Focolare Movement

“Learning Fraternity”: at the heart of education

Sep 5, 2013

An international conference-workshop on education aims to offer new formative ways in a changing society, at a moment when the world lives anxiously the aggravating situation of the Middle East crisis.

Replay streaming event: http://live.focolare.org/

Photos on Flickr


The main objective of “Learning Fratenity”, held at Castel Gandolfo, Rome from 6th to 8th September, is to share good practices and initiatives implemented in different cultural contexts to obtain  from them shared pedagogical lines of conduct leading to fraternity and peace.  The 650 educators from 35 countries attending this conference will participate  in lectures, in the sharing of good  practices and in workshops. Stands will also be set up.

This conference assumes  particular significance at a time when Pope Francis   voices “the cry for  peace”  uttered  by “ the one big family  of  humanity”. The promoters of this conference say this in a letter they wrote to the Pope.

Those involved in the daily task of educating, no matter at what level –  families,  schools, group leaders, academics,  the  youngsters themselves –  will be the protagonists of this meeting.

The three experts, who  will speak about “Education and Globalization” and its connotations in Latin America, Africa and Europe are: Nieves Tapia, coordinator of the National Programme of Education in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in Argentina; Justus Mbae Gitari, Professor of Pedagogy at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa in Nairobi; Giuseppe Milan, Professor of Intercultural  and Social Pedagogy at the University of Padua.

Paula Luengo Kanacri,  from Chile, a researcher at CIRMPA,  La Sapienza University, Rome and Teresa Boi, an Italian teacher and educator will lecture on “Education and Relation”.

A range of  subjects will be dealt with during the workshops:  from the culture of legality to parent-child relationship; from the prevention of bullying to new media communication; from social integration to opening  the school to the city, from sports to dance.

Good practices  carried out in cultural contexts of 20  different countries, amongst them Congo, Pakistan, Colombia and Eygpt will be presented   through the setting up of stands.

The school “Café con Leche” started under a tree in one of the poorest areas in the city of Santo Domingo. Presently it caters for 500 children, who  learn to discover themselves and others through the diversity and richness of ethnic groups.

The project “Peace begins with me”  was started in Eygpt, and today  it involves another 40 countries with more than 1500 students,  teachers and  heads of 82 schools, that promote the International Festival for Peace.

In Italy, “Project Peace” has been pursuing initiatives for 23 years, arousing interest in 100,000 young people in 400 schools, networking with others from Eastern European countries through annual humanitarian trips, solidarity shown to countries struck by war or disasters, interaction with foreigners and with persons who have different abilities.

On Saturday September 7, a  live streaming transmission  is scheduled.  (http://live.focolare.org).  Ideally, the programme will be  linked  with the day of fasting and prayer launched  by Pope Francis for peace in Syria and in  the world.

This conference-workshop is being promoted by New Humanity (an NGO with a  general consultative status at ECOSOC of UNO) together with 4 other educational agencies of the Focolare Movement: the Umanita` Nuova Movement, EDU (Education and Unity), AMU ( the NGO – Action  for a United World) and Teens4Unity.

This event is honoured by the patronage of Italian National Commission for UNESCO.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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