internship in Germany is coordinated between the participant and the host organization.

How to apply
Are you interested? Then please apply by 31st May 2012 and include the following documents:

A European CV (for details see German FAQ pdf)
A letter of motivation (max. 2 pages) (in German, for details see German FAQ pdf)
A project outline (in German, for details see German FAQ pdf)
Name of the programme for which you apply (A, B or C)
Short presentation of your home institution (for details see German FAQ pdf)
Proof of experience in a civic education institute in the applicant's home country (in English or German)
If you are in a permanent employment contract: a letter of support from the institute where you are employed indicating you will be released from work for the duration of the programme and the compulsory seminars
If you apply for programme C, a confirmation of your home institution that they are interested in supporting you organising a study trip
Please indicate on the application how you heard about the programme

Further information and application forms: www.bpb.de/inaktion
Programme coordinator Mrs. Christiane Toyka Seid
E-mail: bpb-inaktion@gmx.de

Please send your application by e-mail before 31 May 2012 to:
Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (Federal Agency for Civic Education)
Mrs. Christiane Toyka-Seid
Programme coordinator
Email: bpb-inaktion@gmx.de

If you have further questions, please go to www.bpb.de/inaktion where you will find answers to the most common questions about a European CV, Aktionstage Politische Bildung (Civic Education Campaign Days) and the application forms.

New peer learning activities related to Intercultural Glossary Project

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Students and teachers from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Centre of Human Rights Education/ University of Teacher Education Lucerne have started to investigate and discuss key concepts in the field of Human Right Education.

For two weeks, the students will share their own understandings, investigate existing scientific definitions and contemporary uses of concepts such as

Human dignity
Social justice
Discrimination

The results of the cooperation will contribute to the content of an online resource (WIKI) which is under construction.

For more information about the Harvard-Luzern cooperation:

Felisa Tibbitts: Felisa_Tibbitts@hks.harvard.edu
Peter Kirchschläger: peter.kirchschlaeger@phz.ch

EU funds project on human rights classes

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0100

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News
April/13/2012

The Education Ministry has launched a project to raise awareness among students about democratic citizenship and human rights in cooperation with the European Union, which allocated 9.1 million euros for the effort.

Under the project, the authorities will review the school curriculum to put a stronger emphasis on human rights, organize meetings with parents and start initiatives to boost democratic culture in schools. The project will be implemented in 20 pilot schools in 10 provinces, including Istanbul, Mardin and Hatay.

Speaking at a gathering on the occasion yesterday, Education Minister Ömer Dinçer said the overhaul of the curriculum would be an “important step toward strengthening human rights, democracy and equal opportunity for men and women.”

EU Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert said the budget allocated for the project was one of the largest in Europe in this realm. “Teaching democracy and human rights in school is an important part of creating a democratic society,” he said.

In a separate development, the Education Ministry Undersecretary Emin Zararsız said yesterday that the next school year was set for a challenging start after the controversial education reform passed through Parliament last month.

The authorities, he said, are rushing against time to determine how many children will be enrolled in first grade and ensure that there will be enough classrooms.

Zararsız said the “most important and urgent problem” was the uncertainty surrounding the number of first-graders the law would produce. The reform reduced the school-starting age from 72 to 60 months but officials have yet to decide the details.

“The minister has indicated that children aged between 60 to 66-67 months could be enrolled with their parents’ consent, and that those between 67-68 to 72 will be definitely enrolled,” Zararsız said, adding that “no final decision has been made.” If all are enrolled, there will be 1,250,000 new students, he said.

Zararsız also said separating primary and middle schools would be impossible in small settlements which lack multiple school buildings. The ministry plans two-shift education in small places, with middle school students attending classes in the morning, and primary school students having classes in the afternoon, he said.

Zararsız said the Cabinet held the option of postponing the introduction of the new system by one year, but preparations were being made to have it in place for the 2012-2013 school year.

Source: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/PrintNews.aspx?PageID=383&NID=18321

UN official calls on teachers to examine prejudices

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0100

By Sue Ann Rybak
Chestnut Hill Local, Pennsylvania
April 4, 2012

Before teachers can teach about human rights, they must first examine their own prejudices, a UN official told students, teachers and other professionals at the 7th Annual United Nations Teachers’ Conference on Human Rights on March 29 at Chestnut Hill College.

Ramu Damodaran, deputy director for partnerships and public engagement in the United Nations Department of Public Information’ s Outreach Division, said teachers must be able to “accept our own bigotry” and “challenge the assumptions that are so greatly engraved on us.”

He called teachers communicators who teach the importance of human rights because what they are teaching “is right, it’s truth and it is something we need, which can be contested, but cannot be denied.”

“Human rights are not the ideal – they are not what we should aspire to,” Damodaran said. “They must be the base upon which all else is built – that which is innate.”
Damodaran, who is also chief of the United Nations Academic Impact, said there were “attributes in us that only education and communication can help us to unlearn.”

“To my mind, that is your most critical mission – to challenge your audience and those you communicate with to be skeptical, not to accept any dogma as the given truth, even if, it happens to be the only dogma relevant at that time,” he added.

He stressed that human rights cannot be given to one group and not another.

“ in determining the teaching of human rights in a classroom, if you begin with certain human rights principles and then get them to admit exceptions to those principals,” he continued, “then you weaken the very fabric and patch of human rights itself, which in my mind is the greatest danger.”

Citing gays and women as examples, he asked how society could give human rights to one group but not the other?

“The moment you begin to accept multiculturalism, and there is no point in denying it,” he continued, “you have to come to terms with it in all its forms: the good, the beautiful, the mundane, the weak and the shabby. You have to come to terms with communicating to your students that they cannot be prepared to accept imperfect or half-way house solutions to multiculturalism.”

He noted a recent discussion at the United Nations about female genital mutilation (FGM), calling it a “violation of human rights of girls and women.”

According to the World Health Organization, FGM includes procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. About 140 million girls and women worldwide are currently living with the consequences of FGM.

“It was thought that if you summoned international action and outrage against the practice of female genital mutilation that you would be seen as hostile to the doc- trine of the faith of Islam,” Damodaran said. “The two are not synonymous. They are not even compatible. There are societies which are proudly and vigorously Islamic which have outlawed and shunned the practice. It is a practice that is not simply unIslamic – it is inhuman.”

Damodaran added that multiculturalism not only requires society to respect differences in all cultures, but to be a witness to challenge those practices that threaten the rights of the minority in that society. Too often in society, he said, these practices or traditions are defended by the majority.

“Prevention, community, faith, belief, national identity – none of these are an excuse to retreat from any one of those basic standards ,” he said.
In a question-and-answer session after Damodaran’s talk, Jacqueline Reich, assistant professor of political science at Chestnut Hill, said the idea of human rights as being inalienable was “a relatively new one.”

“It’s a discourse that’s trying to take on very entrenched ways of thinking about ourselves,” Reich said.

She asked Damodaran if he could cite one or two examples “that are being successful in taking on this conversation.”

Damodaran replied that in East Africa, women are able to use cell phones to make simple business transactions.

“The sheer willingness to learn and adapt and to seize technology is working for us,” he said.

He pointed out that countries like Cambodia, India and Africa are changing their focus from using literacy as a basis for education to a very precise function, such as healthcare.

He said that by “using literacy as a way mothers can take better care of their newborn children,” it puts the emphasis less on education and more on skills they need as mothers and wives to care for their family.

Another participant, Denis Okema, from Uganda, asked how long it would take for “this aggressive intellectual discourse” to change cultural mores.

“We are known for things con- considered here to be a higher degree of intolerance,” Okema said. “For example, we are known for trying to legalize or put in place capital punishment for gay people, and we are also known for the longest surviving conflict in Africa.”

In his response, Damodaran pointed out that “a tremendous amount of patience” is needed in the way that societies evolve. He said education skills are “empower- ing women to become self-sufficient.” Currently, he noted, the United Nations is focusing on helping people to be self-sufficient within their communities versus the “larger attributes of an education, which is more global and community-minded.”

Damodaran said he believed that [self-sufficiency] will come “once you are able to assure that economic undertaking,” noting, sadly, that it would “take time to evolve.”
He added that members of the Human Rights Council must be elected, and that nongovernmental agencies and the media can and do challenge the credentials of a country to sit on the council.

“You have had instances of countries with fairly questionable human rights records not getting elected to that council, and that – in my mind – is a very important beginning,” Damodaran said.

He added that unfortunately such incidents are not isolated to just one country.

Damodaran replied “the only way we can create a tactic head-on is by taking the basic standards of the right of a decent livelihood and occupation to be the premise for the much greater intellectual and social vigor.”

Ayuen Ajok, of South Sudan, raised the issue of women’s rights.

“There was a slogan when I was in a refugee camp that said ‘human rights is women rights,’” Ajok said. “Under what conditions are the United Nations willing to bridge the gap of the percentage of women in the global south to reach a standard? Most of the countries are members of the UN? What is the UN’s agenda for women’s issues?”

Damodaran said each one of the UN’s goals refers to domestic actions within countries and in its societies.

“It’s how a country treats its poor,” he said, “how a country treats its hungry, how it treats those who are denied education, sanitation or denied public health.”

Damodaran said that in the past countries have said, “this is something that is within our domestic problems – it’s not United Nations’ business.”

“But because of the point we made about governments becoming increasingly afraid of their people,” he added, “they realized they could no longer go to the UN and say ‘this is our domestic problem – it’s not your business’ because the government that did that was in danger of being elected out of office the next time around.”

Damodaran said the last major United Nations meeting on women’s issues was at the Geneva Conference in 1995.

“It was again, at a time when countries were still struggling to accept the fact that what were national problems were now becoming a matter of global accountability and responsibility,” he said.

Damodaran said the United Nations recently announced that a Second Global Conference of Women would be held in 2015. He said he believed that the conference would result in “defining and binding goals … which no government in the world will be able to hide from or shy away.”

Source: http://chestnuthilllocal.com/blog/2012/04/04/un-official-calls-on-teachers-to-examine-prejudices-2/

Human Rights - From Passion to Profession

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0100

The World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) is a global nonprofit organization representing and coordinating a membership of over 100 national United Nations Associations.

Geneva, 08-11 May 2012

WFUNA’s Human Rights Training for University Students will provide you with key knowledge and skills to start making a difference for human rights in your community and worldwide.

The training, held in May, will strengthen the human rights advocacy capacity of young university students and provides them with concrete tools in human rights project management and with guidance in career development.

The four day training is divided into three components: education, project management and career development. During the education component, participants will learn about available human rights instruments and implementation mechanism, how the international community develops human rights standards, and what is being done to ensure implementation worldwide. Throughout the training, participants will interact with key actors in the human rights field. The project management component will focus on teaching practical skills in development and implementation of human rights activities.

All participants will learn to create basic advocacy and awareness raising activities on human rights issues. Through the component on career development, participants will acquire an overview on the current job market, potential internship opportunities, and receive guidance on application processes and requirements.

Deadline for Application

15 April 2012 (if visa required)

29 April 2012 (if no visa required)

More information and application details...

Studying human rights in Moscow

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0100

The deadline for applications to the joint summer school on human rights by Higher School of Economics (Russia) and the University of Bologna (Moscow) has been extended till April 17 (the results will be announced on April 20). The school titled ‘Integrating Europe Through Human Rights: Comparing Exercise of Basic Freedoms’ is open for people of all ages and background, both students and activists, and will take place in Moscow on June 4-8, 2012.

The course aims to focus on the protection of human rights in Europe, particularly, on freedoms of assembly and expression, child's rights, implementation of the ECHR’s judgments in the Council of Europe’s Member States, and the relationship between the European Union and the European Convention on Human Rights. The programme includes several study visits to the most famous Russian human rights organisations such as Moscow Helsinki Group, Memorial Society, and Andrey Sakharov Centre and Museum.

Number of teaching hours: 36. Number of ECTS: 3 (important for currently enrolled university students). Participation fee: €350 (includes accommodation in Moscow, lunches and the final stand-up dinner).

To apply to the summer school, fill in the application form and send it to moscow2012hse@gmail.com and policy@hse.ru together with your CV and motivation letter.

It has been decided to extend the deadline in the view of exciting news for anyone interested in the sphere of human rights: the Government of the Russian Federation has awarded 10 grants for non-Russian nationals to study at the 2-year Master’s Programme in Public Policy ‘Human Rights and Democratic Governance’ at the Department of Public Policy at Higher School of Economics, Moscow. The grant covers tuition fee, students are provided with free accommodation and are eligible for monthly scholarship, as well as travel discounts in Moscow.

The programme, launched in 2009, is taught entirely in English since 2012; students have various mobility and internship opportunities, including a right to participate in the double diploma program with the University of Bologna.

Applications (including academic transcripts, CV and at least one letter of reference) are accepted till May 30; for more information visit http://cie.hse.ru/index.php/support/scholarships. In June, prospective students will also be interviewed online.

Priority in the admission process will be given to people showing long-standing interest in the sphere of human rights, including the participants of the June summer school.

Young People Combating Hate Speech On-line

Tue, 3 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0100

The Council of Europe Youth Department launches a call for participants for a Training course for young bloggers and online activists, as part of the flagship project Young People Combating Hate Speech Online. The Youth Department invites all young bloggers and online activists concerned by human rights violations, hate speech online, discrimination and racism to apply for the training course taking place between May 2012 and December 2013, comprising a residential seminar between 20-27 May 2012 in the European Youth Centre Budpaest as a first stage in their involvement in a long term campaign against racism, xenophobia and discrimination. The dead-line for applications for participants is 19 April 2012.

Young People Combating Hate Speech On-line is a project of the Council of Europe’s youth sector to be run between 2012 and 2014. The project aims to combat racism and discrimination in their online expression of hate speech by equipping young people and youth organisations with the competences necessary to recognise and act against such human rights violations. The project stands for equality in dignity, human rights and diversity. It is a project against hate speech, racism and discrimination in their online expression. Centred around a training course and online campaigning, the project stands for action and intervention. Further information about the project, the training course and the application process can be found in the attached course presentation.

Developing Competence-Orientated Teaching on Historical Memories

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Tri-national seminar on the dissertation of memory-culture in museums and memorial sites to be held in Oslo 25-29 March 2012

The seminar is the third to be held within the Norwegian-Danish-German project; “TeacMem; Developing Competence-Orientated Teaching on Historical Memories”. The project, financed by the EU’s “Life Long Learning Program, deals with questions on how processes of learning about memory-culture in regards to the 2nd world war and the Holocaust can contribute to historical and intercultural competence.

The project was initiated on the fact that the perception of the 2nd world war and the Holocaust is, and has always been – due to the time interval – increasingly subject to varying and self-conflicting interpretations. Different groups of individuals with various backgrounds are developing their own forms of the “use of history”. The project is also based on; that people in democratic, pluralistic and diverse societies need to deal “competently” with these stories that are, not the least, mirrored in the public sphere. Only in this manner will history teaching be able to contribute to democratic readiness.

Since 2010, teachers, teacher trainers, museum educators and scientists from Norway, Denmark and Germany have worked on developing approaches, learning methods and materials that can be used by intermediaries of history.

At the seminar in Oslo, the methods developed through the project will be used by the participants to work on different aspects of Norwegian memory-culture surrounding the 2nd world war and the Holocaust.

Teacher students from the three countries have been invited to take part in the testing and evaluation of the project-tools.

The project will finalize with a conference in Germany, and a number of publications later on in the year.

Contact:

Harald.Syse@hlsenteret.no

C.Lenz@theewc.org

Youth Democracy Award

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0100

In 2012 the Youth Democracy Award is awarded by the Federal Agency for Civic Education/bpb (Germany) for the fourth time. The Youth Democracy Award will be given to a project which advocates democracy in an outstanding way. It is an appraisal of activities designed for young people or/and done by young people.

The prize is endowed with 3,000 €.

Project applications may be submitted until 8th April 2012.

Application is open to projects from each European country (EU and non-EU) including co-operation projects.

By the end of April, the Jury consisting of young people, is going to choose the winner. The Award Ceremony is going to take place in Bonn (Germany) in May 2012 in cooperation with the International Democracy Award Bonn (www.demokratiepreis-bonn.de).

For more Information and application form please got to www.bpb.de/veranstaltungen/GBIWDZ

What have we learned about Radicalisation?

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0100

A new faith debate on radicalisation took place 7 March in Whitehall, London. What have we learned since 9/11 and 7/7 about the causes, parallels and precedents of violent extremism, and the effectiveness of policies designed to tackle the problem? Video & podcasts of the presentations, responses and discussion at this debate are now available.

The debate was chaired by Charles Clarke and Linda Woodhead.

Podcast 1: Professor Linda Woodhead [Lancaster University, Director of the Religion and Society Programme] introduced the debate. Preceded by a welcome by Charles Clarke.
Podcast 2: Mark Sedgwick [Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies, Aarhus University] questioned the value of targeting radical beliefs rather than moves towards violent actions.
Podcast 3: Matthew Francis [Editor of radicalisationresearch.org, and Researcher on the Religious Literacy Leadership Programme] offered a summary of emerging consensus on the causes of radicalisation and argued against a “conveyor belt” theory.
Podcast 4: Marat Shterin [Lecturer in Sociology at King’s College London] presented a perspective from the study of New Religious movements, and his research in Russia and the Caucasus.
Podcast 5: Mehdi Hasan [Senior editor (Politics) at the New Statesman], responding, challenged the “myth” that religion is the main factor in radicalisation. Introduced by Charles Clarke.
Podcast 6: Ed Husain [author of The Islamist (2007), and senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations], responding, argued that “theo-politics” are central to the process of radicalisation. Introduced by Charles Clarke.
Podcast 7: Questions and comments from the audience, and responses by the panel.

To view the video, listen to presentations, see the pictures visit: http://www.religionandsociety.org.uk/faith_debates/radicalisation

Peace Review: Special Issue on Human Rights Education Praxis

Wed, 7 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0100

This Human Rights Education Praxis, a special issue of the Peace Review, is dedicated to exploring the role of Human Rights Education (HRE) in promoting both a more mainstream understanding of human rights as put forth by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and international instruments, and new emerging meanings of human rights specific to the unique conditions of communities around the world, in efforts toward justice and equity.

This symposium seeks to provide insights into both the contemporary global significance of HRE, as well as tangible examples of its effectiveness in addressing educational inequities. It focuses on the current state of HRE, exploring the creation of an "epistemic community of human rights educators and the theorization of human rights education within the community" by highlighting HRE praxis in diverse contexts.

Read more...

Role of Religion in education discussed in public debate

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100

The high profile debate in Whitehall on Wednesday 22 February brought together a range of leading public figures and academics concerned with the role of religion in education to discuss “What’s the Place of Faith in Schools?”

The event was organised by the Religion & Society Programme, which is funded by public research councils to commission and manage research into issues relating to religion and society, and to disseminate them more widely. Taking part in the debate were:

Professor James Conroy, Professor of Religious and Philosophical Education (Creativity Culture and Faith) at the University of Glasgow
Professor Richard Dawkins, the former Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University and Vice-President of the British Humanist Association
The Rt Rev John Pritchard, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Oxford, Chair of the Church of England’s Board of Education and Episcopal spokesperson on education in the House of Lords
Professor Robert Jackson, Director of the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit and Professor of Religious Diversity and Education at the European Wergeland Centre

The podcasts and video of the event can now be found here: http://www.religionandsociety.org.uk/faith_debates/faith_in_schools

You can also watch the full event from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ea9l3OurAv0

The debate was chaired by Charles Clarke and Linda Woodhead.

Webinar on the UN Declaration on Human Rights

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100

On February 8, Teachers Without Borders organized a webinar with Dr. Peter Kirschlaeger on the UN Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training.

Access the webinar recording

Webinar Description: The UN General Assembly has adopted without vote the new UN Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training (UNDHRET) on December 19, 2011. (The lecturer has contributed as an consultative expert to the development of the UNDHRET during the entire preparation process.) For the first time, the international community has created a specific legal instrument on human rights education. The new declaration emphasizes a right to human rights education which has already existed in international law. The member-states declare to be more active in human rights education and training.

The webinar discussed the aims, the development-process and the content of the UNDHRET. This analysis is enriched by some elements of the discussions of the different consultations, the specific schemes of argumentation by the stakeholders, the indication of controversial issues, compromises and areas of consensus and the fundamental reflection of the right to human rights education and the contribution to it by the UNDHRET. Finally, the role of the UNDHRET for human rights education practice on a local, national, regional and international level should be elaborated based on the conviction that the success of this declaration is depending on its capability to become a “living” declaration and to have an impact in the practice of human rights education.

Source: Global Human Rights Education listserv

A European Perspective on Education about Religions

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100

By Robert Jackson, Director of the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit (WRERU) and Professor of Religious Diversity and Education at the European Wergeland Centre

Today’s debate will be about religion in schools in Britain. But there’s a danger that we get so sucked into our own national preoccupations that we lose perspective. My work on research and policy extends into Europe, and I want to give a wider European perspective to the UK debates. Above all, I suggest that – along with key European Institutions, such as the Council of Europe – we need to ground our thinking about religious education in a human rights framework that recognises freedom of religious or non-religious belief as a value.

Since 9/11 the Council of Europe, which was set up to protect human rights and democracy, and whose remit extends to democratic education, has started to take religion in public education very seriously. I have been involved in this work, and in promoting discussion of the 2008 Recommendation from the Committee of Ministers – that’s the Foreign Ministers of the 47 states, including the UK -- about teaching religions and other worldviews in schools.

There is a recognition that every young person in Europe has a right to hold a particular view, whether religious or secular, within the limits of the law, and that societies need to develop a culture of living together in peace. There is a view that all young Europeans should have a knowledge and understanding of religious diversity in Europe and beyond, but there is no naivete that this understanding will automatically increase tolerance. In addition, there need to be opportunities for critical and reflective engagement, through moderated dialogue and exchange, for example, and the appropriate sensitivities, attitudes and skills need to be cultivated. This is part of the Council of Europe's message in its White Paper on intercultural dialogue.

But we shouldn't study religions and other worldviews in state schools simply for instrumental reasons. We must not lose sight of the importance of an education which covers all areas of human experience – such as mathematical, scientific, aesthetic, philosophical (including ethical), linguistic, historical, and religious/spiritual. A combination of intrinsic and instrumental justifications gives attention to all aspects of human experience, as well as addressing pressing issues.

My research team’s work in various projects in the UK and in Europe, including the Religion and Society programme, provides some observations relevant to the development of policy. First, many adolescents interviewed give strong support to applying democratic principles in classrooms. They see the classroom as a potential (if not always actual) ‘safe space’ for dialogue, and want peaceful coexistence based on knowledge about each other’s religions and worldviews and through sharing common interests and doing things together. On the whole students with a clear religious or secular commitment do not feel threatened by dialogue with others or learning about others, but some (especially those from religious minorities in the classroom) feel vulnerable. Second, many religious students do not identify with portrayals of their own religion, especially by the media, but also by some teachers, and in many books and electronic resources. They find it hard to recognise themselves or their own families in the descriptions given. Too many teaching materials provide only superficial factual information and do not address issues of meaning in relation to religious language and the experience of religious people.

From such findings follow various suggestions for improving ‘RE’ including the following:

1. Great care needs to be taken over the ways in which religions are represented to young people – their internal diversity needs to be indicated, and there needs to be sensitivity to the different positions held within the school and local community. And young people need the skills to criticise poor representations of religions.

2. The different geographical and social contexts of schools should be taken seriously and suggest some different starting points and approaches in teaching.

3. Competences are important as well as knowledge. For example, the cultivation of skills for dialogue between students holding different views should be taken more seriously. There are some interesting experiments in moderated pupil to pupil dialogue taking place. We have done some work on this at Warwick and the Tony Blair Faith Foundation uses this approach in its Face to Faith project, which a Warwick team is currently evaluating.

These comments apply to fully state funded schools. These should not be regarded as secular schools, but as plural schools. They should be places where it is acknowledged that pupils and teachers have the right sincerely to hold different religious and nonreligious views. What we call religious education (and there is plenty of discussion about what the subject should be called) should provide opportunities for increasing knowledge and mutual understanding in a civilised way, helping young people to formulate their own views as well as learning about the beliefs and ways of life of others.

But the comments should apply to faith based schools as well. In my research group’s experience, at one end of the spectrum, faith based schools are inclusive and outward looking, introducing young people to religious diversity in society. They do not use their status in order to proselytise, but as a basis for serving the community. At the other extreme, there are some faith-based schools which maintain exclusivity. Their core activity is to transmit a particular faith tradition and they tend to avoid contact with other types of school. But non-faith-based schools also vary in the ways they relate to issues of religion and diversity. At one end of the spectrum, schools recognise and respect religious and ethnic difference in society. They create links with the community, including with different religious bodies, and are generally inclusive and outward looking. At the other end are schools showing little or no interest in religious diversity, and giving little support to RE as a subject.

What we need from all types of school is a commitment to valuing and educating about diversity within society, and facilitating dialogue and exchange. We also need a genuine commitment from Government to offer much better provision – through strengthening the subject’s place in the curriculum and supporting innovative teacher training. As any religious education teacher or teacher trainer will tell you, that commitment isn’t there at the moment.

International Training Session on the Universal Periodic Review

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100

From October 18th to October 24th, 2012
7th International Training Session

CIFEDHOP will be holding in Geneva, from October 18th to October 24th 2012, its 7th International Training Session on the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review (UPR) for educational and civil society organisations. This training session is mainly organised for teachers, educators, researchers, and NGO involved in human rights education.

The Session is organised with the financial support of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Bern, the Canton and the City of Geneva.

Further information (Objectives, Program, Enrolment Form) can be found at:
http://www.cifedhop.org/En/Training/International/UPR/7th/7th.htm

Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2012-2015)

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100

The Council of Europe has adopted a new strategy to protect and promote children’s rights. The strategy is a response to the needs expressed by governments, professionals working with children, civil society and children themselves who ask for more efforts to be made in implementing existing standards. In order to achieve this, the Council of Europe will provide guidance and support to its 47 member states on how best to bridge gaps between the rights and the reality of children in Europe.

The strategy will focus on four main objectives:

promoting child-friendly services and systems (in the areas of justice, health and social services);
eliminating all forms of violence against children (including sexual violence, trafficking, corporal punishment and violence in schools);
guaranteeing the rights of children in vulnerable situations (such as those with disabilities, in detention, in alternative care, migrant or Roma children)
promoting child participation.

In fulfilling these objectives, the Council of Europe will continue to act as the leading organisation in the field of children’s rights.

The CoE Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2012-2015)

Follow CoE Children on twitter

What's the Place of Faith in Schools?

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Prof Robert Jackson, Director of the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit (WRERU) and Professor of Religious Diversity and Education at the European Wergeland Centre, will take part in a public debate on "Faith in Schools" with Prof Richard Dawkins and two other speakers including the Bishop of Oxford, who is the spokesperson on religious education for the Church of England.

The debate will take place in Westminster on 22 February. This upcoming debate is attracting a lot of attention and will include members of Parliament and the House of Lords as well as representatives of many NGOs concerned with religions and beliefs. It will be chaired by Charles Clarke, former UK Minister of Education.

Prof Robert Jackson's presentation is now available online where he refers to the the Council of Europe 2008 Recommendation from the Committee of Ministers of the 47 states, about teaching religions and other worldviews in schools. Professor Jackson is Vice Chair of the CoE/EWC committee concerned with disseminating the Recommendation among the member states.

Follow Prof Jackson on twitter

New Book on Religion in Education released today!

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Robert Jackson, Professor of Religions and Education, University of Warwick has written the Foreword to this book "Law, Religious Freedom and Education in Europe" that was released today.

Religion has returned forcefully both as a subject of academic debate, as a lived reality in contemporary societies and as a renewed challenge for secular systems of governance. The context of education is a field where the accommodation of religious diversity is particularly debated. In a comparative and multidisciplinary perspective, this book offers contributions by prominent law and religion experts on key concepts such as laïcité, discrimination and religious freedom; on national models of State/Church relationships in an educational context and on topical and controversial cases raised in various European jurisdictions.

Podcast: How learning lost its fun

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100

In this interview Josef Huber, Head of the CoE Pestalozzi Programme and co-author of the new book ‘Teacher Education for Change,’ discusses the current concern about state education and gives his views on how teachers can put the “fun” back into learning.

“There is an obvious inner emigration of pupils,” he says. “The solution is not just in the capacities of the individual teacher but the whole undertaking of school education which needs to be re-thought.

We have had an education that is not so much about developing the individual capacity to think creatively, divergently and constructively but which is much more focused on the repetition of canonised knowledge.

“The biggest motivating force for learning is curiosity. Curiosity normally is fun as well for learners.”

Publication: Teacher education for change - The theory behind the Council of Europe Pestalozzi Programme (Pestalozzi series n°1) (2011)

This book is available in both English and French.

Visit http://www.humanrightseurope.org/2012/01/podcast-how-learning-lost-its-fun/ to listen to the interview.

Upcoming Course: The Right to Education

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100

The Right to Education

15 February-27 March 2012
Instructor: Dr. Angela Melchiorre

This short certificate course offered by Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) and the Right to Education Project provides human rights, development and education advocates with concepts, skills, and tools to deepen their knowledge and strategise their work on the right to education. The e-learning course will look at the theoretical foundations of the right to education, how to apply them in order to identify stakeholders, obligations and violations, and what strategies may be used to promote and realise the right.

The course will apply a human rights advocacy methodology whereby participants learn to work at the level of: substance (being aware of the content and meaning of the right in order to identify violations); structure (identifying duty-bearers and using legal instruments so to encourage accountability); society (identifying actions and behavioural/value changes in order to enhance participation of rights-holders).

Course outline

Week 1: Understanding the right to education (I)
Week 2: Understanding the right to education (II): legal obligations vs. political commitments
Week 3: Identifying obligations (immediate vs. progressive realisation; respect, protect, fulfil; states, international community, non-state actors)
Week 4: Identifying violations (issues: fees, compulsory nature, teachers training; groups: women and girls, minorities, emergencies, extremely poor)
Week 5: Monitoring the right to education (existing monitoring mechanisms; law and policy assessment; budget analysis; indicators)
Week 6: Developing strategies for the realisation of the right to education (judicial review and strategic litigation; lobbying and mobilisation of independent experts and bodies; community-based educational and awareness-raising activities)

For further information and to apply online, please go to: www.hrea.org/right-to-education

Law, state, religion, and education (RE) in a post-Soviet Eastern European state: Ukraine

Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Product Description:
In this book, written within the frameworks of the program Christianity & Society, Tilburg School of Catholic Theology, Tilburg University, an attempt has been made to investigate the existing juridical foundation to religious education in an Eastern European state of the post-Soviet Eastern Block for the purpose of promotion the democratic notion of religious tolerance and the development of a culture of living together in the multicultural and polyconfessional society of Ukraine.

The main research focus of this project is on the juridical foundation to religious education in Ukraine as is presented in the national juristic canons and its interpretation in the broader European spectrum of religious education on the example of the three model theory of the REDCo research project. For this purpose the following juridical constitutional and administrative/ public laws of Ukraine were considered: Constitution of Ukraine and the Law of Ukraine On Education.

Information on author:
Vitaliy V. Proshak is a guest researcher in Multicultural and Religious Education at the Department of Religious Studies and Theology, Faculty of Humanities, Utrecht University. He holds (an equivalent of) BA degree in Biblical Studies and Church Ministry from Zaporozhye Bible College and Seminary, Ukraine, MDiv and MET degrees from Tyndale Theological Seminary, Badhoevedorp and MA Christianity and Society from Tilburg School of Catholic Theology at Tilburg University.

Order this book

Workshop on Teaching remembrance of the Holocaust

Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Council of Europe (CoE) is organizing this workshop for teachers and head teachers in Paris 23-27 April 2012. The workshop is part of the CoE project "Transmission de la mémoire de l’Holocauste et prévention des crimes contre l’humanité: une approche transversale", and uses a range of educational approaches.

Places available!

Please note that the working language is French.

PLURAL+ 2012 Youth Video Festival on Migration and Social Inclusion

Mon, 6 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Calls for Youth Participation

The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) again invite the worlds youth to submit original and creative videos focusing on PLURAL+ themes: migration, diversity and social inclusion.

Recognizing youth as powerful agents of social change in a world often characterized by intolerance, and cultural and religious divisions, PLURAL+ invites youth to address key challenges in their communities related to migrant integration, inclusiveness, identity, diversity, human rights and social cohesiveness, both at local and global levels. Young people up to 25 years old are invited to submit short videos of five minutes maximum in length.

Marc Scheuer, Director of the UNAOC, said PLURAL+ videos fit very well in this very relevant conversation: how to build more inclusive societies where we can all live together in harmony. Michele Klein-Solomon, Permanent Observer to the United Nations, IOM, added PLURAL+ videos touch very sensitive issues in a very real way. They look at the realities that people are facing; we like to see young people expressing their profound ideas in a manner that allows the opening of a dialogue.

Independent media producer and PLURAL+ 2011 jury member Renzo Devia said, I was amazed to see how these young film makers created these videos and I really appreciate the work they put into these productions. Probably the most impressive thing is the stories. I learned a lot from different cultures and social issues in various nations.

PLURAL+ supports young peoples expression of their opinions by providing them with a variety of media platforms and distribution networks, including broadcasts, video festivals, conferences and events around the world. PLURAL+ not only provides young people with an effective platform to express themselves on key migration and diversity issues, but also reinforces the firm belief of IOM and UNAOC that youth are powerful and creative agents of social change.

A prestigious international jury will select three winners in each age categories (9-12, 13-17, 18-25). All the winners will be invited to New York, all travel expenses paid, to present their work at PLURAL + 2012 Awards Ceremony at the Paley Center for Media on 6th December 2012.

PLURAL+ partner organizations will also award other prizes and professional opportunities, such as winning participants presenting their work at film and video festivals, conferences and events around the world.

PLURAL + 2012 deadline for video submission is 1 July, 2012. Early submissions are encouraged. Further information, including guidelines, regulations, awards, and the entry form can be found at the PLURAL+ website at: http://www.unaoc.org/pluralplus/

You can watch PLURAL+ 2011 winners here: http://www.unaoc.org/pluralplus/winning-videos/plural-2011/

PLURAL+ is a joint project of the UNAOC and the IOM with the support of many international partners, including: Anna Lindh Foundation, Chinh India, Cine y Salud Spain, COPEAM, Universal Forum of Cultures Foundation, MEC Serbia, NEXOS, Roots&Routes Germany, Royal Film Commission Jordan, Without Borders Film Festival, SIGNIS, UN TV, UNESCO AV Platform, Turkish Cultural Center New York, Gulen Institute, TAL, Global Block, Scalabrini International Migration Network, Paley Center for Media and Red Unial.

More determination is needed to make human rights real

Fri, 3 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100

“Europe must move with more determination from rhetoric to enforcement of human rights standards” stated the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, when presenting the last annual report of his mandate.

The report identifies fields in which stronger political action is required. One concern is the justice system which is dysfunctional in several member states. “Corruption, political interference and lack of resources erode the independence and credibility of the judiciary. Strengthening the rule of law is essential to rebuild public confidence in the justice system.”

The Commissioner also regrets the increased pressure on the media, which hamper their independence and pluralism. “In a number of European states media freedom is undermined through criminalisation of defamation; law-induced censorship; intimidation, harassment and even murder of journalists. These factors have a detrimental effect on our democracies.”

Persons with disabilities remain largely excluded from key sectors of life, including access to adequate and humane health care, decent work and housing, public places, transportation, quality education and sometimes even civil rights, such as the right to vote. “The needs of persons with disabilities are still given low priority in state and municipality budgets. More recognition, protection and social inclusion should be ensured for them.”

Roma people still live in abject misery and suffer alienation in many European countries. “Urgent measures must be taken to ensure more humane housing conditions for Roma families, access to quality education and foster social inclusion. It is crucial to guarantee that all Roma, in particular children, have personal identity documents and are no longer treated as stateless. It is imperative to put an end to the wide-spread anti-Gypsyism, to which some politicians have also contributed.”

Marginalisation and stigmatisation deeply impinge on the everyday life of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons in some countries. “It is particularly important that opinion makers address these prejudices and take the lead in fighting discrimination against LGBT persons.”

The Commissioner observes that attitudes towards asylum-seekers and migrants have gradually become more negative. “Political leaders have all too often preferred to follow – rather than lead – public opinions, thus feeding xenophobic movements. Europe should adopt a more humane migration policy and asylum procedures based on human rights principles.”

Despite some progress in awareness and legal protection, discrimination against women persists in employment, education and political participation. Violence against women and children remains a scourge in Europe. “Taboos, ignorance and machismo still surround the issue of domestic violence, contributing to its persistence.”

Finally, the Commissioner stresses that the living conditions of older persons are a major concern. “The elderly have suffered, more than others, by the recent economic crisis and austerity budgets. I have seen signs of deep old-age poverty in several countries. A deeper discussion on the rights of older people is needed.”

Commissioner Hammarberg’s six-year mandate comes to an end next March 31. The newly elected Commissioner, Nils Muižnieks, will take up his functions on April 1.

Keep up to date with the Commissioner on Twitter

Source: Press Release 26/1 - Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights, Council of Europe

Teachers afraid to broach human rights in class

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Fear of causing upset means they steer clear of controversial topic, research finds

Scottish teachers are too scared of upsetting parents to teach human rights, worrying new research has found.

Student teachers said they feared that “all hell would break loose” if they taught pupils about emotive human rights issues.

Meanwhile, students who did want to cover human rights during their teaching practice were actively discouraged by qualified teachers who were concerned that it was “controversial”.

Researchers at the University of Strathclyde said the findings raised concerns about how human rights education - a fundamental right in itself - was being delivered in Scotland under Curriculum for Excellence.

Lead researcher Claire Cassidy told delegates at the annual Scottish Educational Research Association conference: “Children generally learn about human rights through teachers - but teachers are afraid of human rights education.

“They are worried about parents’ reaction. Students talked at length about how there would be ‘all hell breaking loose’ if they even broached human rights.

“They are also worried about it being a sensitive topic and about how to pitch it, but that seemed to come down more to a lack of understanding of human rights and fears of teaching a subject they do not know.”

The students had “all sorts of bogeymen in their heads”, but this really was not borne out by reality, Dr Cassidy added.

“They thought of parents’ cultural, religious and moral positions as barriers to education, but they did not at any point consider that they could challenge parents’ views,” she said.

