UNESCO Clearinghouse on GCED

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Global Citizenship Education: A Guide for Policymakers Year of publication: 2017 Author: Swee-Hin Toh | Gary Shaw | Danilo Padilla Corporate author: APCEIU In order to assist UNESCO Member States to integrate and strengthen Global Citizenship Education (GCED) in national education policies, strategies and plans to achieve SDG Target 4.7 effectively, the Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU) has developed and published Global Citizenship Education: A Guide for Policymakers (hereafter referred to as the Guide).The Guide is mainly divided into two parts. Part 1 provides an overview of GCED, including the following three sections: the background to GCED; the rationale for GCED; and the concept of GCED. In Part 2, various selection strategies which allow each country to incorporate GCED into its current education system aligned with its own priorities and context, were divided and suggested into five major policy areas as follow: policy review and development; curriculum review and development; capacity building; knowledge creation; sharing and dissemination; and monitoring and assessment.The Guide was first published in English and Korean and additional translations will be available in the future in other languages, including French and Arabic to provide access to more readers worldwide. We hope that the Guide will provide an opportunity for policymakers and practitioners to share their experiences and insights.

Education for international understanding: toward a culture of peace (SangSaeng vol1. autumn 2001) Year of publication: 2001 Author: Swee-Hin Toh Corporate author: APCEIU Over the past several decades of political, economic, social and cultural changes and developments throughout the world, the idea of education for international understanding (EIU) has evolved through the work of innumerable educators, researchers, institutions and organizations. Initially, the focus in school and tertiary programs tended to emphasize the need to increase the level of knowledge about other nations, societies and cultures as a key means to promote better, more “peaceful” international (economic and political) and intercultural relations. Especially in universities of the “North,” area studies of different regions and countries expanded and found their way into school-based curricula. In part, EIU was deemed important and helpful in the development of human resources needed to implement foreign aid programs. It was also a response to the increased internationalization of campuses due to the growing numbers of foreign/overseas students. By the 60s, however, a variety of social and political forces and movements were beginning to impact on this earlier focus of EIU. First, it was no longer viewed only in terms of understanding the relations between “nations” or “societies” across political and economic boundaries. EIU would need also to look closely at local and internal issues, and at problems of one’s own society that might significantly influence the direction and nature of international relations. Furthermore, conceptual perspectives on EIU began to reflect a spectrum of frameworks of understanding and analysis, from “conservative” and “liberal” to more “critical” paradigms. Underpinning the critical approaches was a questioning of the power inequities characterizing the international order of nation-states, and the need to overcome such gaps if the original vision of “world peace” was to be fulfilled. Third, the evolving theory and practice of EIU took on a host of societal, international and increasingly global issues deemed urgent at all levels of life.

Education for international understanding: a river flowing from the mountains (SangSaeng vol5. autumn 2002) Year of publication: 2002 Author: Swee-Hin Toh Corporate author: APCEIU EIU (Education for International Understanding) is a concept that has diverse sources and tributaries, much like a river that begins in the mountains and flows to the sea or ocean, enriched by innumerable ideas, perspectives and practices along its journey. However, unlike a river in one community or nation, this is a river that flows across the world encompassing the breadth and depth of civilizations, peoples and mother Earth. Although by designation EIU appears to have a “modern genealogy,” it is vital to recognize and to search for its roots in the ancient wisdoms of all civilizations, especially through the values and principles of well-being, dignity and good or virtuous relationships between and among all peoples, communities and societies. EIU has been catalyzed and developed by multiple individuals, organizations, agencies and movements, including educators, researchers, national/multilateral organizations (e.g. UN agencies), NGOs, people’s organizations (POs) and other civil society movements and advocates. EIU is simultaneously practiced in all modes of education (formal, non-formal and informal), but a challenge is to attain synergy across all the modes for optimal outcomes and sustainability.

Integrating education for sustainable development & education for international understanding: conceptual issues and pedagogical principles for teacher education to address sustainability Year of publication: 2006 Author: Swee-Hin Toh Corporate author: UNESCO Bangkok It is in this spirit that this essay seeks to “integrate” two active and expanding fields of 2 educational innovation and transformation worldwide, namely ESD (education for sustainable development or sustainability) and EIU (education for international understanding). The key conceptual issues and themes of both of these movements will be clarified and shared values and understandings highlighted. It will also be argued that both ESD and EIU , in order to effectively fulfill their goals of building a peaceful, just and sustainable world order, rests on some key common pedagogical principles and processes. Another introductory caveat is also essential here, namely the question of paradigm. Among policy-makers, theorists and practitioners, there may well be and often are distinct differences in conceptualization according to their paradigmatic interpretations, with consequently alternative implications for policies and practices.

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