Mozaik 16/2005 Mozaik 16. Towards a New Culture of Education

The Courage to Search for New Meanings of Old Things The avoidance of risks must not govern the work …

We need for our science the spirit of brave explorers.

Paavo RAVILA

The courage to know (sapere aude) has throughout the centuries been one of the main motive powers which made it possible for Europe to be a place of new discoveries. Even if many groundbreaking discoveries happened in the silence of a room, where no audience could applaud the birth of a new idea, medicine or machine, the European culture of education and original thinking is unthinkable without the collective dimension of the courage to know.

Ever since her foundation in 1895, WSCF has functioned as a forum for both formal and informal education, creating a vital space for students to discuss the burning issues of the day. The ecumenical nature of this educational forum was a historical novelty, providing for Christian students a brand-new platform for learning about the concerns of students from other denominations.

The question of higher education and its cultural and ecumenical dimensions was also at the centre of the thematic discussions of the European Regional Assembly (ERA) of WSCF Europe, which bore the title Higher Education in Europe: Universities as Service Stations or Laboratories of Universal Questions?, and took place in September 2005 in Feketic´, Serbia and Montenegro. The lectures, presentations and discussions of the ERA are at the core of this issue of Mozaik, which focuses on perspectives of higher education in Europe and beyond.

This time we are especially honoured to be able to publish in Mozaik a number of articles from outside ‘the old continent’ that make us familiar with non-European views on education. In this way the readers can get an interesting glimpse of the educational issues dealt with in Cameroon or Ghana. Two other contributions are from the pen of U.S. authors. From Europe we have this time articles from Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, the Netherlands and Ukraine.

Many of the published articles deal with the topic of education in a direct way, examining the current state of the institutions of higher education and their possible (and at times very much needed) reforms. Other contributions take a broader view of the issue and focus on informal education, analyse determinative stereotypes or elaborate on the element of teamwork that is so necessary at any level of education. The gender perspective is a key tone in several of the presented studies. The ecumenical and spiritual dimension of education is brought to the readers both through articles and in our regular sections of liturgy and mini-biography.

We hope that the engaging style of the writers will be received with authentic open-mindedness by the readers, who are cordially invited to send comments, feedback, questions and further ideas to our e-mail address: wscfmozaik@yahoo.co.uk.

This issue of Mozaik presents to its readers the artwork of Dominika Martonová, a young photographer and textile designer from Slovakia.

We chose her photographs, as we found her art an interesting artistic metaphor for our theme.

Throughout the Psalms, feet are metaphorically bound up with wisdom—sureness of foot is a blessing which springs from learning and obeying well the precepts of the Master (see 17,4–5; 37,30–31; and 119,104–105). Over the millennia since then, we’ve come up with a wide range of accessories—socks, shoes, sandals, slippers—all man-made attempts to ensure the soundness of our steps.

Such attempts are not bad in and of themselves, and they can become objects of beauty, reflecting the richness and diversity of human cultures. These photographs, however, aim to remind us that no matter how fancy the footwear, inside it remains hollow; progress along any path still depends ultimately on the feet and on the discernment of the mind which directs them.

Last, but not least, I would like to thank my co-editors Rebecca BLOCKSOME and Dan GRIFFITHS for their excellent work and their creative approach to editing that has made our cooperation a truly pleasant experience.

Ut omnes unum sint.

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Study and Renewal

Kalina N I K O L O V A

John Chrysostom on Education When examining the role of education in Christianity from a historical perspective it is certainly important also to explore the part played by John CHRYSOSTOM (354–407), as he belongs among the crucial authorities of the early Church. He is considered the third of the great doctors and ecumenical teachers of the Church and is also referred to as doctor eucharisticus, i.e. the teacher of Eucharistic theology of the Church.

ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM’S EMPHASIS ON MORAL FORMATION Saint John Chrysostom was born in Antioch. His pious mother, Anthusa, made a great effort to raise and educate him, as his father died at a rather young age. At first, John attended the school of Livanius, the great master of rhetoric. He spent four years in the mountainous area surrounding Antioch under the wise direction of a strict and devout monk. Soon afterwards, he was ordained deacon and later presbyter in Antioch, where he completed twenty years of service.

In December 397, at the age of 44, he was ordained archbishop in Constantinople. Being very young, John was very strict and exacting towards his own scholarly work as well as himself.

He used his knowledge of philosophy and his rhetorical skills in the service of the Old and New Testament and left to the Church an immortal legacy. Educating humans as moral beings possessing reason serves as a point of departure in Saint John Chrysostom’s overall teaching on child education. As he writes in one of his works: “We must reinforce this image of the Heavenly King and restore the likeness of God. This is our duty that we can expect to be rewarded for in the future.”