Of perhaps even greater concern was the attitude of experienced teachers who revealed similar fears.

Dr Cassidy said: “One student wanted to do a human rights topic, but the teacher said, ‘No, we think that’s too dodgy.’ So the student did a lesson on space instead.

“A fourth-year B.Ed student who brought a Holocaust survivor into class was told afterwards by the teacher that the lesson was ‘controversial’.”

The study was based on an online survey and interviews involving 133 students at an unidentified Scottish university doing B.Ed, PGDE and BA Early Childhood Practice (BAECP) qualifications.

Researchers also found that human rights education was not covered explicitly in teacher training, despite a current UN draft declaration on human rights education and training.

Dr Cassidy said: “Our students don’t actually know that there is a huge programme on human rights education, and I’m sure our colleges don’t know either. We need to help students to see the links between human rights education and CfE.”

However, one researcher at the SERA conference last year stressed the difficulties of teaching human rights in schools where pupils were directly affected by the issues in question.

The professor, who did not want to be named, referred to a large school in Glasgow where it was believed that female Pakistani pupils “disappeared” to take part in forced marriages, but the issue was never discussed because the girls’ parents gave the Scottish schools system “a complete body-swerve”.

A spokesman for Moray House school of education at the University of Edinburgh said several teacher-training courses referred to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was “implicitly touched upon” in relation to classroom equality issues.

But he added: “There are no specific modules, courses or electives on human rights within teacher training at Moray House.”

The findings are being used to help develop a continuing professional development opportunity at the University of Strathclyde in a bid to improve teaching of human rights.

Information source: TES Magazine

Teaching Respect for All

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Launched on 18 January 2012, the UNESCO-USA-Brazil project Teaching Respect for All aims to design a curricular framework to fight racism and promote tolerance, which countries can adapt to their respective contexts and needs.

The project will also elaborate educational materials for addressing racism and tolerance in education. These tools will build on lessons learned and current good practices in the field. The materials will be disseminated worldwide by UNESCO through education ministries as well as the Organization’s extensive networks, including the UNESCO Associated Schools.

UNESCO is concerned by the rise of racism, xenophobia and intolerance, and considers education to be essential to strengthening the foundations of tolerance, reducing discrimination and violence, and learning to live together. Education is vital to achieve these aims and cultivate respect for all people regardless of colour, gender, or national, ethnic or religious identity. It is especially important to reach out to children and young people during their formative years, notably through educational materials and curricula.

Information Source: UNESCO Press Service

International Course “Human Rights for Development”

Mon, 2 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100

The first edition of the international course “Human Rights for Development” (HR4DEV), will take place from 30 July to 24 August 2012 in Antwerp, Belgium.

What are the potential and limits of human rights for development? What is the added value of children’s rights’ approaches to global problems such as poverty, environmental challenges, armed conflict and migration? These are some of the questions that will be addressed in the course, from a critical and interdisciplinary perspective.

The training programme consists of a general part (two weeks on human rights and development), and a thematic part (two weeks on children's rights and globalization). It targets 'leaders of the future' in practice, policy and academia, from South and North.

HR4DEV is a joint initiative of two Flemish interuniversity partnerships: the Flemish Interuniversity Research Network on Law and Development (LAW&DEV) and the Children's Rights Knowledge Centre (KeKi), in cooperation with the Institute of Development Policy and Management (University of Antwerp).

The deadlines for application are 1 February 2012 (when applying for a scholarship) and 1 April 2012 (when not applying for a scholarship).

Further details on the course, including application form, programme and names of experts, can be found on www.hr4dev.be.

For information regarding programme and scholarships:

Mrs. Kathy Vlieghe
Children's Rights Knowledge Centre
Kathy.Vlieghe@keki.be

For information regarding registration and accommodation:

Mrs. Terry Amssoms
University of Antwerp, Faculty of Law - International Mobility
terry.amssoms@ua.ac.be

Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The United Nations General Assembly in New York adopted the Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training on 19 December. This landmark document recognises the right of every one of the planet's seven billion people to have access to human rights education, a lifelong process involving all ages, all parts of society, and every kind of education, formal and informal.

The Declaration specifies not simply what one should learn about human rights, but also how ("through human rights, which includes learning and teaching in a way that respects the rights of both educators and learners") and also why ("for human rights, which includes empowering persons to enjoy and exercise their rights and to respect and uphold the rights of others").

The adoption of this new Declaration also offers educators and policy makers an occasion to reassess national policies and priorities in the light of international standards. If as the Declaration states, "human rights education and training is essential for the promotion of universal respect for and observance of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all," then human rights education is not only the entitlement of every human being, but also a necessity for responsible global citizenship.

HREA, in partnership with Soka Gokkai International, CONGO, Amnesty International, OIDEL and many other educational institutions and civil society actors, has been closely involved in the consultation and drafting process of the Declaration since 2008.

Source of information: HREA News

National and Regional Training Courses on Human Rights Education

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Supporting the Development of Human Rights Education with Children and Young People, through Non-Formal Learning and Youth Work

PROGRAMME 2012

The Council of Europe Youth Department has sent out a Call for National and Regional Training Courses on Human Rights Education. The courses prepare trainers, facilitators, youth workers and youth leaders, as well as actors in formal education, to develop projects on human rights education at national level and to mainstream human rights education in youth work. The participant-trainers in the course act also as multipliers and advocates for human rights organisations across institutional and organisational borders. From 2002 to 2011, nearly two thousand trainers have taken part in 74 such courses organised in 38 of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe.

The CoE Youth Department can provide institutional, educational and financial support to such courses in 2012. The organisation and running of the courses is possible only through the initiative of national and regional institutions, organisations and public services interested in introducing and developing human rights education in non-formal and formal educational settings. They are the effective course organisers.

Eligible applicants and priority criteria
Applications are welcome from non-governmental youth organisations and/or other nongovernmental and governmental organisations and institutions involved in human rights
education.

Priority will be given to applications that:

Are organised in co-operation between two or more partner organisations;
Are being held in countries where newly published translations of COMPASS can be introduced to key multipliers (e.g. trainers, youth leaders involved in programme implementation and/or policy development)
Are being held in countries where no national training course in human rights education has been organised in the past five years;
Foster co-operation between the non-formal and formal educational sectors
Are being held in the Russian Federation and are involving a variety of national and regional partners

Objectives and format of the courses
All the training courses must aim at training key multipliers (youth leaders, trainers, youth workers, teachers, teachers’ trainers) in developing human rights education activities with and for young people. The programme should be based on the methodologies and approaches present in Compass and seek to develop participants competences in HRE.

Participants must come from a diversity of organisations and institutions concerned with human rights education and youth work; they should be committed to carry out further activities and projects in human rights education with young people. The organisers should pay particular attention at reaching and involving the social and cultural diversity in society, including various minorities and frequently discriminated groups in society. The organisers should strive to recruit a group with equal representation of both sexes.

The duration of the course, the number and profile of the participants should be consistent with the programme and the specific objectives of the course. The courses should be held for a minimum of 15 and maximum of 40 participants, and last for a minimum of 4 days.

The course organisers are expected to:
a) define objectives for the course in the specific context of the country/ies of the participants;
b) prepare, run and evaluate the course with a competent team of trainers and organisers;
c) provide the necessary infrastructure for a residential training course using participatory educational methodologies;
d) include, when appropriate, in the team of trainers one or more trainers who have participated in one of the “Training of Trainers in Human Rights Education” courses organised by the Youth Department of the Council of Europe;
e) consult and coordinate with the publishers of Compass translations where appropriate.

Further details and application form

All expressions of interest must be sent to the Youth Department using the Form for expressions of interest by email before 15 January 2012 to dys.nrtc@coe.int.

Understanding and Valuing Diversity

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100

“Understanding and valuing diversity: Council of Europe activities in the field of intercultural education”

Ólöf Thorhildur ÓLAFSDÓTTIR, Director of Education and Languages at the Council of Europe gave a key presentation at the International Symposium on Interculturalism taking place in Montreal earlier this year.

In her paper she refers to a number of instruments prepared by the Council of Europe in the fields of education and intercultural understanding. It also describes the obstacles to the establishment and success of intercultural education programmes. Finally, the prospects for the coming years are also considered.

Read the Presentation (English)

Read the Presentation (French)

EMMIR: Applications for 2012-2014 Now Open

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100

EMMIR is the European Master in Migration and Intercultural Relations. It is the first African-European Erasmus Mundus Master Course in Migration Studies.

EMMIR is a unique study programme focusing on migration through an intercultural approach. It provides profound theoretical skills in migration studies combined with field work in Europe and Africa. It is designed as a multidisciplinary programme that addresses important contemporary issues in an emerging field of study.

EMMIR offers a number of scholarships for students; students from Western Balkans and Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt; and from the 'Eastern Neighbourhood Countries' of the EU are especially encourage to apply.

EMMIR admits the second cohort in September 2012 - applications from around the world to be submitted until 31 December 2011.

Please note that you have to submit your documents online AND in paper by ordinary mail. All requirements and information on the procedures for your application is available on the EMMIR website.

When does our renaissance start?

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100

What if there were a society where all people are in black and white with everyone murmuring the same prayers and leading the same way of life?

Nawar Fakhry Ezzi - MA in Religious Education student at the University of Warwick has written an article recently published in the Arab News.

Attempting to create an “idealist” society where conformity is the norm and deviations are not accepted alienates many people, which hinders the progress of society. Our renaissance will start when we bring true Islamic values to the present instead of taking our lifestyles to the past. Embracing diversity and accepting it as a positive aspect of our society would be a good first step.

Read the insightful article

New Publication: Religion, Education, Dialogue and Conflict

Thu, 8 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Perspectives on Religious Education Research

Edited by Robert Jackson

To Be Published 16th December 2011 by Routledge – 192 pages

Religion, Education, Dialogue and Conflict analyses the European Commission-funded REDCo project, which addressed the question of how religions might contribute to dialogue or conflict in Europe. Researchers in education from eight countries – the UK, Estonia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the Russian Federation, Norway and Spain – studied how young Europeans of different religious, cultural and political backgrounds could engage in dialogue in the context of the school.

Empirical studies conducted with 14-16 year old students included them offering their own perspectives and analyses of teaching and learning in both dialogue and conflict situations. Although there were some different national patterns and trends, most students wished for peaceful coexistence across differences, and believed this to be possible. The majority agreed that peaceful coexistence depended on knowledge about each other’s religions and worldviews, sharing common interests and doing things together. The project found that students who learn about religious diversity in school are more willing to discuss religions and beliefs with students of other backgrounds than those who do not.

The international range of expert contributors to this book evaluate the results of the REDCo project, providing examples of its qualitative and quantitative studies and reflecting on the methods and theory used in the project as a whole.

This book was originally published as a special issue of the British Journal of Religious Education.

More information and order details

Higher Education in the World - 4th report just published

Tue, 6 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100

This fourth report, Higher Education's Commitment to Sustainability: From Understanding to Action, includes papers by 85 authors from 38 countries.

The publication presents the current situation and its implication for higher education (HE), analyzing the link between sustainability and HE. It shows a map of how the regions are advancing with regard to the subject; complemented with trending topics, networks' experiences and good practices.

The report offers different visions that contribute to the transformation of HE. The publication also includes a study to identify the main barriers that prevent the transformation of higher education institutions (HEIs) towards contributing to the sustainability paradigm, and highlight possible solutions in a global framework to advance from understanding to action.

EWC's Research Coordinator Claudia Lenz and Executive Director Ana Perona-Fjeldstad wrote one of the article's in this publication: "Making higher education a key stakeholder of future democratic societies"

See table of contents and more information

Publication and order details

Call for Abstracts

Fri, 2 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The Centre for Learner Identity Studies (CLIS) calls for abstracts for their fourth annual conference themed around ‘Identity – State – Education’. The conference will take place 11-13 July 2012. They invite practitioners, researchers, and policymakers interested in these issues nationally and internationally to attend and to engage with and share research focused around questions of learner identity.

Abstracts are invited on any of the topics linked to the conference themes and that relate, directly or indirectly, to the broad conference strand headings below. These strand headings are indicative only and they are by no means exhaustive. Abstracts on additional topics and themes will also be considered:

Curriculum
Pedagogy
Learner Identities
Institutions and Structures
Educational Policy

Religious Worlds of New York

Thu, 1 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The Interfaith Center of New York and Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York are pleased to announce a new educational program, funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. In July of 2012, we will host an N.E.H. summer institute for secondary school teachers, entitled Religious Worlds of New York: Teaching the Everyday Life of American Religious Diversity. This innovative program will help public, private, and parochial school teachers teach more effectively about the rich religious diversity of the United States.

The three week institute will bring together 30 teachers from throughout the country, to work with leading scholars in religious studies, as well as a wide range of local religious leaders. It will introduce participants to six religious traditions that are part of the fabric of American life, and offer them the pedagogic tools they need to teach their students about contemporary “lived religion,” in addition to the conventional “world religions” curriculum that is currently dominant in American secondary schools. The institute will thus help to transform secondary school religious studies instruction, by empowering teachers to teach about the everyday lives of Americans from diverse religious traditions.

CoE 2011 Exchange on the Religious Dimension of Intercultural Dialogue

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The theme for this event, taking place in Luxembourg 28-29 November, is "The role of the media in promoting intercultural dialogue, tolerance and mutual understanding: freedom of expression in the media and respect for cultural and religious diversity".

The 2011 Exchange is one aspect of the action undertaken by the Committee of Minsiters in the field of intercultural dialogue and follows on from Exchanges organised since 2008. The choice of the theme has also been influenced by the achievements of the Council of Europe´s "Speak Out Against Discrimination" camapign launched three years ago, whose primary objective has been to work with, for and through media professionals, in accordance with the recommendations of the White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue.

Council of Europe maps out its children’s rights strategy for 2012-2015

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The Council of Europe will bring together ministers, MPs, children’s rights defenders and civil society representatives to finalise its new strategy for children’s rights at a conference being held under the auspices of H.R.H. the Princess of Hanover on 20 and 21 November in Monaco (at the Grimaldi Forum).

The strategy is designed to enhance the capacity of the Council of Europe and its 47 member states to ensure respect for children’s rights, in particular by developing child-friendly services, by eliminating all forms of violence against children and by promoting a culture of respect for children’s rights, needs and opinions. Workshops willd debate on the challenges of data protection in the new media environment, on democratic citizenship and human rights education as well as on policies in support of positive parenting.

Information Source: Newsroom Council of Europe

Patterns of Research in Civics, History, Geography and Religious Education

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100

A new book based on key presentations and responses from an international conference held at Karlstad University in Sweden in 2010 is now available.

The book covers social studies subjects – civics, history, geography and religious education – as represented in the Swedish education system.

The book includes contributions from Robert Jackson, Special Adviser to the European Wergeland Centre, and Theo Koritsinsky, a member of the EWC board.

The book includes chapters by specialist authors from Sweden, Germany, Norway, Finland, the UK, Denmark and Canada.

In focus are questions like: What are the main patters of research in the respective fields? Are there similarities in questions and types of research within these four fields of research? What advices do researchers give teachers, based on their research?

Three research and teaching traditions are presented at length: Joachim Detjen from Germany
writes about the German tradition of Politische Bildung, Robert Jackson is discussing the
Interpretative approach developed by Jackson and his collaborators at Warwick University, UK,
Christine Counsell editor of the journal History Education describes the contributions of active
teachers to the development of the British tradition of doing history, Stéphane Lévesque from
Canada describes how this British history education tradition has been further developed in
Canada and US as historical thinking, and Hartwig Haubrich of Germany provides a summary
of his comparative studies of international geography education, carried out thorough several
decades. A number of Nordic scholars comment and give their picture of crucial questions within
the respective subject in our time.

These questions are addressed in this volume, a book that deserves being read by researchers,
teacher educators and school teachers interested in research.

Book Details: B. Schullerqvist (Ed), Patterns of Research in Civics, History, Geography and Religious Education, Studier i de samhällsvetenskapliga ämnenas didaktik nr 14, Karlstad: Karlstad University Press Copies

It can be ordered from Karlstad University press on forlag@kau.se

The Diversity Debate: Facts, Fiction, Fantasy - See the Presentations

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Venue: House of Literature and the Nobel Peace Center, Oslo, Norway

On 27th and 28th of October in Oslo, The British Council and the Norwegian Directorate of Integration and Diversity invited experts from the U.S. England and Norway to debate on how we live together in our progressively diverse societies.

Footage of the debates and presentations are now available at the British Council's website

The debates started off on the subject matter of cities and how to bring different communities together and create equal chances and opportunities for all regardless of their differences. The speakers focused on how to view diversity as a resource rather than a problem, but at the same time addressing the challenges.

Professor in Philosophy, Lord Bhikhu Parekh, shared his thoughts on the role of politics and policies, its rhetoric and its relation to fostering common belonging in diverse societies. Placing it in a historical context with emphasis on Christianity in Europe and its politics, he asked the question: Who defines the concept of norm in regards to diversity and difference in a society?

Together with the Deputy Mayor of London, Richard Barnes, he also emphasized the importance of education, even at an early stage in life, to promote reciprocal understanding and appreciation for differences rather than just tolerance.

Trevor Phillips, chair of The Human Rights Commission UK, stressed the issue of how the system and the strategy of “doing more of what is already being done” in relation to discrimination, is not working. He expressed that there is a need for new rules on how to negotiate the terms of difference and diversity.

On the 2nd and final day of the conference, representatives from the Department of Health in the UK (the largest employer of minorities in Europe) and the Health sector in Norway, came together to discuss the challenges and initiatives taken to eliminate discrimination and how to create access for all in public services. Although this being a tremendous challenge, documented results from measures undertaken showed many positive examples of how good practice has been developed regarding access and equity.

French language version of HRE Compendium now available

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The French language version of the publication Human Rights Education in the School Systems of Europe, Central Asia and North America: A Compendium of Good Practice (“Education aux droits de l'homme dans les systèmes scolaires d'Europe, d'Asie centrale et d'Amérique du Nord : Recueil de bonnes pratiques”) has been released by the Council of Europe.

The original English language publication was jointly published by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR), Council of Europe, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2009. HREA was retained to develop the Compendium under the guidance of these partners.

This publication collects 101 exemplary practices of human rights education, education for democratic citizenship, and education for mutual respect and understanding from Europe, North America and Central Asia. Designed for primary and secondary schools, as well as teacher training institutions, the resources included in the publication touch upon the key elements for successful human rights education: 1) laws, guidelines and standards; 2) learning environment; 3) teaching and learning tools; 4) professional development for educators; 5) evaluation. They were selected on the basis of their innovative approaches, effectiveness, adaptability and diversity.

A PDF file of the French language version (as well as English and Russian) can now be downloaded from the Council of Europe website: http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/education/edc/1_What_is_EDC_HRE/general_announcement2_2oct09_en.asp

The role of religious education

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Toward Mutual Ground: Religious Education, Education, and Diversity

The Irish Centre for Religious Education hosted a one day conference at Mater Dei Institute of Education, consulting with a broad spectrum of invited guests (policy makers, providers and other interested parties) in exploring the place and role of religious education in contemporary Ireland.

The conference build on the debate about teaching of religion and beliefs presently taking place in Europe, and the presenters spoke from a variety of perspectives.

Robert Jackson, Professor of Religions and Education in the Institute of Education at the University of Warwick, and Special Adviser at the EWC, was the main keynote speaker giving a presentation on "Why Education about Religions and Beliefs? European Policy Recommendations and Research"
He focused on the dissemination of the Council of Europe recommendation and the issues it raises for an education system like that of Ireland.

The Irish Minister of Education, Ruairi Quinn also gave a lecture.

For more information on this event visit the conference website

Picture: Prof Robert Jackson and the Irish Minister of Education, Ruairi Quinn

EWC took part in a conference focusing on HRE and Concept Learning

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0100

EWC took part in a conference about cooperation of teacher training institutions in Mid-Norway regarding HRE and concept learning

On Oct 20-21, representatives of four teacher education institutions of Mid-Norway met to discuss areas of future cooperation within teacher training and research. Human Rights Education and concept learning are two interrelated fields in which cooperation opportunities were discussed.

EWC's Claudia Lenz gave a presentation of the intercultural glossary project and its foundation in HRE methodology. The idea of developing an interactive learning resource for the reflection of concepts along historical developments and contemporary contexts was well received. Appointments for further steps of cooperation were made.

Promoting the right to quality education for Roma children

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Belgrade, Serbia

17-18 October 2011

The regional expert meeting Promoting the Right to Quality Education for Roma People, organized by the Ministry of Education of Serbia in cooperation with UNESCO, aimed to foster regional cooperation and identify key areas of action.

The meeting was attended by eight Central and Eastern European countries and a number of teacher training institutions from Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine. Representatives of relevant international and regional organizations, among them the EWC (as a member of the Task Force on Roma Education) participated as well.

The meeting provided an opportunity to reaffirm the participants commitment towards the realization of the right to quality education for Roma people. It served also as a forum for an exchange of views on the challenges and on possible areas of action.

Faces of Racism Revealed

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Recognising that creativity can be an effective way to promote reflection on human rights issues, the manual uses visual images (posters) to promote interactive discussion and critical thinking amongst young people about racism and discrimination. The manual is entitled "Racism Revealed: A Manual for Educators on Using Poster Artwork to Promote Discussion on Racism" and is available for download on Amnesty International Slovenia's website.

The manual was developed within a project entitled "Ljubljana Poster Festival '11: The Faces of Racism Revealed." The aim of the poster festival is to use posters as a means of promoting positive social change. You can therefore also download any of the posters from the Faces of Racism Revealed exhibition and use them in your work to foster tolerance, understanding and respect for diversity among young people - click on the link below to find out more: http://www.posterfestivalljubljana.org/2011 .

Amnesty International Slovenia has also been running educational visits of the poster exhibition for school groups, using the posters to promote debate about racism.

To find out more about the project please see: poster.amnesty.si.

Closing the Empowerment Gap

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0100

NECE CONFERENCE

17 - 19 November 2011, Warsaw (Poland)

Closing the empowerment gap through citizenship education: How to address educationally disadvantaged groups

The complex changes regarding civic participation in Europe and its effects on socially disadvantaged groups will be discussed during the conference. On the one hand, citizens tend to refrain from traditional political participation. On the other hand, a rising number of new ways of getting involved in politics and society, i.e. using new media, have emerged. However, these new forms of political involvement are to a large extent determined by the access to education and by income and skills. Groups with no access to these resources remain widely excluded from participation in civil society and political processes. Socially disadvantaged groups with poor educational opportunities suffer from a conspicuous ‘empowerment gap’. Experts and activists in the fields of citizenship and cultural education, youth and social workers, NGO representatives will meet in Warsaw to discuss the role of citizenship education in this context. How can citizenship education become a suitable tool for closing the empowerment gap?

Follow the latest news at the NECE conference blog or at the NECE website

There are still some available places and the participation fee has now been reduced!
Register at: https://www.conf.lab-concepts.de/nece

Think Tank on Intercultural Education

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Schools as Intercultural Communities: Towards Indicators for Successful Intercultural Education

4 - 7 October in Oslo, Norway

The Think-Tank on Intercultural Education gathered school heads, teachers and other education professionals from cities belonging to the Intercultural Cities Network, Nottingham (United Kingdom) and Stockholm (Sweden).

The participants discussed and critically reviewed existing practices regarding whole-school policies, as well as shared their own local experiences in the field of intercultural education. They also familiarized themselves with and clarified key concepts such as respect, identity, culture, intercultural communication, empathy and multiperspectivity.
Moreover, the group explored the theory and practice behind intercultural education. Among selected texts were extracts from the Autobiography of Intercultural Encounters, practical examples from the Intercultural Cities Programme, and the White paper on Intercultural Dialogue (the documents are attached in the blue box to the right).

The participants then moved on to identify the components of intercultural competence, and to define concrete, observable behavior which can be used as indicators for successful intercultural education. Which attitudes, knowledge and skills need to be in place in order to enable an individual to deal with difference in constructive ways?

The next question is: How can we know that individuals show these attitudes, knowledge and skills? Indicators for each of these elements were developed, taking the form of observable behavior. It is the observation of behavior over time that can – as an exercise of self-reflection or mutual feed back – help individuals to develop the aspects of intercultural competence they need and desire in order to turn differences into a rich resource of social life. During the next phase of the Think Tank, the list of indicators will be tested and refined in order to allow a broader dissemination in the future.

An addition to the programme was the introduction to the resource Global and Anti-Racist Perspectives (GARP), which is developed to give practical examples on how these perspectives can be integrated in teaching and learning, specifically related to the UK primary school curricula.

The Think-Tank was organised by the CoE Pestalozzi Programme and the EWC, in cooperation with Oslo Municipality, and supported by the British Council.

-----

The Intercultural Cities – a joint action of the Council of Europe and the European Commission gathers 21 cities which seek to develop a positive public and media discourse towards diversity, encourage inter-ethnic mixing and interaction, increase the knowledge of citizens of different cultures present in the city, and deal with cultural conflict through mediation and open debate.

They focus on whole-school issues such as cultural diversity with regard to the teachers and learners in schools, intercultural competence of educators, intercultural mediation in schools, interaction with communities, extracurricular offers, etc.

A summer in Europe: youth movements, youth riots and a terror attack

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0100

A New Issue of the NECE newsletter is now available online at www.nece.eu

The edition focuses on this summer in Europe and lessons to learn for citizenship education:

Angry young men (and women). Youth revolts in Europe by Fernando Vallespín, Universidad Autónoma of Madrid (Spain)

The terror attack in Norway and the responses to it by Claudia Lenz, & Ana Perona-Fjeldstad, The European Wergeland Centre, Norway

Reports:

International conference: June 2011, University of Ljubljana (Slovenia)

Tunis Exchange Forum: Building Plural and Democratic Societies, June 2011 (Tunisia)

Opening of ProDemos on 15 September 2011 in the Hague, the Netherlands

Introducing:
Center for Citizenship Education, formerly known as EIP (Slovenia)

Download the NECE Newsletter

Universal Human Rights Logo is launched

Thu, 6 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0100

"Free as a man" by Predrag Stakić, winner of a competition of more than 15.000 submissions from more than 190 countries

Left: Robert DeNiro shows the winning logo at the following Cinema for Peace celebration dinner. Right: The Winner of the Logo competition with Ann Curry, Jessye Norman and Jury members

Cinema for Peace held a dinner on September 23 in New York City celebrating the first Universal Logo for Human Rights, after the worldwide community selected the winner out of more than
15 000 submissions from more than 190 countries.

There are universally recognizable logos for love and for peace, but there was no logo for human rights. That gap was closed on September 23, where the winning logo, designed by the Serbian Predrag Stakić, was unveiled. The logo resembles both a hand and a dove, making it easily recognizable and reproducible, even by using your own hand at demonstrations.

The global online community chose their 100 favorite logos from a selection of over 15 000 submissions. An international jury comprised human rights activists such as Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, Cambodian human rights activist and author Somaly Mam, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, Nobel Peace Prize laureates Aung San Suu Kyi, Shirin Ebadi, Muhammad Yunus, Jimmy Carter, Mikhail Gorbachev, and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay, chose the top 10 designs. Between August 27 and September 17 2011, the global online community voted for the winning logo.

The winning logo was formally announced on Friday, September 23 in New York. Ann Curry (NBC) gave the opening remarks, and Michael Elliott (President of ONE) moderated the event. World-renowned opera singer Jessye Norman gave an awe-inspiring performance accompanied by piano. A video message from Aung San Suu Kyi was played, commending the initiative. Human Right defenders from all over the world attended, including the mother and sister of Mohamed Bouazizi, the man who started the Arab Spring by setting himself on fire.

The unveiling of the logo was followed by a Cinema for Peace Dinner. Mannoubia and Leila Bouazizi made a heartfelt and moving speech about the legacy of their son and brother. Activist and blogger Sami Ben Gharbia, a Tunisian who has been living in exile since 1998 for criticizing the regime, translated their speech and added: “After living in exile for thirteen years, Mohamed Bouazizi gave me my passport back; he gave me my country back.”

Norway donates 2.6 million Euros to Council of Europe’s work in ODA recipient states

Mon, 3 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Norwegian State Secretary Erik Lahnstein and Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland

Council of Europe Secretary General, Thorbjørn Jagland, and the Norwegian State Secretary, Erik Lahnstein, signed an agreement on September 29th in Oslo, which provides support to the organisation’s cooperation activities in Official Development Assistance recipient states (ODA), in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy.

The agreement, which covers the years 2011 to 2014, foresees an initial contribution of 2.6 million € (20 million NOK). Programmes and projects to be implemented under this agreement will be selected from the unfunded priority projects approved by the Committee of Ministers in the Council of Europe biennial programme and budget.

This is the first of a new type of multiannual framework agreements with predictable resources which enable better programming and implementation, and hence results. Currently only meant for ODA eligible states, the programme may also be extended to countries covered by the new Council of Europe Neighbourhood Policy.

Source: Council of Europe Newsroom

Intercultural Learning at the Falstad Centre

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0100

European CoE Pestalozzi workshop held from September 19th – 23rd 2011 at The Falstad Centre, Norway

Focusing on the theme From Division to Diversity: Educational Challenges related to Past and Present, 19 participants from 16 different European countries, most of them teachers and teacher trainers, shared an intensive cooperative experience during the one week workshop in Norway. The topics of the workshop covered different thematic areas in the field of intercultural learning such as historical and contemporary situations of ethnic minorities and people with special needs, religious diversity, as well as the relation between national identity construction and religion.

Lectures by experts in these fields were followed by group work where participants could share their experiences and try out learning methodologies. Participatory learning methods and didactical tools fostering multiperspectivity were investigated in a hands-on, practical way. Different methods of concept learning, highlighting the changing meaning of concepts in different context and historical periods as well as the method of digital story telling were appreciated by the participants as giving concrete tools to take back home in the class- and seminar rooms.

One highlight of the week was an excursion to Trondheim, where even the sightseeing (the Nidaros Cathedral) engaged the participants in conversations on nation building, religion and the construction of national heritage. All in all, the week was a wonderful example of learning about (= themes and methods), learning through (= open-minded interaction and mutual inspiration) and learning for (= each participant’s professional ambition to prepare students for living together in Europe’s diverse and democratic societies).

The Summer Academy 2011 Report

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The second Summer Academy: Democracy at School took place in Warsaw and Sulejowek, Poland, 9-16 July 2011. It was organized by the Ministry of National Education, Poland, Centre for Education Development, Poland, The Council of Europe and The European Wergeland Centre.

The Academy aims at training educators to incorporate the principles of human rights and democracy into their daily work. It puts the Council of Europe’s (CoE) education policy into practice through trainings and workshops based on CoE recommendations and publications, in particular the manuals: Democratic School Governance, How all teachers can support citizenship and human rights education: A framework for the development of competences, Compass, Compasito.

The first day of the seminar, the participants were given their own, private logbook, to reflect upon each day’s session(s), and in particular on their learning experiences during the week. The final day, all participants anonymously completed an evaluation form asking about organizational matters, the training sessions and its relevance to their own practice. Their answers and comments show a very high degree of satisfaction.

An essential part of the Summer Academy is the online follow-up, where the focus is on the learning outcome and implementation. For the coming 8 months, the participants will be supported by and report to an assigned trainer on the development and implementation of their local actions.

The Summer Academy has now been organized twice, and the feedback from this year’s participants is again important when planning and organizing the Summer Academy 2012, in order for future participants to benefit from the valuable advice from the 2011 alumni.

Download the Summer Academy 2011 Report (English)
Download the Summer Academy 2011 Report (Russian)

Now available: United Nations Declaration

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0100

On 23 March 2011, the Human Rights Council adopted the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training. The Council recommended that the General Assembly adopt the United Nations Declaration, which will be decided in a vote at the end of the year.

The Council invites Governments, agencies and organizations of the United Nations system and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to intensify their efforts to disseminate the Declaration and to promote universal respect and understanding thereof.

Download the Declaration

Jackson's keynote available as podcast

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Religion, Society and Education: Issues about Religions and Education in the UK and Europe

Professor Jackson, in his keynote address at the Religion and Society conference at the University of Warwick, provided a context for the conference papers, which followed his opening lecture. He discussed current issues about religions and education in the UK and Europe, surveying both intrinsic and instrumental reasons why it is important to study religions and beliefs in publicly funded schools in democratic societies. He then focused on England and Wales, showing how the climate between the late 1960s and late 1990s was very much influenced by processes of secularisation and pluralisation as a result of the migration of peoples.

Since the late 1990s, and especially since the dramatic events of 9/11, the need for public understanding of religions has increased, and there has been more understanding of the need for religious voices to be heard in public discourse. Instrumental reasons for studying religion have focused both on social factors, such as citizenship and community cohesion, but have also continued to be concerned with the personal development of students. One striking development, post 9/11, is the attention given by European institutions to teaching about religions and beliefs in publicly funded education. Professor Jackson outlined the work of the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe in producing important policy and standard-setting documents which should be studied and discussed widely in democratic societies.

Professor Jackson went on to consider some of the negative effects of current UK Coalition policy on religious education in schools, on the training of religious education teachers and the continuing professional development of specialist teachers. The combined effect of various policies is to signal to educational institutions and the general public that religious education as a subject has been downgraded.

He contrasted this attitude with the voices of young people interviewed and surveyed as part of a large European Commission study on religion, education, dialogue and conflict (REDCo). In this large-scale study, the majority of young people from eight European countries, wanted the opportunity to learn about religions and beliefs and to have dialogue and exchange with students from other religious and non-religious backgrounds, in a safe space provided by the school. The desire for the school to provide a safe space for dialogue and exchange expressed by young people entirely coheres with the recommendation from the 47 Foreign Ministers of the Council of Europe. Rather than reducing resources for religious education in schools, governments need to invest in the subject. They also should generate public debate around the recommendations of the Council of Europe and OSCE in order to develop policies tailored to the context of their own countries, while meeting the needs and aspirations of young people.

Research findings give voice to many young people who want to deepen their understanding of their own religion or philosophy, to learn about the beliefs and traditions of others and to have the opportunity for skilfully facilitated dialogue in the context of the school.

Access the podcast

Bob Jackson leads Religion and Society funded project Young People's Attitudes to Religious Diversity

New Statement on Anti-racist Education

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Frédérique Brossard Børhaug on "How can the capability approach contribute to anti-racist educational research?"

Frédérique Brossard Børhaug is an associate researcher in education at NLA School of Religion, Education and Intercultural Studies. She is originally from France and has lived in Norway the last 19 years. Her field of specialization is intercultural education. She has published several articles on ethical reflections in the development of a common multicultural school; discussing these issues in the light of the philosophy of Emmanuel Lévinas. Her PhD thesis compares anti-racist values in French and Norwegian school curricula.

In her statement Brossard Børhaug describes the capability approach and relates it to anti-racist education and discusses to what extent the curriculum promotes minorities’ social and cultural capabilities. She focuses on the need to recognize and acknowledge pupil’s diverse capacities and resources in school curricula and teaching practice in order to create learning environments supporting learners’ development regardless their ethnic or religious background. Linking the capability approach to the debate on literacy, for example, leads to a clear vote for supporting the bilingual development of minority students instead of prioritizing their successful assimilation to the national majority language.

Read Brossard Børhaug's Statement

----
To highlight recent and ongoing research activities, scholars and other education professionals are invited to publish their views on current research topics and scholarly debates in The EWC Statement Series.

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

Fri, 9 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Youth Participation in Human Rights Education as a Means for Enhancing Social Inclusion
Study Session

October 30 – November 6, 2011
Budapest, Hungary

INTRODUCTION
The Human RightS Initiative (HRSI) at Central European University (CEU) is pleased to invite you to apply for participation in their Study Session "Youth Participation in Human Rights Education as a Means for Enhancing Social Inclusion" organized in cooperation with the Council of Europe’s Directorate of Youth and Sports. This is the 5th study session organized by HRSI since its foundation in 1999.

AIMS

The purpose of the study session is to equip young people with the knowledge and skills necessary to promote human rights through peer education. The study session will focus directly on methodologies of human rights education. An emphasis will be placed on peer learning of/amongst young people, youth participation will be addressed and encouraged. Additionally, there will be a focus on human rights education amongst young people living in social exclusion. The participants will have an opportunity to discuss their organizations and experiences, as well as plans for future cooperation with one another in the field of human rights education with young people.

OBJECTIVES

Allow participants to recognize what human rights are, and how they can be enjoyed, protected and ensured;
Provide participants with the means/channels for action that young people can take when human rights are violated and they seek redress;
Give participants the opportunity to study the methodology behind human rights education and street law(1) through non-formal education;
Together with the participants, identify potential challenges and locate means to overcome these obstacles for the social inclusion of young people in human rights education;
Strategize how to augment youth participation particularly focusing on peer learning in human rights education.

(1) Street law is a method of human rights education which makes human rights law more accessible and comprehensible to everyone, primarily youth.

PARTICIPANTS

30 people who:

age between 21-30 years old;
are already involved and active in youth work on a local, national or international level to participate in the study session;
reside in a member state of the Council of Europe.

Priority will be given to participants who

have experience in the fields of: youth work, human rights education, social inclusion, social work, - intercultural learning and/or cultural diversity;
are currently active in an organization, program or project in the above fields;
are committed to multiply the outcomes of the study session in their own work

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Where: The European Youth Centre Budapest, Hungary.

When: 30 October–6 November 2011 in Budapest (Arrival on October 30th, 2011 and departure on November 6, 2011)

Language: The working language of the study session will be English. At least intermediate level of English is expected.

Deadline for application: SEPTEMBER 20, 2011.

For more information on how to apply see http://hrsi.ceu.hu/study-session

Thematic discussion 2011 “HUMAN RIGHTS IN EDUCATION “

Tue, 6 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Call to submit session proposals at the symposium "HUMAN RIGHTS IN EDUCATION" organised by the Council of Europe

A European discussion is organised in Strasbourg each year on a given theme, bringing together the different players from the education field as well as lawyers and judges of the European Court of Human Rights and members of other Council of Europe bodies.

This symposium organised by the Directorate of Education and Languages of the Council of Europe on 24-25 November 2011 will be held at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg (France).

The main topics for discussion will include:

(1) Freedom of expression in the classroom
(2) Rights and duties of students in the exercise of freedom of expression
(3) The rights of parents, students' rights and State interests.

