Promotion of civic activism through non-formal education

Transcription

1 Promotion of civic activism through non-formal education Institutions Countries The Association of Life-Long Learning and Enlightenment (ALLLE), Public organization Other Education Belarus, Ukraine The project was aimed at providing assistance to non-formal education providers in Belarus and Ukraine in understanding the specifics of implementing citizenship education programs in each of these countries in modern conditions and developing common approaches, the implementation of which can become the basis for new mutually beneficial international Ukrainian-Belarusian projects. The implementation of this approach will help to increase the number of relevant, demanded citizenship education programs in Belarus and Ukraine (including international Ukrainian-Belarusian projects and programs). The project included the following components: Overview of the citizenship education system in Ukraine and Belarus Holding an international workshop for 15 citizenship education experts from Ukraine and Belarus. Development of an international final document containing analysis of the challenges facing citizenship education providers in Ukraine and Belarus, as well as recommendations for non-formal education providers who are interested in implementing effective citizenship education programs in their countries, as well as organizing Ukrainian-Belarusian projects. Holding two presentations and discussions of the final document in Belarus and Ukraine. Dissemination of the final document and other information about the project results. Based on the conclusions and recommendations of the international workshop, taking into account the provisions of the document Position of the Association of Life-Long Learning and Enlightenment for Citizenship Education ( Belarusian and Ukrainian experts developed an international final document containing an analysis of the challenges facing citizenship education providers in Ukraine and Belarus, as well as recommendations for non-formal education providers who are interested in implementing effective citizenship education in their countries, as well as the organization of Ukrainian-Belarusian projects. The study of citizenship education in Ukraine was discussed by the working group under the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine regarding the preparation of a new concept of citizenship education. The document helped substantiate the need for a qualitatively different concept, which the group of experts insisted on from the Reanimation Package of Reforms. The need for the qualitatively new concept has been approved by the Ministry. At the moment, the group of authors of the new concept is working.this can be considered a new phase in the consultations of the Ministry with civil society, because at first the process was closed. Based on the study, it was possible to justify the involvement in the working group of representatives of providers who had not previously been involved in such work. The international final document with recommendations for citizenship education providers in Ukraine and Belarus was presented to Belarusian and Ukrainian non-formal and citizenship education providers. Representatives of 16 provider organizations, including a representative of the Ukrainian Embassy in Belarus, took part in the discussion-presentation Citizenship Education in Ukraine and Belarus: Different Challenges Single Approach held in Minsk on November 8, In order to increase the coverage of providers, an online broadcast of the discussion-presentation in Minsk was organized (video of the event is available at Two Ukrainian experts Taras Gritsyuk (organization Other Education, Kiev) and Yarina Borenko (Expert of the Youth Policy Group of the Reanimation Package of Reform, Lvov) gave a speech in the online discussion. Among the Belarusian experts, the Working Group on the Development and Demonstration of the Project was established for the following year. (Da stimmt etwas nicht, da sich was auf die Vergangenheit bezieht und next auf die Zukunft.) Discussion-presentation in Kiev was held on November 10, The final document on citizenship education is available on the website of the Association of Life-Long Learning and Enlightenment, as well as on the website of the organization Other Education. The

