新闻

Prior to the opening of the 2015 World Education Forum, APCEIU organized a pre-conference side event on 19 May 2015 with the title, “Global Citizenship Education (GCED): Lessons and Visions from South Korean Experiences at the National, Regional and Global Levels." In partnership with JoongAng Ilbo, this event was held in support of the UN Secretary-General’s Global Education First Initiative (GEFI) and sponsored by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea. With the attendance of 350 interested stakeholders from various countries, including 150 WEF participants, the forum attracted the biggest audience among all ten pre-conference side events and successfully promoted the general public's better understanding of GCED, particularly in reference to Korean cases. Along with the parallel group session, entitled “Educating and learning for peaceful and sustainable societies” co-convened by APCEIU, UNESCO HQs and the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) on 20 May 2015, the event is considered to have contributed to the main discussion on GCED, one of the key global agendas at WEF 2015. The first half of the event entitled, “Envisioning Global Citizenship Education in the Post-2015 Era”, started off with opening remarks and a keynote presentation. Mr. Utak Chung, Director of APCEIU, and Ms. Min Jeong Kim, Head of the UN Secretary-General’s GEFI Secretariat, stressed the significance of discussing GCED in depth at this turning point, for 2015 is the year in which the new development and education goals will be set for the next 15 years. H. E. Hang Chuon Naron, Minister of Education, Youth and Sport of Cambodia stated, “We must promote some adequate changes in education, especially to allow our young generation to live together in peace and harmony.” The keynote presentation on “Global Citizenship Education: Background and Issues” was given by Ms. Soo Hyang Choi, Director of the Division for Teaching, Learning and Content of UNESCO HQs, prior to the panel discussion and Q&A session moderated by Mr. Daehoon Jho, Professor of Sungshin Women’s University, with the following 8 panelists: Mr. Se Yeon Kim (Member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea), Mr. Gwang-Jo Kim (Director, UNESCO Bangkok Office), Mr. Youngsuk Chi (Chairman, Elsevier), Ms. Sun-hye Hwang (President, Sookmyung Women’s University), Mr. Yoonil Auh (Vice President, Kyung Hee Cyber University), Mr. Kyung-Koo Han (Professor, Seoul National University), Mr. Rolando Villamero Jr. (Representative, GEFI Youth Advocacy Group), and Mr. Bonian Golmohammadi (Secretary-General, World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA)). The panelists acknowledged that current and future transnational phenomena must be addressed internationally, since their root causes and effects influence the global society as a whole. In this respect, they emphasized the importance of fostering GCED and continued the in-depth discussions. “What we need for a peaceful and prosperous world is not just competitiveness or productivity, but also we need collaboration and cooperation. To my view, this is what GCED is all about,” said Mr. Kim of UNESCO Bangkok Office. Mr. Chi of Elsevier and Mr. Golmohammadi of WFUNA stressed the need of a sense of agency among young people. Mr. Se Yeon Kim, highlighting the role of legislative institutions to promote GCED, stated that his constituency, Geumjeong District of Busan, is planning GCED-related activities as an effort to provide more opportunities for local citizens. The only youth, Mr. Villamero, said, “GCED for young people can be best learned through immersion. Getting the chance to interact with people, understanding their culture, understanding their religion, whatever faith they have whatever background they have.” Ms. Hwang proposed the teaching training programmes among countries with common or similar interest, while Mr. Auh stressed the idea of balanced approaches to implementing GCED in both socio-emotional, behavioral dimensions and cognitive aspects. Mr. Han expressed his opinion on the importance of GCED and its relevance to the social and economic development in the future. He linked the importance of GCED to the role of civic virtue, an aspect that was overlooked but played a significant role in Korea’s economic development. In the second half of the event entitled, “Global Citizenship Education in Action”, six cases of GCED implementation in schools, education policies, media, and international cooperation & development were presented. Mr. Sukman Yun, a reporter from JoongAng Ilbo, gave the first presentation entitled, “Media Initiative in Promoting GCED: The Case of JoongAng Ilbo”, stating that they are planning to be in close partnership with APCEIU to sustain the outcome of the 2015 WEF. “GCED in View of International Development Cooperation” was presented by Mr. Kyung-sang Lee, Director-General of ODA Education Center, Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). Based on the perspective of educators on the field, Mr. Young-gi Ham, Senior Educational Advisor of Seoul Education Training Institute, highlighted the importance of continuing collaboration among teachers, schools, and metropolitan and provincial offices (MPOEs). Right after this, three school teachers (Mr. Seong ho Bae of Seoul Samyang Elementary School; Ms. Sang Hee Han of Jeju Seogwi Girls’ Middle School; and Mr. Sung jun Cho of Daejeon Boksu High School) introduced detailed GCED practices involving their students. From her teaching experience Ms. Sang Hee Han said: “After all, students can identify their own roles as global citizens and link themselves to their daily lives when learning starts with the historical and cultural experiences relevant to their local contexts.” References: News articles: http://article.joins.com/news/article/article.asp?total_id=17839967&cloc=olink|article|default http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2015/05/658_179235.html Incheon Declaration: https://en.unesco.org/world-education-forum-2015/incheon-declaration