You can submit your proposals for themes sessions and participation by September 20, 2011 by following this link:

http://explorehumanrights.coe.int/thematic-discussion/?lang=en

Appel pour soumettre des propositions d'intervention au colloque “LES DROITS DE L’HOMME DANS L’EDUCATION “ organisé par le Conseil de l’Europe

Ce colloque organisé par la Direction de l'Education et des Langues du Conseil de l'Europe du 24-25 novembre 2011 aura lieu à la Cour Européenne des Droits de l'Homme à Strasbourg (France).

Les principaux THEMES de discussion seront les suivants: (1) Liberté d’expression en salle de classe (2) Droits et devoirs des élèves dans l’exercice de la liberté d’expression (3) Droits des parents, droits des élèves et intérêt public

Vous pouvez soumettre vos propositions d'intervention et de participation d'ici le 20 septembre 2011 en suivant ce lien:

http://explorehumanrights.coe.int/debat-thematique/

Certificate of Advanced Studies CAS in Human Rights Education

Fri, 2 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The University of Teacher Education Central Switzerland (PHZ) is starting an international advanced qualification, the "Certificate of Advanced Studies CAS in Human Rights Education" in January 2012. The practice-oriented CAS "Human Rights Education" aims to qualify the participants for a role as trainers and multipliers of human rights education for their specific context.

The participants will achieve an internationally recognized Certificate of Advanced Studies PHZ in Human Rights Education.

Alumni of the CAS “Human Rights Education” will be able to fulfill pedagogical functions in different professional contexts:

School Context (formal human rights education):

Teachers of all levels (e. g. with a coordinating role for cross-curricular topics)
Professors/Lecturers of Universities of Teacher Education/Teacher Colleges

Non-School Context (nonformal human rights education):

Employees of state and civil society institutions and organizations (e. g. members‘ support)
Those employed in corporate human resources management

Application deadline: September 30

More information about the course

Conference papers now available

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The international conference gathered 140 higher education leaders and representatives of public authorities from the US and Europe to focus on the role of higher education in furthering democratic citizenship. Inspirational presentations and fruitful debates and workshops were some of the highlights from this conference.

Some of the presentations from the conference:

Opening Address by Sjur Bergan, Head of the Department for Higher Education and History Teaching, Council of Europe

Introductory Address by Ira Harkavy, Chair of the US Steering Committee of the International, Consortium for Higher Education, Civic Responsibility and Democracy

"Three challenges for higher education in improving the functioning of our democracies" by Aksel Braanen Sterri, President of the Student Parliament, University of Oslo, Norway

"Henry Teune in Memorian" by Sjur Bergan, Head of the Department for Higher Education and History Teaching, Council of Europe

"Reimaging Democratic Societies: Challenges to European Higher Education" Maria Helena Nazaré, Former Rector Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal
EUA Vice President, President elect

Speech by Bert Vandenkendelaere, Chairperson of the European Students' Union

More presentations and speeches from the conference will be published soon.

The conference was organized by the Council of Europe; the US Steering Committee of the International Consortium for Higher Education, Civic Responsibility and Democracy; the International Association of Universities, the University of Oslo and the European Wergeland Centre.

The conference was also part of the events marking the 200th anniversary of the University of Oslo.

The Religion and Society Programme

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The conference "Religion in Education: Findings from the Religion & Society Programme" took place in Warwick 25-26 July.

The conference provided the opportunity for various researchers and research groups involved in the Religion and Society Programme (the largest cluster of research projects on Religion and Society ever to be conducted in the UK) to present their insights and findings to others as well as to have them questioned and, if needs be, challenged.

About 100 delegates, including several from mainland Europe (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, representing various universities and the EWC) attended the conference. At both the human and the academic level, however, the events that had happened in Norway the previous Friday were never far from delegates’ minds-in that themes such as diversity, identity, social justice and inter-religious understanding threaded their way through virtually all conference presentations.

Read the conference report by Dr Bill Gent

Call for Proposals

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The European Commission’s DG Education and Training has recently launched a call for proposals on a “European Policy Network on the education of children and young people with a migrant background” in the scope of the Lifelong Learning Programme. The indicative budget available is EUR 500.000. The deadline for submission of applications is 14 October 2011. This call targets EU Member States, and also, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland (EFTA countries) and Turkey (EU candidate) and Croatia (CEFTA and EU candidate) (i.e. all 31 countries participating in the EU's Lifelong Learning Programme).

For more info explore http://ec.europa.eu/education/calls/doc2976_en.htm

A brief summary:

a) Eligibility

The call for proposals is open to Ministries of education, public bodies, Research centres and universities, Foundations and Associations. IOM is eligible as an applicant.
Proposals must be submitted by partnerships of organizations from 12 different eligible countries. Preferably two organizations from each country should be part of the network, including a relevant national or regional education authority (education ministry or other public authority or agency with responsibility in the area).

b) Available budget and duration

The total budget is EUR 500.000, to cover the activity of the network in 2012. The budgets for the two subsequent years will be determined by the Commission on an annual basis.

Co-funding: the financial contribution from the Commission cannot exceed 75% of the total eligible costs

Project duration is 2012-2014, subject to the availability of funds

c) Beneficiary countries:

EU Member States

EFTA and EEA countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland

Candidate countries: Turkey, Croatia

d) Overall/global and specific objectives

Global objective:
The establishment of a Europe-wide network of relevant organizations to exchange experience and to develop advice on effective policies and practices for raising the educational achievement of children and young people with a migrant background

Specific objectives:

Identify good policy practices in the education of children and young people with a migrant background

Analyze the main challenges in the implementation and coordination of national and regional policies addressing this target group

Provide a clearing house for relevant policy designs, programmes and initiatives in this area

Stimulate and disseminate innovative policies and practical programmes

Provide innovative ideas for trans-national cooperation in the area

Influence policy development in participating countries

e) Expected activities

Developing and managing a platform to facilitate transnational exchange and contacts between national and regional policy makers, practitioners, researchers and other stakeholders

Exploring innovative forms of cooperation between authorities in the countries or regions of origin and host countries or regions

Analyzing the effectiveness of policies and practices in the education of children and young people with a migrant background, anticipating future challenges both at national/regional and European level, identifying and disseminating innovative policy, practice and programmes in the countries, supporting the transfer of successful models

Analyzing and reporting on participating countries’ progress in the implementation of relevant Council conclusions and identifying gaps in implementation or coverage of national policies

Disseminating a wide range of relevant information in a timely, accessible and useable form to policymakers, practitioners and relevant stakeholders

f) Target group:

Children and young people with a migrant background. This includes first and second generation children and young people, irrespective of nationality. The network should focus primarily on initial education (ISCED levels 0-3).

International Youth Day - statement by Chairman of the Committee of Ministers

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0100

On 12 August the world celebrated the “International Youth Day”. The Ukrainian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe regards this as an important occasion to highlight the specific concerns, ambitions and achievements of millions of children and adolescents living on our continent.

Recent political events in various parts of the world have shown us once again the strong commitment and creativity that young people develop when they engage themselves for the common good. At the same time, in other countries, we have been witnessing the disastrous effects which a general lack of perspectives may have on the young generation.

All of these events underline the importance of the Council of Europe youth agenda and its priorities: the promotion of social integration, intercultural dialogue and human rights. Protecting children is also an important task of the international community. This is why Ukraine has decided to make it one of the priorities of its Chairmanship.

Source: Newsroom - Council of Europe

New Publication: Contemporary Issues in Human Rights Education

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0100

This collection of papers addresses contemporary issues in human rights education which has shifted over time, as new social contexts have evolved, in turn throwing up ever more complex challenges to educators. It discusses key questions that build on concepts of human rights education and includes examples of actions reported by UNESCO Member States.

Human rights education has been at the core of UNESCO’s work ever since the Organization was created in 1945, with the mandate to promote peace and tolerance in the context of a world torn apart by the Second World War. The publication is one of UNESCO’s contributions to the major UN initiatives, including the ongoing World Programme for Human Rights Education.

Download Publication

French and Spanish versions are foreseen in late 2011.

Source: UNESCO website

The Summer Academy 2011

Thu, 4 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The Summer Academy: Democracy at School was successfully held in Poland for the second time! 30 participants from eight different European countries met in Warsaw 9-16 July to learn about, discuss and share experiences related to democracy at school; what is democratic school governance? How can we create a climate of trust and openness in the classroom? How can schools cooperate with their local community, and which teaching methods promote the values of democratic citizenship and human rights? Based on Council of Europe recommendations and material, and using a whole school approach, participants are brought together in teams; a school head, a teacher and an NGO/parents’ representative.

In the coming months, the teams will work locally in their schools and communities, implementing their own activities based on the training in Poland, while receiving support from the organizers and trainers.

The Summer Academy is a joint cooperation between the Polish Ministry of National Education, Polish Centre for Education Development, Council of Europe and EWC, and it was organized for the first time in 2010.

Making higher education a key stakeholder of future democratic societies

Tue, 2 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0100

International conference in Oslo provides visions and practice examples

by Dr. Claudia Lenz, R&D Coordinator The European Wergeland Centre

Download Report as pdf-document

Do we need to reinvent democratic societies in Europe, the US and elsewhere where democracy seems to be “up and running”? And if so, how can the sector of higher education contribute? What would be the role of university leaders, professors, students and administration workers? Do we talk about a democratization of higher education institutions or about fostering interaction between these institutions and the societies they are part of in order to strengthen democratic culture and institutions on a local, national and global level – or both?

These questions might arise, when reading the title of the international conference “Reimagining Democratic Societies – A new era of personal and social responsibility?” which was held at the University of Oslo June 27-29, 2011.

The conference was organized by the Council of Europe; the US Steering Committee of the International Consortium for Higher Education, Civic Responsibility and Democracy; the University of Oslo and The European Wergeland Centre (EWC), in cooperation with the International Association of Universities and supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research.

The aims and objectives of the conference were:

To strengthen the role of higher education in furthering democratic citizenship

To identify concretely the role that higher education can play in reimagining democratic societies

To stress the importance of the involvement of the different stakeholders: academic, administrations, students, local communities

To develop further strategies to strengthen this role

The composition of the conference contributed to a broad variety of perspectives on the questions raised above – among the 150 speakers and participants were higher education leaders and representatives of public authorities from the United States and Europe with some participants also from other parts of the world as well as from NGOs. There were, thus, representation of different cultures of higher education involvement in civil society, civic culture and community affairs.

So, back to the central topic of the conference: how was the role of higher education in renewing and strengthening democratic societies interpreted?

To start with, some crucial questions on the present “state” of Western democracies were provoked by the conference title; Do we assume that democracy has already been realized and only needs to be kept alive or do we assume that democracy by its nature is an aspiration that by principle cannot be realized (and, thus, constantly needs to be reimagined)? Do we think and talk about one master version of democracy or multiple democracies? To narrow down the idea of democracy to only one model would turn the idea into ideology. Keeping democracy alive needs, therefore, constant debate and reflection – something citizens need to be trained for in educational institutions.

Other questions dealt with higher educational institutions as such – are they, with their inherited elitism and conservatism, the least well-suited institutions to promote democracy? Do we need to reinvent higher education in order to promote democratic societal change?

Some answers to these questions emerged throughout papers, workshops and discussions at the conference – the main lines of thought moved along four topics:

The role of higher education facing today’s and tomorrow’s global challenges

Social Cohesion, “New Work” and Citizenship

Establishing democratic cultures within higher education institutions

Involvement in the broader community/society

1.    The role of higher education facing global challenges
In his contribution, Jan Egeland, Director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, placed the conference theme within overall global developments since the 1970ies. He pointed out that the number of armed conflicts and wars has decreased, and that democracy has been introduced in many countries ruled by dictators some decades ago. However, another development contrasts this positive image: today, we observe a growing gap in the distribution of wealth among individuals within societies as well as a growing distance between rich and poor societies. And these societies are more aware than ever, thanks to communication technologies available, about these inequalities and other possible realities. This results in social tensions and political instability. As a consequence, sustainable democratic and peaceful development requires a fight against poverty and social exclusion.

These observations coincide with a report recently delivered by the Group of Eminent People of the Council of Europe, “Combining diversity and freedom in the 21st Century Europe”, referred to by Sjur Bergan, Head of the Department for Higher Education and History Teaching, in his welcome speech on behalf of the Council of Europe. The report states that Europe experiences a raise in xenophobia and intolerance, threatening the core values of Human Rights, rule of law and democracy and recommends active steps to be taken to fight these tendencies – among other in all branches of education.

Prof. Maria Helena Nazaré, President-elect of the European University Association, added further aspects to the diagnosis of the present: environmental and demographic changes will lead to an increase in but also a need for immigration in many Western countries. These phenomena will force societies to find solutions which assure inclusion of all members of society, regardless ethnicity, age or gender.

The tone of the conference was, thus, set by the question how higher education can equip students with knowledge, skills and attitudes that can make a major contribution to the development of a societal vision based equal rights, social justice and sustainable development. From this perspective, the notion of reinventing democratic societies seems not to be mistaken.

2.    Social Cohesion, “New Work” and Citizenship
Facing the strong focus on economy dominating educational policies and reforms during the last decades, universities have a dilemma: students want to be educated for the work-force (unemployment rates are increasing, competition for jobs is fierce), and demand high quality professional knowledge and skills. As a consequence, little time and resources are left for universities to act as agents of democratic change. Little attention is paid to letting students develop their vision of a “good life”. What is needed is a renewed vision of the aim of higher education, which would address students as citizens and professionals who take over social responsibility (civic professionalism).

Dr Eduardo J. Padrón, President of Miami Dade College and Chair of the American Council on Education, stressed the crucial impact access to quality education has for social cohesion and democracy. According to Padrón, it would be meaningless to separate the focus on participation in the labor marked from civic participation. If migrants and other underprivileged groups are denied access to higher education they are denied access to the middle class which is a major bearer of democracy.

This view was stressed by Dr Hilligje van’t Land, Director of Membership and Programme Development, International Association of Universities, who pointed out that institutional “cultures” of schools and universities preserve the unjust distribution of power and wealth in society. In order to contribute to more inclusive societies, higher education institutions need to open up for and actively attract students that traditionally are distant to academic culture (migrants, socially disadvantaged)

This led to a discussion about prevailing ideas on “high quality education”. There is a need to readjust the visions and criteria for “excellence” from marked orientation towards social responsibility. In order to do so, universities and colleges need to develop democratic cultures “within” as well as become active stakeholders in developing visions and action for sustainable democratic development at a local and global scale. Following the ideas of Prof Srbijanka Turajlić, former Deputy Minister for Higher Education of Serbia, higher education needs to become a space where “civic culture” is experienced, promoted and reflected.

3.    Establishing democratic cultures within higher education institutions
“Institutions (including universities) within a democracy need to be citizen-hold and citizen-driven”, this statement of Dr.Van’t Land was reflected in a number of plenary discussions and in a break-out session. Universities need to overcome their inherited conservatism and traditional hierarchies in order to become hubs of democratic culture. This requires structural changes, such as enhanced participation of all stakeholders in the development of vision and decision making. Especially, the relations between students and professors need to be build on values of mutual respect and a life-long-learning culture (in which also teachers are learners, even though more experienced ones). Democratic change within higher education institutions, thus, requires the development of a new “academic ethos” embracing the qualities of critical thinking, engagement and responsibility.

One break-out session dealt with the question of appropriate didactical approaches and necessary curriculum changes – what do democratic styles of learning and teaching look like?

Some of the approaches presented were

Student-centered learning – specific perspective on learning, focusing on questions more than answers, gives students opportunity to inquiry-based learning, learning out of interest

Problem-based learning – starting from real-life problems and creating opportunities to respond to them

Such kind of learning culture represents a paradigm shift – not starting from what professors and universities think is relevant for students but relating learning to what is experienced as relevant to students. What was acknowledged as a challenge, though, was to avoid persuasive and manipulating frameworks: value-based education should invite and encourage students to reach highly informed views and develop reflected attitudes, it should not force/persuade them to hold specific views and values.

4. Involvement in the broader community/society
This last point leads to the links between higher education and students’ community engagement or other types of involvement in social and political activities. How can universities allow students to make experiences and acquire a set of tools necessary in their lives as responsible citizens? “Taking the kids out of the classrooms” is one of the practices presented – offering students opportunities to get involved in activities supporting the underprivileged and poor in a community. This is based on the assumption that learning is at its best when learners can apply theoretical concepts and abstract reflections in concrete/real-life environments through activities and if they experience that they “can make a difference”. However, incentives are needed, such as credit points for students’ “application” of theoretical knowledge and academic skills in social and political responsible engagement.

It was, however, remarked that action and reflection need to be balanced: universities are unique spaces providing opportunities of “thinking through”. Students’ needs and interests might vary according to personality and position in life-circle (not all students are youngsters).

Outlook – the impact of the conference on the work of the European Wergeland Centre (EWC)
For the work of the EWC, the conference has been path-breaking. The EWC is a resource centre for Education on Intercultural Understanding, Human Rights and Democratic Citizenship which was established as an innovative initiative by the Norwegian Government and the Council of Europe in 2008. With its core target group being teacher trainers, teachers but also other educational practitioners (in non- and informal learning environments), the idea of creating links between higher education institutions and the communities they are situated in (schools being a part of these) has influenced EWC activities right from the beginning. Combining a focus on capacity building/training for educators and on research and development, the EWC deeply shares the vision of the conference “Reimagining Democratic Societies”, believing that higher education institutions can play a vital role in building tomorrow’s sustainable democracies by educating tomorrow’s responsible citizens.

This has, among other activities, been expressed in the “Educators’ Consultations”, in which “fresh” international research findings have been discussed with educational practitioners regarding the possible impact for learning and teaching “on the ground”. In these events, small steps towards the realization of the potential of higher education to contribute to awareness, reflection and the development of solutions for urgent societal challenges have been realized. The EWC wants to continue and join forces on this pathway.

The conference “Reimagining Democratic Societies” brought together the creativity, experience and engagement of many important players in the field, resulting in deep reflections, new ideas as well as personal and institutional relations – all this will for sure leave its traces in teaching and learning practices, active community involvement and future joint initiatives.

---

[1] Thanks to Iyad Abualrub and Caroline Gebara for contributing their observations from the conference.
[2] http://book.coe.int/ftp/3667.pdf [viewed July 6, 2011].
[3] In 2011 the Educators’ Consultations deal with the findings of the International Citizenship and Civic Education Study (ICCS). See documentation under http://www.theewc.org/ucontent/educators.consultations.2011/ [viewed July 6, 2011].

Warwick Professor states government cuts and policy changes have marginalised Religious Education

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Professor Jackson, from the University of Warwick’s Religions and Education Research Unit, outlined the impact of government policy at the ‘Religion in Education: Findings from the Religion and Society Programme’ event being held at the University.

He stated the Academies Act 2010 allowed schools to leave local authority control with no requirement to teach religious education.

Professor Jackson also said that Religious Education had not been included as a ‘recognised’ humanities subject in the recently launched English Baccalaureate (EBacc). The EBacc measures the proportion of pupils who have good GCSE passes in English, Maths, Sciences, Humanities and a modern foreign language. According to a survey in May 2011 by the National Association of Teachers of Religious Education (NATRE), over 50% of schools with fallen GCSE entry levels for Religious Education blamed the impact of the new EBacc.

Professor Jackson added: “The NATRE survey revealed legal provision for religious education is not being met at key stage 4 in around 25% of schools. Also around 30% of schools reported reductions in 2011-12 in specialist religious education staff.

“The research reported at this conference, together with the policy recommendations of the Foreign Ministers of the Council of Europe, show the need for investment in religious education by consolidating its place in all types of school and by resourcing the initial and in-service training of teachers. This is especially so against the background of the tragedy in Norway, which points dramatically to the need for understanding of religious diversity within our societies and promoting dialogue between young people of different religious and philosophical backgrounds.”

News from Warwick University´s website:

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/warwick_professor_states/

Norway in sorrow

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The dreadful tragedy that took place in Norway on July 22 has shocked us all. Our thoughts go to the people that lost their lives in this horrific event, and to the many people that lost their loved ones. EWC wish to express our deepest sympathy. We have received numerous condolences from our colleagues around the world, and for that we are very grateful; thank you. It is of comfort during these hard times.

This tragedy demonstrates that the work that is being done in our field is more important than ever. As the Norwegian Prime Minister said “We will never give up on our values. Our answer is more democracy, more openness and more humanity”.

Conference on Religion in Education

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0100

"Religion in Education: Findings from the Religion and Society Programme"

The conference, organized by the AHRC/ESRC religion & society programme and the Warwick Religions & Education Research Unit (WRERU) brings together research teams which have been awarded grants within the youth call of the Progamme in order to discuss their approaches and findings, including international perspective. EWC's R&D coordinator Claudia Lenz participates in the conference, stating that working for interreligious understanding as an element of intercultural education has been proofed to be of most fundamental importance by the events in Norway last Friday. Educating young people in a spirit of mutual respect and dialog must be the best way to prevent group related hate and fanaticism.

Also Conference co-organizer, Prof Robert Jackson/University of Warwick related the conference to these events. In his opening address, he stated:

"I know that the conference will wish to send its warmest support and care to all Norwegian friends and colleagues, and an encouragement to keep addressing the issues raised by the tragedy, which are so close to our concerns at this conference - helping young people to cultivate democratic values and respect for human dignity, to live positively with religious diversity and to maintain dialogue and communication within society. It is tragic that so many young Norwegians holding these values died last Friday. Our hearts go out to their families and to the Norwegian people."

Read Prof Robert Jackson's opening address

NEW: Certificate of Advanced Studies CAS Human Rights Education

Sat, 9 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Human rights are the fundament of a peaceful coexistence of a society. But only when women and men know about their human rights, they can claim them for themselves and – in solidarity – for others (“empowerment“). Human rights education is taking place in different contexts (formal, non-formal,…). To close the global gap in further training opportunities in human rights education, the University of Teacher Education Central Switzerland (PHZ) is starting an international advanced qualification, the “Certificate of Advanced Studies CAS in Human Rights Education” in January 2012. The CAS Human Rights Education aims to qualify the participants for a role as trainer and multiplier of human rights education for their specific context.

The participants will achieve an internationally recognized Certificate of Advanced Studies PHZ in Human Rights Education.

More information...

Education must be guided by the vision of society we want our children to live in...

Mon, 4 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Josef Huber works in the Education Directorate of the Council of Europe, where he is currently responsible for activities in the field of intercultural education and for the Pestalozzi Programme, the Council of Europe programme for the training of education professionals.

Josef Huber - Short Bio

In his statement, Josef Huber argues that education must be guided by the vision of society we want our children to live in. Education does not happen in a vacuum, education policy makers and education practitioners both are anchored in a society and in views about what is and what it is not desirable for the present and for the future of this society. If we imagine a society, based on democracy, human rights and the rule of law; a society, which is economically, environmentally, societally and politically sustainable, we need education that mobilises the intellectual and emotional potential of every citizen, so that each can contribute to making this vision become reality.

In this article Josef Huber also addresses the importance of networking, and refers to the networking platform for education professionals, that is being developed at the moment by the CoE Pestalozzi Programme and the EWC, to support a growing Community of Practice of education professionals across the wider Europe.

Read his statement:"Seven theses on teacher education and the purpose of education"

Reimagining Democratic Societies

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Reimagining society is something our forebears did on several occasions. Today it is our turn to imagine how we, as members of the higher education community as well as of broader society, can imagine a better society for tomorrow. It is also our turn to imagine what we must do today to give our children the kind of society in which we would like them to live tomorrow. I hope this will be a society in which they can move even more freely than we can today, in which the value of an idea will be judged on where it will lead our society rather than on from what part of our society it comes. I hope it will be a society in which the barriers will fall that still keep some citizens of Europe as well as of other parts of the world within the borders of their home countries either because their own governments are afraid to let them leave or because other governments are afraid to let them come. Above all, I hope they will be societies in which the barriers of the mind will fall – the barriers that make us afraid to think that we can learn from others very different from ourselves and that create informal barriers even when the formal borders are made easy to pass. Who can imagine such a society if not those in higher education? Who can make such a society a reality if not those in higher education? From the opening address by Sjur Bergan, Head of the Department for Higher Education and History Teaching, Council of Europe.

The inspiring and important conference taking place in Oslo 27-29 June focused on how higher education can contribute in developing active citizens; The central role of education in developing those skills that students of all ages should be equipped with in order to better contribute to both strengthening those societies that are already democratic, and enhancing those societies that are aspiring to democracies - in order to help improve their societies and society at large (Hilligje van't Land, International Association of Universities).

Some of the presentations from the conference:

Opening Address by Sjur Bergan, Head of the Department for Higher Education and History Teaching, Council of Europe

Introductory Address by Ira Harkavy, Chair of the US Steering Committee of the International, Consortium for Higher Education, Civic Responsibility and Democracy

"Three challenges for higher education in improving the functioning of our democracies" by Aksel Braanen Sterri, President of the Student Parliament, University of Oslo, Norway

All presentations, report from the working groups, and a photo gallery from the whole event will be published soon!

The conference was also part of the events marking the 200th anniversary of the University of Oslo.

The opening session took place in the grand, original University buildings (Gamle Festsal). It started off with a beautiful musical interlude by the Charmina String Quartet.

Opening addresses by:

Tora Aasland, Minister of Higher Education and Research, Norway
Ole Petter Ottersen, Rector of the University of Oslo, Norway
Sjur Bergan, Head of the Department for Higher Education and History Teaching, Council of Europe
Ira Harkavy, Chair of the US Steering Committee of the International Consortium for Higher Education, Civic Responsibility and Democracy and Founding Director and Associate Vice President of Netter Center for Community Partnerships, University of Pennsylvania, USA
Carola Bjørklund, Ambassador, Coordinator for the Council of Europe, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway
Ana Perona-Fjeldstad, Executive Director of The European Wergeland Centre, Norway
Aksel Braanen Sterri, President of the Student Parliament, University of Oslo, Norway

The rest of the conference days took place in the main campus of the University of Oslo. The 2. conference day focused on Reimagining democratic societies: different perspectives

Keynote Speakers:

Reimagining democratic societies: challenges and opportunities

Jan Egeland, Director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs

Reimagining democratic societies: the response from US higher education

Eduardo J Padrón, President of Miami Dade College and Chair of the American Council on Education

Reimagining democratic societies: a global higher education perspective

Hilligje van’t Land, Director of Membership and Programme Development, International Association of Universities

Reimagining democratic societies under challenging circumstances: the role of higher education

Srbijanka Turajlić, former Deputy Minister for Higher Education of Serbia and former Chair of the Alternative Academic Education Network

Reimagining democratic societies: a student perspective

Bert Vandenkendelaere, Chair, European Students Union

Reimagining Democratic Societies: Challenges to European Higher Education

Maria Helena Nazaré, President-elect of the European University Association (EUA)

The keynote presentations were followed by a vivid discussion before the participants split into 6 working groups focusing on the 3 topics:

A.     What does a democratic University look like?

The focus here was on the issue of the internal processes, policies, and governance of higher education institutions. How does your institution or agency currently cultivate active citizenship among students, faculty, staff, and others? What specific practices move everyone towards the attitudes, skills, values, and understandings that will lead to civic responsibility? Where are the levers of leadership that can affect these experiences? How might academic institutions be re-imagined differently to foster even more extensive and expansive civic knowledge, skills, and sense of agency in students and staff alike?

B.    What are particularly effective ways to deepen students’ education for globally responsible democratic citizenship?

The focus here was on how the curricular designs, pedagogies, and disciplinary expectations for students can enhance their democratic dispositions and capacities. What indicates to students that such knowledge is an essential component of their academic education? Are there particular academic locations and experiences at your institution where education for democratic citizenship is especially well grounded? What pedagogies have the greatest impact on fostering civic skills for diverse, globally entwined democracies? What newly envisioned pathways and pedagogies to democratic knowledge and practice are needed in the future?

C.    What kind of partnerships between higher education institutions and local, national, and/or global communities promote democratic commitments and cultures?

The focus here was on the nature, purposes, and integration of the partnerships between the higher education institutions and various communities. How do partnerships at your institution or through your agency deepen the institution’s and the students’ capacities for civic problem solving and further empower people in the community to shape their societies? What elements within these partnerships are particularly effective in expanding civic capacities and commitments? How might these partnerships be re-imagined to have even more powerful educational and social effect on building responsible democratic communities and cultures?

A panel debate on "Educating Globally Responsible Citizens: What higher Education Needs to Do" chaired by Sjur Bergan, Council of Europe and Caryn McTighe Musil, Association of American Universities and Colleges / International Consortium, took place the last conference day.

Panelists:

Gro Beate Vige, Senior Adviser, The Ministry of Education and Research, Norway
Walid Moussa, Rector, Notre Dame University Louaize, Lebanon/IAU Board Member
Inga Bostad, pro-rector, University of Oslo, Norway
Richard Guarasci, President Wagner College, USA
Jens Vraa-Jensen, Education International

The debate and discussion was followed by the report of the working groups by the General Rapporteur, Martina Vukasović, who also included a refreshing summary of the whole event!

Summary, keynote presentations, the report from the working groups, and a photo gallery from the whole event will be published soon. Until then, read the impressive article about keynote speaker Dr. Eduardo J. Padrón, President of Miami Dade College in The New York Times !

Human Rights Education is an important venue to address violence in school...

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0100

“Human Rights Education is an important venue to address violence in school, but it needs to be advanced.” (Mr Singh, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education)

During inspiring two days, recent European and global research in combating violence against children in schools have been shared, e.g. research on cyber-bullying. Moreover, various methodologies, initiatives and good practices, including human rights (HRE) and democratic citizenship education (EDC) to make schools free from violence were presented.

EWC Advisor Caroline Gebara presented the Summer Academy “Democracy at School” – a training initiative which addresses teachers, head teachers and NGO/ parents representative as a concrete example on how to incoperate human rights values and democratic principles into schools.

Conclusions referred to the need to strengthen the link between research, policy and practice in this field, and to increase the knowledge on good practices. Furthermore, the need to place children rights’ and children’s participation at the heart of every school was emphasized.
The conclusions and recommendations will inform the follow-up process to the UN Study on Violence against Children, and feed into the Council of Europe (CoE) Strategy on the Rights of the Child (2012-2015).

Underlined by Ms. Jensdottir (Head of the Children's Rights Policies Division, CoE), the CoE will continue to support all member states in their efforts to tackle violence against children. Schools need to be an empowering and safe environment for all - children, teachers, parents, and the administration. The future strategy of the CoE will focus on the promotion of serious implementation – “existing conventions, recommendations and tools, such as the Violence Reduction Pack, need to reach the community level.”

The meeting was jointly organized by the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, The Norwegian Ministry of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs,the Council of Europe and the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children. The European Wergeland Centre was a co–partner.

The Barriers to Tackling Racism and Promoting Equality in England’s Schools

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0100

On Monday 4th July 2011, the anti-racism education charity Show Racism the Red Card will be launching new research which was commissioned to investigate issues of racism and inequality in the education system.

Key Findings

Racism is still a significant issue in England’s schools. 83% of questionnaire respondents had witnessed racist behavior amongst their pupils and many felt there were strong racist attitudes amongst their pupil cohort.

Intentional and unintentional racist behavior was also evidenced amongst some teachers, from the use of racist terminology and jokes to teachers having lower expectations of pupils from black, Asian or other minority ethnic groups

There is a significant lack of training for teachers in this area. 39% of teachers who responded had never received training in tackling racism or promoting equality. Of those who had, most felt the training was cursory and that they felt ill-equipped to promote equality and tackle racism in the classroom

Many teachers are unaware of how to recognise and deal with racist incidents when they arise, with many respondents saying that they would not like to step in if it was “unintentional”, “the first time it had happened” or there was no clear target or victim.

Recommendations

Training, which provides teachers with a thorough understanding of how to tackle racism and promote equality needs to be an integral part of initial teacher training. If training is not provided, then it is unreasonable to expect that teachers will be able to deal with these issues in the classroom.

Pupils need to be provided with safe spaces to express their views and openly discuss and reflect on issues of ethnicity and racism, so that they have an opportunity to learn about difference, dispel misinformation and create school environments where pupils value diversity and difference and every pupil feels safe and able to achieve.

Ultimately the government needs to adopt policy which is underpinned by social justice and does not allow negative, false media discourse to dominate public and media debate.

See Press Release for more information

Follow the Summer Academy on Facebook!

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Following the great interest in The Summer Academy: Democracy at School, the EWC offers all a chance to follow the training activities on Facebook; http://www.facebook.com/theewc.org

Regular updates with pictures and links to relevant resources will be posted during the one week seminar 9-16 July.

The Summer Academy: Democracy at School, in Warsaw, Poland, offers training for teams of head teachers, teachers and NGO/parents’ representatives in the field of education for human rights and democratic citizenship. It is organized in cooperation between the Polish Ministry of National Education, Polish Centre for Education Development, Council of Europe and the EWC.

The participants will learn to implement whole school strategies for integrating education for democratic citizenship and human rights (EDC/HRE) in their practice and culture in the classroom, school and community.

More information about the Summer Academy..

Intercultural glossary project started with an international workshop in Oslo May 27-28

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The workshop was organized by the KULTRANS programme/University of Oslo and the European Wergeland Centre, with financial support by the Foundation Fritt Ord.

The members of the project group represent the following institutions:

Higher School of Economics/Moscow; University of Hamburg; Federal Agency for Civic Education/Germany (bpb); University of Oslo; Centre for Human Rights Education University of Teacher Education Central Switzerland/ Lucerne; Norwegian University of Science and Technology; The European Wergeland Centre

The group agreed on elementary goals and procedures:

The intercultural glossary project aims to develop a learning/educational tool related to the investigation, negotiation and reflection of concepts in the fields of Education for Democratic Citizenship, Human Rights Education and Intercultural Education. It will promote reflexivity and multi-perspectivity with regard to key concepts in the fields of EDC/HRE and ICE.

Elements of the project:

Development of an online glossary of terms
Development, testing and documentation of learning methods related to the glossary
Realization of learning activities that will lead to the generation of glossary content (face to face and peer to peer/online)

The target groups of the online glossary (final product) are all stakeholders involved in EDC/HRE and ICE, which includes formal, non-formal and informal learning environments.

The development of the online-glossary will build on the existing resource “Confusing Conversations”, established by the bpb and the Network of European Citizenship Educators (NECE)

In a first phase, the project partners will work with some initial groups of participants, mainly multipliers (university teachers and students, teacher trainers and teacher students, NGO activists), in order to develop content and methods.

In fall, the work of content development through peer learning activities will be started by some of the partners. There will be frequent updates about the ongoing work at the EWC homepage!

For further information about the project: c.lenz@theewc.org

Teacher education for change - The theory behind the CoE Pestalozzi Programme

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0100

New Publication from Council of Europe
What is the main role for teachers today? Why is the Council of Europe dealing with education, and teacher education in particular? How is educational thinking guided by visions of a future society desirable for all? How, in the midst of a fierce battle for curriculum time, can education for human rights, democracy and mutual understanding be embedded in the existing curricula? What are the values underlying our educational visions? The aim of this publication is to offer a few answers to these and many other questions. Above all, its purpose is to contribute to the ongoing debate, more necessary than ever, on the role of teachers and teacher education in the broader context of teaching and learning for a sustainable democratic society.

Editors : Josef Huber & Pascale Mompoint-Gaillard

ISBN : 978-92-871-7020-0

More information

New Publication: Historicizing the Uses of the Past

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Scandinavian Perspectives on History Culture, Historical Consciousness and Didactics of History Related to World War II

This book presents new developments in Scandinavian memory cultures related to World War II and the Holocaust by combining this focus with the perspective of history didactics. The theoretical framework of historical consciousness offers an approach linking individual and collective uses and re-uses of the past to the question how history can and should be taught. It also offers some examples of good practice in this field.

The book promotes a teaching practice which, in taking the social constructivist notions of historical consciousness as a starting point, can contribute to self-reflecting and critical thinking – being fundamental for any democratic political culture.

EWC Research Coordinator, Claudia Lenz, is one of the editors of the book.

Read More...

3rd event of the EWC Educators’ Consultation Series on ICCS held in Sofia

Thu, 9 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The 2011 Educators’ Consultations focus on the findings of the International Citizenship and Civic Education Study (ICCS).

The third event in the series was a whole-day expert seminar held at the Sofia University „St. Kliment Ohridski” bringing together representatives from the Bulgarian Ministry of Education, from NGOs in the field of EDC and HRE and scholars from Educational Science, Social Science, Law and Philosophy, all of them working on issues of citizenship and human rights education as well as intercultural dialogue.

The seminar was opened by the Dean of the Faculty of Pedagogy, Assoc. Prof. Dr Ivailo Tepavicharov, who welcomed the initiative of discussing the findings of the ICCS study in this forum and who stressed the necessity to build citizenship education on theoretical insights and high quality research.

Dr. Claudia Lenz, the EWC research coordinator, gave a general introduction into the approach of the ICCS study and its relevance for educational practice followed by the presentation of the Bulgarian results from ICCS given by Dr Svetla Petrova, National coordinator (ICCS), Center for Control and Assessment of the Quality of Education, Ministry of Education, Youth and Science. In her presentation, Dr. Petrova showed that the average achievements of Bulgarian students in the cognitive parts of the study were significantly lower than in the CIVED study from 1997. She pointed out that the decrease is most dramatic among the disadvantaged students – something which corresponds with the family status, social disatvantage in general and the place of these students in the educational system. In Bulgaria social background has a crucial impact on students‘ cognitive achievements, something which is also reflected in the results of PISA. (see her presentation attached)

In group work, the participants discussed the educational impact of the ICCS findings, related to questions of learning and teaching methodology, democratic practices of young people in schools and beyond schools as well as social cohesion.

The following presentations showed that there are valuable experiences with EDC and HRE in Bulgarian universities, offering a solid fundament informing curriculum development, methodology and teacher training:

Assoc. Prof. Dr Liliana Strakova, Faculty of Pedagogy presented the activities of the Center of Civic Education, Faculty of Pedagogy/SKO

Prof. Dr Viara Gurova, Faculty of Pedagogy presented Human Rights Education in the Faculty of Pedagogy/SKO

Assoc. Prof. Dr Tsonka Kenarova, Trakia University and Assoc.Prof. Dr Tsetska Kolarova, Faculty of Primary and Preschool Education/SKO gave examples on how future teachers are prepared for citizenship education

The Coe Charter on EDC/HRE (Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)7) was presented by Assoc. Prof. Dr Habil Siyka Chavdarova – Kostova, Faculty of Pedagogy/SKO and national coordinator of the CoE EDC/HRE program (see her presentation), followed by a vivid discussion. One of the questions emerging was whether this political focus on EDC/HRE goes along with a decreasing focus on intercultural learning, an important issue in the Bulgarian context. It was clarified, that the document itself highlights the value of diversity at several places and that along with this political document, others, focusing even more directly on intercultural dialog have been adopted.

