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33 Results found
MTB-MLE: mother tongue-based multilingual education; lessons learned from a decade of research and practice Year of publication: 2014 Corporate author: UNESCO What role can language play in improving education for minority language communities? What are language rights? What place does Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education have in realizing other development goals?These important questions were addressed by the 4th International Conference on Language and Education. The conference brought together over 300 practitioners from 30 countries, reflecting the incredible diversity of the Asia-Pacific region and clearly demonstrating the importance of Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE). This brochure summarizes some of the key messages from this landmark event. Alternative bilingual Miskito-Spanish intercultural literacy education linked to the exercise of citizenship and community production Year of publication: 2008 Corporate author: Regional Literacy and CONFINTEA VI Preparatory Conference in Latin America and the Caribbean: From Literacy to Lifelong Learning: Towards the Challenges of the 21st Century, Mexico City, 2008 The Alternative Bilingual Intercultural Literacy Education project is carried out in five rural indigenous communities and eleven urban neighbourhoods of Bilwi (Puerto Cabezas) in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) of Nicaragua. In this region, illiteracy is the result of poverty, historical social exclusion and the lack of any official or State programme of adult literacy education in the Miskito language. This constitutes a negation of the right to bilingual intercultural education of the young and adult indigenous population and an obstacle to individual, social and regional development. The project provides literacy classes for young people and adults in their mother tongue Miskito and in Spanish, and deals with intercultural themes of their world view, the environment and indigenous rights. In Nicaragua, this experiment is a unique and alternative model of literacy provision in Miskito, with a Miskito-Spanish bilingual intercultural curriculum of its own. The texts have been produced by authors from the Miskito ethnic group, with contents determined on the basis of a needs analysis and the identification of fundamental features of the Miskito world view. 
Cultural aspects in Christian and Islamic religions Year of publication: 2011 Corporate author: UNESCO Beirut | Université Saint Joseph de Beyrouth This book allows the readers the opportunity to know about the cultural aspects related to religions, mainly in Lebanon and the Near East, their meaning and their aim. This knowledge will help the reader, firstly, to grasp the meaning of these various aspects, whether they concern him directly or the people who live in the same country, with whom he shares common space and living. Secondly, the book contributes to the Lebanese understanding one another’s behaviors and their own behavior concerning these aspects. Therefore, the book also contributes to the Lebanese looking at one another with more trust before starting to criticize. This book includes chapters that cover most of the different cultural aspects in Christian and Islamic religions. The first chapter deals with time, passing through each month of the year and its days, in a chronological manner. The second chapter delves into religious occasions in the Christian then Islamic religions. It explains the meaning of Holidays and remembrances of God and their particular aspects as well as the religious reasons of each. This chapter includes a part about al-‘awliya’ and Saints who are mentioned in some of the Lebanese daily rituals. Chapter three delves into the individual’s life stages from birth to religious vows, to marriage and death. The aspects that go with these stages constitute an important part in the life of the Lebanese. This chapter details the aspects and traditions of all these stages in which people take part, thus creating a common ground in a multi-religious society. Chapter four deals with religious practices, acts of worship, and legal prescriptions. It describes them and deals with their spiritual meaning to individuals who express their faith when practicing them. Prayer, Mass, and Pilgrimage, among others, are religious practices that are detailed in a way to make the reader understand what they mean to those who perform them. Chapter five leads us into religious places and their meaning, from churches to mosques and monasteries, khalwat and husayniyyat, all of which have different and divergent meanings to visitors. Yet, they all show the importance given by man to the place when expressing his faith and his relation with the Creator. Chapter six takes us to religious habits and customs, such as the clothes worn by religious dignitaries, their symbolism and meaning. It also deals with some general habits and customs. The reader may find that some chapters overlap. In fact, we have tried to make each part related to the others yet independent from them. This method facilitates the reading and understanding of any subject on its own without the need to refer to prior or subsequent parts. Finally, those who had any – minor or major – contribution in this book – despite the lacks that some readers might see – hope that they have offered a useful work in the process of discovering others who are different and who hold rich traditions as well human and spiritual values. 