2 document has an open format and the organizers provided an opportunity for all interested citizenship education providers to join in commenting and supplementing this document by December 31, 2017: Overview of the Citizenship Education System in Belarus State Approaches to the Understanding of Citizenship Education In order to understand the state approach to citizenship education, we should refer to regulation such as: Education Code No dated January 13, 2011, adopted by the House of Representatives on December 2, 2010 and approved by the Council of the Republic on December 22, 2010 (hereinafter the Code); State Concept of Continuing Education of Children and Youth No.82 dated July 15, 2015, approved by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus (hereinafter the Concept). Within the section of the Code on the Fundamentals of the State Education Policy, it is noted that one of the main principles of state policy in this field is to ensure the activities of educational institutions in the implementation of education, including the formation of citizens spiritual and moral values, a healthy lifestyle, citizenship, patriotism, responsibility, diligence. 1 It is important to note that both in the Code and in the Concept it is shown that one of the components of upbringing in the education system is the ideological upbringing aimed at forming in a student the knowledge of the foundations of the ideology of the Belarusian State, inculcating the underlying values, ideas, beliefs that reflect the essence of the Belarusian statehood. Within the framework of the Concept, it was noted that state sovereignty, national interest, national security, social justice, economic well-being, development of civil society takes a special place in state ideology. However, the full and detailed definition of the Belarusian state ideology is absent. At the level of the educational programs themselves and the actual process of education in the formal education system, there are specialized courses dedicated to the topics outlined above in the Code and the Concept. Often, these courses are aimed at exaltation of the heroic deed of the Soviet people during the Second World War (for example, the course of the history of the Great Patriotic War in higher education). The history course is structured in accordance with the formative approach, contains anti-western rhetoric, the subject of Soviet repression is mentioned casually, Sovietization is estimated as a favorable phenomenon. 2 The definitions such as democracy, democratic principles, human rights, citizenship education in these two fundamental documents are not given. Such an exception does not reveal an understanding of the essence of citizenship education, but rather replaces it with the mosaic structure of Belarusian ideology. This situation is logically explained by the consequence of the authoritarian nature of the political system, where the education system is called upon to form a subordinate civil and political culture according to the typology of G. Almond and B. Powell 3 characterized by a strong orientation toward the political system and at the same time low involvement of citizens in its functioning. Public Approaches to Citizenship Education After the beginning of the Ukrainian-Russian conflict, there is a growing demand among the active part of the population for citizenship education programs devoted to national self-identity, wider use of the Belarusian language. At the moment, it is possible to single out a number of citizenship education providers, which focus their attention directly on the formation of national identity while not excluding the values of democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. At the same time, it is possible to outline the second approach oriented towards the European values of equality, multiculturalism, non-violence, human rights. These two approaches have interpenetration expressed in specific educational programs, despite frequent value inconsistencies. 1 (Code of Education: Article 2, paragraph 2, part 10). 2 Study of textbooks for 9-11 grades on the world history and history of Belarus. Materials of the portal Заўтра тваёй краіны. Presentation by Aleksey Bratochkin. 3 Almond, G.; Powell, B.; Strom, K.; and Russell, Jr, Comparative Politics today: A World View. New York: Pearson, 2011.

3 It is worth highlighting also the third approach to understanding the essence of citizenship education based on various ideologies of the Russian world, triune union etc. These approaches are based on various totalitarian, imperialist practices of forming a political culture. These ideas about citizenship education have not yet been institutionalized and are to some extent represented in the public space, however, they are a challenge both for the state system of national and patriotic upbringing and for the national and oriented and European value providers described below. Citizenship Education Providers in Belarus All studies of the civil society sector, which fall within the scope of the review authors, note that political parties, business associations, trade unions are not citizenship education providers. These subjects do not have long-term citizenship education programs. The main citizenship education providers are nonprofit associations, initiatives, civil campaigns etc., in any way subjects that do not declare their politics ambitions. However, their contribution is too small and does not represent a significant share in comparison with state providers the total coverage of citizens education programs in the most optimistic forecasts does not exceed 100,000 participants for 5 years, which is approximately 1.2% of the population aged 14 and older 4. At the same time, due to the large NPOs in Minsk and regional cities, citizenship education programs, with rare exceptions, are covered by district centers and the countryside. The content of specific education programs of such providers is often directly correlated with the missions of organizations, for example: Education programs of human rights organizations. Human Rights Center Vesna, Office for Disabled Persons Rights, Belarusian Helsinki Committee, Belarusian Human Rights House by B. Zvoskov, Legal Initiative is a short list of organizations that have been carrying out their education programs on a permanent basis for more than 10 years for a wide range of people. Primarily the emphasis in these education programs is Human Rights, but much attention is paid to the issues of the Rule of Law, democratic citizenship, media literacy, methods and means for protecting public interests, critical reasoning, political order etc.; Environmental education programs of the organizations such as EcoDom, Zelenaya Set, Environmental Solutions Center, Eco-Partnership etc. In addition to issues of an eco-friendly way of life, environmental protection, climate protection, attention is paid to methods for protecting public interests, critical reasoning, political order, citizens participation in decision-making etc.; Student organizations focusing on understanding the essence of students rights through the prism of human rights, academic freedoms, the interests of students as a community, methods for protecting public interests, self-government bodies, development and popularization of the Belarusian language and culture. Such organizations can include Student Council, Association of Belarusian students, BOSS; Gender organizations focusing primarily on education programs aimed at combating stereotypes, protecting women s rights, sexual identity, also pay attention to civil and political rights, methods for protecting public interests, the skills to protect one s own rights, counteracting domestic violence etc.; Organizations providing an alternative to higher education, such as the Fly University (and the online platform Eclab, the Belarusian Collegium also in their programs pay attention to the civilian component providing a large number of sources of humanitarian knowledge. Special attention should be paid to educational and enlightenment initiatives such as Mova Nanova (studying the Belarusian language), the Human Library (combating stereotypes), Journalists for Tolerance (working with the professional community to counteract hate speech, discrimination), education programs of the LGBTQ community, which are certainly part of citizenship education. 4 Office of European Expertise and Communication. The state of citizenship education in the Republic of Belarus, 2013.