Summarizing, the event has been regarded as very successful by all involved partners and by the participants (the results of a questionnaire-based evaluation of the event will be published soon). Beside of the high standard of the presentations and discussions, it has brought together relevant stakeholders of Bulgarian Citizenship Education, giving them a forum for exchange of ideas and development of steps for action.

As one of the participants wrote in the evaluation questionnaire:

"Today I received a lot of useful information that I`ll use with certainty in the future in my professional realization"

Tackling Violence at School

Mon, 6 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The Council of Europe, the Office of the United Nations’ Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Violence against Children, the Norwegian Royal Ministry of Education and Research, the Norwegian Royal Ministry of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion and the Norwegian Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs organize an expert meeting on “Tackling violence in schools”. The EWC is a co-partner.

The event will take place in Oslo, Norway at Thon Hotel Bristol, on the 27th and 28th of June 2011.

The meeting will aim at sharing recent European and global data and research in combating violence against children in schools; consolidating the various national and international methodologies, strategies, initiatives and good practices. This includes human rights and democratic citizenship education to make schools free from violence. Identify instruments, methods and recommendations for the SRSG"s following up work to eliminate violence in schools.

The meeting will bring together around 40 to 50 participants including representatives from regional organizations, international experts, individual countries as well as children and youth with experience in or commitment to the development of integrated national strategies, policies and programmes to combat violence against children in schools.

Participation is by invitation only.

Religious Diversity and Education in Europe book Series

Thu, 26 May 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The intercultural and multi-religious situation in Europe demands a re-evaluation of the existing educational systems in particular countries as well as new thinking at the broader European level. This book series, started in 2006, is committed to the investigation and reflection on the changing role of religion and education in Europe. Books in the series are concerned with empirical research with young people, teachers, teacher trainers and policy makers. The series also includes works contributing to scholarship and theory, which reflect on fundamental issues and develop new perspectives for better policy making and pedagogy, especially in relation to classroom practice. The publishing policy of the series is to focus on the importance of strengthening pluralist democracies through stimulating the development of active citizenship and fostering greater mutual understanding through intercultural education. It pays special attention to the educational challenges of religious diversity. Read More..

There can be few, if any, series of academic books focusing on the theory and practice of religious education (RE) that have been so prolific as this series from Waxmann. All but two of the titles so far have been in English and readers of the BJRE will already be familiar with several of them. If the quantity and frequency of these studies are somewhat breathtaking, one can only admire the quality that has been achieved throughout the series – and also the accessible price at which the publisher has managed to make each volume available. When distance permits some retrospective evaluation of the whole series, one suspects that it will be seen as a very significant process in the development of academic thought on the place of religion in contemporary educational practice in Europe.
Norman Richardson in British Journal of Religious Education Vol. 32, No. 3, 2010.

Teaching Intercultural Dialogue and Religious Diversity

Mon, 23 May 2011 00:00:00 +0100

EWC Executive Director Ana Perona Fjeldstad and Special Adviser Prof Robert Jackson took part in the exploratory workshop on cooperation opportunities: "Teaching Intercultural Dialogue and Religious Diversity in the Euro-Meditarranean" at the Ismaili Centre in Lisbon, Portugal, 16-17 May.

The workshop was organised by the CoE North South Centre, the Georg Eckert Stiftung and the Swedish Institute (Alexandria, Egypt) and in partnership with the Anna Lindh Foundation, European Association of History Educators (EUROCLIO), the Institute for the Study of Muslim Cultures and Civilisations (ISMC), the Aga Khan Development Network, the Euro-Mediterranean University, the Alliance of Civilizations and the European Wergeland Centre (EWC),

The meeting gathered experts and institutions active in the field to share experiences, map existing Euro-Mediterranean initiatives and develop strategies for future joint actions and educational guidelines.

Presentations from the meeting available for download

New Intercultural Glossary Project

Fri, 20 May 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The KULTRANS programme of the University of Oslo and the European Wergeland Centre have started to work on an intercultural glossary project in the field of education for democratic citizenship, human rights and intercultural understanding.

The long term aim of this project is to provide an online resource for education professionals offering definitions and discussions of key concepts, as well as methods for concept learning. The glossary can be used to facilitate learning processes fostering (self)-reflexivity, multi-perspectivity and information literacy. The content of the online glossary will be produced through peer learning activities with students in different countries.

The project includes the following:

the cooperative development of conceptual knowledge and understanding
the development of an online glossary
the development of methods for concept learning and
initiate a field of research

The project builds on co-operations with institutions and networks for civic education. A conceptual workshop will be held in Oslo on May 27-28, 2011. Representatives from a number of European higher education institutions and institutions for civic education will participate: the University of Teacher Education Central Switzerland Lucerne, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, the Higher School of Economics Moscow, the University of Hamburg, and the Federal Agency for Civic Education/Germany.

The workshop is financially supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation.

Contact:
Helge Jordheim/KULTRANS: helge.jordheim@ilos.uio.no
Claudia Lenz/EWC: c.lenz@theewc.org

ACT Project 7th phase - Grants for human rights education activities

Wed, 18 May 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have launched the seventh phase (2011-2012) of the ACT (Assisting Communities Together) Project. The ACT Project supports human rights education, training and public information activities conceived and carried out by civil society organizations by means of small grants (up to 7,000 USD).

The seventh phase will be implemented in the following countries/territories (applications from other countries are not considered):

- Cameroon
- Cape Verde
- Central African Republic
- Djibouti
- Ecuador
- Iraq
- Kosovo
- Mauritania
- Republic of Moldova
- Senegal
- The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
- Togo
- Uganda, and
- Uruguay.

Applications are accepted from non-governmental organizations, local associations, academic institutions and other civil society institutions carrying out human rights promotional activities in local communities. Organizations that have already received an ACT grant in the past are eligible as long as they have no outstanding reports concerning the previously funded project.

Application forms, guidelines and deadlines are available from local UNDP country offices and/or OHCHR field presences in the above-mentioned countries and territories.

Further details on the seventh phase of the ACT Project are available at:http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/education/training/act.htm

Schools as Intercultural Communities: Towards Indicators for Successful Intercultural Education

Mon, 16 May 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The Think-Tank, taking place 4-7 October in Oslo, Norway, is organised within the existing partnership between the Council of Europe Pestalozzi Programme and the EWC, together with the Intercultural Cities Programme of the Council of Europe and the European Union and the Project Intercultural Education and Exchanges of the Council of Europe.

The Intercultural Cities – a joint action of the Council of Europe and the European Commission gathers 21 cities which seek to develop a positive public and media discourse towards diversity, encourage inter-ethnic mixing and interaction, increase the knowledge of citizens of different cultures present in the city, and deal with cultural conflict through mediation and open debate. Recently they have focused on whole-school issues such as cultural diversity with regard to the teachers and learners in schools (mixité), intercultural competence of educators, intercultural mediation in schools, interaction with communities, and extracurricular offers.

During the three-day session of the Think-Tank participants shall discuss and critically review existing practice and work results regarding whole-school policies and action for intercultural education as well as the development of the attitudes, skills and knowledge necessary for mutual understanding in diversity as a core element of the mainstream curriculum.

The participants shall then focus on the elaboration of a list of indicators for successful intercultural education covering the aspects of teaching and learning of intercultural competence across the curriculum as well as appropriate whole-school policies. A compendium of successful initiatives as well as guidelines based on reports by participants and discussions will be elaborated following the think tank.

TARGET GROUP

School heads and teachers from 13 cities of the 21 cities members of the Intercultural Cities Network, Nottingham (United Kingdom) and Stockholm (Sweden).

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

Interested education professionals can apply directly to CoE to participate in this activity.

Download Application Form

Living together - Combining Diversity and Freedom in 21st century Europe

Fri, 13 May 2011 00:00:00 +0100

In the summer of 2010, the Council of Europe’s Secretary General, Thorbjørn Jagland, asked an independent “Group of Eminent Persons” (the Group) to prepare a report on the challenges arising from the resurgence of intolerance and discrimination in Europe. The report assesses the seriousness of the risks, identifies their sources and makes a series of proposals for “living together” in open European societies.

The report is divided into two parts: “The threat” and “The response”.

Download the report

18th meeting of EDC/HRE Coordinators in Antalya, Turkey

Wed, 11 May 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Turkey hosted the 18th meeting of the Council of Europe’s EDC/HRE coordinators in Antalya on 5 - 6th May. The coordinators are representatives appointed by the Council of Europe member states. Their main function is to foster the development of EDC/HRE in their country and to liaise between national activities and the Council of Europe.

EWC Capacity Building Coordinator Lars M. Gudmundson took part in the meeting presenting the Summer Academy as a training activity which seeks to implement Council of Europe policies into practice, with a special regard to the Council of Europe Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education.

The objectives of the meeting were to share information on the latest EDC/HRE developments in the member states, in the Council of Europe and in other international organizations. The coordinators also discussed future co-operation activities to be organized in the framework of the Council of Europe programme “Learning democracy and human rights” 2010-2014. The second day of the meeting focused on how EDC/HRE policies are monitored and evaluated by the member states, with an aim to share practices and identify needs and priorities in this respect.

The meeting was generously and efficiently hosted by the Turkish authorities. Mr. Merdan Tufan, President of the Board of National Education in Turkey, gave the welcome speech. The coordinators were given several examples of good practices in the field of EDC/HRE in Turkey, as well as a presentation of the ambitious three-year project “Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education” in Turkey 2011-2014.

A New Handbook for Human Rights Educators Now Available

Tue, 10 May 2011 00:00:00 +0100

EQUITAS-The International Centre for Human Rights Education and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) have jointly published "Evaluating
Human Rights Training Activities: A Handbook for Human Rights Educators". The Handbook aims at strengthening the evaluation of human rights education/training (HRE) activities with a view to increasing their impact. It highlights relevant research and practice in educational evaluation and contains step-by-step guidance, including examples of tools and techniques, to integrate evaluation throughout the entire HRE process including design, delivery and follow-up.

The Handbook is organized as follows:

Part 1 - Evaluating HRE: exploring the basics
It reviews the goals, content and process of HRE. Key concepts of educational evaluation are then introduced, as well as two models of educational evaluation that can guide human rights educators in incorporating evaluation into their HRE work.

Part 2 - Evaluating HRE: a step-by-step process
It outlines a five-step process for evaluating human rights training sessions for adult learners. This process, which includes training needs assessment, defining results, formative evaluation, end-of-training summative evaluation and impact and transfer evaluations, directly links
the design of evaluation with the different phases of a training design cycle. Data analysis methods and techniques as well as different means of communicating results are also addressed.

Part 3 - Particular evaluation concerns
It looks at a number of important issues and questions that human rights educators will need to deal with when evaluating HRE activities and also provides some useful strategies for addressing them. Issues include the role of gender in evaluation, the effects of culture and language,
evaluation of evaluations, and finding time and resources for evaluation.

Part 4 - Tools and techniques for evaluation in HRE
It presents a broad collection of practical tools and techniques, which can be easily adapted to suit particular needs, for the different types of evaluation - from training needs assessment to evaluating transfer and impact.

Part 5 - Useful resources for HRE evaluation
It contains a variety of resources consulted in the development of this Handbook, including print and electronic materials, and a list of relevant websites.

The Handbook, available in English, can be downloaded from the OHCHR website (last item on page)

First 2 events of the Educators’ Consultation Series on ICCS held successfully

Mon, 9 May 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The 2011 Educators’ Consultations focus on the findings of the International Citizenship and Civic Education Study (ICCS).

The first two meetings of the series have been held successfully in Vienna on May 2 (in cooperation with the Department for Didactics of History, Social Studies and Civic Education/University of Vienna, the Austrian Centre for Citizenship Education in Schools/polis and the SORA Institute for Social Research and Consulting) and in Innsbruck on May 4 (in cooperation with the Faculty of Education/University of Innsbruck and polis).

The whole-day seminar in Vienna started with a presentation of the Austrian ICCS findings given by Martina Zandonella (SORA), followed by a very engaging discussion. Civic Education in Austria seems to be mostly oriented towards a very traditional view on “the political”; focusing on government, political parties and elections. The subject teachers for civic education are by most of their colleagues regarded to be responsible to prepare young people for their future participation as citizens. Democratic participation within school or in the broader community is only by a minority regarded as relevant aspects of civic education. The discussion made clear that syllabuses for civic education and structural frameworks for pupils’ councils would allow for a much broader approach than this but that there are obviously persisting “cultures” in schools and also in teachers’ mentalities that restrict changes in educational practice.

A second study on Civic and History Education (CHE), presented by Prof Alois Ecker (University of Vienna) complemented the findings of the ICCS study. The preliminary findings from Austria point to the fact that many aspects of a “broad” understanding of participation and democratic competence are not to be found in the civics and history curricula of teacher training institutions.

In the afternoon, interactive learning methods were introduced by Claudia Lenz (EWC) and Dorothee Steurer (polis), inviting the participants to experience participatory learning processes.

The half-day seminar in Innsbruck was opened by Prof Lynn Chisholm (University of Innsbruck) who pointed out that the ICCS study was not investigating pupils’ knowledge about civics but young people’s preparedness to become future citizens. A broader scope of democratic learning was envisioned than the one becoming visible in the findings of the study (which were presented by Kathrin Helling and Helmut Fennes).

The intensive and engaging discussion focused mostly on the questions; how steps towards democratic school cultures, in which all members of a school feel responsible for an environment in which young people can gain democratic competences through experiencing democratic structures and practices, can be taken.

Altogether, 40 participants with backgrounds from graduate studies, teaching in schools and universities, research and policy engaged in interesting and highly relevant discussion and working processes.

EWC took part in a seminar on Multicultural Education organised by NAFO

Mon, 9 May 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The National Centre for Multicultural Education (NAFO) was established in 2004 as one of the steps undertaken by the Norwegian government to implement its strategic plan: Equal Education in Practice! Strategy for better learning and greater participation of linguistic minorities in kindergartens, schools and education. The Centre shares responsibility with other educational institutions for the implementation of about half of the 38 initiatives in the revised strategic plan.

NAFO runs competence-building programmes for work within, and leadership of, institutions concerned with the education of linguistic minorities and for the development of inclusive multicultural learning communities in Norway.

NAFO organised a seminar May 9, in Oslo, focusing on their project "Focus Schools", among other interesting projects. EWC was invited to the seminar to give a presentation of the Centre.

"Focus School" is a school (or kindergarten/adult education institution) that has come far in its efforts to become a multicultural school, where staff, including management, sees integration as essential, and are willing to spend resources on building competences in this field both internally and externally. They must be willing to be fronted as a "good example" for other schools and education professionals.

Religion in Education: Findings from the Religion and Society Programme

Thu, 5 May 2011 00:00:00 +0100

25–26 July 2011

AHRC/ESRC RELIGION & SOCIETY PROGRAMME

with

WARWICK RELIGIONS & EDUCATION RESEARCH UNIT (WRERU)

Scarman Conference Centre, University of Warwick

Aim and Scope of the Conference

The conference is organised as part of the AHRC/ESRC Religion & Society Programme, of which Prof. Linda Woodhead is the Director. The conference will bring together research teams which have been awarded grants within the youth call of the Progamme as well as other related projects. The focus of the conference will be on young people of school age (up to 18) and presentations will include topics related to religious education in schools and religious nurture or socialisation within families, communities or peer groups.

Conference Organisation

The Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit (WRERU) at the University of Warwick is one of the award holders (Young People’s Attitudes to Religious Diversity), under the directorship by Prof. Robert Jackson. The conference is organised by Dr Elisabeth Arweck, with support from members of the WRERU project team.

Conference Participants

Apart from members of various research teams, the conference participants will include educationalists, academics, researchers, representatives of interfaith organisations, RE teachers and advisers, media representatives, and policy makers.

More information

Honored to have Dr. Padrón as Keynote Speaker at the forthcoming Conference

Tue, 3 May 2011 00:00:00 +0100

A wonderful article about Dr. Eduardo J. Padrón and Miami Dade College has been published in The New York Times. We are honored to have him as one of the keynote speakers for the forthcoming conference: Reimagining Democratic Socities: A New Era of Personal and Social Responsibilities? The article fits perfectly with the theme for the conference.

President Padrón is widely recognized as one of the top educational leaders in the world and is often invited to participate in educational policy forums in the United States and abroad. In 1993, President Bill Clinton recognized him as one of America’s foremost educators. President George W. Bush nominated him to the National Institute for Literacy Advisory Board. More recently, he represented the U.S. at UNESCO’s World Conference on Higher Education at the invitation of the Obama administration and President Obama appointed him Chairman of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans. During his career he has been selected to serve on posts of national prominence by five American presidents.
Image: Dr. Eduardo J. Padrón, President of Miami Dade College and Chair of the American Council on Education

The conference Reimagining Democratic Socities: A New Era of Personal and Social Responsibilities? will take place 27-29 June in Oslo, Norway and is part of the cooperation between different partners committed to promoting democracy, human rights and the rule of law as well as social cohesion and intercultural dialogue, and their belief in the key role of education in furthering these goals. The conference will also be part of the events marking the 200th anniversary of the University of Oslo.

150 higher education leaders and representatives of public authorities from the United States and Europe with some participants also from other parts of the world as well as from NGOs will take part in this conference.

More about the conference

New book on Law, Education and Religious Freedom in Europe to be released soon

Mon, 2 May 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Law, Religious Freedom and Education in Europe

Editor: Myriam Hunter-Henin

Publisher: Ashgate

To be published: Autumn 2011

Religion has returned forcefully both as a subject of academic debate, as a lived reality in contemporary societies and as a renewed challenge for secular systems of governance. The context of education is a field where the accommodation of religious diversity is particularly debated. In a comparative and multidisciplinary perspective, this book offers contributions by prominent law and religion experts on key concepts such as laïcité, discrimination and religious freedom; on national models of State/Church relationships in an educational context and on topical and controversial cases raised in various European jurisdictions.

It is based on a conference organized under the auspices of the Institute of Global Law (Dr Myriam Hunter-Henin, University College London) and Maison française d’Oxford (Prof. Luc Borot, Director MFO) which was held in Oxford, at Maison française d’Oxford, on 8th and 9th October 2010. See: Full programme of the conference and Audio recordings of papers

Robert Jackson, Professor of Religions and Education, University of Warwick, UK and Professor of Religious Diversity and Education, European Wergeland Centre, Oslo, Norway, was invited to write the Foreword to the book. You are welcome to download his Foreword to the book; an interesting read!

The book will be available autumn 2011.

“Council of Europe in Brussels” week

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The 47-nation Council of Europe is holding a series of events in Brussels from 2 to 6 May 2011 to highlight the organisation’s growing presence in the city and its changing role in today’s Europe.

High-level meetings between Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland and senior EU officials, including Commissioner Viviane Reding, will take place in addition to several other highlights.

Official inauguration of the new Council of Europe premises in Brussels takes place May 2 and is one of the highlights of the week. EWC Executive Director Ana Perona Fjeldstad and Special Adviser Gunnar Mandt will participate.

Due to the Council of Europe’s ever-increasing level of cooperation with the EU institutions in particular – as well as the wide range of international organisations, NGOs and other partners which are also present in the Belgian capital – the Council of Europe is strengthening its Liaison Office in Brussels and has recently relocated to new premises.

The official inauguration of the new premises, at Avenue des Nerviens 85, will take place in the presence of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland.

Dr. Judith Torney-Purta Outstanding Paper Award Winner

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Congratulations to Heidi Biseth (Oslo University College), the 2011 winner of the Dr. Judith Torney-Purta Outstanding Paper Award in Citizenship and Democratic Education.

Paper tittle: Citizenship Education in Scandinavian Multicultural Schools: A Comparative Study of Students’ and Teachers’ Perceptions.

Two contestants, Dierdre Williams (University of Maryland at College Park) and Lisa Y. Faden (The University of Western Ontario), received Honorable Mention.

The winner and all contestants (Heidi Biseth, Lisa Faden, Laura Quaynor, Derdre Williams, and Yongling Zhang) will be recognized and receive certificates (the winner will also receive a monetary prize) at the CANDE SIG business meeting on May 1st.

The winner’s paper will be published in Citizenship Teaching and Learning.

Believe in Dialogue, Act for Citizenship

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0100

During the last few months, the Mediterranean landscape has witnessed a wave of historical changes. The uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt and other social mobilizations in the region have demonstrated that youth and civil society are eager for more freedom, social change, and consolidation of democratic values within their respective societies.

It's in this context that the Anna Lindh Foundation decided to launch its region-wide initiative "Believe in Dialogue, Act for Citizenship" to promote intercultural dialogue and its relationship with democracy, active and participatory citizenship and human rights in the Euromed region.

Through two major events taking place in both Tunis and Cairo and bringing together over 200 civil society activists, journalists and young leaders, participants will have the opportunity to share knowledge and strengthen the capacities of civil society organizations (members and not members of the ALF civil society networks) with respect to the relationship between intercultural dialogue, democracy and citizenship, as well as to encourage interaction between citizens and civil society organisations from all participating countries to contribute to spread awareness about citizenship rights, including civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights among them while improving intercultural dialogue and sustaining social cohesion.

ICCS and the Impact on Educational Practice

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0100

A new Statement on the findings of the IEA Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) by Dr Malak-Minkiewicz has just been published.

In her statement, Dr Barbara Malak-Minkiewicz focuses on the challenges for educational practitioners in Europe. The International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) 2009 was the third IEA study on civic and citizenship education. The ICCS contributed substantially to our knowledge about civic and citizenship education in schools and preparation of youth for citizenship. Its approach of collecting data at a number of levels and from different perspectives disclosed many issues important for policy makers and practitioners in this area. The major challenges are discussed in Dr Malak-Minkiewicz' statement.

Dr Barbara Malak-Minkiewicz is the manager of membership relations at the IEA Secretariat in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She was a member of the steering committee of the second IEA Civic Education Study (CIVED). She has also worked at Warsaw University, teaching courses in social and developmental psychology and conduction studies on socialization, social identity formation, conflict and aggression.

World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0100

This Conference took place in Baku, Azerbaijan 7 - 9 April and gathered more than 400 participants from all over the world. Azerbaijan is on the crossroad of different cultures and religions, and thus in a position of being a bridge between East and West, North and South.

The forum addressed the policy, governance and practical challenges of intercultural dialogue.
It was the arena for sharing good practice and launch new initiatives to tackle the barriers of intercultural dialogue.

The forum was arranged by the Government of Azerbaijan, in cooperation with UNESCO, ISESCO, Alliance of Civilizations and Council of Europe.

The EWC had an active role in the forum: Ambassador Arif Mammadov, member of the EWC Board, chaired one of the sessions, and Special Adviser Gunnar Mandt
was rapporteur at another session.

New EWC Service has been launched!

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The Share & Connect Mailing List offers you an opportunity to connect with peers all over the world, by initiating and contributing to ongoing discussions, receiving and sharing project ideas, training opportunities, upcoming events, conference outcomes and other relevant issues in the field of EDC, HRE and ICE.

The mailing list is a tool where members of the database Share&Connect can circulate and discuss relevant issues and ideas in the field. All members are free to submit their contribution and to reply to ongoing topics, in accordance with the mailing list policy.

Want to become a member of the mailing list?

- Create your Share&Connect profile and sign up for the Mailing List! If you already have a profile registered you can register by editing your profile.

About Share&Connect

Share&Connect is a database for people working in the field of Education for Human Rights, Democratic Citizenship and Intercultural Understanding

It aims at connecting people; to share experiences and expertise both in Europe and beyond, by offering people working in the field the opportunity to create their own profile and to search for others.

More than 200 people have registered their profile! Teachers, teacher trainers, researchers, government officials, representatives from NGOs and International Organizations, youth workers, administrative personnel from educational institutions and others working in the field from all over the world have signed up, we encourage you to do the same!

EWC's R&D coordinator was member of the expert Jury in the aces Academy in Prague

Thu, 7 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The Academy took place from 29 March - 1 April 2011 at the Diplomat Hotel in Prague. It was attended by students and teachers from the awarded projects in 2010-2011, delegations of schools from previous aces cycles, representatives of the Ministries of Education from the partner countries, trainers, journalists and other stakeholders, almost 350 participants in total.

Out of 45 projects, five received an award for special achievements in fields such as Civil Courage, Student Participation and International Cooperation.

The aces (Academy of Central European Schools) network, founded in 2006 by ERSTE Foundation within its programme "Europe" in coordination with Interkulturelles Zentrum (Vienna, Austria), seeks to enhance the active participation of young people and teachers in exchange processes and international cooperation.

Regional Partnership for Intercultural Exchange

Wed, 6 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The final conference on an EU-funded project on Participation and Intercultural Governance at Local Level in the Balkans: Challenges and European Perspectives took place in Mostar, Bosnia Herzegovina, March 30 – April 2.

The EWC was invited by the hosts, the Local Democracy Agency Mostar and the city administration Mostar, to present its work.

The conference gave an overview of activities implemented over the past two years. Representatives from civil society organization and local self-governments from Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina presented key concepts and practices related to democratic participation and good local governance.

Five thematic panels were organized with the participation of panelists coming from the three countries included in the project, but also from municipalities/institutions from Italy, UK, Norway, Hungary and Moldova.

Photo by: Nikola Tumbas
Picture from session: Multicultural Coexistence to Intercultural Governance

EWC Special Advisor Gunnar Mandt (second from right) facilitated a session on Multicultural Coexistence to Intercultural Governance. The session included: EWC Advisor Ms Gebara (in the middle) on project examples in the field of democratic citizenship education; Mr Sead Đulić (second from left), from Mostar Youth Theater, on his work on divided communities; Ms Olga Perušić (to the right), from LDA Mostar on minorities in Subotica; and Mr Svetislav Milanković (in front), from Museum Subotica on multiculturalism in Subotica.

Interesting debates, exchange of good practice and comparisons of different approaches in relation to the main topic of the conference were valuable parts throughout the conference.

The EWC also held side meetings with the Local Democracy Agency Mostar and the Nansen Dialogue Centre Mostar to discuss possibilities for future co-operation, during the conference.

Information about the conference can be found in the Newsletter Regional Partnership for Intercultural Exchange

Conference on the ICCS 2009 report in Oslo

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training organized a conference focusing on the results from the ICCS 2009 study and PISA 2009, 29-30 March in Oslo.

The Norwegian ICCS 2009 report was launched the same day as the opening of the conference.

EWC staff participated at the conference. It was a highly fruitful conference where school leaders, policy makers, teachers, representatives from educational organizations, companies and institutions took part. The Norwegian results from both PISA 2009 and ICCS 2009 were presented and compared to the international results.

Senior Analyst Micheal Davidson from OECD was one of the keynote speakers and gave a presentation of the international PISA results 2009.

The ICCS 2009 European Report presents results of analyses designed to investigate students’
knowledge and understanding of civics and citizenship in a European context and their
perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors with respect to specific European-related civic and political
issues, institutions, and policies.

The report examines differences across countries in these European-specific outcomes as well as variations across European countries in the associations between these outcome variables and with selected student characteristics. The results are based on data collected by way of the regional European and, where relevant, the international instruments.

ICCS was carried out by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA).

The ICCS study is the focus of the EWC Educators' Consultations 2011.

Study visit from Scotland

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0100

In March, the EWC organized the first day of a 3-day study visit on Human Rights Education initiated by Learning and Teaching Scotland.

The group of primary and secondary teachers, head teachers, and university lecturer was specifically interested in innovative approaches, human rights education resources and local practices. During the first day, a session at the EWC introduced “Human Rights Education in the framework of the Council of Europe”.

Among others, the newly adopted CoE Charter on EDC/ HRE pays special attention to the issue of Democratic Governance and the importance of linking research to educational practice. The Summer Academy “Democracy at School” and the EWC series of Educators consultations served as two examples of how to put this policy recommendation into practice. A fruitful exchange took place, in which several participants introduced their activities, e.g. an online site for Scottish teachers, parents and students.

After lunch the group was hosted by Amnesty Norway, the newly established International Human Rights Education Centre. Amnesty gave an overview of their international HRE projects and their work in schools in Norway. An interesting discussion on the question of how to integrate HRE into different subjects followed.

Human Rights Academy ended the day with introducing their work, and providing participants with the opportunity to try out practical methods for the classroom.

At the end of the day, the diversity of expertise and examples brought together by different NGOs working on HRE was most appreciated. Many mentioned fresh ideas they would like to try out once being back home, and space for dialogue as valuable parts of the program.

The Learning and Teaching Scotland is a Scottish Government education agency which among
others manage international study visits programme as part of the Scottish Continuing International Professional Development programme. The study visits aim to provide Scottish education professionals with exposure to excellent or innovative educational practice in another country.

During their stay in Oslo, the group visited the Ministry of Education, a school in Oslo, and the Holocaust Centre.

Concludes General Debate on Technical Assistance and Capacity Building

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0100

UNITED NATIONS Press release
23 March 2011 AFTERNOON

Concludes General Debate on Technical Assistance and Capacity Building

The Human Rights Council this afternoon adopted the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training and recommended its adoption by the General Assembly. The Council appointed a Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; members of the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice; a member of the Working Group of Experts on people of African descent; members of the Expert Mechanism on the rights of indigenous peoples; and elected members of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee. The Council also concluded its general debate on technical assistance and capacity building.

In a resolution adopted without a vote, the Council adopted the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training and recommended that the General Assembly adopt it and invite Governments, agencies and organizations of the United Nations system and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to intensify their efforts to disseminate the Declaration and to promote universal respect and understanding thereof.

Manager for the International Human Rights Education Centre in Norway

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Amnesty International is a global, membership driven Human Rights organisation with more than three million members world wide. The organisation is independent of any Government, economic actor, political conviction or religious belief. Amnesty International in Norway has more than 100 000 members and supporters.

Amnesty International Norway seeks a full-time manager for the newly established International Human Rights Education Centre. The centre is based in Oslo, but has a close cooperation with Amnesty International’s International Secretariat in London.

Responsibilities and tasks

The Manager will be responsible for the ongoing work and further development of the Centre. The tasks will include implementation of ongoing international projects and programmes, planning, fund-raising for and developing new projects in cooperation with Amnesty International in other countries. The post requires participation in project visits, workshops and other events in and outside Amnesty. The work will entail frequent travel.

The post lies within the Communication Department of Amnesty International Norway, but reports to an International Steering Group.

Qualifications

Amnesty International Norway is looking for a person with university, or similar level, education in relevant subject(s), and prefer someone with experience of international project management and/or work with different cultures, as well as good communication skills.

Knowledge of Human Rights in general and Human Rights Education in particular, will be preferable. Fluent written and oral English is a requirement, and knowledge of Spanish/French/Arabic is an advantage.

They offer
• a challenging job in a committed and focused environment
• salary to be agreed upon
• flexible working hours, favorable insurance and retirement systems

Application deadline: 11 April 2011

For more information, contact Director: John Peder Egenæs, tel +47 911 00 676 or Head of Communications: Ina Tin tel +47 474 00 285

Send your application to Amnesty International Norway, P.O. Box 702 Sentrum, 0106 Oslo, Norway, or by email to organisasjon@amnesty.no.

Have a say on transnational learning mobility for educators!

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0100

With your help EUROCLIO, the European Association of History Educators,wishes to increase accessibility and improve quality of international training events for educators.

The main goal of the initiative is to raise awareness about the obstacles that prevent educators from participating and to contribute to increase the opportunities for them to get involved in these
training events.

EUROCLIO will use the results of this Questionnaire to influence European and national policy makers, together with other civil society organizations active in the field of lifelong learning.

Please take 10 minutes to fill in the online Questionnaire!

New book on didactical approaches towards learning about World War II

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0100

On 16th March, the book “Past in the Present” (Fortiden i Nåtiden”) was launched at the House of Literature in Oslo, Norway. EWC research coordinator Claudia Lenz is one of the editors.

The book is based on the idea, that more than 65 years after the end of World War two, the narratives and interpretations about the war have become an important source of understanding. The book advocates a history teaching that encourages learners to link the past to their own questions about identity and that gives them at hand the tools enabling them to critically reflect on their own understandings of the past as well as historical narratives of others. Given the multicultural reality of contemporary societies, this is regarded as a precondition for an inclusive history culture – feeding into an inclusive and participatory political culture.

In his speech at the launch, Chair of the EWC Borad Prof. Svein Lorentzen said; "an inclusion of this book in the training of future history teachers in Norway is desirable".

More information about the book
(Norwegian text)

EWC participated at the Fifth Inter-Institutional Meeting on Citizenship and Human Rights Education

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0100

On 14 March 2011, the Council of Europe invited representatives of international institutions and civil society organisations to discuss strategies to assist member States with the national implementation of regional and international texts on citizenship and human rights education.

The EWC Executive Director, Ana Perona, took part in this meeting.

This fifth inter-institutional meeting launched an inter-institutional contact group on citizenship and human rights education. The main objective of the contact group is to ensure systematic and sustainable coordination of inter-governmental initiatives in this field. The contact group agreed on a number of concrete initiatives, including the mapping of relevant programmes, development of a joint calendar of international events, and a joint review of key international texts.

Academic Courses on HRE for Student Teachers

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Amnesty International Israel plans to develop human rights education academic courses or even academic degree for student teachers.

In order to create an effective, smart, interesting and comprehensive program, Amnesty International Israel is seeking information about existing academic courses, diplomas or other academic initiatives in the field that have been established around the world. They are also looking into the possibility to develop it as an international academic partnership.

For more information contact:

Laura Di Castro
Human Rights Education
Amnesty International-Israel section
E-mail: education@amnesty.org.il

The situation of persons crossing the Greek land border in an irregular manner

Wed, 9 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) has published a report about the fundamental rights situation of persons entering Greece irregularly at its land border with Turkey. This report is based on field research in the Evros region in January 2011.

“The situation at the EU’s external land border between Greece and Turkey constitutes a fundamental rights emergency. People, including pregnant women and families with small children, are held in inhumane conditions,” FRA Director Morten Kjaerum commented.

The situation in the detention centre in Soufli can be taken as an example: on 29 January 2011, the day of the FRA visit, 144 persons were being held in one room measuring about 110m2. There is no heating, and only one toilet and one cold shower are available for all detainees – with outside temperatures of around zero degrees Celsius. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) of the Council of Europe recommends 4m² of space per detainee in multi-occupancy accommodation. Nevertheless, no emergency measures have been implemented by the Greek authorities to address the conditions in detention centres in Evros – despite the availability of EU funds.

The FRA report identifies a number of factors which contribute to the current crisis, for instance, that everyone – except for persons requiring urgent hospitalisation – is automatically detained, including children and even babies. Coordination of the local response in the Evros region is a key problem. Responsibilities for migration management are divided between four different ministries and allocation of responsibilities at local level is unclear. One obvious way forward in addressing the immediate needs is the development of much stronger coordination mechanisms at a local operational level, which has proven to work effectively in other EU Member States.

Data and information for this report were directly collected by FRA experts through interviews with key actors, including people in detention as well as all relevant public authorities, and through direct observation of conditions at the border and inside detention centres; secondary data complemented the field research. The Greek government provided unimpeded access to all detention facilities to the FRA. Frontex provided important assistance in facilitating the field research.

Since 2010, Greek external EU land and sea borders account for 90% of all detections of irregular border crossings along all EU external land and sea borders. Daily crossings at the eastern border in Evros reached peaks of up to 350 persons. The largest group (44%) comes from Afghanistan. In 2010, 45 people lost their lives trying to cross the border in the Evros region (see www.frontex.europa.eu).

Download the FRA report

Educators' Consultations 2011; International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS)

Wed, 2 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0100

To encourage dialogue among researchers and practitioners, the EWC annually organizes a series of Educators’ Consultations in cooperation with European universities and teacher training institutions. Latest research projects and their key findings related to issues of democratic citizenship, human rights and intercultural understanding are shortly introduced.

In 2011, the Educators' Consultations will focus on the findings of the IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS). The EWC regards the findings of the study, which was published in autumn 2010, extremely interesting with regard to basic challenges of EDC in schools.

The findings indicate a gap between pupils' "civic knowledge" on the one hand and their willingness to engage actively in the political life of their society (with the exception of taking part in elections/using their right to vote). The study will therefore be the initial point for discussions with teachers and teacher trainers in different European countries; Austria, Bulgaria, Poland, Germany and others.

Questions for debate:

What do more engaging approaches to learning democracy look like?

What experience do educators have with participatory learning methods, inclusive class room environments, Democratic School Governance and EDC-partnerships between schools and local communities?

The first 2 consultations in 2011 will take place in May, in Austria:

2 May: Vienna/Austria, in cooperation with the University of Vienna and Polis/The Austrian Centre for Citizenship Education in Schools

4 May: Innsbruck/Austria, in cooperation with the University of Innsbruck and Polis/The Austrian Centre for Citizenship Education in Schools

More information on forthcoming consultations will be published soon.

Great interest for the Summer Academy: Democracy at School

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The deadline for applications to participate in the Summer Academy 2011 in Poland expired on 25th February. There is great interest to take part in this event, and a selection of participants will be made shortly.The Summer Academy will take place in Warsaw, Poland, 9-16 July.

The Summer Academy offers training for teams of head teachers, teachers and NGO/parents’ representatives in the field of education for human rights and democratic citizenship. It is organized in cooperation between the Polish Ministry of National Education, Polish Centre for Education Development, Council of Europe and the EWC.

The participants will learn to implement whole school strategies for integrating education for democratic citizenship and human rights (EDC/HRE) in their practice and culture in the classroom, school and community. The academy also offers an opportunity to share and exchange experiences and good practices with participants from other countries.

The training will be in Russian and English with simultaneous translation. Please read the description of the Summer Academy and send in your team application!

