UNESCO project school

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Symbol of the umbrella organization UNESCO

UNESCO Associated Schools (abbreviated ups ) are the schools that are members of the UNESCO Associated Schools Network ( UNESCO Associated Schools ASPnet , écoles associées de l'UNESCO ) of UNESCO are, which was launched in 1953 to individual educational institutions directly in the work of UNESCO to involve. Other spellings are UNESCO project school and unesco project school , in Austria UNESCO school and in Switzerland UNESCO-associated school .

UNESCO project schools anchor the goals and values ​​of UNESCO in their school profiles and models as well as in everyday school life and in their educational work. Teachers as well as pupils and parents take part in extracurricular activities and projects . The UNESCO project schools are responsible for designing and implementing the work on the UNESCO objectives. In order to work effectively, many schools cooperate with each other and with partner institutions, take on sponsorships and take part in national and international seminars . For many schools, the highlight of their work is the biannual international UNESCO project day. In Germany there are about 300 UNESCO Associated Schools in Austria 95 (August 2020) and in Switzerland about 60, about 11,500 worldwide.

General

There are around 300 UNESCO project schools in Germany in more than 100 cities and in all 16 federal states. Such schools are “normal schools” of all types. Gymnasiums , elementary schools , vocational schools , state regular schools and private schools can in principle achieve such a status. All UNESCO project schools belong to the UNESCO Associated Schools Network. This network is supported by the relevant school authority or the relevant ministry of education .

history

UNESCO is a specialized agency of the United Nations and was founded in 1946. UNESCO stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization , which translates as the United Nations Organization for Education, Science, Culture . From the beginning, education has been a central goal and a very strong element of UNESCO's work. The aim was to train the students directly and, above all, to develop a better international understanding. That is why UNESCO founded the Associated Schools Project in 1953 to involve schools in UNESCO's work. In Germany, these schools are called “UNESCO Project Schools” and the Hamburg Helene-Lange School (today: Helene-Lange-Gymnasium ) was the first German school to receive the status of a UNESCO model school , which has since been further developed into a UNESCO project school.

The work of the UNESCO project school

aims

The goals of UNESCO project schools are:

  • the Human Rights realize for all;
  • Learn sustainability, protect and preserve the environment ;
  • Accept the difference of others, tolerate one another and learn from one another;
  • Fight poverty and misery;
  • drive global development forward.

Today they are made clear in the guidelines:

Human rights education and democracy education
  • Knowing human rights and the principles of democracy, respecting them in everyday life and being responsible for their implementation
  • Have knowledge of procedures for individual and social conflict resolution
  • Investigate the causes of national and international conflicts and understand initiatives for conflict resolution
  • Understand the range of international agreements; evaluate the human rights situation critically, develop a critical attitude towards different legal systems
Intercultural learning
  • Develop an interest in foreign cultures, get to know and respect other cultures and ways of life
  • Learning to recognize other perspectives in context, to adopt them and to develop empathy
  • Understand the expanded concept of culture used by UNESCO: cultural pluralism, culture as tradition, communication and future prospects
  • Develop respect, tolerance and appreciation as a basic attitude and act accordingly
Environmental education
  • Understand the environmental problems - air, climate, water, soil, biodiversity, energy, waste, resources - and relate them to our lifestyles
  • Developing ideas for environmentally conscious action and contributing to their implementation
  • Develop ecological understanding
  • Act in a sustainable, environmentally conscious manner
Global learning
  • There is only one world in which we see and understand ourselves as individuals in global contexts
  • See and understand globalization in all its aspects - positive and negative
  • Recognize the need for international encounters and acquire skills for intercultural cooperation
  • Recognize and accept personal responsibility for people and the environment and implement it on a social, economic and political level, taking social and ethical aspects into account
UNESCO World Heritage Education
  • Know and respect German, European and worldwide world heritage sites and understand them as a common heritage of humanity
  • Appreciating the diversity of the world heritage: natural heritage, cultural heritage, memorials, intangible heritage
  • Working actively on the preservation and maintenance of existing natural and cultural sites
  • Anchor and use the UNESCO World Heritage in class and everyday school life, experience the World Heritage sites as extracurricular learning locations

The students of a UNESCO project school should be informed about the goals and explained how these goals function. In addition, the pupils should form their own picture of the situation, locally and globally, politically, culturally and financially. In addition, environmental problems and solutions should be conveyed. The school continues to have the task of encouraging students to act environmentally conscious, peaceful conflict resolution and mutual tolerance .

Realization

It is up to the schools themselves how they want to achieve these goals, but parents, students and teachers should always be involved in the work. In addition to your own ideas, you can also work together with other UNESCO project schools, organizations and individuals. To participate in the international network, many schools form school partnerships or pen pals with schools around the world. In addition, attempts are made to facilitate encounters, for example intercultural encounters and seminars are organized. Care should be taken to ensure that the UNESCO philosophy “think global-act local” (think globally - act locally) is observed. This means that you should do things locally, within the range of your own possibilities, for example help a poor village or a bombed school through global joint actions and educate your own students about the goals of UNESCO.

Participation and commitment to work are very different in schools. There are many active schools that have workgroups that they work in. At other schools, a project team is working on a key objective with a focus.