4 Legal Support of Citizenship Education in Belarus The legislation of the Republic of Belarus does not contain direct prohibitions for non-profit associations to conduct their citizenship education programs, at the same time this area is not completely settled because: the concept of life-long education contained in the Code does not always completely cross the field of non-formal education (where, in most cases, non-profit organizations operate); in the actual conduct of an education program by a non-profit organization, it does not enter into civil relations with the trainee, but the tax code or profile normative and legal acts of non-profit law do not stipulate the procedural standards of such relations; The Code of Education (Article 5) does not include non-profit associations as subjects of education relations providing for use the wording other organizations,... which, in accordance with the law, have the right to carry out educational activities. Financing of Citizenship Education The State does not finance education programs of independent non-profit associations, financing from internal sources (collection of fees from students, financing by other legal entities) is not widespread due to cultural reasons and framework conditions. In this regard, providers are heavily dependent on donor funding, which subsequently develops programs and initiatives more focused on meeting the needs and expectations of donors, rather than local beneficiaries 5 Main Trends in the Development of Citizenship Education The above-mentioned differences between the national oriented and the European-value approach lead to conflicts in public spaces, in the Belarusian segment of the Internet, and disunity in the pro-democracy part of society due to the mismatch of citizenship education approaches. Often, participants in such conflicts do not use the communication skills they received, they are not inclined to admit other positions this does not lead to unification of efforts. The number of education opportunities in citizenship education is falling; the situation of citizenship education is becoming unique and rare. In the country, there are currently no more than 40 non-profit associations 6 that have been implementing citizenship education programs for over 5 years. The impact of non-profit organizations and initiatives on the population is extremely small. Many educators say that over the last ten years, the humanitarian knowledge of young generation in political science, sociology, and cultural studies has been declining. A possible explanation for this process may be the overall level of decline in the quality of teaching humanities in higher education, and the reduction in the hours allocated to them. 5 In 2010, Yi-Lee Wing conducted a study on the impact of international donor funding on NGO activities exemplifying the implementation of the Citizenship Education Project in Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova, which was mainly financed by the Soros Foundation. Source: Yi-Lee Wing The Civic Education Project in Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova: the impact of dependency. Development in Practice, March 2010, vol. 20, num. 2, p Office of European Expertise and Communication. The state of citizenship education in the Republic of Belarus, 2013.