Call for submissions; European Centre for Modern Languages 2012-2015 programme

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The European Centre for Modern Languages
Promoting excellence in language education

As a Council of Europe institution, the ECML focuses on bridging the gap between language policy and classroom learning practice. This unique intergovernmental centre offers concrete approaches to issues and challenges facing Europe's multicultural societies in a period of unparalleled change and mobility.

In 2012 the ECML will launch its new medium-term programme with a focus on inclusive, plurilingual and intercultural education and on projects contributing to the Council of Europe's work promoting quality education for all.

The ECML seeks submissions from:

experts and researchers in language education, teachers and teacher trainers of all languages;
experts in education with a strong interest in language education;
representatives of related organizations/associations with a stake in good quality language education (e.g. parents associations, school boards, business sector).

The 2012-2015 Programme;

Learning Through Languages - Promoting inclusive, plurilingual and intercultural education

The new programme builds on the Centre's previous work and widens its scope to move beyond the foreign language classroom to include all linguistic abilities and the needs of all groups of learners. Within this context language(s) represent(s) the principal medium through which learning is achieved, so the programme will address not just the foreign language classroom but the teaching of the language of schooling, of other languages present in the educational environment and the languages used in subject teaching. Projects will also focus on informal and non-formal language learning and on the dialogue with stakeholders involved in the education process.

For further information see the programme website which provides detailed information on the programme and includes a full glossary and FAQ section providing guidance on the submission process.

Submissions, using the official templates, can be sent at any time before 1 May 2011 to the address: call@ecml.at

EWC participated at the CoE Committee of Ministers meeting

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0100

After two years in operation, the EWC was invited to give a presentation of the Centre at the CoE Committee of Ministers meeting that took place February 9. EWC Executive Director, Ana Perona, and EWC Special Adviser, Gunnar Mandt, took part in the meeting.

It was a fruitful meeting, and there was a high level of interest about the EWC. The centre received a lot of positive feedback and comments for its activities and services.

You are welcome to read the presentation given by the EWC Executive Director, Ana Perona.

National and Regional Training Courses on Human Rights Education 2011

Wed, 9 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The CoE Directorate of Youth & Sport has just launched the call for applications to the National and Regional Training Courses on Human Rights Education for 2011.

The call is addressed to non-governmental youth organisations and/or other non-governmental and governmental organisations and institutions involved in human rights education with young people.

The deadline for applications is the 28th February 2011. All applications should be sent to: eyc.studysessions@coe.int

Objectives and format of the courses

All the training courses must aim at training key multipliers (youth leaders, trainers, youth workers, teachers, teachers’ trainers) in developing human rights education activities with and for young people
All courses should be based on the methodologies and approaches present in Compass and seek to develop participants competences in HRE
The courses should seek to bring together “key multipliers” of the country or region concerned[1], committed to carry out further activities and projects in human rights education with young people
Participants must come from a diversity of organisations and institutions concerned with human rights education and youth work
The organisers should pay particular attention at reaching and involving the social and cultural diversity in society, including various minorities and frequently discriminated groups in society
The organisers should strive to recruit a group with equal representation of both sexes
The group of participants should represent a good geographical balance of the country or region addressed
The duration of the course, the number and profile of the participants should be consistent with the programme and the specific objectives of the course. The courses should be held for a minimum of 15 and maximum of 40 participants, and last for a minimum of 4 days.

More information

Euro-Arab Dialogue - Conference in Oman

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The EWC Executive Director, Ana Perona, participated at the 2nd meeting of the Task Force of National Commissions for UNESCO for Euro-Arab Dialogue in Muscat, Oman last week.

The meeting correlated to the Oman National Commission for Education, Culture, and Science.

The opening ceremony was attended by Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, and Dr. Mona Salem AL-Jardania the Undersecretary of Ministry of Education and Deputy Chairman of Oman National Commission for Education, Culture and Science.

Secretaries general from twelve countries took part in the meeting, along with representatives from ISESCO, UNESCO Cataluña Center and Al Jaber Foundation.

New launch: Russian language version of HRE Compendium

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The Russian language version of the publication Human Rights Education in the School Systems of Europe, Central Asia and North America: A Compendium of Good Practice (Образование в области прав человека в школьной системе Европы, Центральной Азии и Северной Америки: сборник примеров успешных практик) has just been released by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR).

The original, English language publication was jointly published by the Council of Europe, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2009. HREA was retained to develop the Compendium under the guidance of these partners.

The Russian language version - along with full annexes - can be found on the OSCE website:
http://tandis.odihr.pl/documents/hre-compendium/rus . Links to the Russian language version can also be found on HREA's website at: http://www.hrea.org/compendium

Forum on the Universality of Human Rights

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Must we expect to see universal human rights disappear in the 21st century, if their universality were to be lost due to threats arising from cultural and religious relativism?

The "Forum on the Universality of Human Rights" was held in Oslo, Norway, 21-22 October, organized by the Education Committee of INGOs at the Council of Europe, in cooperation with the EWC.

Some one-hundred participants attended the forum to study current developments in Human Rights and bring together arguments in defence of their universal nature.

INGO representatives and directors of educational institutions came together during workshops, round tables and conferences. They shared their expertise and offered proposals for presenting solid arguments to defenders of the universality of Human Rights.

Experts and philosophers at the Forum, including Abdelwahab Meddeb, Gérard Fellous, Gabriel Nissim, Alain Mouchoux and Solon Smith, explained how religious precepts, political approaches and cultural diversity cannot in any circumstance justify non-respect of Human Rights.

Forum Proceedings (French and English)

Forum Pictures

New Centre for Human Rights Education

Fri, 7 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Amnesty International Norway has established an International Centre for Human Rights Education in Oslo. The establishment is part of Amnesty International's efforts to develop centers of expertise, says Vibeke Eikås, head of the new center.

This new International Centre for Human Rights Education will plan and coordinate new programs, evaluate and develop existing and contribute to skills development and strengthening of the large international network of human rights education coordinators. Read more... (Human Rights House Foundation)

Press Release in Norwegian

Consultative Group on HRE for Young People - Final report available now!

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0100

On November 24-25, 2010, the Consultative Group on Human Rights Education for Young People met for the first time in Strasbourg to discuss recent developments in human rights education and youth policy in the Council of Europe (CoE) and beyond. Invited by the Human Rights Education Youth Programme of the CoE, the group brought together representatives from various CoE Directorates, Office of the Human Rights Commissioner, European Youth Forum, European networks for human rights education with children/ young people, European Wergeland Centre as well as from other NGOs.

Special attention was given to reviewing the evaluation of the HRE Forum "Living, Acting for Human Rights Education" and the follow-up expected in 2011 and beyond. The development of a youth-friendly version of the CoE Charter on EDC and HRE and its dissemination will be one priority for the years to come.

The meeting was considered by all participants as very useful and necessary, both in relation to the youth agenda on HRE and to the need for partners and networks to keep informed, updated and connected. The group agreed to set aside the dates of 16 and 17 May for the next meeting.

The group is of an informal nature and is directly related to the programme of activities of the Directorate of Youth and Sport.

Read more about the role and mandate of the group.

Click here to read the group’s final report including recommendations.

ICCS 2009 International and European Reports were released on 22 November 2010

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0100

ICCS 2009 International and European Reports were released on 22 November 2010

The International Civic and Citizen Education Study (ICCS), the largest international study ever conducted on civic education in secondary schools aims to answer some critical questions about how young people are being prepared to undertake their future roles as citizens.

The study assessed students’ (Grade 8) civic knowledge, attitudes, and behavior in 38 countries. The International and European report, which now have been published show a very varying picture both between and within countries.

Most interesting with regard to the EWC mandate are the findings of the study regarding the relation between civic knowledge and students' willingness to participate and act as citizens. Whereas the vast majority of students (about 80%) expect to vote in national elections as adults, only few expect to ‘actively’ engage in political activities. This is also related to the way in which civic education is performed by teachers. Here the report says:

"The fact that most teachers and principals in ICCS countries considered the development of 'knowledge and skills' as the most important aim of civic and citizenship teaching might point to the need for broadening the focus of civic and citizenship education to fostering participatory skills and strategies in students"

In general the outcomes of civic and citizenship education in schools had stronger influences on expected electoral participation than on expected active political participation. What happens in
schools has an impact on formal aspects of civic participation whereas a challenge is provided in terms of encouraging broader participation in society as citizens.

In this sense, Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education are valuable approaches to be included in schools to foster participation in society. In 2011, the EWC will organize educators' consultations on this issue in co-operation with several universities and teacher training institutions in the Council of Europe member states.

Council of Europe's EDC/ HRE coordinators met in Drammen, Norway

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0100

The network of the EDC/HRE coordinators met in Drammen, Norway, on 17-19 November, to discuss how to put into practice the Council of Europe Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education (adopted in the framework of Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)7).

On the Agenda were latest EDC/ HRE developments in the Council of Europe (CoE) member states. Among others, the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) was presented, and showed the necessity to close the gap between civic knowledge and active citizenship participation of students (young people).

The EWC plans a series of Educators' Consultations in 2011 to introduce and discuss the findings of the study with teacher trainers and teachers in several CoE member states. One aim is to improve EDC / HRE practice by exploring a variety of methods and tools to foster active citizenship and participation among young people.

The meeting agreed that a lot of work remains to be done to make the newly adopted CoE Charter on EDC and HRE and the CoE teaching materials widely known. The meeting was filled with examples of good practices from the member states, and served as a platform to initiate future action in the field.

The next EDC/ HRE coordinator meeting will be held in May 2011 in Turkey.

The EDC/HRE coordinators are officially nominated member states' representatives dealing with citizenship and human rights education. Click here to view the list of EDC/ HRE coordinators officially nominated.

The meeting was hosted by the Ministry of Education of Norway and the European Wergeland Centre, with financial support of the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training.

First meeting to establish a think thank on education in the 21st century

Tue, 2 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0100

On October 29-31, 2010, a group of Education experts from six countries met at the European Academy in Otzenhausen/Germany in order to address burning issues of educational systems in Europe in the 21st century. Among them were representatives from teacher training and higher education institutions, the Council of Europe Pestalozzi Programme, the European Wergeland Centre and several NGOs as well as representatives from parents and students associations.

What seems necessary is a shift of paradigm, a shift from present educational discourses and policies - mainly informed by economical necessities - to educational policies and practices (re) informed by a vision of education which prepares and enables all young people to active participate in democratic European societies. The group agreed to continue to work towards the constitution of a Think Tank in 2011.

New arguments for defenders of the Universality of Human Rights

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0100

On Thursday and Friday, October 21-22, the Forum on the Universality of Human Rights was held in Oslo, hosted by the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe in collaboration with the European Wergeland Center for Education in Human Rights.

Some one-hundred participants attended the forum to study current developments in Human Rights and bring together arguments in defence of their universal nature.

INGO representatives and directors of educational institutions from some twenty countries came together during workshops, round tables and conferences. They shared their expertise and offered proposals for presenting solid arguments to defenders of the universality of Human Rights.
This universality is now in jeopardy, and it is necessary to reaffirm this universality in the face of attacks coming in particular from cultural and religious relativism.

Experts and philosophers at the Forum, including Abdelwahab Meddeb, Gérard Fellous, Gabriel Nissim, Alain Mouchoux and Solon Smith, explained how religious precepts, political approaches and cultural diversity cannot in any circumstance justify non-respect of Human Rights.

Their arguments are based on objective and factual data in addition to historical and scientific information proving that Human Rights are not simply the expression of a single Western civilisation, and that they are not “imposed upon the rest of the world by colonial and neo-colonial powers”, but rather that they result from the uniqueness of the concept of the inalienable dignity of Human beings.

INGOs of the Council of Europe have a crucial role to play in this area. This is a role, however, which is under-recognised by states and international organisations. The involvement of INGOs during the Oslo Forum should give new impetus to the struggle to ensure respect for the application of Human Rights. This struggle must be initiated through education. Often cited in the various workshops, education in Human Rights is today deemed insufficient despite the working tools which are provided by the Council of Europe. Areas for further work and actions to be taken to follow...

Click here to view conference website

Human rights documentary festival – And the winner is …

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0100

The Rafto Foundation and the Bergen International Film Festival (BIFF) have established a human rights documentary programme called Checkpoints. The festival denotes a variety of documentaries dealing with human rights issues from all over the world.

Through Checkpoints, the Rafto Foundation is committed to speaking up for 'the silenced ones' and to shedding light on human rights violations particularly where media attention has been lacking. More than just documenting a variety of human rights issued, Rafto wishes to evoke empathy for those who are suffering and support for those who stand up to oppression. Documentary films are important instruments in this regard, and have the potential to reach a broad audience and to initiate debate and engagement.

In 2010, 12 documentaries were presented in the Checkpoints competition, a central part of the Bergen International Film Festival. This year’s jury was chaired by Nobel Prize Laureate and Human Rights defender Shirin Ebadi (Iran). Other members were: Judge Hanne Sophie Greve, EWC Director Ana Perona-Fjeldstad and Professor Martin Paulsen. The winner this year was Budrus, a movie telling the story of Palestinian non-violent resistance in one village on the West Bank.

The Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre presented the prize in the official ceremony on October 21th 2010.

Budrus, one of the year's most important documentaries tells the story about the inhabitants of the Palestinian village of Budrus. Budrus is a small village on the West Bank right on the Israeli border. Israeli authorities had planned on building their West Bank barrier straight through the village, but thanks to a series of patient but persistant non-violent protests led by activist Ayed Ahmad Hussein Morrar, the inhabitants of Budrus managed to change Israeli plans.

Country: Israel, Palestine, USA
Year: 2009
Production Compamny: Just Vision Films, female only directors, based in USA

Director: Julia Bacha is a Brazilian editor and director who first made a name for herself as co-writer and editor on Control Room (2004) a documentary about Al Jazeera. In 2006 he co-directed ENCOUNTER POINT. Budrus is her first film as a lone director.

National Liaison Officers of the CoE Pestalozzi Programme met in Uppsala

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0100

The 14th meeting of the National Liaison Officers (NLO) was held in Uppsala/ Sweden on September 24-25, 2010. Representatives from more than 30 countries attended the meeting, together with representatives from partner institutions, networks of trainers, the Council of Europe (CoE) Steering Committee for Education and the CoE Secretariat of the Pestalozzi Programme.

The objectives of the meeting were to strengthen the communication within the network of NLOs, to discuss recent developments at the Council of Europe and the CoE Pestalozzi Programme of training activities.

During the meeting the role of the Pestalozzi Programme in the Council of Europe was discussed and time was also spent on exploring the nature of transversal skills, attitudes and values and their importance for all learners and for societies.

The European Wergeland Centre introduced its capacity building activities, in particular its database and the forthcoming Online Learning Platform. The participants welcomed this development and expressed great expectations for this new working and communication tool.

Special Adviser Gunnar Mandt from the EWC took part in the meeting.

The Pestalozzi Programme is the Council of Europe flagship programme for the professional development of teachers and education actors. Read more about the Network of National Liaison Officers.

Responding to religious diversity in the classroom – new EWC activities have started!

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0100

As part of the EWC effort to bridge policy, research and educational practice, the EWC organizes a series of ‘educators’consultations’ this autumn in co-operation with a range of European universities and teacher training institutions. These events present the results of a European research project Religion in Education. A contribution to Dialogue or a factor of Conflict in transforming societies of European Countries (REDCo). REDCo explored the attitudes of young people about personal experience with religion, the social dimension of religion, and religion in school in eight European countries. The results indicate e.g. that school is a desired “safe space” for encounters with the convictions of others.

The workshops and seminar are addressing teachers, teacher trainers, students, community representatives and educators to discuss possible implementation for educational practice. They aim to contribute to a better understanding of how to facilitate dialogue within multicultural classrooms, so that diversity results in understanding rather than in tensions between students.

Dr. Claudia Lenz, EWC

Two workshops were already held in Oslo, bringing together over 80 participants such as students, teachers, teacher trainers, and community representatives. Researchers from the REDCo project presented the REDCo key findings with a focus to the situation in Norway.

At a third event in the series, a Council of Europe Pestalozzi European Workshop “School Culture(s) – Values – Identities” for teacher trainers in Wels/Austria, October 3-5, EWC contributed with a key note session by Prof. Bob Jackson and a session on inclusive ways of addressing religion and belief in schools, conducted by Dr. Claudia Lenz.
Read more...

Upcoming:

A two-days seminar in Hamburg will gather local educational policy makers, teachers, and researchers in the field of religious education to discuss the possible impact of the REDCo findings on the approach of “integrated religious education” practiced in local schools.

Council of Europe Pestalozzi teacher trainer network met in Strasbourg

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0100

The EWC partnered with The Council of Europe Pestalozzi Programme to organize the 2nd Pestalozzi Teacher Trainer Network Seminar on "Intercultural and Diversity Education: Evaluating Attitudes, Skills and Knowledge" in Strasbourg, France on 8-10.September.

                                     Participants of NET 2 and one of the moderators, Ms Tahany Shemeis

The seminar gathered 41 members of the Pestalozzi teacher trainer network from all over Europe. The aim of the meeting was threefold:

1) to evaluate the CoE Pestalozzi Programme and its outcomes
2) to debate and make recommendations on the evaluation of transversal attitudes, skills and
    knowledge
3) to make recommendations regarding capacity building and transition into a community of
    practice

The seminar was organized and led by a team of moderators, coordinated by Ms. Pascale Mompoint-Gaillard, which included the Head of the Pestalozzi Programme Mr Josef Huber, EWC research coordinator Ms Claudia Lenz, EWC capacity building coordinator Mr. Lars M. Gudmundson, Mr Miguel Angel Lopez, Mr Pierre Hella and Ms Tahany Shemeis. EWC director Ms Ana Perona-Fjeldstad took part on the opening day, presenting the EWC and the partnership with the CoE Pestalozzi Programme.

The EWC is an important partner for the CoE Pestalozzi Programme as the programme enters it's fourth phase building on the recommendations endorsed by the Council of Europe Standing Conference of Ministers of Education in Ljubljana, Slovenia, 4-5 June 2010. The emphasis for the partnership during the period 2010-2011 is the continued work on evaluation of transversal attitudes, skills and knowledge, teacher training seminars, joint efforts for better dissemination of resources and the development of an online pan-European social network of education professionals.

The Pestalozzi Programme is the Council of Europe flagship programme for the professional development of teachers and education actors. Find more information here.

Summer Academy on Democracy at School was held successfully in Poland

Tue, 3 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0100

The first Summer Academy, ’Democracy at School’, ended after an intense week on July 17, in Sulejówek, Poland. Eleven teams of educators from Georgia, Azerbaijan, Poland, Belarus, Russia, Sweden, and Ukraine joined the Academy. Each team consisting of a teacher, a head teacher and an NGO representative coming from the same school/local community.

The Academy aimed at training educators to be multipliers and to help them incorporate the principles of human rights and democracy into their daily work. It is meant to put the Council of Europe (CoE) policy into practice through trainings based on recommendations and publications.

An experienced team of trainers was carrying out the training: Ms Felisa Tibbitts (USA), Ms Olena Styslavska (Poland), Mr Andrey Ioffe (Russia), Mr Milosz Czerniejewski (Poland), Ms Malgorzata Tur (Poland), Ms Leah Davcheva (Bulgaria).

The official opening ceremony (view guests and program in Russian/ English) on 12 of July took place at the Centre for Education Development (ORE) in Warsaw, where the participants and trainers were joined by representatives of the Polish Ministry of National Education, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Education Development Centre, European Wergeland Centre (EWC), embassies and NGO representatives.

The speakers all underlined the importance of initiatives like the Summer Academy and welcomed the plans of making it an annual event. Mr. Mandt, the EWC Special Adviser emphasized:

"If you want to have a democratic society, this must be reflected in the schools. Human rights, democracy and intercultural understanding do not come automatically. The history of Europe clearly tells us so. You must work for those ideas every day. Once you have them, they must be protected."

The Polish Ministry of National Education was applauded for making the initial proposal at the EWC Inauguration in May 2009, and all organizing bodies were acknowledged for their contributions in making the first Summer Academy a reality within a year of the proposal.

To translate the CoE policy into educational practice, the Summer Academy's program was based on two CoE manuals: Democratic School Governance, How can all teachers can support citizenship and human rights education: A framework for the development of competences. In accordance with the manuals, the training addressed multiple levels of HRE/EDC work, ranging from the individual teachers, the classroom, and the school to the community.

The week was packed with activities, and the enthusiasm and high motivation of participants indicated that the program served its purpose well. Participants gave very positive feedback, stressing the space given for sharing and building on their own personal experiences, and the opportunity to have a closer look at their whole school development.

The Summer Academy was organized by the Ministry of National Education, Poland, the Centre for Education Development, Poland, The Council of Europe, and the EWC.

The International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS)

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Initial findings of International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) released by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) at a press conference in Goteborg on June 29, 2010

The largest international study ever conducted on civic education in secondary schools tested and surveyed over 140.000 students in more than 5,000 schools from 38 countries. The study wanted to find out how well prepared students are to be citizens in a fast-changing world, and how much they have learned about civics through their formal education.

Some general trends have been presented:

The level of civic knowledge among students shows large variation among the participating countries
Significant decline of civic knowledge in fifteen countries
Parental occupational status and parents' political interest is associated with students' civic knowledge, less associated with parents' migrant background
At an average, students tend to be better informed about the political and electoral system of their countries than about possibilities of active engagement. More young people expect to vote in national elections than to be engaged in other civic activities.
In almost all countries girls showed a higher degree of civic knowledge and understanding than boys

IEA chair Dr Seamus Hegarty said at the press conference:

"I hope the findings of the study will serve to enhance the role of citizenship education in all our schools."

The EWC plans a series of Educators' Consultations in 2011 to introduce and discuss the findings of the study with teacher trainers and teachers in Europe. To view our ongoing Educators' Consultations on the issue of "Religion in Education", please click here.

Click here to download the report on initial findings.

View the IEA Press conference here.

Launching conference on new Council of Europe history teaching project was held in Drammen, Norway

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Launching conference on new Council of Europe project "Shared Histories for a Europe Without Dividing Lines" took place in Drammen, Norway

How can history teaching in Europe contribute to overcome old dividing lines without creating new ones? How can it help young people to engage themselves in a diverse and constantly changing world?

These were some of the leading questions when the new Council of Europe (CoE) project ”Shared Histories for a Europe Without Dividing Lines" was launched at a conference on June 16-17, 2010 in Drammen, Norway.

The conference was organized by the CoE in co-operation with The European Wergeland Centre and the support from the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research.

More than hundred participants, among them representatives from the Ministries of Education, historians, authors of text books, teacher trainers, decision-makers, as well as representatives from international organizations and non-governmental organizations took part in this event.

Norway's Minister of Education, Ms. Kristin Halvorsen held the opening speech, in which she underlined the importance of diversity as a resource necessary to build peaceful and sustainable democracies in contemporary Europe. Emphasized was as well the role of the European Wergeland Centre - and other resource centers - as an important tool when it comes to preparing the pupils and teachers in Europe for living together in diverse societies.

In her welcome speech, EWC executive director Ms. Ana Perona-Fjeldstad highlighted the dynamic between the finalized CoE programme “The Image of the Other”, and the new one, “Shared Histories without dividing lines”. History teaching, through the deconstruction of stereotypes and the focus on interactions and convergences, can effectively contribute to the prevention of conflicts and can support reconciliation processes.

In this way, history teaching in Europe and beyond – through dialogue with its neighbor regions – can contribute to cultures of mutual respect and acknowledgement.

Ms. Tatiana Minkina-Milko, Deputy Head of the CoE History Education Division, presented some of the challenges history teaching is facing in the 21st century:

Skills among young people such as flexibility in thinking, empathy and willingness to interact need to be enhanced
Roles of history teachers are changing: being rather a partner and a mentor of learning processes than a transmitter of knowledge
New types of local, national and transnational partnerships have to be developed, including the fields of education, science and culture

As it was underlined by Ms. Minkina-Milko, the new programme will create a space for action, transforming concepts and insights into educational realities.

New Council of Europe Charter on EDC/HRE was adopted

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

On 11 May 2010, the Ministers for Foreign Affairs and representatives of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe adopted Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)7 on the Council of Europe Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education at the 120th Session of the Committee of Ministers.

The Charter – which was developed over a period of several years with wide consultations – is non-binding. It will be an important reference point for all of Europe and will serve as a basis for the Council of Europe’s future work in this field.

The Charter is divided into the following sections:

I General provisions
II Objectives and principles
III Policies
IV Evaluation and co-operation

In section I, the text offers a definition of the key terms “Education for Democratic Citizenship” (EDC) and “Human Rights Education” (HRE), in which we can find an emphasis on the outcome of education being not simply knowledge but empowerment to appropriate action.

As the Charter takes account of the diverse educational systems within the Council of Europe, it offers a framework that can be applied by each state to suit its system. In section II and III, a series of objectives and principles are stated, providing guidelines for policies, legislation and practice.

EDC and HRE as a lifelong process involve a wide range of stakeholders, among them, policy makers, NGOs, youth organizations and educational institutions, which play a vital role in providing a space where children, young people and other learners can practice human rights and democracy.

In the field of formal education, the Charter gives special emphasis to the promotion of democratic governance reflecting human rights values and principles in all educational institutions. Within this framework, it calls upon all member states to provide training for teachers, teacher trainers, and others in the educational system, including appropriate teaching and learning methods, objectives and principles relevant to these approaches.

As expressed in the text, partnership and collaboration of stakeholders involved in EDC and HRE at state, regional and local level is another important principle to be encouraged.

The Charter itself is an outcome of international cooperation among the Council of Europe’s member states, and thus urges the practical benefit of future cooperation in the field: such as sharing good practices and research, disseminating information to all stakeholders, and supporting European networks in the field.

As a more weighty document than those previously adopted in the field by the Council of Europe, it leads the path for future action addressing all stakeholders involved in education.

For further information, please click here.

Education for Sustainable Democratic Societies: the Role of Teachers

Mon, 7 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

June 4-5, under the heading “Education for Sustainable Democratic Societies: the Role of Teachers”, the 23rd session of the Standing Conference of European Ministers of Education was an opportunity to discuss these issues and consider the role of education and, more specifically, teachers, in finding common, viable and effective solutions to the challenges facing European societies at present, such as the increasing diversity of our societies.

The conference took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and was organised in co-operation with the Slovenian Ministry of Education and Sport. It brought together high officials and representatives from the Council of Europe and it's 47 member states. The EWC participated as an observer.
View list of participants.

The main theme “Education for Sustainable Democratic Societies: the Role of Teachers” was divided into three strands:

Teacher competences for diverse democratic societies
Social recognition and professional development
Partnerships and networks in education

Ms Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe opened the conference. View the opening speech.

At their meeting in Ljubljana, the Ministers of Education of the 50 states parties to the European Cultural Convention were able to draw on the discussions at the conference to devise strategies for education and teacher training policies and thereby give direction to future Council of Europe action. Declaration on the conference theme.

For further documents and information, please view the conference website.

Call for papers: Conference on Education and Citizenship in a Globalising World

Tue, 25 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

The third international education conference "Education and Citizenship in a Globalising World" convened jointly by the Institute of Education (IOE), London and Beijing Normal University (BNU). The languages of the conference will be English and Mandarin Chinese.

The conference sub-themes are listed below. Contributions are welcome in the form of academic papers based on research or scholarship; case studies of practice in schools, communities and formal and informal education settings; reports of projects and initiatives at local, regional, national or international levels.

Contributions are welcome from academics and researchers from education, sociology, politics and other relevant disciplines, as well as teachers, political or community activists, and those working for NGOs, national or local government agencies.

1. Moral Education, Values and Citizenship
Within this strand will fall issues around moral authority, rights and responsibilities, and democracy in education. Also contained in strand 1 will be school approaches to moral and citizenship education, the promotion of children's rights through education, the tensions between local struggles and universal human rights, and the concepts and practice of active citizenship and service.

2. Sustainability, Development and Global Citizenship
This strand will encompass issues in education and sustainable development alongside an examination of the role of school partnerships and linkages in global citizenship education. Also relevant to strand 2 will be discussions on linking local, national and global agendas, as well as education and its role in the struggle for human dignity and the impact of citizenship education on peace, development and climate change.

3. Multicultural Education, Diversity and Social Cohesion
Within this strand will be discussion of the role of urban schools and issues of diversity in the context of citizenship education. Equally, the multicultural curriculum will be discussed, as will the impact of prejudice and discrimination on citizenship and society. Finally, issues around multilingualism and pluralingualism will be examined.

4. Patriotism, Cosmopolitanism and Education
The focus of this strand will be examination of issues around unity and diversity. This will include global interconnectedness and solidarity, textbooks and national narratives and the impact of patriotism. Also under discussion will be citizenship and history education and the role of education in developing cosmopolitan citizenship.

Abstracts of around 1000 words in length should be should be submitted by 11 June 2010 to internationaloffice@ioe.ac.uk

For further details see conference website.

Human rights education with children - Compasito was presented in Germany

Mon, 10 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

On May 6, one of the latest Council of Europe (CoE) publication “Compasito - a Manual for Human Rights Education With Children“ (German version) was presented to educational professionals in Berlin/ Germany.

The German Institute for Human Rights invited primary and secondary school teachers, school heads, NGO representatives, and other practitioners to learn more about this new practical tool.

During the day, the following sessions were offered, covering some of the manual’s main human rights themes:

children rights
participation
violence
discrimination
poverty and social exclusion

The EWC contributed actively by introducing some methods which can be used when starting to explore children rights.

During the day, around 100 participants got to know several learning and teaching tools which can be used with children wherever they spend the greatest part of their daily life: in schools, in childcare centres, afternoon-schools, leisure centres, or children’s organisations.

Participants reflected on how to use these tools in their own practice, and many shared examples of how they already work for children and human rights in the classroom/ school and/ or local community. Among them e.g. children rights election for the whole school, a school project which links human rights education with community development.

Compasito was strongly valued as a very important resource offering practical help to explore human and children rights with children. Yet the main challenge for participants remains to adapt the methods related to different contexts and target groups.

At the end of the day, participants felt very inspired by sharing practical examples within such a diverse group of professionals, and urged the need for further networking activities among local actors. In this regard, a stronger focus on good practices and peer-to-peer learning opportunities was requested.

The German version of Compasito was published last year, thanks to the efforts of the German Institute for Human Rights/ Human Rights Education Department. This year, the Institute will offer several training courses for multipliers on national level to spread Compasito broadly in formal and non formal education.

Compasito was developed by the Council of Europe, Directorate of Youth and Sport/ European Youth Centre Budapest and published in 2007. It was designed for educators and trainers working with children, teachers, caretakers and parents as well, especially those who are interested in human rights education with children and who are looking for practical tools to discuss values and social issues with children. The activities are designed for children from six to thirteen years.

The manual was inspired by ‘Compass – A Manual on Human Rights Education With Young People’, which was developed by the CoE in 2002. More than expected, ‘Compass’ is used with younger people of secondary school age and in school environments in many European countries. Yet this manual is translated into 25 different languages, more are in progress (e.g. Urdu, Greek, Lithuanian).

Order the German version of Compasito here.

An online version of the German translation is offered by the Centre of Human Rights Education (ZMRB) Lucerne/ Switzerland and available at: www.compasito-zmrb.ch

Apply now for rest places! Summer Academy "Democracy in School" in Poland

Thu, 6 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

The Summer Academy offers training in the field of education for intercultural understanding, human rights and democratic citizenship. The EWC, in cooperation with the Ministry of National Education in Poland, invites school heads, teachers and representatives of local NGO’s such as parents’ association to participate:

Share your experiences with and learn from other school heads, teachers and representatives

Take part in peer-training and collaborative work facilitated by some of the most experienced and recognized trainers in the field
Experience workshops on teaching and learning activities, community involvement and competence development
Become a multiplier and learn strategies for implementation in your school and local community
Be part of an online network of local multipliers who discuss common issues, share experiences and support each others efforts

Apply now for the first Summer Academy:

Democracy at School

July 10-17, 2010 in Sulejówek/Warzaw

New application deadline: 20/05/2010

The Target groups:
Teams of school heads, teachers and representatives of local NGOs, in-service teacher training institutions or parents` associations from the same school or local community in the following countries: Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Poland, Russia and Germany.

Goals:
Translate the Council of Europe’s policies into practice by:

offering training to representatives of local schools and communities
encouraging exchanges of experiences and good practices
facilitating a network of multipliers who promote and corporate the principles of democracy and human rights in their practices and local communities

Main topics:

Knowledge and understanding about Human Rights Education (HRE) and Education for Democratic Citizenship (EDC)
Learning and teaching tools for the classroom and the whole school
HRE/EDC in action: community involvement

Manuals/ tools:
The training program will include in particular the following manuals and tools:

Democratic governance of schools
How all teachers can support citizenship and human rights education: a framework for the development of competences
Autobiography of intercultural encounters
Participatory evaluation tools

Working Languages:
The training will be held in English and Russian. Participants need to speak one of the languages well enough to take active part in the training. Plenary sessions will be translated in both languages.

Subsistence and travel expenses:
The Academy is free of charge. Subsistence expenses and activities included in the program are covered by the host country for all participants. For information about the reimbursement of travel expenses to and from Warsaw, including VISA costs, please view the participant information sheet (available in Russian and English).

Partners:
The Summer Academy is organized by the EWC, in cooperation with the Polish Ministry of National Education, the Polish Centre for Education Development, and the Council of Europe.

Organizing bodies and contact persons:

Centre for the Education Development
Coordinator:   Ms. Olena Styslavska
Tel:               +48 22/345 37 52
Fax:              +48 22/345 37 52
E-mail:          Olena.Styslavska@codn.edu.pl
Website:       www.ore.edu.pl

The European Wergeland Centre
Coordinator: Ms. Kjersti Toverud Klette
Tel:              +47 21 01 45 03
Fax:             +47 21 01 45 01
E-mail:         k.klette@theewc.org

For more detailed information, please view the EWC teacher training section.

EWC meets Norwegian Council for Teacher Education

Wed, 5 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

The EWC participated on April 29 in the Norwegian Council for Teacher Education meeting, where among other issues the "Internationalization of Higher Education" was discussed.

EWC's research coordinator Claudia Lenz highlighted several ways of how students can serve as bridge builders between formal education, research and civil societies to foster a culture of democracy, human rights and intercultural understanding.

Students engage in moderated online discussions on EDC, HRE and ICE (peer-to-peer learning)
Students engage in school development projects linked to theoretical reflection opportunities (action research approach)
Embedded into study modules students participate in local/ international events related to human rights, democracy, intercultural dialog (service learning approach)

The reactions from the participants underlined the strong motivation of teacher training institutions to contribute to sustainable democratic societies – in Norway and internationally. The EWC is looking forward to future cooperation in this field!

EWC participated in conference on “Learning Democracy and Human Rights”

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100

EWC executive director Ana Perona-Fjeldstad participated in the Council of Europe (CoE) conference on “Learning Democracy and Human Rights”, 15-16 April in Strasbourg.

The conference aimed at having a look at the results achieved under the CoE Program “Learning and living democracy for All” (2006-2009) and at planning future cooperation in the field of Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights (2010-2014).

It brought together over 200 participants from the CoE member states and beyond. Among them representatives of member states, decision makers in the field of education, education practitioners, and civil society representatives.

As one important result of the program and as a strong tool for future work in the field, the upcoming Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights was emphasized. Furthermore the EDC/ HRE network of coordinators and the series of manuals on citizenship and human rights education were mentioned as strong and valuable resources.

On the agenda of the second day were important key issues to be worked on in future: among them sustainability and visibility of HRE/ EDC programs and activities, including the need to have close cooperation with local actors.

The question of how to put CoE instruments into practice was addressed by participants in several workshops. Within this context, the EWC was mentioned as an important partner to provide and disseminate information relevant for educational professionals, to work on evaluation issues, and to establish networks.

EWC launches Share & Connect - A new expert database

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Today, the European Wergeland Centre (EWC) has launched Share & Connect – an expert database designed to facilitate online networking among people working in the field of education for human rights, democratic citizenship, and intercultural understanding.

Researchers, PhD students, teacher trainers, teachers and other education professionals across Europe and beyond can connect through the database to share their experiences and to benefit from each others’ expertise.

Share & Connect provides several opportunities:

Exchange information within a safe network by adding your own profile
Look for experts throughout Europe and beyond
Explore potential cooperation and partnerships
Connect with peers from theory and practice

You are welcome Share & Connect and to create your own profile here.

We hope that the EWC database will become a valuable resource for those looking for information and exchange possibilities in the field of human rights education, education for democratic citizenship and intercultural learning.

Launch of Human Rights Education on amnesty.org.

Fri, 9 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Amnesty International's work in human rights education spans formal, non-formal and informal sectors across all continents. Information about international human rights education is online now.

Amnesty International believes that human rights education is fundamental for addressing the underlying causes of human rights violations, preventing human rights abuses, combating discrimination, promoting equality, and enhancing people's participation in democratic decision-making processes.

Many people worldwide have recognized the contribution of human rights education to make human rights a reality worldwide. Find out what Amnesty International is doing at the international and regional level with a range of organisations, partners, networks and supporters to contribute towards this goal.

At the national level across all continents, Amnesty International offices are actively involved in advocating for mainstreaming human rights education in the formal sector, including working with governments on policy and legislative measures, developing learning processes and tools and resources, creating enabling learning environments, and facilitating the training of teachers and educators.

As well as in formal education, AI also works with other sectors of the global community linking human rights education to active participation and empowerment, working with young people, indigenous and marginalized groups, professional associations and groups, traditional/ religious leaders, and community based organizations.

Read about the AI International HRE Network; in Africa with the Africa HRE Project and in Middle East North Africa; the Human Rights Friendly Schools Project; the Rights Education Action Programme; and advocacy for human rights education at the international level.

You can access Amnesty International human rights education methodologies and resources online. These pages will be updated regularly and are available in English, French and Spanish.

EWC participated in Euro-Arab Dialog

Fri, 9 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100

EWC Special Adviser Gunnar Mandt participated in a meeting within the framework of the Euro-Arab Dialogue in Strasbourg, France this month. The meeting on "a comparative study of school books" was jointly organized by the Council of Europe and UNESCO. The Euro-Arab Dialogue is an initiative from UNESCO and sponsored by the MBI Al Jaber Foundation.

High officials and academic representatives from countries in Europe and the Arab region took part in this event, including Germany, The United Arab Emirates, France, Hungary, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Poland, Qatar, Slovenia and Tunisia. Organizations present were ISESCO, UNESCO, Council of Europe, MBI Al Jaber Foundation and The EWC.

