December 2022
EFIL welcomes the European Declaration on Global education towards 2050 adopted by the Global Education Network Europe (GENE) on 4 November 2022 in Dublin.
EFIL has participated in the drafting process of the Declaration as part of the Youth Working Group and provided input based on its experience and the one of its 24 Member organisations in promoting Global Education (GE). The expertise relates to activities ranging from intercultural exchanges and other educational opportunities targeting youth and volunteers, to non-formal education workshops in schools and teacher training.
Based on the principles and actions included in the Declaration, EFIL encourages Member states to particularly:
- Foster policies and related funding which are centred on the cooperation between non-formal education organisations expert in GE and schools, for the delivery of GE workshops both to school students and to teachers. The project CI SEI LAB implemented by AFS Intercultura in Italy is an example of such a cooperation bringing volunteers experiences in intercultural learning and global citizenship into schools https://ciseilab.it/
- Support the participation of young Europeans in initiatives that bring young people committed to SDG implementation together, from across the world, to ensure youth participation and a global perspective when implementing the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals. The Youth assembly by AFS Intercultural Programs is a unique event of this kind, gathering every year 160 changemakers at the UN headquarters https://www.youthassembly.org/
- Ensure the provision of Global education within Initial Teacher Education and Continuous Professional Development programmes. Global education needs to be embedded in teaching practice and be part of a whole school approach: the mention of GE in curricula and some ad-hoc projects in schools is not enough to ensure change in people’s behaviour. Youth need to discuss global issues in every subject and experience GE in every aspect of their school life. The Global Competence in Teacher Education (GCTE) project conducted in 2019-2022, bringing non-formal education organisations and faculties of teacher education, has developed Learning Designs to be included in teacher education programmes. A particular attention should be given to:
- teaching multiperspectivity
- using cultural and gender sensitive language
- ‘decolonising education’, namely fostering a better understanding of historical and geo-political relationships including the legacies of colonialism, conflict, wars and oppression
- applying a participatory approach in the process and in the goals – intentionally directed towards transformative learning
- Involve young people, youth organisations, school students unions, National Youth Councils in the design of Global education policies and funding, not only by consulting youth, but by involving young people in discussions with other key stakeholders, such as ministerial agencies, local and regional authorities and civil society organisations. Global Education Network (GENE) has started a great process of involvement of young people in GE: a first step that needs follow up and further improvement.
- Build clear links between policies related to Global Education and promoted by international institutions, each of them using a different definition for addressing the need of promoting global citizenship. Currently frameworks related to GE have been developed by the Council of Europe (RFCDC), UNESCO (GCED), OECD (GC).