International project days

An international project day has been held every two years since 1996, each on a topic comprehensively prepared at a symposium of the UNESCO project schools. The topics mostly deal with current social events and problems. The work on this topic can take months and is often combined with a project day at school. Most of the UNESCO project schools take part in this project day. In addition, other schools are always invited to this project. The highlight of the day or the long-term work are the nationwide central events, which are designed as media-effective as possible in order to reach a broad public. Other events usually also take place regionally, as it is difficult for many to get to the central events. This of course means that many more people organize the project day.

year theme
12. 2018 Focus on the future - Agenda 2030
11. 2016 Look at! Get involved!
10. 2014 World Heritage Earth - make yourself strong for DIVERSITY!
9. 2012 It continues beyond the edge of the plate! Eat and live world-consciously
8th. 2010 Our actions - our future
7th 2008 Side by side - together - to find home. - How much integration do we need?
6th 2006 A lifelong dream of sport - fit - peaceful - fair - for one world
5. 2004 Water, the elixir of life - problems, conflicts, opportunities
4th 2002 Dialogue between cultures
3. 2000 Sustainable Development  - Paths to a Culture of Peace
2. 1998 50 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
1. 1996 10 years after the Chernobyl disaster

UNESCO pencils

In the 1990s, UNESCO started a global literacy campaign . One of the UNESCO project schools' contributions was to sell pencils and donate the proceeds. The pencils are a symbol for writing, they are made of natural wood, have the UNESCO symbol and indicate “basic education for everyone” in German, English, French and Spanish. Part of the money goes to a project of the Helene Lange School in Wiesbaden to “build and restore” schools in Nepal . The schools that sold the pens can decide how much of the money is used for themselves. The money must be used for social projects or donated to well-known aid organizations. Selling UNESCO pencils is always an opportunity to raise awareness of UNESCO's goals and to collect donations.

organization

School coordinator

There is a coordinator in every school. He or she is responsible for the UNESCO work and organization at the school and regularly attends meetings. He or she is also the contact person for suggestions, invitations to school seminars, questions and activities.

Regional coordinator

Each state has a regional coordinator who usually works at a school. He or she is elected by the school coordinators in most federal states and is supposed to advise and inform the schools (for example through conferences and circulars). He or she also takes care of public relations and is responsible for cooperation with the Ministry of Education and the school authorities.

Project coordinator

In addition to the school coordinators and regional coordinators, there are project coordinators who oversee specific projects, such as B. the international Baltic Sea Project or the Blue Danube Project. Further project coordinators are for World Heritage and Agenda 21 NOW! Responsible for the project and (inter) national contact within the ASP school network.

Federal coordinator

For Germany there is a federal coordinator who is usually appointed for three years by the conference of heads of ministers of the Kultusministerkonferenz (KMK), alternating between the federal states. He or she is responsible for the organization between the regional coordinators of the federal states and the schools, informs them, supports them in their work and promotes the exchange of experiences and cooperation among each other. To this end, he invites, among other things, once a year to the symposium of the UNESCO project schools and at least twice a year to the coordinators' meeting. In addition, he or she is the representative of the UNESCO project schools in Germany, and is therefore the contact person for culture and school authorities and the German UNESCO Commission as well as for schools from other countries. Another task is to establish and maintain international contacts. The office is part of the Education Department of the German UNESCO Commission and is located in Berlin. Heinz-Jürgen Rickert is currently holding this office.

The way to the UNESCO project school

It is a multi-stage, multi-year process. In Germany, the first level is interested school on the state level, the second cooperating school on the national level and the third recognized UNESCO project school as part of the worldwide network. In order to become a UNESCO project school, one must first show one's interest in UNESCO topics through school work and make oneself known in one's own federal state. An application is written to the regional coordinator in order to become a “cooperating UNESCO project school” . The application is sent to the federal coordination via the school authority and the Ministry of Education, is informal, but is made in writing and must meet certain criteria and include points:

  • You have to be a school or an educational institution;
  • Approval of the school conference;
  • School profile;
  • Justification for the application;
  • Reports on activities similar to that of a UNESCO project school (especially the point of international understanding);
  • Objectives.

The school authority or the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs makes the decision together with the regional and federal coordinators. When applying, an attempt is made to maintain a balance between the types of schools.

In order to become a “recognized UNESCO project school” , a “cooperating UNESCO project school” must submit an application for federal coordination with an application for the UNESCO headquarters in Paris after two to three years . There is an application form for this application that must meet the following criteria:

  • Approval of the school conference;
  • Approval of the school authority or the ministry of culture;
  • Approval by the German UNESCO Commission.

If the application is approved, the school will receive a certificate and from now on can call itself “recognized UNESCO project school”. The document is signed by the Directorate General of UNESCO.

If schools regularly take part in projects, seminars and other events organized by UNESCO project schools, they are considered to be interested UNESCO project schools .

Associated Schools Project

Internationally, almost 9000 schools form a network of different schools from over 180 countries called the Associated Schools Project. Each of the schools in the Associated Schools Project is a “UNESCO project school”, so all schools recognized in Paris from Paris are members of the Associated Schools Project. Internationally, all these schools pursue the same goals, work internationally and organize meetings, exchanges, seminars and workshops. The ASP network was launched in 1953, seven years after UNESCO was founded.

Country lists

literature

  • Karl-Heinz Köhler, Andreas Salz (ed.): Migration as a challenge. Practical examples from the UNESCO project schools. German Unesco Commission, Bonn 2007, ISBN 978-3-927907-97-3 . (Theory and case studies from some countries)
  • Wenger, Anne: Education in a Forming World Society: A Key to Promoting Sustainable Development. Inventories and perspectives. 2008

Web links

Footnotes

  1. Wenger, Anne: Education in a Forming World Society: A Key to Promoting Sustainable Development. Inventories and perspectives. 2008, 317 ff.
  2. German UNESCO Commission. Retrieved January 29, 2017 .
  3. contact person. Retrieved January 29, 2017 .
  4. ^ Education: Become a UNESCO Project School , unesco.de, accessed on February 8, 2019