John Chrysostom placed the greatest emphasis on religious and moral education. In his opinion, the work of the teacher, which is the art of educating the soul, is the most important task of all. No other work can compare to it.

“Children are like statues; they should be examined and perfected on an everyday basis” According to the holy father, those parents who do not raise their children in piety are child-killers rather that parents. Saint John Chrysostom repeatedly says in his lectures that it is not just giving birth, but also educating the child in a proper way that makes a mother or a father; and that it is only those who take care of their children’s education who can be called parents.

The holy father claimed, “Education is much more important than nature.” Taking care of children’s education brings tremendous benefits. This is clearly demonstrated by the following statement of the teacher of the Church: “If we took great care when educating our children, we would need no law, no courthouses, no punishments, no public executions, no tortures. We witness many sins being committed all the time. As we do not take care to perfect our souls, their state is worse that that of a derelict inn, unspeakably disorderly and filled with smoke and filth.”

The Doctor of the Church claimed that this disrupts “the whole universe” All the aforementioned considerations, however, are directly related to the moral requirements of children’s education.

In addition, Saint John Chrysostom focused also on the psychology of children that should make us take greater

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care of education. Children seem often reckless. They want neither to listen nor to think of beneficial or necessary matters. They do not realize when a crime is being committed before their very eyes. Furthermore, children are prone to vengefulness and anger. Yet other passions rule over them—vanity, self-will, envy. They suffer from pride and carelessness, too. It is evident that all these elements in children’s nature require an educator who can at least diminish these negative phenomena, if not transform them altogether.

EDUCATION AND THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD According to the Doctor of the Church, the right instruction of a person comprises knowledge of God, and the right education directs the person to the path of piety, awakening in her or him striving for virtues that represent a genuine treasure, wisdom and adornment of the soul.

The Doctor of the Church often talked of piety as a treasure and adornment, as opposed to the wealth, veneer and luxury that parents strive to provide for their children. He rightly claimed that no matter how great or precious a treasure may be it can cause harm, if the young person still has not learned to treat it in accordance with moral requirements.

Saint John Chrysostom writes in one of his works, “We should take care to provide children with piety and all virtues, not with silver and gold. We should not induce in young people an addiction to wealth and glory, because they will enslave them. It is the one who does not need anything who is really wealthy.”

The best legacy and wealth for our children, according to Saint John Chrysostom, is making them co-heirs of God Godself by providing charity for the poor. Thus, we accumulate for them the genuine wealth of God’s goodness and mercy, and God’s ever-lasting protection, while at the same time preparing a legacy for the future life.

In St. John’s opinion, raising children in chastity and humility is crucial. His requirement for humility and chastity as important aspects of the piety-based education was also related to the social circumstances that surrounded him.

Both Antioch and Constantinople, where Saint John lived and taught, were marked by over-liberal morals. His words provide evidence that in spite of the strictness demonstrated and, as he put it, “the existence of internal premises and premises for women in the houses, doors and locks, guards, maids and female supervisors, and the great care on the part of parents” (I/2. 249) it was hardly possible to preserve young women’s (and men’s) chastity.

THE ROLE OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES IN EDUCATION What are the measures and means that Saint John offered for the successful education of children in the spirit of piety? It is above all the study of the Holy Scriptures. The Scriptures, according to the Doctor of the Church, are the eternal base of religious and moral education.

In order for children to become real Christians, they need to listen to the word of God in church and at home.

According to the comparison cited by the Doctor of the Church and taken out of Psalm 1: “The soul of the person

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Study and Renewal who reads and studies the Scriptures is like a tree rooted in a spring.

Constantly watered by the Holy Spirit, the soul is not to be afraid of any circumstances i.e. diseases, calumnies, etc. The soul masters its passions and vicious thoughts with ease. Furthermore, it adorns itself with all fruits of virtue.”

Overall, reading the Holy Scriptures purges the conscience and subjugates the passions while at the same time enrooting virtues, elevating the reason, freeing the soul from the chains of the body—in short, bringing all possible goods. Reading the Holy Scriptures the sinner would not despair, because she or he would see that saints, too, have fallen and have risen again. The sinner would rather be motivated to reform her or his life, while the person of virtue would strive even harder to lead a pious life.

The Holy Scriptures have a great significance for the sinner; the holy books awaken the conscience and prevent sin. Through the Scriptures, it is as if the sinner enters the sanctuary to communicate with God Godself.

Saint John considered, consequently, that reading the Scriptures serves as “a great protection against sin while ignorance for the Scriptures is a great cliff, a great abyss.