Comparative study of textbooks: working document in the framework of the Euro-Arab Dialogue; summary report Year of publication: 2015 Author: Jacqueline Costa-Lascoux | Janine d'Artois Pursuant to the Charter of the United Nations and the Constitution of UNESCO, calling for peace between peoples and respect for cultural diversity, several National Commissions for UNESCO have taken the initiative to create the conditions for a Euro-Arab dialogue in the field of education. The French and Moroccan National Commissions, in particular, have decided to launch studies to highlight stereotypes, misunderstandings and subliminal bias about Arab countries in European textbooks and about European countries in textbooks in the Arab world. First, these studies were conducted by researchers focusing on their own countries' textbooks in order to analyse how the history of the countries on "the other side of the Mediterranean" was represented. Second, a common methodology was developed to allow comoparative approaches favourable to Euro-Arab dialogue. This was to address any mutual bias or misrepresentations that may exist between the two regions and to work togehter to find ways of preventing and combating them. The originality of the approach was to conduct a critical analysis of textbooks published in each country and then underetake a comparative study to be used as the basis for common recommendations. Participants in this project initiated by the National Commissions defined three main objectives: 1. To strengthen dialogue, laying the foundations for learning to live together, based on mutual respect. 2. To help National Commissions for UNESCO, experts, institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to find ways to work together in areas of research of common interest. 3. To contribute to UNESCO's efforts to develop a stretegy relating to textbooks, to improve the quality of education for peace, human rights, mutual understanding and intercultural dialogue. 
The rapprochement of cultures: roadmap Year of publication: 2016 Corporate author: UNESCO Today, the sheer compression of the world is bringing people and their cultures into the same space with intense speed, rendering new levels and forms of human interaction and interdependence. Population growth and migration are increasing in scale and complexity, and technology and media are bringing people together in ways never before thought possible. As a result, new creative expressions, innovation and immense opportunities have been generated and developed. While these phenomena have brought people together across geographic spaces, it has concurrently exposed a widening moral gap in our societies and the extent to which our societies are ill-equipped to effectively manage and overcome the challenges that continue to arise. Often in parallel with developmental progress, retrogressive patterns have emerged that present persistent threats to peace-building and social cohesion. Recurrent cycles of deadlock and conflict undermine governance and legislation at international, national and local levels preventing long-term peace and development.The litany of polarization within our societies often defined along the lines of ‘identity’ – religious, cultural, ethnic, or otherwise – are increasingly manifested in prejudice, intolerance, racism, xenophobia, discrimination, radicalization and extreme violence. The challenges are often multidimensional and interrelated, and their impacts cross conventional borders, thus revealing a pervading vulnerability at global level and the accompanying need for a global response. From a policy and governance perspective, this has rendered new levels of complexity in addressing challenges. It has also reinforced the need for a more inclusive and participatory notion of development, including integrated approaches that tackle the issues at hand as well as their foundations.The Decade has come into being in an era marked by increased divisiveness, and learning to live together in the 21st century presents a new frontier for managing cultural diversity. Respect for the inherent dignity of all persons underpins the values of the Decade and is one of the core pillars of the UN system, to ensure that all people have equal rights and opportunities to shape their future. These principles are reflected in the values of many cultures around the world. Intercultural dialogue denotes an open process of exchange and respect between individuals and groups of different cultures, points of view and aspirations. In such a way, the respect for and exercise and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms are not only key inroads to dialogue, but they are integral to its process. Ultimately they are crucial to sustaining the rapprochement of cultures as the central aspiration of the Decade. 