On the agenda was the presentation of country reports on national school textbooks. It aimed at shedding light on stereotypes contained in school books in the countries concerned with the study. Examples from several countries were given. All country reports will be completed within the next six months. A working group was set up to facilitate the process.

The meeting agreed on a road map for the work ahead, with the next meeting planned for late autumn. This will include more comparative studies of school textbooks. The final conference will be held in autumn 2011.

Still some places available in HREA distance learning courses - April to July 2010

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Human Rights Education Association (HREA) is issuing a call for applications for e-learning courses offered in the second trimester of 2010 (April-July). Due to the high demand HREA will be offering multiple sessions of the following courses:

Armed Conflict, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
Child Rights Programming
Einführung in die Menschenrechtsbildung
Human Rights Advocacy
Human Rights Monitoring
Le Plaidoyer pour les droits humains
Minority Rights, Indigenous Peoples and International Law
Monitoring Children's Rights
Monitoring Women's Rights
Project Development and Management in the NGO Sector
The European Union and Human Rights

The registration deadline for these courses is Thursday, 1 April 2010. Applications can be submitted online. For further information about each course please click on the Distance Learning Program.

COMENIUS project on teaching about historical memories has started!

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

“History teaching today should not only deal with the transmission of factual knowledge but with the competence to participate in the negotiations of the past within societies.”

This statement was made last Monday by Prof. Andreas Körber during the opening of the first seminar within the framework of the project “TeacMem. Developing Competence-Orientated Teaching on Historical Memories”.

The project is jointly organized by institutions in the fields of History Didactics, Research in Public Memory Culture, Teacher Training and Secondary Schools in Denmark, Germany and Norway. The project is funded by the COMENIUS program of the European Union. It runs from October 2009 to September 2012. Claudia Lenz from the EWC is among the organizers of the project.

Several seminars will be held in the participating countries to work inter-professionally on the question of how to learn and to teach about memorial cultures in contemporary European societies.

The project is based on a historical learning approach saying that individual backgrounds and perceptions are essential for the way people make sense of the past, even more when dealing with traumatic pasts. Still, the question, which aspects of the past are regarded to be relevant and in which ways they are interpreted, is highly influenced by cultural, social and political contexts. Thus, questions of identity building social cohesion and democratic participation are crucially linked to historical thinking and history cultures.

For historical learning, competences related to

the capacity to autonomously get interested in and engaged with questions related to history,
the capacity to reflect about one’s own historical perceptions,
the awareness and capacity to understand differences between collective memory cultures and,
the capacity to reflect about political uses of the past,

seem to be of higher relevance than a high score in canonized fact knowledge.

The first seminar in Germany brought together a range of professionals such as teachers, teacher trainers, museum and memorial educators from the participating countries and provided the necessary conditions for learning about, through and because of existing differences. Taking the own experiences as a starting point, the participants got aware of the decisive function of historical thinking in the development of intercultural and democratic competences.

The capacity to engage in a dialog about different narratives and interpretations related to certain eras of the past is essential for sustainable democratic societies, not least when facing differences which are related to former or continuous hostility.

For more information, please view the project website

On-line Consultation on World Programme for Human Rights Education extended!

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

The Global On-line Consultation is ongoing from March 1-28, 2010. It is a participatory process for all stakeholders of drafting a plan of action for the second phase of the World Programme for Human Rights Education (WPHRE). Among others, teacher training and higher education institutions are invited to contribute.

The focus of the Second Phase (2010-1014) of the UN World Programme for Human Rights Education WPHRE:

“Human rights education for higher education and on human rights training programmes for
teachers and educators, civil servants, law enforcement officials and military personnel at all
levels.” (UN Human Rights Council resolution A/HRC/RES/12/4, paragraph 2, adopted in September 2009).

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has been mandated by
Human Rights Council resolution A/HRC/RES/12/4 adopted in September 2009 to prepare a
draft plan of action for the second phase of the WPHRE for submission to the Human Rights
Council 15th session scheduled for September 2010.

In response to the inquiry from the OHCHR Methodology, Education and Training Section (METS) regarding views of as many stakeholders as possible, a global on-line consultation has been launched by Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) in cooperation with the NGO Working Group on Human Rights Education and Learning (NGO WG ON HREL) of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the UN (CoNGO), Geneva.

The results of the Global Online Consultation will be made into a summary report for submission to the OHCHR METS as a contribution by stakeholders to the formulation of a plan of action for the second phase of the WPHRE.

Read more

Intercultural Cities – Study visit to Oslo

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

11-12 March, 17 participants from 9 different cities, including e.g. Russia, Greece, Poland, Germany, Italy and Serbia, participated in a study visit organized by the City of Oslo, together with the Council of Europe (CoE) and The European Wergeland Centre.

The two-day meeting took place in the City Hall. The first day included a key note speech by Professor Gunn Elisabeth Birkelund, who talked about the minority background population, and the situation in the Norwegian school system.

Of Oslo’s population, about 25 % is of minority background. Of the pupils and students in the schools of Oslo (grade 1-13), approximately 30 % are of minority background.

The participants also visited Elvebakken Upper Secondary school, and met with head teacher and teachers, as well as 10 of the school’s over 1.200 students.

The students, all with minority background, discussed what it meant for them personally to be integrated, how they perceive themselves and see the future of the Norwegian society, as well as the media’s role in the debate about and the process of integrating both first and second generation immigrants.

Day two included a key note speech by Senior Researcher Jon Rogstad about political participation on a governmental and local level. Furthermore, a panel discussion about democracy, participation and dialogue took place. All participants, representing the political sphere, business management and ministries, were eager to discuss the situation in their home countries and to learn more about the situation in Oslo regarding intercultural governance, policies and every day life.

For more information about the Intercultural Cities Programme, please visit the CoE website.

Seminar held at Oslo University College: Religious Diversity in Intercultural Education

Wed, 3 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100

The European Wergeland Center and the Oslo University College invited to join a Seminar on "Religious Diversity in Intercultural Education - Policies and Practices". Prof. Jackson, the EWC Special Adviser, talked about international policy documents with regard to religious diversity in education. A vivid discussion took place about opportunities and challenges when integrating religious diversity into educational practice.

During the seminar international policy documents were outlined, e.g. the Toledo Guiding Principles, emphasizing the importance of religious diversity in education. Jorun Nossum presented the Oslo University College's INTERKULT project, which aims at creating a multicultural and international learning environment.

The presentations were followed by a vivid discussion. It became clear, that international policy documents can be an inspiration for educators, but there are challenges with regard to how to address and integrate religious diversity in practice:

Different national situations have to be taken into consideration, e.g. related to the question, if and how religion is part of the curricula. Here, the contribution of participants from Austria and Norway showed, that these structural conditions can to a large extend prepare the ground for dialogue or its absence in schools.

Religious diversity should be more than a teaching subject. The attention should be directed towards schools and other educational institutions as overall environments of learning and living together. As a starting point, educators should reflect aspects of this environment (food, sports, social events etc) and their relation to religious practices and expressions, and how they could be used for the promotion of dialogue.

It was acknowledged that dialogue is not to be misunderstood as “harmony” – religious topics are sometimes linked to strong emotions. There is a need to prepare teachers/educators to moderate conflicting situations, which requires their personal openness but also an awareness of the limits of dialogue. Not all controversies can and have to be solved in the classroom, but having them addressed dialogically is better than ignoring them. Here the participants approved the results of the REDCo research project introduced by Prof. Jackson.

Openness to religious diversity can lead to dilemmas. Sometimes not all stakeholders in an educational setting are aware of or agree with the principle of plurality, which is an integral part of religious diversity. The rejection of attempts to use educational settings for missionary purposes were named as an example for the establishment of “rules of the game”, which have to be respected by all.

As a result of the discussion, the participants agreed on the necessity to have spaces just like this seminar to be able to articulate questions and insecurities, to share experiences and to develop ideas as how religious diversity can become a part of inclusive and joyful learning environments.

Religious Diversity in Intercultural Education - An open seminar in Oslo!

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100

The European Wergeland Center in cooperation with Oslo University College is organizing the seminar "Religious Diversity in Intercultural Education - Policies and Practices".

Main speaker: Prof. Robert Jackson, University of Warwick
Place: Oslo University College, Pilestredet 46, 1. etg
Time: March, 2nd 2010, 13.00-16.00

Which place do religions and beliefs have in different approaches towards intercultural education? Which are the consequences of these differences with regard to educational policies and practices?

These questions will be addressed in a lecture by Prof. Jobert Jackson, an international expert in the field of religious diversity. Jackson will give an outline of the differences between OSCE and Council of Europe's approaches towards religious diversity.

A presentation of the Oslo University College's INTERKULT project will show that many of the assumptions to be found in the policy field are mirrored in this intercultural practice. Based on these presentations, we invite participants to discuss the significance of religious diversity in intercultural education, and to discuss possible improvements in taking this aspect into consideration.

No registration required.

Amnesty International seeks International Human Rights Education Advisor

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100

The International Secretariat (IS) of Amnesty International is seeking an International Human Rights Education Adviser. As a valued member of the Human Rights Education Team, you will work to advise and support the Amnesty International movement and other key partners to develop, implement and evaluate human rights education activities that reflect good practice in human rights education methodology and contribute to the human rights agenda, as well as develop and implement international human rights education projects within the mobilization framework and Amnesty's International HRE Strategy.

As well as advising and coordinating the development of HRE methodology across the movement, you will work to promote the integration of human rights education into other human rights programmes and activities. You will take the lead in mainstreaming monitoring and evaluation into all levels of human rights education work in the movement, including developing and managing evaluation related human rights education projects with partners within and outside Amnesty International.

About the position

You have a professional qualification in education with some experience in human rights education or comparable work experience in human rights education. You have a proven understanding of human rights education methodology and practical experience in using this methodology to design, plan and deliver human rights education projects. You will be comfortable developing multi-faceted engagement with the global human rights education movement including regional and international governmental and non-governmental human rights education organizations. You will also monitor global and regional human rights education trends and periodically analyse opportunities and threats, and make appropriate recommendations in response.

About the organisation

Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people standing up for human rights. Our network extends to more than two million members and subscribers in more than 150 countries around the world. Each one of us is outraged by human rights abuses but inspired by hope for a better world –“ and together we work to improve human rights through campaigning and international solidarity.

For further information on this and all of our other vacancies, and to apply online please visit www.amnesty.org/jobs quoting reference CP/09/27. Please note that we will only accept submissions completed on an Amnesty International application form.

Closing date is Thursday, 11 March 2010.

Attacks targeting teachers and students worldwide on the rise, says UNESCO report

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100

The number of politically and ideologically motivated attacks on teachers, students and school buildings is rising, says the report "Education under attack", launched by UNESCO this week. These attacks are perpetrated by non-state armed groups and state actors alike.

“Education under Attack 2010” is the second report on the subject; the first was published in 2007. This report is launched together with a second UNESCO publication entitled “Protecting Education from Attack: A State-of-the-Art Review”, in which several experts take critical stock of knowledge on prevention and response, with respect to both international law and interventions on the ground.

The 2010 report reveals that the problem is much more extensive. Education was attacked in at least 32 countries between January 2007 and July 2009. Often, an attack on the educational system represents an attack on the State. Conversely, certain States or paramilitary organizations may target academics in order to neutralize real or imagined opponents.

The report also covers the issue of child soldiers – the number of which is currently estimated at 250,000 worldwide. Abductions are frequently carried out for the purpose of forced recruitment or sexual violence against girls. The report expresses particular concern about the systematic nature of crimes committed and sinister tactics used in several countries against teachers, pupils and unionized education workers.

Irina Bokova, the Director-General of UNESCO, has underlined that UNESCO is concerned by these attacks for three reasons: “...they constitute a threat to the right to life, and a threat to the right to education, which is itself the key to other freedoms and basic rights; lastly, these attacks jeopardize the achievement of the Education for All goals.”

The report also examines the reasons why attacks on education often attract little attention and it points to the role that the International Criminal Court (ICC) could play in strengthening accountability and ending impunity for such attacks.

In his recommendations, author Brendan O’Malley (U.K), advocates the creation of a global observatory on the subject. The United Nations currently lacks reliable data for an accurate assessment of the problem. More in-depth research is needed, he says, to enable better analysis and understanding of the causes, means and impacts of attacks on education.

Finally, while we have limited information on the effectiveness of protective measures and negotiations with armed groups, O’Malley lists possible solutions: providing armed guards at schools or for transport to or from school, encouraging community defence of schools, providing distance learning where it is too dangerous to attend classes, relocating schools within community homes to make them less visible targets, and providing rapid repair and resupply of educational materials.

View the full report here.

Study on materials used to teach about world religions in schools in England

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit (WRERU) has just released a report on a large scale study for the UK Government's Department for Children, Schools and Families. The first ever conducted study to focus on the use of materials used in religious education involved 29 researchers and reviewers.

The overall aim of this research was to examine the materials available to schools and used by them for teaching about the six main world religions in the UK.

The study includes an evaluation of the published materials readily available, consideration of the contextual and pedagogical factors that influence their selection and use in schools and classrooms, and the materials’ contribution to learning.

A particular focus has been on their contribution to education for community cohesion both in terms of their ability to enhance young people’s understanding of the principal religions in British society, and in terms of the messages these materials may convey about inter communal, particularly inter-religious, harmony and cooperation.

The project used quantitative and qualitative methods and comprised an audit of available Religious Education (RE) materials and a review of a sample of materials by members of faith, academic and professional RE experts; case studies in 20 schools and a survey of a nationwide random sample of schools.

Professor Brian Gates, Chair, The Religious Education Council of England and Wales:
"The Religious Education Council of England and Wales welcomes the publication of this major research study, commissioned and funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and produced by the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit, at the University of
Warwick by a team led by Professor Robert Jackson.

The report identifies many examples of good professional practice, teachers’ use of a range of pedagogies and approaches to learning and their creative use of resources, particularly web-based materials. The report also highlights a number of serious weaknesses which the REC now calls on the DCSF, publishers and RE professional organisations to address. It identifies the ways in which teachers use RE to promote community cohesion and to develop personal and social values, positive attitudes towards those of other religions, and critical thinking."

View the full report.

UN Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training - Discussion continued

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100

The Human Rights Council Advisory Committee continued its discussion on a Draft Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training on January 25 during its fourth session in Geneva, as mandated to it by the Human Rights Council.

Emmanuel Decaux, Rapporteur of the drafting group on the declaration, in concluding remarks, said when discussing human rights and human rights education, many challenges were encountered, and this was therefore a very valuable discussion. The question of who the declaration was for had to be addressed - whether it was for the general public or for States. Each State had a tradition of education and human rights. States were very diverse, and this had to be dealt with, as did the diversity of national players and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and how they dealt with education. In the midst of all this diversity, an encouraging factor was that all mentioned the importance of human rights in practice.

Among issues raised by other speakers, including States and NGOs, was that human rights education and training were invaluable tools for enshrining the values of dignity, freedom, equality and justice, values that underpinned human rights as they affected the daily lives of all across the planet. Common values like freedom and equality were fundamental and came under the tolerance umbrella, which embodied respect for peace, dignity and human rights. A global common value system had to be allowed to flourish. Human rights education signified a new kind of governance based on human rights within educational policies for both policy makers and civil society.

In the process of improvement of the current draft, aspects on definition and principles should be more appropriately included. Each individual young person upholding human rights and joining with others could create a line of networks protecting and promoting human rights that would eventually permeate the entire globe: the role of youth should be included as a substantive factor promoting human rights education and training. There was room for further refining the text - a concise and accessible text was what was required by all, but it should be comprehensive and address all aspects of human rights education and training.

Speaking during the afternoon was the Philippines. Also speaking was the Advisory Council of Human Rights of Morocco, as well as the International Organization for the Right to Education and Freedom of Education, Soka Gakkai International, Amnesty International, New Humanity, European Disability Forum, Indian Council of South America and World Peace Council.

Read the full discussion on the draft.

New FRA study on Holocaust and Human Rights Education released in Auschwitz

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100

“It is not enough to listen to a witness who is over 80 years old if you do not connect his/her experience to the present time, if you don’t recognise there is still a deficit in human rights today.” (Teacher, Focus Group, Milan)

At a Ministerial Conference being held in Auschwitz from 26-28 January, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) is releasing the findings of the first ever EU-wide "Discover the past for the future - A study on the role of historical sites and museums in Holocaust Education and Human Rights Education". On the eve of the 2010 International Remembrance Day for the Victims of the Holocaust, the report reveals that at historical sites and in schools across the EU, teaching about the Holocaust rarely includes discussion of related human rights issues.

Teachers and guides are considered to be key to ensuring interest in the subject, yet there is a lack of human rights training on behalf of both groups. Based on the findings of its study, the FRA encourages national governments to better integrate human rights education into their school curricula to reflect the significance of human rights for both the history and the future of the EU.

FRA Director Morten Kjaerum: "The findings of our report reveal the importance attached to Holocaust education, democracy education and human rights education by governments throughout the EU. However, this is not sufficiently reflected in school curricula and links are not established between important historical events, like the Holocaust, and human rights. When this is achieved young people in the EU will be able to fully understand their past and go on to build a more united future."

Students ask for link to the present
Many of the interviewed students stated that they would appreciate a stronger connection to the present in education activities about the Holocaust, both at school and at historical sites and museums. However, only one of the 22 surveyed Holocaust commemoration sites regarded informing people about human rights as its most important objective. Based on the findings of the study, the FRA is of the opinion that Holocaust education should go beyond the mere transmission of historical facts to include discussion and debate on past and present human rights issues.

Teachers call for guidance
Interviewed teachers appealed not only for financial support for visits to memorial sites, but also for guiding material on how to make best use of such visits. The FRA will publish a handbook for teachers on Holocaust education and human rights education, as well as a handbook to be used by memorial site staff, later in the year.

View the Main Results Report "Discover the past for the future".

Call for participation: 7th International Human Rights Forum Lucerne

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100

The 7th International Human Rights Forum Lucerne (IHRF) will discuss in the public the topic "Human Rights and Pervasive Computing" on May 18th and 19th, 2010. Among others, Nobel Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi and Morten Kjaerum, Director of the Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union, have already confirmed their active participation.

For more information about participation fee, program, and to pre-sign up and ensure your seat at the 7th IHRF 2010, please contact: info@ihrf.phz.ch

Human Rights are a major theme globally as well as in Switzerland. The International Human Rights Forum Lucerne (IHRF) aims to support and develop the debate on Human Rights. It also wants to promote Human Rights in the public agenda through giving the different players (politics, science, the private sector, interest groups and the media) a forum where they can meet and discuss current Human Rights issues together. For this purpose, various formats of discourse and dialog will enable contact and fruitful exchange between the groups. A clear goal for the Forum is to ensure that not only dialog will be established but also that concrete projects will be initiated and carried through.

Human Rights Education Associates: New e-learning courses will start soon!

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) organises specialised courses via distance education for human rights defenders and educators, development workers, and staff members of social justice organisations, international and inter-governmental organisations.

Now the organisation is issuing a call for applications for the following e-learning courses covering a variety of human rights topics, which will be offered in the second trimester of 2010 (April-July):

- Armed Conflict, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
- Einführung in die Menschenrechtsbildung
- Human Rights Advocacy
- Human Rights Monitoring
- Le Plaidoyer pour les droits humains
- La Programmation basée sur les droits humains
- Minority Rights, Indigenous Peoples and International Law
- Monitoring Children's Rights
- Monitoring Women's Rights
- Project Development and Management in the NGO Sector
- The European Union and Human Rights

Please note that the registration deadline for these courses is Monday, 1 February 2010. Applications can be submitted online. Further information will be found:

HREA Distance Learning Programme.

EWC contributes to conference on Culture, Civilization and the World

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100

The conference Culture, Civilization and the World – the Semantics of Globalization, organized by the University of Oslo/ Kultrans, in cooperation with Concepta – International Research School in Conceptual History and Political Thought, will discuss the role of language, and especially the role of concepts in exploring the processes of globalization. In addition to the uses and meanings of single concepts, such as “culture”, “civilization” or “world”, the event will focus on clusters of concepts, semantic fields, discourses, texts, genres and experiences – constituting what is referred to as the “semantics of globalization”. The conference will take place from January 25-26, 2010 at Oslo University.

The European Wergeland Centre is participating in this event, and EWC's Research Coordinator Dr. Claudia Lenz will be giving a lecture on: "Citizenship – an ambigram in the context of national and global interpretations" at the conference .

View all abstracts of the conference

UN General Assembly marked the end of the International Year of Human Rights Learning

Mon, 4 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100

With millions fighting a daily battle against discrimination to gain access to education, health services and decent work, the President of the General Assembly ALI ABDUSSALAM TREKI (Libya) urged the United Nations family to join hands with Governments and other stakeholders around the world in embracing diversity and ending discrimination, during a special meeting to mark the end of the International Year of Human Rights Learning.

“Human rights stand, alongside development and peace and security, as a pillar of the Organization,” he said, reaffirming that promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction to race, sex, language or religion, was a fundamental purpose of the United Nations.

The special meeting -- held on Human Rights Day, as well as the sixty-first anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights -- followed the Assembly’s adoption of a resolution on follow-up to the International Year of Human Rights Learning (A/C.3/64/L.33/Rev.1).

By that text, which was recommended by its Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural), the Assembly encouraged States to expand on efforts made during the International Year and to consider devoting the resources necessary to design and implement long-term human rights learning programmes of action at all levels. It also recommended that the Human Rights Council integrate human rights learning into the draft United Nations declaration on human rights education and training, which had been prepared and would be considered by the Council during a high-level discussion on the matter in March.

Welcoming the text’s adoption, the representative of Benin, which was the main sponsor of the resolution that established the International Year, said that in a world where the majority of humanity had no access to dignity, freedom or responsibility, the objective was to build momentum among everyday citizens to discover their human rights and identify how those rights worked to make their daily lives better. “We have often failed to focus on what is really at stake: we must give people the means to become aware of the decision-making processes that are affecting their lives,” he declared.

Emphasizing the link between education and progress toward the realization of human rights, the representative of the United States said knowledge of human rights was their first defence. Human rights learning, thus, formed the heart of promoting human rights. Among other things, this learning should include training programmes, developing human rights curricula, and incorporating human rights education and learning into extracurricular activities.

Several speakers highlighted their own country’s efforts to extend human rights learning to their citizens, particularly the most vulnerable. For example, Thailand told delegates his country had translated the Universal Declaration into Braille and created a child-friendly version. Kazakhstan had set up a digital library of legal documents on human rights.

Switzerland’s delegate stressed that a United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training would both provide a definition of principles and responsibilities related to human rights education and deliver the message that such education was not just “nice to have”, but necessary in preventing rights violations and improving countries’ human rights records.

Amnesty International seeks Human Rights Education Project Coordinator

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The Human Rights Education Team at Amnesty International is seeking a Project Coordinator to coordinate an international human rights education initiative, which is aimed at raising awareness, informing debate and enabling action in order to tackle human rights abuses that drive and deepen poverty. Together with both internal and external partners, the post-holder will ensure that the project is coordinated, planned, implemented, reported on and evaluated within the agreed timeline and resources.

The organization is seeking an experienced communicator who has the ability to facilitate, lead, and motivate a team of individuals and project partners.The successful candidate will have proven experience in project planning and development, including stakeholder engagement, budget management and reporting and evaluation.They will demonstrate solid understanding of human rights education methodology, as well as have practical experience in using participatory methodologies to design, plan and deliver human rights education projects, workshops and courses. They will have experience in curriculum or human rights education resource development, particularly for young people. The successful candidate will also have proven experience of supporting the exchange of dialogue, ideas and information between diverse partners and stakeholders, and be aware of the implications of cultural diversity for effective delivery of human rights education.

USEFUL INFORMATION: The Education for Human Dignity Project is a three-year international partnership project funded by Europe Aid, aimed at raising awareness, informing debate and enabling action in order to tackle human rights abuses that drive and deepen poverty. Through human rights education and participatory approaches, young people and those that work with them (including teachers, youth workers and multipliers) will have an increased understanding of the relationship between poverty and human rights, and will be equipped and empowered to take action and call for human rights solutions to poverty.

Location: Clerkenwell, Central London
Contract duration: Fixed term contract for three years, expected to start from 1st March 2010
The post is a full-time/fixed-term contract for three years, and will require some travel.

The closing date for applications to this post is Midnight on Monday 18th January 2010.

For full details and to apply, please see the following website:
www.amnesty.org/en/jobs_all/vacant-positions

National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) Fellowship

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI) is offering an eight month National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) Fellowship. RWI strives to be a meeting point for theory and practice in the implementation of human rights. The aim of the fellowship programme is to expand the understanding of the role NHRIs play in promoting and protecting human rights, to support research associated with NHRIs, and to help facilitate dialogue between NHRI scholars and practitioners.

The Fellow will have the opportunity to further her/his professional development by conducting research related to NHRIs and interacting with leading human rights scholars and expert NHRI practitioners from around the world. It is expected that the Fellow will be based at RWI for the eight month fellowship period and that she/he will not have any other professional commitments during that time period. The Fellow is also required during the course of the fellow-ship to complete a research project resulting in a written work. The Fellow will form part of the RWI research and academic community and be expected to contribute to RWI NHRI related lectures, seminars, and workshops, and to provide feedback on RWI related NHRI initiatives that are ongoing or under development.

The NHRI Fellow will be provided with a stipend sufficient to fully cover all necessary personal expense in Sweden. In addition to the stipend, the Fellow will be provided with a modest travel allowance to support costs travelling to/from Lund, office space, computer/Internet connections, acute medical insurance, and access to the RWI library and its unique collection of NHRI materials.

Human rights practitioners and scholars with in-depth knowledge of and/or experience working with NHRIs are eligible to apply. Preference will be given to scholars who hold post graduate degrees, and to practitioners with law degrees (LLB or JD) and a solid track record working with or for NHRIs. The Fellow must be able to write and speak English fluently. For details regarding the application procedure, please view RWI's website.

First ever EU-wide survey of minorities: Mapping Discrimination across Europe

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) released on 9 December the European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey, the first ever EU-wide survey of over 23,000 individuals from ethnic minority and immigrant groups about their experiences of discrimination, racist crime, and policing in the EU. The results reveal shocking evidence about the discrimination faced by minorities in everyday life; in the classroom, when looking for work, at the doctor's, or in shops. On the eve of the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion, the FRA calls for targeted policies to combat the marginalisation of these groups.

1 in 4 (24%) of all respondents was a victim of crime at least once in the last 12 months. Members of minority groups, often stereotyped as criminals themselves, can clearly also be victims of crime in need of assistance, protection, and support.

The survey exposes the serious lack of awareness of anti discrimination legislation amongst ethnic minority and immigrant groups. Almost half (46%) of respondents were unaware that legislation exists forbidding discrimination against people on the basis of their ethnicity in relation to shops, restaurants, bars or clubs.

82% of those who were discriminated against in the past 12 months did not report their most recent experience of discrimination either at the place where it occurred or to a competent authority. The most common reason for non-reporting was the belief that ‘nothing would happen’.

FRA Director Morten Kjaerum: "The results of the EU-MIDIS survey reveal the serious difficulties faced by significant numbers of those from ethnic minority and immigrant groups in accessing the most basic of services. Discrimination in education is particularly damaging as it can have a negative impact on young people's opportunities in the labour market. Actors at all levels, from governments to service providers, must use this evidence, collected on the ground through in-depth interviews, to develop targeted policies to prevent the exclusion of these groups from European societies."

7th Meeting on the World Programme for Human Rights Education

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100

On 3 December 2009, the 7th Meeting of the United Nations Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee “Human Rights Education in the School System” (UNIACC) was held in Geneva. The meeting was devoted to the evaluation of the 1st phase of the World Programme for Human Rights Education (2005-2009), which focused on primary and secondary schools, and the preparation of the 2nd phase of the Programme (2010-2014). The participants included representatives of the OHCHR, UNESCO and UNICEF. The Council of Europe was invited to the meeting of UNIACC with a special guest status.

Read more about the consultation on the focus of the second phase of the World Programme for Human Rights Education.

Asia and Europe need to refocus on common values

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The recent referendum in Switzerland in which the majority of Swiss voted in favour of banning the construction of new minarets in Switzerland has re-ignited the controversial debate of religious freedom and tolerance in Europe. Following this development, a group of education and interfaith experts from Asia and Europe point to the urgent need to refocus public attention on our common values.

While differences among different religious creeds can pose problems, common values do exist among them. Nevertheless, a lot remains to be done, according to the participants, who noted that these common values needed to be actively shared in practice. The group highlighted that ASEM governments should work with UNESCO, the UN Alliance of Civilisations and other international initiatives to promote common values through educational cooperation programmes.

This was the key message from the 16^thTalks on the Hill organised by the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) and Casa Asia. This meeting, which was held in Barcelona last month, gathered a group of education and interfaith experts from Asia and Europe for a collective reflection on the challenges and opportunities of promoting common.

Topmost in the expert group’s recommendations was the need for broad-based education about the world’s major religions as well as non-religious beliefs. The group warned against a pervasive ignorance about the diversity of religions and beliefs in societies across Asia and Europe today, fueling misunderstanding and intolerance at the root of societal tensions and conflict.

Government-led efforts to implement values-based citizenship classes to promote social cohesion were seen as the right way to go. The group called for long-term investment in teacher training, which is a critical prerequisite for the success of any education programme that addresses sensitive issues like religion, beliefs, values and multiculturalism.

“Our discussions highlighted the important role that civil society organisations play, especially in the non-formal education sector, where changes and initiatives can move faster,” says the meeting facilitator Thomas Uthup of the UN Alliance of Civilisations. “Every opportunity should be given to increase civil society competence in non-formal education,” he added.

The Talks on the Hill is an ASEF dialogue programme that provides a neutral venue for open and non-confrontational Asia-Europe dialogue and debate between opinion-leaders and area experts. Since 2003, the Talks have engaged diverse individuals and audiences on issues of cross-cultural significance, ranging from the tension between press freedom and religious freedom, to the management of emotional and at times violent public responses to external conflicts.

Multidisciplinary university program in human rights in Johannesburg

Fri, 4 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The International Human Rights Exchange (IHRE) is the world's only full-semester, multidisciplinary program in human rights for undergraduate students. The program is housed at the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg, South Africa and is a joint venture with Bard College. Each year -- starting in late July and ending in November -- students and faculty from North America and Africa come together to participate in a deep and multifaceted intellectual engagement in human rights. In addition to a required core course, students choose from 12 or more electives exploring human rights from the perspective of a variety of academic disciplines.

IHRE also opens up possibilities for substantive participation in human rights work. Students enrolled in the Engagement with Human Rights course intern with an NGO working on contemporary rights in post-apartheid South Africa. Students also explore human rights
challenges in rural South Africa through a Community Human Rights Workshop, visit the Apartheid Museum and other relevant sites, and attend guest lectures from human rights experts from South Africa and around the world.

Application Deadline = March 1, 2010

Lisbon Forum 2009: Creating a culture of human rights through education

Fri, 4 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Several high-level representatives from the Council of Europe and other international organisations, as well as Human Rights Education (HRE) Experts from Africa, Asia, America, Europe and the Middle East joined the Lisbon Forum 2009 to promote the creation of a culture of human rights through “quadrilogue” action, i.e. governments, parliamentarians, local and regional authorities and civil society.

This year the participants discussed global strategies for strengthening human rights education and underlined the importance of quality HRE for sustainable peace. The integration of HRE into the formal schooling system was identified as one of the main ares of future work. The outcomes of the Forum are now available online.

The Lisbon Forum is a platform for dialogue and for sharing experiences, expertise and good practices between Europe and the other continents, especially the Middle East, Africa and the countries on the south side of the Mediterranean. The Forum has been held by the North-South Center since 1994.

Lisbon Forum 2009 conclusions

Jagland signs agreement with MBI Al Jaber Foundation

Wed, 2 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Council of Europe Secretary General, Thorbjørn Jagland has signed an agreement with the London-based MBI Al Jaber Foundation, in order to develop cooperation on Intercultural Dialogue in the Euro-Mediterranean region.

In line with the recommendations and policy guidelines outlined in the White Paper for Intercultural Dialogue, the partnership between the Council of Europe and the MBI Al Jaber Foundation shall focus on the strengthening Euro-Arab co-operation and promoting education for human rights, rule of law, democratic citizenship and intercultural understanding. The agreement covers activities in the fields of research, support to in-service training and curriculum development, networking and discussion forums.

MBI Al Jaber Foundation has also recently signed a co-operation agreement with the European Wergeland Centre (EWC).

"Intercultural understanding is one of the main challenges of our societies: the Council of Europe has acted as a bridge in the last 60 years between different cultures in our Continent. Fostering dialogue is crucial for human rights' protection and development. I welcome this agreement with the MBI AL Jaber Foundation. It will enhance co-operation in the Euro-Mediterranean region, building on the MBI`s extensive experience, know-how and contacts in the area."
Secretary General, Thorbjørn Jagland

ERRC seeks human rights trainer

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) seeks a Human Rights Trainer to coordinate, develop and implement ERRC human rights training programmes to enhance the capacity of Romani activists and other relevant actors for the promotion of human rights respect of Roma. S/he coordinates the ERRC internship programme, oversees the implementation of bi-annual ERRC Roma Rights Workshops and coordinates and contributes to the development and implementation of all other ERRC training activities as required.

Application deadline: 10 December 2009

For details and application requirements, see the full vacancy announcement.

The European Roma Rights Centre is an international public interest law organisation, which monitors the human rights situation of Roma and provides legal defence in cases of human rights abuse. For more information about the European Roma Rights Centre, visit the ERRC on the web at http://www.errc.org

Seminar on Democratic School Governance

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100

27 school heads and other educational professionals from 17 different countries were gathered in Oslo last week to discuss, practice and be trained in democratic school governance, in the 2nd seminar cooperation between the EWC and the Council of Europe Pestalozzi program.

The seminar included participants from countries such as Cyprus, Portugal, Malta, Georgia and Saudi-Arabia, and the four working days were divided between plenary and group sessions, as well as individual work, all coordinated and facilitated by Benedetto Maffezzini, Ulrike Wolff-Jontofsohn and Margaret Wood.

The participants worked, among other things, on identifying and discussing different stake holders in school today, responding to specific cases, analyzing and comparing their own situation with other participants, as well as exchanging examples of current practice, the participants worked together and individually to get a better understanding of what democratic school governance means and implies, and also what and how things can be changed and improved at their own school.

The seminar included a visit to Ila School (primary and lower secondary) in Oslo. During the visit, school head Rita Hellesjø Orderud, together with the deputy head, teachers and pupils, presented their way of practicing democratic school governance. The participants also visited and got a guided tour at the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo.

Launch of Portal for Human Rights Schools

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100

HREA commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) with the launch of a new web portal to promote understanding and application of a human rights-based approach to schooling.

The CRC calls for all children to be treated with dignity and respect. In the context of schooling this means:

• access to a quality education;
• children’s active participation in the life of the school;
• protection from all forms of abuse that may occur in the school setting;
• the provision of human rights education.

A human rights-based approach (HRBA) to schooling is concerned with the organisation of learning so that it is reflective of human rights principles and promotes understanding and cherishing of the human rights framework. The HRBA process involves complex interactions between the right to education in general, the implementation of human rights practices within the structure of the school itself, and the teaching of human rights through schooling.

HREA has compiled a wealth of resources on the human rights-based approach to schooling, which can be found in their new Portal for Human Rights Schools. The aims of this portal are:

• to provide viewpoints on the theoretical underpinnings of the HRBA;
• to present a range of HRBA practices that are emerging in schools worldwide;
• to encourage "best practices" in the documentation and evaluation of the HRBA by sharing resources dedicated to examining the most pressing issues in evaluating human rights education.

Postdoctoral Fellowship in Democracy and Diversity

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The Department of Philosophy at Queen's University has a postdoctoral fellowship program in "Democracy and Diversity", funded by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. Each year, one non-renewable 12-month fellowship is awarded. The successful applicant will have a demonstrated expertise in political philosophy/political theory, with a special interest in issues of the accommodation of diversity in democratic societies, show evidence of teaching potential, and be able to participate constructively in departmental and collegial activities.

The 2010-11 fellowship will start on July 1, 2010. Applicants must have submitted their doctoral dissertation by that date, and must be within five years of having received their doctorate.

The salary for the postdoctoral fellowship will be $34,000, which includes remuneration for teaching a half-course in political philosophy or a cognate subject.

Queen's University is a leading centre for the normative study of democracy and diversity, with active research programs located in both the Ethnicity and Democratic Governance project (EDG) and the Forum for Philosophy and Public Policy. The Fellow would be affiliated with these programs, and would participate in their activities.

More...

IAU 2009 International Conference

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100

EWC Executive Director Ana Perona-Fjeldstad participated and gave a presentation at the IAU 2009 International Conference that took place in Lebanon; 4-6 November. The theme for this conference was: The Role of Higher Education in Fostering the Culture of Dialogue and Understanding.

From left: Imma Tubella, President, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), Spain; Bakary Diallo, Rector at the African Virtual University, Kenya; Ana Perona-Fjeldstad, EWC Executive Director

The conference brought together higher educational leaders, scholars and students to discuss how higher education today, contributes or could contribute to creating a culture of dialogue at the institutional, local, regional and international levels.

Course on International Human Rights Law

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The Human Rights Law Centre at the University of Nottingham organises short course on International Human Rights Law. The course is aimed at government officials, lawyers, human rights field workers and other NGO and IGO personnel and gives a full overview of international human rights standards in practice around the world.

International Human Rights Law Short Course

The three month course gives students an in-depth understanding of international human rights standards and the international machinery of the United Nations, Council of Europe, the OAS and the African Union. The course also shows how these standards are implemented and how they work in practice. There are two programmes each year: January to March and September to December.

Further information about the course

The next course application deadline is 10 December with the start date on 7 January.

The EWC has signed an agreement with the MBI Al Jaber Foundation

Thu, 5 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The MBI Al Jaber Foundation will support the EWC in its work in the field of education for intercultural understanding, human rights and democratic citizenship. The MBI Foundation and the EWC will cooperate on several research- and capacity building related projects in the forthcoming years.