5 Final International Document General Context As a result of cooperation within the international network of public organizations working in the field of citizenship education of the Eastern Partnership countries and Russia, the idea of a joint Belarusian- Ukrainian project has arisen. The Federal Agency for Citizenship Education of Germany supported this initiative of the EENCE network participants ALLLE and Other Education. As a result of discussion of the project idea, our organizations have found that they are not sufficiently acquainted with the realities of citizenship education (hereinafter the CE) of neighboring countries. For representatives of public organizations from Belarus, the situation with CE in Ukraine is not known, and for Belarusians in Ukraine, respectively. Thus, the idea of a joint project has arisen aiming to study the CE in Belarus and Ukraine and the joint work of Ukrainian and Belarusian experts in the field of citizenship education on the recommendations for the conduct of Ukrainian-Belarusian cooperation in citizenship education. The very cooperation of public organizations in this project is a cooperation case study. Our organizations are themselves experts in citizenship education, have accumulated experience. We believe that international cooperation between CE providers in Ukraine and Belarus can lead to an unexpected but long-awaited positive result of CE development in each of the participating countries. Each of our organizations has a lot of accumulated experience that we can share. How to Work with the Document This document presents the preliminary studies of the workshop Different Challenges Single Approach held in Kiev on October Representatives of the Association of Life-Long Learning and Enlightenment (Belarus) and representatives of a number of Ukrainian organizations took part in its development, the main Ukrainian partner was the Public Organization Other Education. This document aims to: present the state of citizenship education (main challenges) in Ukraine and Belarus; identify common challenges for our countries, possible thematic inventions and recommendations for Belarusian-Ukrainian cooperation; in the future, create an international memorandum on citizenship education for Ukraine and Belarus, other countries of the Eastern Partnership and Russia. The document has an open format and we invite all interested citizenship education providers to join in commenting and supplementing this document. Your feedback is very important for us not only on the main content of the document, but also your interesting practices on citizenship education, your contacts, if you are interested in cooperation with organizations from Ukraine and Belarus regarding citizenship education. We accept your comments and supplements till December 31, The international team of moderators will make adjustments and supplements. The document will form the basis for a memorandum of cooperation and will be promoted within the framework of the activities of the EENCE citizenship education network (Eastern European Network for Citizenship Education). Brief Overview of CE for Ukraine From 1999 to September 2017, Ukraine has passed the way of transforming the understanding of Citizenship Education. Initially, citizenship education and upbringing appeared in the educational discourse thanks to the Concept of Citizenship Education (Upbringing) of the Individual in the Conditions of the Development of Ukrainian Statehood developed within the framework of the National Program for Patriotic Education of Population, Development of a Healthy Lifestyle, Spiritual Development and Strengthening of the Moral Principles of Society adopted in At the moment, the new Law on Education adopted in September 2017 establishes the State s obligation to provide conditions for obtaining citizenship education aimed at developing competences related to the exercising the rights and obligations of a person as a member of society, raising awareness of the values of civil (free and democratic) society, the rule of law, rights and freedoms of a man and a citizen. The National Civil Society Development Strategy for represents an additional legal basis for citizenship education. Strategic actions envisage strengthening measures to improve the level of citizenship education in order to protect the rights of citizens and express the

6 interests of citizens through democratic participation. In accordance with the strategy, the Ministry of Education and Science is responsible for summarizing the experience and developing a new citizenship education concept and program. After approval, this should be the first citizenship education program, which can be reflected in the state budget for expenditures. If we consider the issue from the point of view of developing strategies and targeted programs, national and patriotic upbringing still prevails, since the education of citizenship goes after the upbringing of patriotism. Nevertheless, positive trends from 2014 are that citizenship education is presented in legal form as an independent sphere, and the education reform itself is oriented towards a competency-based approach. The competition between national and patriotic education and citizenship education is still visible. In the case of public educational institutions, the same institutions can be providers of both approaches. This causes a dual perception of many values and the lack of a unified approach to what should be the subject of education in both cases. Because of the successful adoption of the education reform, this issue will obviously be included in the agenda. In Ukraine, there are influential international donors and organizations, mainly such as: the Council of Europe, which ensures the implementation of CE approaches on the basis of bilateral framework treaties with the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry for Youth and Sports; USAID programs that operate under direct agreements with the government or through open tenders and competitions; UN agencies and programs (UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA) working in partnership with the Government and civil society; Embassies, and other small grant programs. In Ukraine there are a fairly large number of citizenship education providers among public organizations. In our opinion, among the citizenship education providers, there are as yet no trends towards networking or the creation of a common platform. Nevertheless, citizenship education is a large-scale trend in the focus of attention of citizens of Ukraine, especially in the field of urban and local development. Brief Overview of CE for Belarus In the legal documents of the Republic of Belarus, there is no concept of citizenship education. In regulations we can find only the concept related to certain aspects of citizenship education: citizenship and patriotic education, formation of knowledge of the foundations of the Belarusian ideology, national security of state sovereignty etc. In Belarus, there is a diversity of approaches to understanding the content of citizenship education. On the one hand, citizenship education in state educational institutions is focused on the education of patriotism, is based on the concept of modern state ideology and is, mainly, part of formal education. On the other hand, in the non-formal education there are more and more programs aimed at actualization of the national identity, wider use of the Belarusian language, a deeper study of the history of Belarus. In addition, in the non-formal education, an approach, the priority of which is the formation of European values such as tolerance, democracy, multiculturalism, human rights, is prevalent. The above approaches are rarely found in pure form and are a sign of heterogeneity of the content field of Belarusian citizenship education. In fact, the content of the programs broadcast by the subjects of non-formal education does not always correlate either with each other or with the content of state programs conditionally forming a worldview division between citizens of the same country.