From words to action; Des paroles aux actes Year of publication: 2014 Corporate author: UNESCO Since its creation in 1945, UNESCO has been working to enhance mutual understanding between peoples, founded on an ever more subtle knowledge of cultures in their rich diversity in order to promote the dignity of all through the affirmation of the principles, rights and values of our common humanity. The era of globalization characterizes our societies, in a cultural landscape which, more than ever, is permeated with diversity because of the mutual influences of peoples, communities, and of their cultural and religious practices. A major issue remains: the need to demonstrate the benefits of promoting both respect for human rights and cultural diversity, recognizing the importance of genuine intercultural dialogue in order to fight against new forms of racism, discrimination, intolerance, extremism and radicalization. UNESCO, with lengthy practical experience as an international laboratory of ideas, monitors respect for universal values, in particular by initiating research and producing various kinds of teaching tools designed for the acquisition of intercultural skills. Which skills should be mobilized or acquired in order to be able not only to respect but also to appreciate the Other in all his or her diversity. How many of these skills can be useful on both a collective level and an individual one in order to protect cultural rights, protect oneself from, or to transcend prejudice? Intercultural sensibility and aptitudes have to be explored since they refer to the willingness and capacity of people to step outside of their own logic and systems of thought in order to engage with others, and appreciate different cultural narratives especially if they are not equally valorized or recognized in a given societal context. This portfolio proposes a basic tool for capacity building in support of exchange, communication and cooperation beyond cultural, religious and national borders, allowing the emergence of a global citizenship in a safer world for all. In this perspective, this set of key resources consists of papers by international experts exploring the linkage between respect for cultural diversity and human rights, with all that that implies. It brings together other publications such asIntercultural Competences, Conceptual and Operational Framework, published by UNESCO in 2013, and documents such as Dire la Tolérance (Defining Tolerance), published in 1997 and translated into English and into Arabic, and, finally, UNESCO’s Programme of Action for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence, A Vision in Action, published in English in 2012 and in French in 2013. Symbolically released on 10 December 2014, Human Rights Day, this multilingual and evolving publication is designed primarly to be an Open Access tool, a flagship project of the International Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures (2013-2022). In the same spirit, its content will be enriched and developed in an e-learning format, throughout the Decade. 
Education for peace and sustainable development: concepts, clarity and cohesion Year of publication: 2013 Corporate author: Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) UNESCO MGIEP's focus lies in exploring and engaging with the strong interlinkages between peace and sustainable development and making interventions in the education systems to impart these principles. The first publication from the Institute Education for Peace and Sustainable Development: Concepts, Clarity and Cohesion explores the interlinkages and interdependencies of Education for Peace and Education for Sustainable Development. The monograph contains four concept papers which elaborate on the interlinkages between education, peace and sustainable development, define the gaps in the current approach to education for peace and sustainable development and argue for a comprehensive approach to issues of peace and sustainability to be incorporated in education systems. UNESCO MGIEP aims to develop a theoretical framework to look at the interlinkages between peace and sustainability in a holistic manner and this monograph is the first exercise towards building this discourse. Education for global and multicultural citizenship: a strategy for Victorian Government schools 2009-2013 Year of publication: 2009 Corporate author: State of Victoria (Australia) | Melbourne. Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. Office of Government School Education. Student Learning Programs Division The purpose of this strategy is to provide a renewed vision for global and multicultural education in Victorian Government schools; to align priorities to current legislative, policy and curriculum frameworks; and to guide action across schools, regions and the Department. The strategy offers a new concept for thinking about multicultural education: global and multicultural citizenship. The actions outlined will pursue the following objectives: improving educational outcomes for all students through the implementation of inclusive practices and through learning and teaching that utilises the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS) domains relevant to global and multicultural citizenshipdeveloping the intercultural literacies that students, parents, educators, and leadership groups need to live and work as part of a diverse and globalised populationpromoting social cohesion and diversity as sources of educational and economic advantage for all students • enhancing the engagement, wellbeing and sense of belonging for all students in safe and secure learning environmentsbuilding the capacity of the school community to identify and address overt, subtle and institutionalised racism, stereotyping and other forms of prejudicebuilding and sustaining inclusive and participative school–community partnerships that prepare all students for global and multicultural citizenship. Proceedings of the international congresses of: education for shared values for intercultural and interfaith understanding, (and) religion in peace and conflict: responding to militancy and fundamentalism Year of publication: 2005 Corporate author: UNESCO The results of this conference, and its direct linkages with the Associated Schools Project Network in your region, will support efforts to mould education so that it becomes more conducive to the development of world citizens, proud of their identities and able to contribute to a sustainable and peaceful future for the world’s peoples. Address by Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of the Copenhagen Conference: Education for Intercultural Understanding and Dialogue; Copenhagen, 21 October 2008 Year of publication: 2008 Corporate author: UNESCO. Director-General, 1999-2009 (Matsuura, K.) This address is given by Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of the Copenhagen Conference: “Education for Intercultural Understanding and Dialogue”.