The Foundation, which is based in London, will provide funding for projects that support the mandate of the centre. The capacity building projects will consist among other of several training modules aimed at education professionals in the areas of education for human rights, democratic citizenship and intercultural understanding. The target groups of the modules are primarily teachers and teacher trainers from Europe and neighbouring countries, and this is only one of many projects that will be undertaken by the EWC in cooperation with the MBI Foundation.

In relation to the official signing of the agreement, Founder and Chairman of the MBI Al Jaber Foundation, H.E. Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber, visited the European Wergeland Centre in Oslo last week; a great honour for the EWC staff. He also had the opportunity to meet with High Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education and Research, as well as representatives from the Council of Europe.

The agreement was signed by Foundation Chairman MBI Al Jaber and Professor Svein Lorentzen, Chair of the EWC Board.

From left: Ana Perona-Fjeldstad, EWC Executive Director; Inger Enger, Headmaster and EWC Board Member; Kari Brustad, Deputy Director General at the Ministry of Education and Research; H.E. Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber, Founder and Chair of the MBI Al Jaber Foundation;
Olöf Olafsdottir, Director of Education and Languages at the Council of Europe

“We are delighted to have formalised our partnership with the MBI Al Jaber Foundation, and are confident that with their involvement we can make further great strides in our work in the field of human rights.” Ana Perona-Fjeldstad, The EWC Executive Director

More information about the concrete projects will follow.

The MBI Al Jaber Foundation

Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber is a self made businessman and philanthropist who has sought to promote better understanding between the Middle East and Europe through greater engagement and cultural exchange. The MBI Al Jaber Foundation, a UK registered charity offers opportunities for hundreds of undergraduates in the Middle East and North Africa to continue their studies in Europe.

The Foundation seeks to champion education for young people across the Arab world, and puts particular emphasis on the important of increased education for women in the Middle East. This pledge has been reinforced by the granting of scholarships to students at Dar El Hekmah Private College for Women and the all-female Effat College in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and major donations by MBI Al Jaber to both institutions.

MBI Al Jaber’s efforts to bridge the divide between the West and the Middle East have seen him named as a UNESCO Special Envoy for Education Tolerance and Cultures in the Middle East and a UN Spokesperson for Global Forums on Reinventing Government.

MBI Al Jaber is an Honorary Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, founding patron of the London Middle East Institute at the School of Oriental and African Studies, and has endowed the MBI Al Jaber Chair in Middle Eastern Studies at the university.

Good practices in human rights education

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100

A new practical tool to promote human rights education is now available. Human Rights Education in the School Systems of Europe, Central Asia and North America: A Compendium of Good Practice aims to support the successful teaching and learning of human rights values and competencies. It was developed by HREA under the guidance of the publishers OSCE/ODIHR, Council of Europe, OHCHR and UNESCO.

This is the first publication that has been co-sponsored by these inter-governmental agencies, reflecting the high priority placed on this field. All of the agencies have been engaged in human rights education. The Compendium presents resources developed by the agencies in their support of human rights education. What the Compendium demonstrates is the breadth of practice already in place, ranging from national education laws that reference human rights to participatory, self-evaluation practices in training teachers to carry out human rights education in their classrooms.

Designed for primary and secondary schools, teacher training institutions and other learning settings, the new tool, which collects 101 exemplary practices from Central Asia, Europe and North America, is a valuable resource for teachers and education policymakers.

It provides resource materials relevant to key elements for successful human rights education, including 1) laws, guidelines and standards; 2) learning environment; 3) teaching and learning tools; 4) professional development for educators, and 5) evaluation.

The collection demonstrates creative approaches to human rights education and aims to facilitate networking and exchange of experience among education professionals. The practices can be adapted to local conditions anywhere in the world.

Young People in Mixed-Faith Families

Tue, 3 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The three-year project ‘Investigating the Religious Identity Formation of Young People in Mixed-Faith Families’ (June 2006–September 2009) was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), a public funding body in the United Kingdom. The research team consisted of Prof. Eleanor Nesbitt and Dr Elisabeth Arweck.

The project built on previous studies on religious nurture within the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit (WRERU) in the Institute of Education at the University of Warwick. Using ethnographic research methods, it examined the factors which influence young people’s religious identity, allegiance, activities and beliefs in relation to their parents’ faith backgrounds.

With a number of individuals from a mixed background very much the focus of public attention, such as President Barak Obama and Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton, and mixed relationships featuring in TV and radio serials, awareness of ‘mixedness’ is growing, not only in the UK, but across the world. The WRERU project on mixed-faith families complements previous and current work in other European countries, such as France and Germany, where the focus of study has been on Jewish–Christian and Muslim-Christian families.

While national surveys in some countries, such as the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) in the United States and Canadian Social Trends in Canada, have captured the steady increase in the number of individuals of mixed religious heritage and households where parents come from different faith backgrounds, in the UK, the 2001 Census only provided data on the mixed-race population. Therefore, statistical information on mixed-faith or interfaith marriages in Britain is still only beginning to be extracted, but the Census data reveal an upward trend for both mixed-race and mixed-faith couples and individuals. However, faith communities have been aware of this trend for some time, particularly among younger adults. Some evidence of their existence and the issues which arise from religiously mixed families have been discussed in web chat rooms where contributors exchange approaches to mixing and meshing traditions in wedding ceremonies, holiday celebrations, and child-rearing. Further evidence has been the presence of support groups, both in the UK, such as the Interfaith Marriage Network and the Muslim/Christian Marriage Support Group, and in other countries, such as the Groupe des foyers islamo-chrétiennes in France or the Dovetail Institute in the United States, which provide a forum for couples and individuals to share views and experiences.

While some people are sceptical and even negative about the mixed-faith background of children who grow up in interfaith families, others see it as an enrichment, a fertile ground for creativity, and a fine example of successful conflict resolution. However, there is no conclusive sociological evidence that children raised with two faiths are any better or worse off than children raised in a single faith. Academic research in this area has been scant, although some work has been done on Muslim/Christian families and families with a Jewish parent. The WRERU study on mixed-faith families sought to expand the knowledge about both mixed-faith couples and their children.

For the purpose of this research, families in which mother and father came from any combination of Christian, Hindu, Muslim or Sikh faith backgrounds were ‘mixed-faith families’. The four faiths allowed for six possible combinations: Christian/Hindu, Christian/Muslim, Christian/Sikh, Hindu/Muslim, Hindu/Sikh and Muslim/Sikh.

The aim of the project was to identify and explore processes in the religious identity formation of young people in mixed-faith families. The project had three objectives: 1) to identify differences and commonalties between children’s identity formation and parents’ expectations and perceptions of this; 2) to assess the impact of religious socialisation (formal and informal) and religious education on young people’s religious identity and their response; 3) to inform theoretical debate in religious studies and religious education on the representation of ‘faith communities’/’religious’ in syllabuses. The research questions explored the importance of several factors (gender, parents’ commitment, education, socio-economic status, locality, religious calendars, perceptions of faith) in young people’s faith development and how they and their parents represented these. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with young people (from age 8) and parents over a period of about 18 months—185 interviews in all (112 with adults, 73 with young people). On average, four or five interviews (lasting between 20 min and over an hour) were conducted with each participant. Most interviews were conducted in person (110), the rest by phone. The interviews relate to 28 families of the following combinations: 2 Hindu–Sikh, 10 Hindu–Christian, 6 Christian–Sikh, 10 Christian–Muslim, 0 Hindu–Muslim, 0 Muslim–Sikh. Participation was entirely voluntary and participants were assured of confidentiality and anonymity.

Although the project was conceived as a nation-wide study, the challenges during fieldwork were such that the team had to rely on personal contacts and snowball sampling. This restricted the geographical reach of the study to England, especially to the middle and south of England.
Findings from the study were presented at a number of national and international conferences and seminars (including BSA Sociology of Religion Study Group, International Society for the Sociology of Religion, International Seminar for Religious Education and Values, Association of Religious Education Teachers and Advisors), culminating in a project conference in March 2009. (A list of conference presentations can be found in the personal profiles of Eleanor Nesbitt and Elisabeth Arweck on WRERU’s web site.) Articles and book chapters reporting data from the study are forthcoming or in progress (see list below).

We would like to express our deep gratitude to the families who took part in this project. We are also indebted to many colleagues who have assisted us in various ways—too many to list here. And we are grateful to members of the project’s steering committee who accompanied this study with support and advice. We appreciate the grant from the AHRC, which made this research project possible.

Eleanor Nesbitt & Elisabeth Arweck
eleanor.nesbitt@warwick.ac.uk & elisabeth.arweck@warwick.ac.uk

Publications Arising from the Project

Articles in refereed journals:
Nesbitt, Eleanor. ‘Research Report: Studying the Religious Socialization of Sikh and “Mixed-Faith” Youth in Britain: Contexts and Issues’, Journal of Religion in Europe 2 (1) 2009, 37-57.

Arweck, Elisabeth & Nesbitt, Eleanor. ‘Young People’s Identity Formation in Mixed-Faith Families: Continuity or Discontinuity of Religious Traditions?’, Journal of Contemporary Religion 25 (1), January 2010 (in press).

Nesbitt, Eleanor & Arweck, Elisabeth. ‘Issues Arising from an Ethnographic Investigation of the Religious Identity Formation of Young People in Mixed-Faith Families’, Fieldwork in Religion 4 (2), 2010, forthcoming.

Arweck, Elisabeth & Nesbitt, Eleanor. ‘Enrichment or Estrangement: Young People in Mixed Faith Families and their Dual Heritage’ (under review).

Arweck, Elisabeth & Nesbitt, Eleanor. ‘Plurality at Close Quarters: Mixed-Faith Families in the UK’, Journal of Religion in Europe 1, 2010, forthcoming.

Arweck, Elisabeth & Nesbitt, Eleanor. ‘The Role of Religious Education in the Religious Identity Formation of Young People in Mixed-Faith Families’, British Journal of Religious Education (to be submitted shortly).

Arweck, Elisabeth & Nesbitt, Eleanor. ‘Close Encounters? The Intersection of Faith and Ethnicity in Religiously Mixed Families’, Journal of Beliefs and Values (under review).

Arweck, Elisabeth & Nesbitt, Eleanor. ‘Mixed-Faith Families: Models for Christian-Muslim Relations?’ (provisional title), Journal for Christian-Muslim Relations (in planning stage).

Book chapters
Arweck, Elisabeth & Nesbitt, Eleanor. ‘Growing up in a Mixed-Faith Family: Intact or Fractured Chain of Memory?’, in Religion and Youth. Edited by Sylvie Collins–Mayo and Pink Dandelion, Ashgate, 2010 (in production).

Arweck, Elisabeth. & Nesbitt, Eleanor. ‘The Interaction of the Major Religions at Close Quarters: Religiously Mixed Families in the UK’ (provisional title), Proceedings of the 2008 conference of ISREV 2008 (in preparation).

Arweck, Elisabeth & Nesbitt, Eleanor. ‘Young People in Mixed Faith Families: A Case of Knowledge and Experience of Two Traditions?’ (provisional title) Proceedings of the 2009 conference of the BSA Sociology of Religion Study Group (in preparation).

Other
Arweck, Elisabeth. ‘Investigating the Religious Identity Formation of Young People in ‘Mixed Faith’ Families: Report of Project Conference, held in March 2009.’ RE Today, September 2009.

Walters, Rosemary. ‘Investigating the Religious Identity Formation of Young People in “Mixed Faith” Families Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit Project Conference March 2009’, posted to the RE net area of the TTRB net web site, April 2009.

Arweck, Elisabeth & Nesbitt, Eleanor. ‘Mixed-Faith Families: Implications for RE and RE Teachers’ (provisional title), REsource (in planning stage).

Call for applications for e-learning course 'Introduction to Human Rights Education'

Tue, 3 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Call for applications
Course 8E10: Introduction to Human Rights Education
3 February-20 April 2010 | Application deadline: 1 December 2009
Course instructor: Felisa Tibbitts

The course will introduce the international field of human rights education (HRE), including presentations of programming approaches, teaching and learning resources, and related theory. The course is intended for educators and trainers working in both the formal and non-formal sectors. Participants will be assisted in the development of a curriculum, training, or plan to use these skills to further their organisation's advocacy efforts. Participants might be expected to apply these skills within formal education settings, for staff development within their own organisations, and for outreach and advocacy.

The course has the following sequence. First, it will introduce the human rights framework and programming approaches and teaching materials in use worldwide. This will be followed by a presentation of interactive teaching methods and related pedagogical theory. Participants will then explore discipline-based approaches to HRE, examining programming and sample materials that come from the social sciences, the humanities and the sciences. This will be complemented by an examination of "issue" oriented education and advocacy approaches to HRE, drawing examples from children's rights, women's rights and the rights of minorities. Several sessions will be devoted to building the skills of participants, by reviewing how to develop a learning experience and integration of assessments.

The course involves approximately 50 hours of reading, on-line working groups, webinars, interaction among students and instructors, and assignments, and is offered over a 11-week period beginning on 3 February 2010. This course will integrate active and participatory learning approaches within activities and assignments, with an emphasis on reflective and collaborative learning. Participants will do the required reading, prepare interim and final project assignments and participate in group discussions.

The maximum number of course participants is 25. Students who successfully complete the course will receive a Certificate of Participation. It is also possible to audit the course.

Course outline

Week 1. Orientation to the course
Week 2. Introduction to human rights
Week 3. Introduction to human rights education
Week 4. Models and methods of teaching HRE
Week 5. “Open week”
Week 6. HRE and the social sciences
Week 7. HRE and the humanities
Week 8. HRE and the sciences
Week 9. Developing learning activities
Week 10. HRE Approaches for children's rights
Week 11. HRE Approaches for women's human rights

Further information about the course and an on-line application can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=555&language_id=1

The application deadline for this course is 1 December 2009.

EWC Summer Academy in Poland

Tue, 3 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100

From left: Ana Perona-Fjeldstad - EWC Executive Director, Stefania Wilkiel - Counselor to the Polish Minister of National Education, Gunnar Mandt - EWC Special Adviser

The Summer Academy

The summer academy is based on an initiative made by the Polish Ministry of National Education to The European Wergeland Centre in May 2009.

The first course will take place in July 2010. The content and theme will vary slightly from course to course, but the structure will be more or less the same; 30 teacher trainers from Eastern Europe and the Caucasus coming together in Warsaw to analyze and exchange practice and ideas, identify problematic issues and helping them to incorporate the principles of human rights, democracy, tolerance and mutual respect, the rule of law and peaceful resolution of conflicts into daily practice of teaching and learning.

The academy will consist of online preparations, face to face seminars and online follow-up after the seminar.

The trainers will also be asked to act as liaison officers for the summer academy in his or her country.

Further information and details about the Summer Academy will be available in the beginning of 2010.

Global Education Week: 14-22 November

Mon, 2 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The Global Education & Youth programme of the North-South Centre (NSC) has, since 1999, been organising the Global Education Week (GEW), an annual decentralised event encouraging global education awareness-raising activities within educational and youth settings in the Council of Europe’s (CoE) member States. This event is facilitated by the GEW network, composed of national coordinators liaising, following-up and disseminating NSC global education activities at their national level.

Global Education Week 2009 will take place from 14 to 22 November and its theme - chosen in consultation with the North-South Centre GEW network and having the Millennium Development Goals as an inspirational background - is “Food for All”.

Through this event - and other complementary activities such as the World Aware Education Award, and the dissemination of pedagogical information through its GEW webpage and through its electronic Global Education Newsletter - the NSC aims at increasing global education understanding and practice in Europe and beyond. Recently, this strategy has been reinforced with the dissemination of the Global Education Guidelines and the introduction of a Global Education on-line training-course for educators and youth activists, as well as for policy-makers, thus completing NSC awareness-raising and capacity building role in the field of global education.

You will find complementary information on the Global Education Week website

Policies and Practices for Teaching Sociocultural Diversity

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100

“Diversity and inclusion: challenges for teacher education”

Final conference of the Council of Europe project

“Policies and Practices for Teaching Sociocultural Diversity”

2006 - 2009

26 – 28 October 2009, Oslo, Norway

The conference is organized by the Council of Europe, in the framework of the project “Policies and practices for teaching socio-cultural diversity” (2006-2009), and in cooperation with the Ministry of Education of Norway and the Oslo University College. The EWC will assist with the logistics.

The conference will bring together invited senior officials from member states governments dealing with issues concerning teacher education policies as well as key players (managers, teacher trainers/educators, researchers) and experts from teacher education institutions and other relevant international Non-Governmental Organizations, by invitation only. It aims to give the participants the opportunity to enlarge their vision of key issues concerning diversity and inclusion in the field of teacher education and identify new perspectives for work at European level.

More...

The European School 2.0

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100

In the age of the Social Web (Web 2.0/3.0), virtual learning environments empower teachers and learners to open their classrooms and be part of emerging folksonomies– the social construction of learning. Upcoming learning solutions gradually replace presentation tools with shared discussion and work spaces, offer coaching utilities instead of help desks, and learning resource repositories instead of ready-made digital materials. Teachers and learners alike are now using ICT very differently from one another and ever more creatively.

But, what real impact is this revolution making on school education? Are schools preparing more adequately their students to live and work in a multi-cultural environment and meet key qualification requirements?

In the emerging School Education Paradigm for the 21st Century, the European School 2.0 (ref. to the European Commission consultation document: Schools for the 21st Century)Ministries of Education and other education authorities as well the whole education ecosystem in Europe need to embrace a set of priorities in the following lines:

Curriculum planning and assessment should be revisited to allow for the application of learner-centered methods addressing varying learning needs.
The immersive open educational resources, combined with social software (Web 2.0 and 3.0) are emerging as critical instruments for innovative (lifelong) learning, while fostering new Knowledge building paradigms and collaborative forms of learning materials.
Furthermore, schools should go into Partnerships and Networks, among themselves - with a cross-cultural and inter-cultural character -, as well as with their social environment.

Apart from the School Networking and Innovation Workshops, education experts and policy-makers joined plenary sessions with keynote addresses and panel discussions as well as roundtables and other interactive sessions.

Professor Robert Jackson meets the Dalai Lama in Montreal

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Ethics and Religious Culture is a new course (introduced in 2008) taught in all elementary and high schools in Quebec province, Canada. It replaced denominationally based forms of religious education in public schools and is compulsory in all schools, private as well as public. The aim of the subject is to promote and understanding of the religious heritage of Quebec. The programme's key principles are Recognition of Others and Pursuit of the Common Good. The course also aims to promote a ‘culture of dialogue’ among students. The fact that the course is compulsory has caused some controversy.

In order to place the course in an international context, an international symposium for educators, scholars and policymakers was held by McGill University’s Faculties of Education and Religious Studies on October 2^nd 2009. Professor Robert Jackson, Director of the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit at the University of Warwick, UK, and Professor of Religious Diversity and Education at the European Wergeland Centre, Oslo, gave the opening keynote presentation. Professor Jackson set the Quebec course in a wider international perspective, giving reasons why a knowledge and understanding of different religious traditions and secular philosophies is important in the public education of all societies that embrace the human rights principle of freedom of religion or belief. Other presentations were made by Professor Diane Moore of Harvard University, USA, Dr Isabelle Saint-Martin, of the Sorbonne in Paris and Dr Spencer Boudreau of McGillUniversity.

On Saturday 3^rdOctober, His Holiness the Dalai Lama met Professor Jackson and Dr Isabelle Saint-Martin together with the Principal and senior staff from McGillUniversity before speaking to and answering questions from a large audience, including 500 students from universities in Quebec who are training to teach the Ethics and Religious Culture programme.

Report on the discussions on HRE in the UN Human Rights Council 12th session

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The UN Human Rights Council 10th Session (14 September - 2 October, 2009) and Human Rights Education

1. Substantive Session

During the 12th session (14 September - 2 October, 2009) of the UN Human Rights Council, human rights education and training were dealt with under Agenda Items 3 and 5.

As for the second phase of the World Programme for Human Rights Education (WPHRE), the report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights entitled “Consultation on the Focus of the Second Phase of the World Programme for Human Rights Education” was made available (A/HRC/12/36 of 20 August 2009).

The Platform for Human Rights Education and Training announced that Senegal had newly joined the Platform at the second informal meeting of Member States held by the Platform on 23 September for consultation on the draft resolution on the WPHRE which was open to the public including NGOs. Now the Platform is comprised by 7 Member States: Costa Rica, Italy, Morocco, Slovenia, Philippines, Senegal and Switzerland.

In the general debate on 18 September under Agenda Item 3, Slovenia on behalf of the Platform spoke at the plenary meeting of the Council. It referred to the draft resolution prepared by the lead of Costa Rica on behalf of the Platform, called upon all Member States and other stakeholders to support the proposed focus of the second phase of the WPHRE and emphasized that the WPHRE structured in consecutive phases could contribute in the short, medium and long terms, to the promotion of a worldwide culture of human rights, equality, prevention of conflicts and human rights violations, and enhancement of democratic processes.

Colombia, on behalf of the GRULAC (Group of Latin American and Caribbean States), under the same Agenda Item welcomed the proposal on the second phase of the WPHRE prepared by the Platform. It stressed the importance of continuous efforts to implement the first phase which the proposed focus of the second phase should also help to facilitate. It called upon all Member States to continue to develop initiatives for human rights education within the framework of the WPHRE and to contribute their input in the drafting process of a UN declaration on human rights education and training.

Bosnia-Herzegovina, as a post-conflict country, expressed its support to the proposed focus of the second phase and all kinds and means of promotion of human rights as a crucial factor to building a more just future for all citizens of all countries. It referred to its national efforts for teaching programmes in primary and secondary schools including human rights and democracy education, which were yet to overcome several challenges to full implementation with defined goals.

NGOs also took the floor with a joint statement of 13 organisations supporting the draft resolution prepared by the Platform. In the statement, the NGOs called upon the Member States to ensure (i) maintenance and development of any activity initiated during each phase; (ii) a national plan of action to be prepared by each country; (iii) a vital role to be played by civil society actors in all Phases, and that establishing a voluntary fund for human rights education within the UN would substantially assist civil society in this area; and (iv) a national evaluation report of the first phase to be prepared by all Member States for which the respective Member State could be held accountable.

In the general debate on 28 September under Agenda Item 5, a few statements were made regarding the drafting process of a UN declaration on human rights education and training.

Morocco on behalf of the Platform briefly reported on the Marrakech Seminar held from 16-17 July in Morocco at which concrete elements for the drafting of the declaration were contributed by participants. Based on the outcome of the Marrakech Seminar and the ongoing drafting process, Morocco mentioned the need for a high level discussion at the 13th session of the Council (March 2010) in order to provide and confirm high level support to this initiative, stating that for this purpose the Platform would submit a draft decision to the current session of the Council.

Senegal, as the latest and a new Member State of the Platform, expressed its commitment to support the initiative of the Platform of the draft declaration. Senegal mentioned its view that the draft declaration should take into account inter alia issues on illiteracy, access to information technology, poverty reduction, and the gender dimension. It also mentioned the usefulness of scientific contributions from academic and university circles, parliaments and local communities, and the need for sharing good practices and financing for high quality education.

The Advisory Council on Human Rights of Morocco (National Human Rights
Institution) emphasized that the declaration should be drafted with a strong definition of human rights education and training which would effectively raise awareness among people of their own rights and to the need to defend those of others. It also stated that the declaration should indicate the importance of NHRIs as key actors and expressed the wish that human rights education and training would be considered by the declaration as a strong indicator of school education quality and as a determinant factor in the promotion of a culture of gender equality.

NGOs also took the floor on 30 September under the same Agenda Item, in a joint statement of 15 organisations. In the statement, the NGOs emphasized on the need for: (i) further consultation with stakeholders on the first draft before the March 2010 session of the Council; and (ii) an interactive dialogue on the first draft of the declaration during the High Level Segment of the March 2010 session of the Council.

2. Resolution on the World Programme for Human Rights Education*

(* Draft resolution number: A/HRC/10/L.9. The resolution will be officially numbered by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and be available on the website of the Human Rights Council 12th session later.
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/12session/documentation.htm )

Costa Rica on behalf of the Platform introduced the draft resolution to the Council on 1 October, mentioning the support and impetus provided by NHRIs and NGOs. The draft resolution was eventually cosponsored by 58 UN Member States including those of the Platform which were the main sponsors of the draft resolution.

From the first to the second phase

The resolution was adopted by consensus of the Council on 1 October, and it was thereby decided that the second phase of the WPHRE would focus “on human rights education for higher education and on human rights training programmes for teachers and educators, civil servants, law enforcement officials and military personnel at all levels” for five years, 2010-2014
(paras.2 and 4).

The Council also “Encourages States that have not yet taken steps to incorporate human rights education in the primary and secondary school system to do so, in accordance with the Plan of Action of the first phase of the World Programme” (para.3).

The Council requested the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to “prepare, within existing resources, in cooperation with relevant intergovernmental organizations, in particular the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and non-governmental actors, consult States on and submit for consideration to the 15th session of the Human Rights Council (September 2010), a plan of action for the second phase of the World Programme (2010-2014), (…)”
(para.4).

The Council also reminded “Member States of the need to prepare and submit their national evaluation reports on the first phase” to the United Nations Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee on Human Rights Education in the School System of the WPHRE (UNIACC). Based on those reports, the UNIACC will prepare the report on the first phase for submission to the General Assembly sixty-fifth session in 2010 according to the plan of action of the first phase (paras.5 and 6).

Prior to its adoption, two informal meetings for consultation on the draft resolution were held on 17 and 23 September. While the proposed focus was well accepted, several delegates raised questions on (i) financial implications particularly in terms of preparation of a plan of action; and
(ii) the relation between human rights education and the right to education.
The question on financial implications was eventually formulated in the resolution as “(…) within existing resources, (…)” and so adopted. In respect of question (ii), the relevant paragraph contained in the very first draft, “(…) human rights education is widely considered as an integral part of the right to education (…)” was deleted at the first consultation meeting as this definition was questioned by several delegates and eventually considered irrelevant in this resolution.

The focus of the second phase may seem to be too wide of a range to be a focus for 5 years duration. There is an evident intention of the Platform to synchronise the second phase with the draft declaration on human rights education and training. In order to make best use of the WPHRE, the identification of duty-bearers should also be critical in drafting a plan of action for the second phase.

While the second phase is to be launched in January 2010, a plan of action will not be ready until September 2010. According to informal talks with the Platform and the OHCHR officers, this time gap was unavoidable in consideration of the need for sufficient preparatory time and necessary technical arrangements. Until then, all actors including Member States are expected to take possible actions for both the national evaluation report on the first phase and implementation of the second phase.

3. Decision on the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and
Training*

(* Draft decision number: A/HRC/10/L.11.)

The draft decision was prepared by the Platform and was eventually cosponsored by 63 UN Member States including the 7 Member States of the Platform. Introducing the draft decision, Morocco on behalf of the Platform addressed the Council reminding Member States that the first draft of the declaration was to be prepared and submitted by the CAC to the 13th session of the Council to which end effective intergovernmental negotiation should be ensured. In order to facilitate such a negotiation by the Council, the draft decision was proposed by the Platform.

High level discussion on the first draft at the Human Rights Council session in March 2010

The decision was adopted by consensus of the Council on 1 October, by which the Council decided to “hold a high-level discussion on the draft declaration during its thirteenth session” (para.2) in March 2010. The first draft of the declaration will be the substantial material for the planned high-level discussion.

EWC visit to the North-South Centre

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The EWC Executive Director Ana Perona-Fjeldstad and Special Adviser Gunnar Mandt recently had the pleasure of visiting the North-South Centre, European Centre for Global Interdependence and Solidarity, to discuss future activities and possible collaboration projects. It was very positive and fruitful meeting.

North-South Centre's mandate: provide a framework for North-South co-operation to increase public awareness of global interdependence issues and promote policies of solidarity in conformity with the aims and principles of the Council of Europe.

From left: EWC Special Adviser Gunnar Mandt, EWC Executive Director Ana Perona-Fjeldstad, NSC Executive Director Denis Huber, Gordana Bergan, NSC Coordinator for Education and Youth, and Gabriele Mazza, Former Director of Education and Languages, CoE.

Moscow universities offer Master's degrees in human rights for the first time

Fri, 9 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100

This year's start to the academic calendar will be a very special one for a group of students in Moscow. Three of Moscow’s Universities have signed a formal agreement with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to introduce a new academic specialization at the Master’s level in human rights studies.

Through the pilot phase of the programme which has just begun, scholarships will be offered to as many as five students from each of the universities. Run over four semesters, the Human Rights Master’s programme will give students an opportunity to study abroad for one full
semester to research their thesis, broaden their cultural horizons and gain practical experience.

The OHCHR agreement was signed with the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, the Russian State University of Humanities and the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. It is the centrepiece of the OHCHR program in Russia and follows the signing two years ago of a
Framework of Cooperation with the Russian Government.

Dirk Hebecker, the Senior Human Rights Advisor to the UN Country Team in Russia says of the program, "We hope that the creation of a new generation of human rights professionals will help improve the human rights situation in Russia. More people in different positions and
organizations and at various levels will know about human rights not only in the government system but also in the civil society".

The European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation in Venice is also participating in the project and will provide guest lecturers for the program and training for their Russian counterparts. OHCHR will supply a number of the publications used in the
Master’s course including "Working with the United Nations Human Rights Programme a Handbook for Civil Society".

At the Moscow Book Fair, OHCHR presented the three participating Universities with the first comprehensive compilation of Russian language publications on human rights. The catalogue - a bibliography made up of specialist human rights publications, academic research works
and textbooks - was compiled by Anatoli Azarov of the Moscow School of Human Rights, in collaboration with OHCHR Moscow.

The OHCHR event at the book fair was attended by prominent civil society and academia representatives as well as human rights defenders from the Perm region of eastern Russia who presented a number of texts which are included in the catalogue. The publications from Perm make up a part of the collection which has been put together from many regions including
Kazan, St. Petersburg, Rostov, Ekaterinburg and Tomsk.

OHCHR’s programme in Russia has four major themes: the rule of law, equality and tolerance, education and information on human rights and the mainstreaming of human rights within the UN Country Team in the Russian Federation. The senior human rights adviser was deployed to
Moscow in March of last year to oversee the OHCHR programme in the region.

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Press release
5 October 2009

Teaching about Religions in European School Systems - Policy issues and trends

Wed, 7 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Luce Pépin, 2009, Network of European Foundations (NEF), 92 p.

This study was prepared within the framework of the "Religion and Democracy in Europe" Initiative of the Network of European Foundations (NEF). It provides an overview of the diversity of approaches in place in the European Union as far as teaching about religions in schools is concerned. While confessional education remains the most widespread approach, non-confessional and pluri-religious teaching, as well as teaching about “religious facts” seems to be gaining ground, in line with recommendations adopted at European level. The study identifies key issues and challenges facing EU education systems if teaching about religions is to contribute effectively to intercultural and citizenship education. It proposes a European reference framework on the conditions for high-quality intercultural teaching about religions and other convictions in state education.

The study is accessible in English and French on the NEF website: www.nefic.org

Human Rights Education in the School Systems of Europe, Central Asia and North America: A Compendium of Good Practice

Mon, 5 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100

This publication collects 101 exemplary practices from Europe, North America and Central Asia in the area of human rights education, education for democratic citizenship, and education for mutual respect and understanding.

The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR), the Council of Europe, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have jointly published Human Rights Education in the School Systems of Europe, Central Asia and North America: A Compendium of Good Practice.

Launched on 2 October at the annual OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw (Poland), the collection contributes to the national implementation of the World Programme for Human Rights Education, a global initiative of the United Nations General Assembly.

The full version of the compendium, including numerous examples of teaching materials, will be available both online and on CD-Rom in December.

Source: HREA website

A review of outcomes from the 2nd Alliance of Civilizations Forum

Fri, 2 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100

On 6-7 April 2009, almost 2000 people gathered in the capital of Turkey, Istanbul, for the 2nd Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations. Heads of government. Ministers and policy-makers. Business leaders and philanthropists. Civil society activists. Religious leaders. Journalists. Thinkers and scholars. Young people.

Over two days, lively debate stretched from dawn to dusk. Political leaders interacted with Forum participants from all walks of life. And through the dozens of workshops, presentations and breakfast meetings, a dialogue took place about a vision. A vision of a world in which different faiths and cultures could not only live side by side in peace, but be brought together for the good of all humanity. More...

The Istanbul Forum Report

A short film about the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations

The EWC congratulates Thorbjørn Jagland as new CoE Secretary General

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Thorbjørn Jagland has been elected as the new Secretary General of the Council of Europe. He enters his new position October 1, 2009.

Thorbjørn Jagland (born 1950) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He served as the Norwegian Prime Minister from 1996-1997 and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2000-2001. Since 2005 he has been the President of the Norwegian Parliament (Stortinget).

Mr. Jagland was one of the keynote speakers at the EWC Inauguration in May this year.

"In Europe, society exists for the sake of the individual. Not the other way around. This is the essence of our democracies. No European state can use its citizens as tools for religious or political ideologies. These are our fundamental values. They go beyond the individual country’s national cultural characteristics, and they bind us together. That is the heart of Europe". Jagland at the EWC Inauguration conference, May 2009.

Norway’s Foreign Minister welcomes election of Mr. Thorbjørn Jagland to Council of Europe top position Press Release, 29th September, 2009

Pestalozzi Seminar in Oslo; Pictures and Seminar Brief available

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0100

From September 21-25, history teachers from 13 different countries such as Georgia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Portugal and Slovenia gathered in Oslo to discuss and analyze the image of the other in history lessons. The seminar is the first European Seminar in the Council of Europe Pestalozzi Program, and co-organized with The European Wergeland Centre. The sessions were facilitated by Fabio Del Cavallo, Tahany Shemeis and Klaus Edel.

By providing excerpts from their countries’ text books, images used in the text books, and also images of themselves, the 20 participants and the facilitators deconstructed and discussed stereotypes, biases and prejudices represented in the different contributions. Starting with the personal images, the participants were confronted with what others interpret and read from a specific setting, posture etc.

After dealing with the personal images, the participants went on to work with the text book images and text excerpts. Group work with following plenary sessions and discussions were meant to enhance the teachers’ competences in dealing with the image of the other, both when it comes to first impressions of yourself and the people around you, and also when digging deeper into a specific text and/or subject. In this seminar, the focus was on the Cold War, 1989 and the years 1967/68.

During the seminar, the groups also chose a concrete history book text to work with and rewrite, to get rid of stereotypes and biases. The groups later designed a 30 minute lesson about one of the three focus areas, and taught the rest of the participants, using discussions, film clips, printed images and texts.

It was an intense week for the participants, but the feedback given to the facilitators and the EWC proved that the sessions were of great value for the teachers and that they had a good experience in Oslo.

The Official Seminar Report will soon be available here.

The European Language Gazette

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The European Language Gazette is an online newsletter keeping you up to date with news about ECML events, projects and resources as well as developments in the Language Policy Division and other relevant sectors of the Council of Europe´s work.

The Gazette is published two times a year in Summer/Autumn and in Winter.

Norway has submitted its UPR report to the UN Human Rights Council

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Established in 2006 by the UN General Assembly, the Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the UN system made up of 47 States responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe.

The Council produces a Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism which assess the human rights situations in all 192 UN Member States once every four years. The UPR is a State-driven process, under the auspices of the Human Rights Council, which provides the opportunity for each State to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to fulfil their human rights obligations. As one of the main features of the Council, the UPR is designed to ensure equal treatment for every country when their human rights situations are assessed.

The UPR is one of the key elements of the new Council which reminds States of their responsibility to fully respect and implement all human rights and fundamental freedoms. The ultimate aim of this new mechanism is to improve the human rights situation in all countries and address human rights violations wherever they occur.

Norway is one of the 47 states part of the Council, and has has submitted its national report which examines how Norway has followed up its human rights obligations. It sets out the results achieved and examples of good practice, as well as challenges and difficulties that Norway is facing: “… a good opportunity to undertake a general, critical review of the human rights situation in Norway…” (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway - website).

Excerpts from the Norwegian report:

Human rights education :
"Education and training in human rights is a prerequisite for promoting and protecting human rights. Norway does not currently have an overview over courses, teacher qualifications and implementation of such education, or knowledge of the extent to which personnel in key professions have sufficient operational competence to identify possible human rights violations…”

"... In cooperation with the Council of Europe, Norway established the Wergeland Centre for Inter-cultural Understanding, Human Rights and Democratic Citizenship in 2008. The Centre will function as a European resource centre for education in these fields."

Democratic governance of schools

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Pestalozzi Seminar in Oslo

November 16-20 2009

Target group:

Heads of schools, deputy heads or administrators of schools (age group 6 -14)

Focus of the training activity:

This training seminar will focus on how to promote a democratic culture in and throughout school. The manual developed by the Council of Europe will be used to see how to assess the current state of democratic culture and governance in the school and how to go about further developing and improving it. While the role of the school head is crucial, democratic culture and governance needs the active contribution of all concerned: pupils, teachers, parents and other community actors.

The participants will share and exchange their concrete practices and work together to find ways of enhancing these practices. Participants must be able to sustain professional communication in the working language (English) of the seminar.

Expected results:

After the seminar the participants will be better equipped to

    * assess the state of their school's democratic culture
    * identify appropriate actions to further develop democracy and to implement change
    * understand similarities and differences in school governance across Europe
    * establish beneficial cooperation and exchange in a Pestalozzi network of school heads

General approach and framework:
The general aim of the training activities of the Pestalozzi Programme is to train education professionals to become multipliers for Council of Europe standards and values in education.

Deadline for application: October 9, 2009

Candidates must send their application form duly completed to the National Liaison Officer of their country of residence who will forward them to the Secretariat of the Pestalozzi Programme.

Travel (within Europe) and accommodation costs will be covered by the Council of Europe and the European Wergeland Centre.

Venue: Thon Hotel Slottsparken, Wergelandsveien 5, 0166 OSLO, NORWAY

Number of available places:

28 participants from the signatory States to the European Cultural Convention
3 participants from the Anna-Lindh Foundation

More...

Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in the new Europe

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Oslo University College, together with the University of Oslo and the Center for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities, has invited the distinguished anthropologist and historian Prof. Matti Bunzl (University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign) to give a series of lectures in Oslo; 16., 18., 21. September. The European Wergeland Centre is participating in this event, and EWC’s Research Coordinator Claudia Lenz will be giving a presentation.