7 Challenges and Recommendations CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION PROVIDERS (NGOs) AND THE STATE Participants in the workshop identified three main challenges in dealing with the State relevant to both countries: 1. Substitution of the concepts of citizenship education and patriotic education ; 2. Low level of cooperation between the State and citizenship education providers; 3. No effective citizenship education programs in formal education institutions. A weak study of the citizenship education field in both countries was also noted as the general challenge. As recommendations for citizenship education providers on interaction with the State, the following suggestions were made: Initiate a discussion between providers and decision-makers; Use non-conflict topics (critical reasoning, non-discrimination, equality etc.) to build a dialogue; For providers, take a more public position in the debate about the conflicts in society (creating their own content, journalism, columnist, blogging etc.) Create an alternative concept of CE (position paper), taking into account international standards and involving the maximum number of citizenship education providers; Initiate the creation of a working group on the CE concept development at the state level; Create a pool of national citizenship education trainers (both formal and non-formal education) to develop common approaches, exchange experiences, mutual assistance; Study the subject of citizenship education among the main factors and target groups (providers (state/non-gov.), service consumers, decision-makers) CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION PROVIDERS (NGOs) AND CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION PROVIDERS (NGOs) Participants in the workshop identified the following challenges for citizenship education providers in Ukraine and Belarus: Lack of a comprehensive research program on the state of Citizenship Education in Ukraine and Belarus over a long period of time (with a unified methodology and periodic studies that can demonstrate changes in the environment) Difference between the term citizenship education in the environment of CE providers, the absence of an approved term among the CE providers and at the legislative level in the State Lack of some formal or informal network of citizenship education providers uniting efforts, which would develop the CE concept, the approaches, the tools for verifying activities on citizenship education, the quality standards for the provision of CE services, the exchange and discussion of successful practices on implementation of CE, the synchronization of activities Disproportionate provision (disproportion) of CE services in cities and towns and rural areas (greater accessibility of CE services in cities and actual lack of CE providers in rural areas) Low level of introduction of innovative and technological modern approaches to CE services (providers do not sufficiently use the opportunities of new technologies) As recommendations for citizenship education providers on interaction with the State, the following suggestions were made: Begin the process of coordinating the term/understanding of CE (expert meetings, conferences, working groups, the Internet, as a result the document Citizenship Education concept )

8 Conduct the monitoring of existing research on CE, and on the basis of monitoring results draft technical terms for a comprehensive study on Citizenship Education, find funding for research/on a competitive basis choose a research institute to present the study results/implementation of the study results by citizenship education providers Create conditions for effective integration of citizenship education providers in Ukraine and Belarus Conduct a study of CE providers in Ukraine and Belarus (quantitative and qualitative surveys, focus groups etc.). As a result, create an online provider database, if possible, an interactive CE provider map. Stimulate network interactions of CE providers. International internships Mobility within and between countries Conduct local, all-ukrainian/all-belarusian, international Citizenship Education festivals Expected Result: increased influence on the system Conduct a variety of training/skills upgrading in new technologies for CE providers Gamification of activities on citizenship education (development of new CE gaming products) Digital technologies in CE New media Implementation of marketing as a necessary element of work on CE Positioning and value promotion of citizenship education (as a result of the increase in the request for quality CE services, the increase in the proposed CE services) CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION PROVIDERS (NGOs) AND SOCIETY Participants in the workshop identified the following challenges for providers in working with society (a wide range of target groups, the population): existence of propaganda; atomization of society, the growth of conflict situations; develops; lack of understanding by people of the value of competencies that citizenship education lack of critical analysis skills; low level of political knowledge (where to address, what to do). As recommendations for citizenship education providers on work with society, the following suggestions were made: Holding events with a large scope photo exhibitions, concerts, flash mobs etc.; Work on the development of critical reasoning among the population, development of skills in the formation of information hygiene ; Segmentation of CA and adaptation of programs based on their knowledge and competences; Taking into account interaction with the local context in the process of preparing education programs; Using creative communication simple cases and where applicable (smoothie parties, social videos etc.); Using new technologies;

9 Ways of showing a living example: study visits, human libraries, translation of international experience. Also, as general practical points, the following can be noted: Ensuring safety in the process of preparation and holding of events: it is necessary to take into account that your Ukrainian participants may be out of Russia, which can also limit their ability to stay in the territory of Belarus, so it is necessary to take this into account at the preparatory stage. The answer to the question What kind of Ukrainian experience can be used by Belarusians and vice versa? requires a separate work. This requires collecting and studying the experience of countries in citizenship education (programs, individual cases etc.)