Education for Global Responsibility

132 Pages·2007·1.48 MB·English

Opetusministeriö
Ministry of Education
Education for Global Responsibility
– Finnish Perspectives
Edited by
Taina Kaivola
Publications of the Ministry of Education 2007:31 Monica Melén-Paaso

Education for Global
Responsibility –
Finnish Perspectives
Publications of the Ministry of Education 2007:31
Edited by Taina Kaivola and Monica Melén-Paaso
Opetusministeriö • Koulutus- ja tiedepolitiikan osasto • 2007
Ministry of Education • Department for Education and Science • 2007
Ministry of Education
Department for Education and Science Policy
P.O. Box 29, 00023 Government
Finland
http://www.minedu.fi
http://www.minedu.fi /OPM/Julkaisut/julkaisulistaus?lang=en
Layout: Teija Metsänperä, Ministry of Education
Cover image:
Photo: Tommy Jansson, BildProffsen i Stockholm AB
Artworks: Lily Maria Ehnborg, The Diversity of Life
(“... i alla familjer fi nns det en prickig kanin...”)
Other images:
Photos: Tommy Jansson, BildProffsen i Stockholm AB
Artworks: Lily Maria Ehnborg
Helsinki University Press 2007
ISBN 978-952-485-429-0 (pbk)
ISBN 978-952-485-430-6 (PDF)
ISSN 1458-8110
Publications of the Ministry of Education 2007:31
Foreword
This publication is the fi rst outcome of the project Education for Global Responsibility
launched by the Finnish Ministry of Education in spring 2007. One of the cornerstones
of this project is the Global Education 2010 Programme. The project intends to provide
a conceptual framework based on science, which the programme still lacks. The broad
purpose of the project Education for Global Responsibility is to cover not only the
educational system but the whole of Finnish society. Its essential objective is to open the
eyes and minds of citizens to the necessity of education for global understanding, respect
and responsibility.
Global education has been defi ned as the global dimension of citizenship education.
It consists of fi ve widely recognised concurrent sub-themes. These are development
education, human rights education, education for sustainable development, education
for peace and confl ict prevention and intercultural education. All fi ve sub-themes will be
discussed in this publication by scholars that represent several academic fi elds.
This publication aims to promote discussion and collaboration between academics of
different disciplines working with these global education related themes. In order to achieve
this, we hand-picked a select group of researchers to write about their understanding of
this concept and asked them to give their suggestions for further development. We would
like to see this as a starting point for further discussion not only in educational settings
but in the whole of civil society. Global education concerns all citizens and is fi rmly
anchored into lifelong learning that happens outside of formal education in organisations,
work places, clubs and everyday life in general.
The purpose of this publication is manifold. First, the aim is to have researchers analyse
and give us an overview of the meanings and concepts associated with global education.
Second, we want to raise awareness of the importance of citizenship education in today’s
societies. Third, we would like to introduce the idea of the cultural and emotional sides
of global education as being equal partners of science. This is one of the reasons art plays
an important role in our publication in the form of paintings and drawings.
To our minds, art is the other side of science, or, expressed more fancifully, the magical
part of science. After all, collaborative and cooperative knowledge building in study
groups and between colleagues has many parallels with creating and interpreting art. Both
a piece of art and scientifi c information can be meticulously analysed, but the outcome
of a learning process is more than the sum of its parts. We hope our publication will
incite a lively discussion on the global aspects of education in initial and further teacher
education, in liberal adult education and non-governmental organisations, in higher
education in general, and last but not least, in the research and development groups of
different organisations and institutes.
Several experts have contributed to this publication. Our sincere thanks go to the
steering group of the project and all the individual experts that have contributed to the
contents of this publication with their valuable comments. Obviously we would also like
to thank the authors for their articles and the artist for letting us use her artwork. We
are also most grateful for the way our language specialists and visual lay-out experts have
set to work on this publication. A special thanks belongs to Monica Melén-Paaso, the
co-editor of this publication, who has not spared an effort when it came to leading our
project Education for Global Responsibility.
Helsinki, 6 September 2007
On behalf of all contributors to this publication,
Taina Kaivola
Scientifi c Editor
Adjunct Professor, University of Helsinki
Contents
Foreword 3
1 Prologue
Martin Scheinin 7
2 About the Expedition this Publication Intends to Take You on
Monica Melén-Paaso 11
3 Intercultural Education as Education for Global Responsibility
Rauni Räsänen 17
4 Education on Human Rights – a Method for Inducing
Global Critical Thinking
Reetta Toivanen 33
5 On the Importance of Peace Education
Unto Vesa 47
6 Making Sense of Development in a Divided World
Liisa Laakso 59
7 Towards Cultural Literacy
Liisa Salo-Lee 73
8 Education for Sustainable Development in a Global Perspective
Paula Lindroos, Mikko Cantell 85
9 An Agenda for Global Responsibility and Citizenship
Lars Rydén 97
10 Epilogue – Refl ective Remarks
Taina Kaivola, Monica Melén-Paaso 109
Summary of the Main Contents of the Publication
Taina Kaivola 116
Biographies 119
A Personal Presentation of Lily Maria Ehnborg
Monica Melén-Paaso 122
Appendix 1. 124
5

1 Prologue
Martin Scheinin
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Education for Global Responsibility – Finnish Refl ections
1 Prologue
Martin Scheinin
The call for Global Education should be seen in
the context of the objective and irreversible process
of globalization. Although often discussed loosely
as a new step on the path of “going international”,
globalization means something qualitatively new.
Instead of only covering the various forms in which
international contacts increase on all levels and in all
spheres of social life, the notion of globalization also
refers to the emergence of new actors on the level of
international relations and to the relative weakening
of nation states as the intermediary between people
and other actors located in different countries.
Globalization entails the death of protectionism, and
constitutes an irresistible obstacle for authoritarian
governments that try to prevent people from
interacting across borders.
In the phase of “internationalization” sovereign
states were in the position to regulate, restrict and even
prevent contact across their national borders, inter alia
through enacting laws concerning foreign investment
and trade. Today, in the era of globalization states still
try to control the movement of persons, e.g. through
their immigration laws. But information, ideas, art,
propaganda, money, telecommunications, media,
commodities, investments etc. have “gone global”
in the sense that states have had to remove obstacles
they created, and to deregulate many spheres of
economic and social life. As a consequence, a number
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