Learning for change: UNESCO ESD strategy for Asia Pacific

 (Part 2 of a series on Impact of CLLSD in SEA)

In my last article, we talked about what our Southeast Asian partners need from the SEACLLSD (Southeast Asian Center for Lifelong Learning for Sustainable Development). At the same time, each of them discussed their countries’ strengths and/or best practices that could be shared with the Center.

World Heritage Sites, Laboratory for ESD

Practically all of our SEA partners have World Heritage Sites, as well as Biosphere Reserves, except for Singapore, Myanmar and Timor Leste. Before the colonization of the French-Indo-China states, the seat of the Khmer empire was in Cambodia (population = 14 million), which has the famous ruins of the Angkor Wat complex and the Temple of Preah Vihear. Lao People’s Democratic Republic (population = 5.6 million) has the Town of Luang Prabang and the Vat Phou Ancient Settlements within the Champasak Cultural Landscape. While, Thailand (population = 64.5 million) has the Historic City of Ayutthaya, Historic Town of Sukhothai, and the Thungyai-Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuaries. Viet Nam (population = 83 million) has the Complex of Hué Monuments, Ha Long Bay, and the Hoi An Ancient Town.

Among seven World Heritage Sites in Indonesia (population = 221 million), the most famous are: Borobudur Temple Compounds, Prambanan Temple Compounds, Tropical Rainforest of Sumatra, and the Komodo National Park. Malaysia (population = 25 million) has the Gunung Mulu National Park, and the Kinabalu Park (MALAYSIA). While the Philippines (population = 83.5 million) has the Baroque Churches of the Philippines, Tubbataha Reef Marine Park, Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras, Historic Town of Vigan, and the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park.

Workshops can be conducted with ASPNet youth groups to strengthen heritage consciousness about the ESD (Education for Sustainable Development) of each country’s ancient people. Their biosphere reserves can also become the learning laboratories for ESD.

Expertise in CLC’s, Voc-Tech and IT

Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei have numerous experiences in Community Learning Centers (CLCs), which are supported by non-formal skill technology training for their school leavers. Being Muslim-dominated, Indonesia’s forte in gender mainstreaming programs can enrich similar attempts of Malaysia and Brunei to empower women.

Brunei Darussalam’s major investment in vocational programs with world-class equipment in spacious buildings can be shared with all the SEA country partners.

Malaysia’s forte in standardizing E-Learning system and statistics on education system for baseline study can help much with #4 function of the SEACLLSD: “…to be a platform and database for sub-regional cooperation for the transfer and sharing of knowledge, skills, information, performance indicators and best practices in the field of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)”

Does the Philippine SEACLLSD match the UNESCO AsPac ESD strategy?

The Philippine SEACLLSD envisions the emergence of the “new man” who will no longer be the victim of events, but thanks to his clarity of vision will become able to direct and mold the future of “mankind”. While, the Vision of the ESD strategy for Asia Pacific: “Every person in the Asia-Pacific region learns how to acquire and adapt their knowledge and behavior to contribute to change for a sustainable future and take responsibility for their actions in consideration of others.”

The CLLSD’s mission is to become a service provider of “lifelong education for sustainable development” for her Southeast Asian country partners. Traditional education, which is directed only to the mind, is dependent solely on lectures and textbooks. Consequently, this has been proven globally to develop mental barriers to understanding the realities of life. Thus, there are many early school leavers in the Asia Pacific region. Annually, they add to the number of adult illiterates who have difficulty being employed.

Meantime, the Mission of the Asia Pacific ESD Strategy is “to develop partnerships and synergies with a variety of partners through all forms of quality learning to empower individuals to make informed, appropriate decisions for our future.”

The UNESCO ESD task according to DG Koichiro Matsuura

Last week, Derek Elias, ESD Chief for the UNESCO Asia Pacific region, held the ESD Coordination and Capacity Building Workshop in Manila (one of a total of six workshops he has calendared in the A-P region). Attended by representatives of UNESCO Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei, and Timor Leste whose Minister of Education H.E. Joao Cancio Freitas and NatCom member Dr. Edmundo Viegas, the workshop had the theme “An ‘Astrolabe’ for ESD coordination in the Asia-Pacific Region.” Astrolabe is a nautical compass used by astronomers and maritime people to find the ocean route of the ship’s destination, aided by the stars in the ancient times.

According to UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura, “The issue is not just one of putting ESD into the curriculum and teaching materials, important though this is. It is also about cultivating capacities of critical understanding, careful analysis, respect for others and forward-thinking capacities, which enable people to reflect upon and change their behavior, values and life-styles.”

Matching Director General Matsuura’s admonition, the Asia Pacific ESD astrolabe indicated that ‘Learning for Change’ is learning through personal, locally-relevant experience, such as envisioning, systemic thinking, cooperative learning, learning by doing, reflective-based learning, collaboration and discussion. It also suggested the timeframe of the Decade following eight activities from: (1) Awareness raising, 2005-2006; (2) Engaging stakeholders, 2005-2008; (3) Monitoring system development, 2006-2010; (4) Strengthening leadership / (5) National coordination, 2008-2011; (6) Re-orienting curricula / (7) Teacher education, 2007-2013; and (8) Acquiring technical support 2009-2015.

Dr. Maria Montessori’s Astrolabe for mankind’s sustainable future

Note that the timeframe lists “reorienting curricula and teacher education” with ESD component in the latter phase. However, it foresees the difficulty of RESTRUCTURING traditional education to education for sustainable development.

Yet a century ago, the educational formula restructuring traditional education for ESD was already discovered and implemented by Dr. Maria Montessori. In 1906, Dottoressa Montessori inaugurated the first Casa dei Bambini in Via Marsi 8, Rome, Italy, employing the scientific system of education she discovered, while observing the true characteristics of child behavior.

Unlike traditional education, which imposes silence and immobility among children and totally dependent on books, she used a classroom resembling a home with practical materials, which conditioned 3- to 5-year old preschoolers to work instead of play. These children acquired what Mr. Matsuura identifies as the capacities for critical thinking, careful analysis, respect for others and forward-thinking capacities, which enable people to change their behavior, values and lifestyles.

It must be destiny that Dr. Montessori was invited to address the UNESCO Executive Board in Paris in 1949. As a champion of early childhood education and adult literacy programs, she was also asked to give the speech at the first meeting of the governing board of the UNESCO Institute of Education. Later, she was described by Time Magazine as one of the most interesting women of Europe.

CLLSD shortens the DESD timeframe

Our SEACLLSD, making use of ESD teacher training and ESD curriculum with universally-tested materials, automatically cultivates ESD virtues of mankind that will eradicate poverty. Given a Prepared Environment and specially-trained teacher, the children’s disorderliness, laziness, quarrelsome behavior, disobedience, timidity and dependence, undergoes transformation by a child’s immersion in work. Within a few months, the child exhibits orderliness, love for work, friendliness, obedience, and independence.

Employing the SEACLLSD system will provide a tried and tested formula for ESD training in Basic Education in the Asia Pacific region.

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