Matti Bunzl specializes in the modern history and culture of Central Europe, with particular research interests in Jewish history, the history of gender and sexuality, nationalism, ethnicity, and memory. Additional interests include the history of anthropology, historical ethnography, and the intersection of history, literature, and culture. He is the author of the books:

Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia: Hatreds Old and New in Europe. Chicago: Prickly Paradigm Press/University of Chicago Press, 2007.
Symptoms of Modernity: Jews and Queers in Late-Twentieth-Century Vienna. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004.

Matti Bunzl received his doctorate from the University of Chicago in 1998. He teaches courses on the history of anthropology and the history and culture of modern Jewry. He is also the director of the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities.

The event and lectures are open to all interested in this topic. The lectures will be given in English.

16.09.09. 09.30-12.30 The Center for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities,Bygdøy: Huk Aveny 56. Islamophobia and Anti-semitism in the New Europe. Lecture by Prof. Bunzl followed by panel discussions; Prof. Arne Johan Vetlesen (UiO), Prof. Christhard Hoffmann (UiO), Professor Irene Levin (HiO), 1. amanuensis Pål Veiden (HiO) and Dr. Göran Larsson (Gøteborgs Universitet). More...

18.09.09. 13.00-15.00 Oslo University College: Auditorium PA 113, Pilestredet 46 (P46). Islamophobia and Anti-semitism in the New Europe. Lecture by Prof. Bunzl. Introductory presentation by rector Sissel Østberg (HiO) and Claudia Lentz, Research Coordinator, The European Wergeland Centre More...

18.09.09. 19.00-21.00. Wergeland, Litteraturhuset, Oslo, Wergelandsveien 27. Islamofobi og antisemittisme i det nye Europa, A conversation between Sindre Bangstad 1.amanuensis at the Oslo University College, and Prof. Matti Bunzl. More...

21.09.09. 14.15-16.00. Harriet Holters Hus, Room 201, Universitety of Oslo. Political Theology and Its Discontents: Some Thoughts on Secularism and Sovereignity in Europe. Lecture by Prof. Matti Bunzl. More....

World Human Rights Moot Court Competition 9 December 2009, Pretoria, South Africa

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The United Nations celebrations of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 will this year include the staging of the first World Human Rights Moot Court Competition, organised with the support of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. All law faculties in the world are invited to participate. The theme of the problem to be argued will be ‘Discrimination’.

Participation in the Moot will be open to students from all institutions of higher learning in the world. The languages used for this event will be English and French.

The presiding judges in the final rounds in Pretoria will be High Commissioner Navi Pillay and judges from international tribunals and bodies such as the different regional human rights courts and UN human rights treaty bodies. Representatives from emerging human rights bodies such as ASEAN will also be invited.

The Competition is open to students who are undertaking a first degree in law. Participation in the competition is not restricted to law students, but it is expected that in most cases the teams participating in this event will be comprised of students who study law.

World Religions in Education; New on-line resource

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0100

If you’d like to know how to cater for a mixed faith gathering or why so many people today are vegetarians, help is at hand. For the first time ever, the Shap Working Party on Education in Religions has published its annual journal World Religions in Education directly on-line at www.shap.org (click on journals)– and the 2009 topic is Food, Faith and Community. This new e-journal includes a wide variety of free articles for teachers and others interested in learning more about religions and beliefs, with contributions from perspectives rarely found in conventional text books, for example Zoroastrian, Pagan, Bahá’i, Humanist, Orthodox Christian, as well as from the more familiar religions.

Also at www.shap.org: an audio-glossary of words from different traditions to help with pronunciation as well as definition; practical classroom ideas for primary teachers; the Shap advisory service; articles on topics from The Environment to Conflict and Reconciliation, from Diversity and Distinctiveness to Human Rights and Responsibilities…

Notes for editors

For more information about the 2009 e-journal Food, Faith and Community, please see http://www.shapworkingparty.org.uk/journals/articles_0910/editorial.pdf or contact marilyn.mason@virgin.net.

To contact any of the authors of articles in the e-journal, please contact marilyn.mason@virgin.net.

For more about the Shap Working Party on Education in Religions, contact Chair Clive Lawton at clive@clivelawton.co.uk.

The establishment of a Regional Center in Africa which aims to strengthen good governance, democracy and human rights

Wed, 9 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Member States of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, a grouping of 11 African nations, have taken an historic step forward with the establishment of a Regional Center which aims to strengthen good governance, democracy and human rights.

The Regional Center for Democracy, Good Governance, Human Rights and Civic Education is based in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka. It is the first project to be financed by the signatories (Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia) to the Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes Region.

The Pact signed in 2004 committed those nations to finding lasting peace and security in the Great Lakes Region through shared growth and development and common strategies.

Describing the Center as an “African symbol for justice, good governance and moral authority”, Ambassador Liberata Mulamula, the Executive Secretary of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, said, “The Center will be vital for transforming the governance structures in the region in the long-term to base them on the rule of law and the realization of human rights for all.”

Without inclusive democracy and an efficient justice system there could not be long-term investment and development. Ambassador Mulamula said resolutions to the conflicts in the region must be accompanied by a justice process. “Our next generations,” she said, “have a right to the truth… the basis for building our future together.”

The Center will fulfill its mandate through research, training, monitoring and reporting and the facilitation of dialogue and consultation. Ambassador Mulamula noted also that the Center through its regional and international relationships will develop an Early Warning System which allows the possibility of linking technical reports to political intervention at the highest level through Foreign Ministers and Heads of States.

Speaking at the opening of the Center, Bacre Waly Ndiaye, Director of the Human Rights Council and Treaties Division of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said, “The Center demonstrates the strong commitment of the region to promote and protect human rights and good governance.”

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has contributed to the project from its inception through the support and advice of a Regional Human Rights Adviser. The Adviser has mobilised technical and financial assistance for the setting up of the Human Rights Observatory, a critical part of the Center. The Observatory will monitor and analyse the situation on the ground, share information with other institutions in the region and feed assistance and advice into a system aimed at solving existing conflicts and mobilising rapid joint action at the highest level. The Adviser will also play a part in forging links with OHCHR’s Regional Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Yaoundé, central Africa.

OHCHR Press release
4 September 2009

Moscow Conference - Report now available

Thu, 3 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The Council of Europe organized, in co-operation with the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (PFUR), a conference on “Universities as Actors of Intercultural Dialogue in Wider Society”, which was held in Moscow on 2-3 June 2009. The conference focused on the role of higher education in promoting intercultural dialogue in the wider society, i.e. outside the boundaries of the institution.

The EWC Executive Director, Ana Perona-Fjeldstad took part in this conference. She gave a presentation of the European Wergeland Centre and its forthcoming activities.

The conference was part of the project “The University between Humanism and Market: Redefining Its Values and Functions for the 21^st Century”, which was launched in November 2007.

Conference Report

IAU International Conference 2009

Wed, 2 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The International Association of Universities and Notre Dame University – Louaize are jointly organizing the 2009 IAU International Conference on The Role of Higher Education in Fostering the Culture of Dialogue and Understanding. It will be held at and hosted by Notre Dame University – Louaize in Lebanon, on November 4-6, 2009.

How can higher education institutions maximize the benefits of diversity by creating a culture of appreciation for other perspectives, traditions and points of view? What challenges, or even risks, will universities face when they chose to promote the culture of dialogue and understanding locally and globally?

Visit the conference website for more information.

The British Journal of Religious Education

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Professor Robert Jackson, Editor of the British Journal of Religious Education, published by Routledge, is delighted to announce that the journal has been selected for inclusion in both the Social Sciences Citation Index® (SSCI) and the Arts & Humanities Citation Index® (A&HCI) from 2008 onwards.

The Social Sciences Citation Index® and the Arts and Humanities Citation Index®, accessed via Web of Science®, use “100% objective journal selection standards: Content is carefully evaluated and selected, meeting high standards in areas such as impact, influence, timeliness, peer review, and geographic representation. These standards assure users of superior results that cannot be matched by a free search engine or less selective database.“ – Thomson Reuters

The recent inclusion of British Journal of Religious Education reflects the high quality of articles published in the Journal and marks an important milestone in its continued development.

The journal publishes articles on religious education from around the world, many of them relating to themes such as citizenship education, intercultural education, human rights education and peace education.

For more information about the Journal, including information on how to submit an article, visit the British Journal of Religious Education homepage at: www.tandf.co.uk/journals/BJRE

Draft Declaration on human rights education and training

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The UN Human Rights Council's Advisory Committee was held from 3-7 August 2009. The following is a brief report on human rights education and training dealt with at this session.

This report would be useful particularly for civil society actors for updating the information on the drafting process of a UN declaration on human rights education and training.

On the first day, the Advisory Committee elected and appointed by consensus the new bureau members as follows:

Chairperson: Ms. Halima Embarek Warzazi (Morocco -2012)
Rapporteur: Mr. Latif Huseynovn (Azerbaijan, -2011)

Vice-Chairpersons:
- Mr. José Antonio Bengoa Cabello (Chile, -2010)
- Ms Purificacion V. Quisumbing (Philippines, -2011)
- Mr. Jean Ziegler (Switzerland, 2012)

( ) = Nationality and the Advisory Committee membership term (The Advisory Committee members are individual experts in personal capacity and independent from the government of their nationality.)

Human rights education and training was listed on Agenda Item 3 (a) of the third session. Its discussion started in the late afternoon of the first day, 3 August, by the Drafting Group on human rights education and training of the Advisory Committee. This Drafting Group is comprised by six Advisory Committee members (Mr. Seetulsingh has joined recently):

- Mr. Emmanuel Decaux (France, -2011)
- Mr. Hèctor Felipe Fix Fierro (Mexico, -2011)
- Mr. Vladimir Kartashkin (Russian Federation, -2010)
- Ms Purificacion V. Quisumbing (Philippines, -2011)
- Mr. Dheerujlall Seetulsingh (Mauritius, -2011)
- Ms. Halima Embarek Warzazi (Morocco -2012) (Ms. Warzazi is the Chair and Mr. Décaux is the Rapporteur of this Drafting Group.)

The Drafting Group took 1 hour (5-6 p.m.) for the initial discussion on the subject on 3 August open to the public, while the Advisory Committee plenary was closed at 5 p.m. On the following day, the whole morning meeting of the plenary focused on this subject and concluded this Agenda Item 3 (a).

During the discussion on this subject, which was intensive, the level of participation was much higher than the 1st and 2nd sessions of the Advisory Committee.

POINTS OF DISCUSSION IN SUMMARY:

- Responses from various stakeholders to the questionnaires on the draft declaration were well considered and referred in the discussion.

- A number of concrete elements on this subject gathered at the Expert Seminar in Marrakech, Morocco, held for 15-17 July, were highlighted in the feedback debriefing presented by the Rapporteur of the Drafting Group, Mr. Decaux and in the discussion.

- A preliminary framework with basic elements of the first draft of the declaration was presented as was contained in the "working document" A/HRC/AC/3/CRP.4. This document also contains general analysis of the responses received by the Advisory Committee to the questionnaires on the draft declaration. The NGO joint written statement submitted to the March session of the Human Rights Council with 365 signatories of civil society organizations was specifically remarked in the footnote within this working document.

- While the official version of the working paper was only in French, the preliminary framework of the first draft was extracted into an informal English translation and distributed to the participants on site at the session of the Advisory Committee. However, so far only the French version is officially available for other stakeholders and general public.

- This working document (French for the time being) and other documents relevant to the drafting of a declaration on human rights education and training dealt at the Advisory Committee can be found at the Advisory Committee website:
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/advisorycommittee/session3/documentation.htm
(Documents include written statements submitted by HREA, Amnesty International and ICC respectively.) and http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/advisorycommittee/HR_education_training.htm

- The working document received many comments during the discussion. Above all, it was wished that an official English translation of the entire document be available as soon as possible so that all stakeholders (including the Advisory Committee members, governments and civil society actors) will be able to study it.

- The right to HRE approach was generally welcomed but duty bearers and rights holders were still in question.

- Regarding the definition, relevant references are collected at this stage based on which the definition will be formulated at a later stage, including relation with the right to education

- If human rights education and training is relevant enough with the entire criminal justice system including domains of international humanitarian law, this aspect may need to be integrated in the draft declaration.

- Formal, non-formal and informal education should be envisaged and people of all ages as well.

- Monitoring system by a declaration is an uncertain element. Procedure and a monitoring body may be involved. Treaty bodies may be linked. This is to be further considered.

- Marginalised and vulnerable groups of people should be part of it.

- The level of imposing obligations upon States by a declaration needs to be carefully considered.

- The role of National Human Rights Institutions is clearly important. Relevant provisions should be further elaborated. (On 4 August, a parallel meeting by ICC and OHCHR was held on the role of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) and the draft declaration. Speakers included representatives from NHRIs from Morocco and South Korea to present their relevance to human rights education and training.)

- At the end of the third session, a revised version of the working document became available (5th version), A/HRC/AC/3/CRP.4/Corr.1, in French only and to be translated into other UN official language(s) later.

NGOs TOOK THE FLOOR:

During the plenary on this subject in the morning of 4 August, in addition to the Advisory Committee members and governments, the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (ICC) made an oral statement (by Advisory Council on Human Rights of Morocco).

From NGOs, 5 oral statements were made including one jointly presented by Soka Gakkai International (SGI), International Organization for the Right to Education and Freedom of Education (OIDEL) and Human Rights Education Associates (HREA). This statement reflects the discussions facilitated by the NGO Working Group on Human Rights Education and Learning in Geneva and the discussions of HREA network, which emphasized the need for ensuring reflection of the views of civil society, particularly with regard to the preliminary framework of the first draft contained in the working document and provided a list of non-exhaustive/minimum comments on the working document of the French version.

ADVISORY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

The Advisory Committee adopted proposals/ recommendations on several subjects of the agenda items, including the drafting process of the declaration, for submission to the Human Rights Council. They will be added to the final version of the Report of the Advisory Committee on its Third Session (A/HRC/AC/3/L.7) which is not completed yet as of today.

The relevant recommendations in the adopted document read as follows:

(...)
6. Requests the drafting group to continue its consultations with all stakeholders regarding the preliminary text with a view to submitting a draft version of the declaration to the Advisory Committee at its fourth session; 7. Considers it essential that a meeting between the Special Rapporteur on the right to education and the members of the drafting group be hosted by the High Commissioner at, financial resources permitting, the earliest possible opportunity; 8. Also desires that a representative of the drafting group be invited to participate, in an appropriate manner and within available financial resources, in the meeting of treaty bodies to be held in December 2009 so that formal consultations on this project may be undertaken;
(...)

THE DRAFTING PROCESS - AUGUST 2009- March 2010 and CIVIL SOCIETY

The drafting process to follow must be understood by all stakeholders.

- The 5th revised version of the working document A/HRC/AC/3/CRP.4/Corr.1 is expected to be translated into English at least in due course and be available for public access on the Advisory Committee website.

- According to the concluding remarks of the third session of the Advisory Committee and the Drafting Group, all stakeholders are counted on to provide further comments on the basic framework of the first draft contained in the working document. Such comments can be communicated directly to both:
Advisory Committee secretariat (hrcadvisorycommittee@ohchr.org) and
Rapporteur Mr. Decaux (emm.decaux@wanadoo.fr)

- According to the Rapporteur, the comments communicated will be considered for further progress in preparation of the first draft toward March 2010, but there are no specific procedural modalities apart from the information above.

- The first draft of the declaration is expected to be prepared at the 4th session of the Advisory Committee scheduled for 1 week in January 2010.

- The first draft, after that, will be submitted to the Human Rights Council March session in 2010 for further consideration.

- For the time being, the Agenda Items of the 12th session of the Human Rights Council in September 2009 has no specific item to deal with the draft declaration process. Next important step, if not Human Rights Council September session (unclear yet), is the Advisory Committee session in January 2010. Through the whole process, communications of views and comments from all stakeholders on the above-mentioned working document of the Advisory Committee will be very important contributions in order to make the content of the first draft truly meaningful.

Kazunari Fujii
Soka Gakkai International
Chair, NGO Working Group on Human Rights Education and Learning of the CoNGO (Conference of NGOs with Consultative Relationship with the UN)
Geneva

Parliamentary Assembly celebrates its 60 years

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Sixty years ago, 100 members of parliament from twelve European countries – including some of the great founding fathers of the European movement – gathered in the main lecture theatre of the University of Strasbourg for the first ever meeting of the “Consultative Assembly” (soon to become the Parliamentary Assembly) of the Council of Europe, the organisation which had been signed into existence in London only three months earlier to “forge closer ties” among its ten founding nations.

During 18 sittings, held over nearly a month during that historic summer, they debated with grave conviction how to reconcile and reconstruct a Europe still emerging from war yet facing new division, launched the astonishing concept of a universal Court to protect human rights, and gave to the citizens of Europe – for the first time – a unified voice in the great affairs of state.

On the eve of the 60th anniversary of the first meeting of the Assembly, that took place on 10th August 1949, its President, Lluís Maria de Puig recalls that the work of the Council of Europe and its Assembly as the ''conscience of Europe'' is far from over. ''I am among those who consider the Organisation’s record as very positive.'' The Council of Europe ''has successfully conducted a highly ambitious political project, bringing together under the same roof, around the same values, all the countries of a continent with a wide range of histories, cultures, languages and traditions,'' he declared. (more ...)

Commemorative webpage

CoE 2009 Exchange on the Religious dimension of intercultural dialogue

Wed, 5 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0100

“Teaching religious and convictional facts – a tool for acquiring knowledge about religions and beliefs in education; A contribution to education for democratic citizenship, human rights and intercultural dialogue”

Presentations:

SecCM/Inf(2009)8E / 29 June 2009 Recommendation CM/Rec(2008)12 on the dimension of religions and non-religious convictions within intercultural education: from principles to implementation - Educational policies - Presentation by César Birzea
SecCM/Inf(2009)7E / 29 June 2009 Council of Europe - Exchange 29/30 June 2009 - “Education for understanding religions and non-religious convictions: bases] and pointers for living together as citizens - Teaching about religions and non-religious convictions in diverse socio-cultural contexts: tools and practices as contributions to a mutually supportive society” - Presentation by Peter Schreiner
SecCM/Inf(2009)6E / 29 June 2009 "Religious Diversity And Intercultural Education" - Presentation by John Keast
SecCM/Inf(2009)5E / 29 June 2009 "Policies and practices for teaching socio cultural diversity - Initial and in-service training of educational staff: organization, content and methods" - Presentation by Angelos Vallianatos (Anglais uniquement)
SecCM/Inf(2009)4E / 29 June 2009 "Recommendation CM/Rec(2008)12 on the dimension of religion and non-religious convictions within intercultural education: From the framing of educational policies to their implementation in schools (and other educational contexts)" - Presentation by Dr Micheline Rey, Geneva
SecCM/Inf(2009)3 / 29 June 2009 Rencontre 2009 sur la dimension religieuse du dialogue interculturel - Introduction par les Co-Présidents de la Rencontre et par le Secrétariat: 1. Discours introductif par l'Ambassadeur Bellatti Ceccoli - 2. Opening statement by Ambassador Oldenburg - 3. Discours introductif par Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni

UNICEF wants to see what you think about children's rights!

Mon, 3 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0100

It’s the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In 1989, world leaders decided that children needed a special convention just for them because people under 18 years old are often neglected in the human rights debate. The leaders wanted to make sure that the world recognized that children have human rights too. As a result, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was developed. It is the world’s most widely ratified human rights treaty. It spells out the basic human rights that children everywhere have: the right to survival; to develop to the fullest; to protection from harmful influences, abuse and exploitation; and to participate fully in family, cultural and social life.

Take a look at the CRC leaflet (PDF) and think about what it means to you. Then make a video showing what child rights mean to you, whether it be in the world at large, your country or your community. Maybe there is an example of how children’s rights are not being fulfilled. Or maybe you want to show a situation where children are getting the rights they deserve. Tell us what you think.

The winning video will be used in the CRC’s 20th anniversary celebration and made available for broadcast around the world for the 2010 The International Children’s Day of Broadcasting.

Video content must be related to children’s rights, either by illustrating one of the rights or referencing children’s rights as a whole. Videos must capture the mission of Voices of Youth - to promote and protect every child’s right to know more, say more and do more about the world they live in.

Eligibility

-UNICEF welcomes videos in all languages; however, for videos not in English, please provide an English language transcript of the script or summary

-All videos must be 1 minute in length

-Participants must be below 25 years of age

Deadline: 30 August 2009.

Read the full eligibility criteria and submission guidelines at:
http://www.unicef.org/voy/takeaction/takeaction_4440.html

Course in Human Rights Leadership Development

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Course description

The Human Rights Leadership Development Training course aims to develop a comprehensive experience of human rights learning by equipping potential human rights educators, advocates, activists, students, volunteers, and law enforcement officers with knowledge and skills to Integrate knowledge in the fields of politics, economics, cultural diversity, gender issues and socio-psychology in the context of human rights.

The program will further equip participants with skills for better understanding of the concepts of human rights learning and leadership development. This course will also provide the participants with a concrete step-by-step approach including hints and guidelines for developing and implementing a successful human rights project in their organisation and communities.

Benefits

The overall objective of this course is to provide participants with an introduction to the concept of human rights, design and implementation of successful human rights learning in their organisation and communities. Participants will be empowered to advocate for their basic, human rights and develop leadership skills. The course can be used to establish or strengthen human rights policies and practices both in the public and private sector.

The maximum number of course participants is 30. Participants who successfully complete the course will receive a Certificate of Participation.

Additional Features

· Online, interactive, self-paced and self-learning modules.
· Surveys and tests to test your knowledge and understanding before and after the test.
· Opportunity to post comments, assignment answers, live chat etc.

The course is aimed at human rights educators, advocates, activists, law enforcement officers, lawyers, women activists, programs managers, research officers, leaders and members of coalitions and networks, staff of NGOs and CBOs, donor agency program officers, volunteers, development actors, trainers, students, ministry of Justice officials, government officials etc. Furthermore, every opportunity will be taken for joint learning events for participants and GHRLTI staff. Candidates should have a good written command of English language and high competence and comfort with computer and Internet usage.

Cost

The course tuition fee is USD300. There is a limited amount of partial scholarships available for this course for applicants from developing countries and newly independent states, based on financial need.

Location: Online

Application Procedure

The deadline for application is 7th August 2009. While full tuition payment is due on 10th August 2009. However, applications will be accepted on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Inquiries about the course may be sent to: applications@justicegroup.org.

Brian Pearce awarded honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Warwick University

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Brian Pearce, newly retired director of the Interfaith Network for the
UK, was July 15th awarded the honorary Doctor of Laws degree at the
Warwick University degree congregation.

Mr Pearce served in the civil service from 1959 to 1986, and was
director for the Inter Faith Network for the UK since it was established
in 1987. The Inter Faith Network works at both local and national level
to foster inter-faith cooperation and understanding, and the network
brings together representatives from different religious organizations.

Mr Pearce has also had a long association with the Warwick Religions and
Education Research Unit (WRERU). Professor Robert Jackson, Director of
the WRERU and special adviser at the European Wergeland Centre, made the
ceremonial speech for Mr Pearce at the award ceremony. Professor Jackson
and Kjersti Toverud Klette, adviser at the European Wergeland Centre,
were guests at the award dinner.

EWC welcomes its Capacity Builder Coordinator!

Wed, 8 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Lars Gudmundson has a MA in History of Ideas and Political Sciences from the University of Oslo. He has wide experience from the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research and the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training that relates specifically to the Centre's main objectives: intercultural understanding, human rights and democratic citizenship. He was secretary of the "Bogstad committee" which reformed the Norwegian Education Act in 2006.

He has actively worked with issues concerning curricula and education about religion, as well as strategy plans promoting democratic citizenship in schools, and been responsible for developing guidance material for teachers as part of the "Knowledge Promotion Reform".

Lars starts working for EWC in September.

EWC's newly appointed Research Coordinator starts in August

Tue, 7 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Claudia Lenz has a PhD in Political Science, from the University of Hamburg. Her research is in the fields of history cultures and didactics of history, focusing on social and political in- and exclusion and the conditions for active democratic citizenship. She has researched on how historical learning in intercultural settings can promote democratic competences and the inclusion of minorities in the democratic negotiation of past and present issues.

She has worked at the Center for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities in Oslo dealing with issues of Human Rights education – especially related to processes of reconciliation and political transformation, which accompany the process of European integration in many member and aspirant states. She has conducted research in the context of international comparative projects. Networking on a national, Scandinavian and European level has been a relevant part of her work and has resulted in conferences, publications and research applications (latest within the European Commission’s FP7). She has experience as an educator in the field of adult education in Germany. Claudia Lenz starts at the EWC in August.

Conference Report Now Available

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Over 140 representatives from 35 countries met in Oslo on 28-29 May 2009 to celebrate with us the establishment of the European Wergeland Centre, taking part in the Opening Conference.

Speakers included the CoE Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg, the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre, the CoE Director General of Education, Culture and Heritage Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni, President of the Norwegian Parliament Thorbjørn Jagland, the Director of the Norwegian Institute of Foreign Affairs Jan Egeland and the Polish Deputy Minister of National Education Krzysztof Stanowski.

Download Conference Report

Available Presentations:

Thorbjørn Jagland, President of Parliament, Norway

H.E. Daryal Batibay, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Turkey to the Council of Europe, Member of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe

Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Norway

Jan Egeland, Director, Norwegian Institute of Foreign Affairs

Robert Jackson, Director, Warwick Religious and Education Research Unit, University of Warwick, United Kingdom

Loveleen Rihel Brenna, President of the National Parents' Association for Primary and Lower Secondary Education, EWC Board Member, Norway

Hanne Sophie Greve, Justice, Vice Chair EWC Board, Norway

Nils A. Butenschøn, Director, Centre for Human Rights, Norway

Said Al-Kitani, Acting Permanent Representative for the Sultanate of Oman at UNESCO Headquarters, Oman

Krzysztof Stanowski, Deputy Minister of National Education, Ministry of National Education, Poland

Jean Pierre Boyer, Secretary General, French National Commission to UNESCO, France

Human Rights Internship

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The Human Rights and Governance Grants Program (HRGGP) and the Scholarship Programs of the Open Society Institute announce the Human Rights Internship.

The Open Society Institute (OSI) Human Rights Internship is intended to attract recent graduates of Masters and LL.M. programs in the social sciences, law, and humanities to the human rights sector, giving them the opportunity to gain first-hand research experience in the field of human rights, government accountability, or penal reform.

Successful candidates receive a locally determined stipend and the opportunity to work in one of the leading human rights and accountability advocacy organizations in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The program is designed to benefit both the intern and the host organization. Internships are envisioned to last from 6 to 12 months, depending on the research topic and scope. For the upcoming year, OSI will support up to 10 internships.

Eligible candidates must fulfill the following three requirements:
1. Be the recipient of an OSI fellowship from the Network Scholarship Program, or a graduate of the Central European University's Human Rights Program or Comparative Constitutional Law Program.
2. Have graduated in the past three years from LL.M. or MA studies in the social sciences, law or humanities.
3. Be a citizen of a country from Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, or Mongolia.

Deadlines
- Contact potential hosting NGOs: Monday, August 31, 2009.
- Final Internship Application: Submit by Thursday, October 1, 2009.

For host organizations and to apply, please visit the following link:
http://www.soros.org/initiatives/hrggp/focus_areas/internship.

Training history teachers to deal with the image of the other in history lessons

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0100

1. Seminar in Oslo: 21-25 September 2009

"Training history teachers to deal with the image of the other in history lessons"

The Pestalozzi Programme offers a unique opportunity to support the move from policy to action, from recommendations and standards to real change in the day-to-day practice of teaching and learning.

General approach and framework:

The general aim of the training activities of the Pestalozzi Programme is to train education professionals to become multipliers for Council of Europe standards and values in education.

The work is based on three main pillars :

Content: standards and principles as well as project results of the Council of Europe

Methodology: learner-centered, peer-training, collaborative work on issues of common concerns to find fit solutions for diverse contexts

Four-fold concept of competences development: developing sensitivity and awareness, knowledge and understanding, individual practice, societal practice

Related Council of Europe Project:

Project: History teaching, web site

Documents: Results and information documents on the project “The image of the other”; Teacher training materials developed in the Pestalozzi Modules (EDC,Intercultural education, History teaching (forthcoming), Linguistic and cultural diversity (forthcoming)

Date: 21/09/2009 – 25/09/2009

Deadline for application:15/08/2009

Working language: English

Venue: Thon Hotel Slottsparken, Wergelandsveien 5, 0166 OSLO

Number of available places:

28 participants from the signatory States to the European Cultural Convention

3 participants from the Anna-Lindh Foundation

More...

Pestalozzi Programme Website

Master of Arts in Human Rights and Conflict Management

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa, Italy, calls for applications for the VIII Edition Master of Arts in Human Rights and Conflict Management (a.y. 2009/2010).

Applications shall be submitted online at www.humanrights.sssup.it. In case of failure of the online application system, applications can be submitted via email to humanrights@sssup.it, using the relevant application form available on the MA website.

Applications for admission by EU citizens shall be sent no later than 1st October 2009.

The selection process of non-EU citizens will instead be held in two rounds. The application deadline for the first round of selection of non-EU candidates is set on 15th July 2009,while the application deadline for the second round is set on 15th September 2009.

We encourage applicants to apply in the first round, as space in the class may be limited by the second round. In addition, applying in the first round leaves more time for visa procedures.

KEY FACTS:

1 year post-graduate professionalizing programme

Language of instruction is English

Running from 11th Jan 2010 till Feb-March 2011

440 hours of classroom lectures (+ individual studying)
550 hours internship and final project work

The curriculum is strongly multidisciplinary and field oriented and includes courses in: International Law, International Humanitarian Law, International Human Rights Law, Geopolitics and regional issues in historical perspective, Philosophy of HR, Economic Development, Theories and Techniques of Conflict Management, International PK and PB operations, International HR Field operations, International Election Observation missions, International Humanitarian operations, International Project Development, Personal security, Preventive Medicine & First Aid, Career coaching.

The internship is meant to supplement the in-class training with a relevant hand-on experience, to be carried out with a renowned organization working in the areas of human rights protection/promotion, conflict prevention/resolution, humanitarian assistance or development, either in the field or at headquarters.

The tuition fee is 7 000 (seven thousand) Euros and includes: attendance of all lectures, didactic material, participation in seminars and field trips, tutorship & career counselling, access to the school's library and computers, lunch on lesson/exam days. Travel and accommodation costs are the responsibility of each participant.

The Master offers one scholarship, covering the full tuition fee, to be awarded to the EU citizen with the highest score in the list of selected participants.

Depending on financial availability a limited number of scholarships will be made available to citizens from non-OECD countries who are eligible for release of a visa for Italy. They will be awarded on the basis of merit, and might cover part of the 7000 euros tuition fee, or the entire fee, or the fee plus some living expenses.

Depending on resources availability the Scuola might offer financial assistance towards internship expenses to participants who are citizens of EU countries.

For further details, please visit www.humanrights.sssup.it or contact:

Master of Arts in Human Rights and Conflict Management
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna
Masters and Training Programmes Division
Via Cardinale Maffi, 27 56126 Pisa - ITALY
Tel. +39 050 882653/5
Fax +39 050 882633
E-mail: humanrights@sssup.it
Web: www.humanrights.sssup.it
Contact person: Ms Alessia Lenci (MA Tutor)

EWC Staff Member met Tony Blair: Launching the Face to Faith Programme

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0100

From left: Professor Robert Jackson, Director of WRERU, Institute of Education, University of Warwick and Professor of Religious Diversity and Education at the European Wergeland Centre, Oslo (advising on this and other Tony Blair Faith Foundation educational activities, and conducting the evaluation of the Face to Faith programme), Tony Blair, Simmi Kher, Principal of The Indian Heights School in New Delhi, Mahdu Gupta, Chair of The Indian Heights School, Kanta Vadhera of the British Council India (extending Face to Faith across India) and Jo Malone, Head of Citizenship and PSHE, Westhoughton Technology College (Lead School of Face to Faith programme)

Face to Faith is designed to improve young people's religious literacy, which is a vital skill in an increasingly complex, global society. It also offers an authentic and meaningful environment in which students can develop key 21st century skills such as collaboration, communication, critical thinking and problem-solving.

Tony Blair said: “The Face to Faith programme provides students with a unique opportunity to interact across continents, to talk about their own faith, and learn more about other religions and cultures. It is only by discussing different cultural and religious perspectives that young people can build their awareness of the role of faith in today’s world.”

Designed by an international group of education experts and piloted with more than 1,000 students on three continents, Face to Faith uses video conferencing, an online community and a course syllabus to support encounter, exploration and exchange between young people of different faiths.

Face to Faith is being evaluated by a team of researchers from Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit led by Professor Robert Jackson, Professor of Education at the University of Warwick. Robert Jackson is also Professor of Religious Diversity and Education at the European Wergeland Centre, Oslo.

The programme has already been taken up by schools in India, Pakistan, Singapore, Lebanon, Palestinian Territories, Thailand, Indonesia, the US, the UK and Canada, who have recognised the programme’s potential to improve young people’s religious literacy, which is a vital skill in an increasingly complex, global society. Schools who have participated in the pilots are already reporting increased awareness by their students of the role of faith in today’s world as well as improved communication, critical thinking and problem-solving skills from collaborating with those of different faiths and cultures.

Annika Small, Director of Education, Tony Blair Faith Foundation: “Drawing on educational best practice, Face to Faith promotes active participation, collaboration and personal reflection which helps students to explore diversity both within and between religious traditions. By encouraging young people to enter into genuine dialogue with each other, Face to Faith leads students to a deeper understanding of their own beliefs and worldviews as well as those of others. The pilots have shown there is real enthusiasm for this sort of encounter and exchange within a structured framework, which supports collaborative learning and respect for difference.”

The Tony Blair Faith Foundation was founded by the Rt Honourable Tony Blair and launched in May 2008. The Foundation’s goal is to promote respect and understanding between the major religions, to make the case for faith as a force for good and to show this in action by encouraging inter-faith initiatives to bring people together to tackle global poverty and conflict.

It's Your Right!

Mon, 8 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0100

President of the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC),
Cathy Branson QC, said It's Your Right! has been developed by
the Commission in partnership with Adult Multicultural Education
Services (AMES) Victoria as a teaching resource about human rights
and responsibilities in Australia for adult learners.

It's Your Right! is a resource tailored to the needs of people who are
newly arrived in Australia and who are learning English as a second
language (ESL).

Newcomers to Australia often experience unfairness or discrimination in
their daily lives, either at work or in seeking accommodation, for
example, but are not aware of where they can go for help.

It's Your Right! teaches English and at the same time raises awareness
of human rights and equal opportunity laws in Australia that protect
people against unfair treatment and discrimination, Ms Branson said.

For full details visit the AHRC web-site

In his launch speech the Attorney-General also advised that he was
currently working with the Education Minister to ensure that human
rights education is promoted in Australia. And to that end, ensure it
forms part of the civics and citizenship curriculum for students of all
age groups in each State and Territory.

Human Rights Act for Australia Web

The EWC welcomes Professor Robert Jackson!

Fri, 29 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Robert Jackson has been appointed honorary Professor in Education and Religious Diversity at the European Wergeland Centre. Since 2002, Professor Jackson has been deeply involved in the work of the Council of Europe in relation to its work on the place of the education about religions and beliefs within intercultural, citizenship and human rights education across Europe.

He will help to establish links between the European Wergeland Centre, Oslo University College and the University of Warwick, where Professor Jackson is Director of Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit, based in the Warwick Institute of Education.

Professor Robert Jackson is a leading figure in international debates about religions and education in Europe and beyond.

Professor Jackson speaks regularly at international conferences on religious education and related fields. Last December he spoke about European research in religions and education at the Eurpean Parliament in Brussels and he recently gave a presentation at the second Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations, in Istanbul; Understanding the Religions and Worldviews of Others: the Alliance of Civilization's Goals and the Interpretive Approach

EWC Inauguration Gallery: Conference

Fri, 29 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The dinner at Akershus Castle was followed by a conference at Gamle Logen, Friday 29^thMay. High Officials attended this conference. It was an honor to have HRH Crown Princess Mette-Marit present during the Opening Session, but also national and international ministers, politicians, ambassadors and high level experts participated at the conference.

See the picture gallery from this fruitful and inspiring conference:

Photos by: Stine Østby and Leif Riksheim

EWC Inauguration Gallery: Akershus Castle

Thu, 28 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The EWC Inauguration celebration in Oslo started with a Welcome Reception at the Radisson SAS Hotel, followed by a formal dinner at the Akershus Castle, Thursday 28^thMay. The Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research was the host of this dinner.

See the picture gallery from this lovely evening at the beautiful Akershus Castle:

Photos by: Stine Østby and Leif Riksheim

Press coverage of the EWC

Wed, 27 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The Norwegian newspaper "Aftenposten" published an interview with the EWC Director Ana Perona Fjeldstad and other staff members in April, 2009. Norwegian text only
The EWC Executive Director Ana Perona-Fjeldstad, together with Ambassador Torbjørn Frøysnes, the Council of Europe Special Representative to the EU and Mr Gabriele Mazza, the Director of Education and Languages of the Council of Europe, held a press conference in Brussels in April this year:

- Unian Ukraine news-agency published an article about the European Wergeland Centre Download article

- ANP - Ararat News &Publishing published an article in relation to a press conference in Brussels, April 2008 More…

- The Italian site Comune di Cosenza published the article: SCUOLA:CONSIGLIO EUROPA, AL VIA CENTRO FORMAZIONE INSEGNANTI
The Mission of Norway to the European Union introduced the European Wergeland Centre in their newsletter in April Read More…
Also some local newspapers in Oslo have taken an interest in the EWC. The permanent location of the EWC will be at the Centre for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities (the HL-Centre). Read More (Norwegian only)

High Officials attending the EWC Inauguration Event: 28-29 May

Tue, 26 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The Ministry of Education and Research and The European Wergeland Centre, together with an external sponsor, organized the inauguration event for the Centre, which took place May 28-29 2009. The event began with an official dinner on May 28th followed by a conference on the 29th.

Conference theme:

"Building Bridges: Education for Intercultural Understanding, Human Rights and Democratic Citizenship, from Policy to Practice"

Well-known keynote speakers and panelists elaborated on different aspects of the mentioned themes.

For further information, please visit the conference website http://www.ewcoslo2009.com/