Knowing nothing of the divine laws is fatal for salvation. It is this ignorance that has given birth to heresies. It has brought a corrupt way of life. It has turned everything upside down. One who constantly and diligently reads the Scriptures will not remain fruitless.”

According to the Doctor of the Church, the Holy Scripture is the best means of the art of educating. In his opinion, it is necessary and imperative that children be taught to read the word of God. It is equally beneficial to listen to the word of God in the church. Saint John repeatedly talked about this need. He claimed that the church is the best school for educating children. The importance of the education given at home is great, because children of a younger age do not attend church frequently; and when they do, they spend there a rather short time.

Saint John thought that each home, each family, could be a small Church, and the education given at home could be an extension of the education in church. The parents should narrate what they have heard in church, and thus their children would receive an excellent lesson.

There is yet another specific trait of the holy father’s ideas about the education of children. He saw also the danger that non-Christian schools represented for the children of Christian parents, as there were no Christian schools at that time. Saint John insisted that parents send their children to be educated in monasteries. He gives the following justification for this advice: he would not mind sending children to school if they left the establishment with pure morals.

As experience showed, however, things worked the other way ’round, so educating children in desert monasteries emerged as necessary. In the opinion of Saint John, even if it is assumed that at school children advance in the field of science, he considered it incomparably better for them to be successful in saving their souls by living and studying in a monastery.

It is more hazardous for them to be at school and study various sciences than to acquire virtues in the desert. In Saint John’s opinion, these were the main means for religious and moral education of children.

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TEACHER AS MODEL OF VIRTUOUS LIFE Besides these essential characteristics of the religious and moral education of children, we should note the pedagogical (or rather the didactic) requirements and rules of the holy father, which are applicable even today. The Doctor of the Church insisted that parents educate and influence their children by serving as models. He claimed that nothing is less useful than teaching only through words and not through actions; and that the best teacher is the one who teaches through her or his life and personal example.

According to the holy father, the most convincing education is the one conducted through actions and not through words. The opposite of this is to use meaningless words that bring only harm. Naturally, the holy father did not deny the significance of words for education.

He wanted, however, to emphasize the importance and power of educating through the personal example of a virtuous life. This is evident from the fact that he considered a perfect teacher and educator the one who teaches by using her or his words and the model of her or his life at the same time. Only such teachers can be fully successful in the task of properly educating their pupils.

Fully applicable nowadays also are the requirements that the holy father imposed on teachers in relation to their attitude to pupils. A teacher should be a model in every aspect, in all her or his actions, even in areas that at first glance seem unimportant, such as the ways of walking, dressing or looking.

She or he should be a model at all times - when she or he is silent, when she or he eats, when she or he talks. In short, the teacher should be an example of a virtuous life.

The main duty and virtue of a teacher is to direct her or his pupils to the path of moral perfection, communicating to them what is good for them, not taking care of her or his own benefit and popularity.

According to Saint John, a teacher acquires a great authority when talking to the pupils firmly and without hesitation. Her or his words should be penetrated by the spiritual power and their tone should be one of sincere conviction.

Saint John’s ideas within his teaching on education of children will no doubt remain excellent unalterable models that have not lost their fine quality even nowadays. The objective of Sunday schools for children, for example, is to bring to children the truths of the word of God, to translate these truths into a language that is understandable to children, to establish the right foundations for their lives, and to teach them to respect their parents and peers.

Suggested Reading Attwater Donald, St. John Chrysostom, Pastor and Preacher. London, 1959.

Constantelos Demetrios, John Chrysostom’s Greek Classical Education and its Importance to us Today. Greek Orthodox Theological Review 36 (1991).

Denev Ivan, The Teaching of Saint John Chrysostom on the Education of Children.

Theological Thought Journal, 1997/2.

Neill Stephen, Chrysostom and his Message. London, 1962.

Kalina NIKOLOVA was born in 1981 in Sofia, Bulgaria. She has a Bachelor’s degree in pedagogy and a Master’s degree in rhetoric. She is also interested in travelling, mountain-climbing and photography. Her e-mail address is kalinikbg@abv.bg.

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Study and Renewal

I r e n e j M a r o sˇ F I N T O R

The Role of Study in the Dominican Tradition The Dominican tradition continues the line of ancient Judeo-Christian spiritual traditions. Simultaneously it attempts to combine them with its own original impeti.

In its beginnings it formed a synthesis of the ancient spiritual traditions and the spirit of the age in which it was born. This synthesis proved to be so supertemporal that from the XIIIth century up until now it has continually inspired individuals to explore and further it.

However, in order to see its focus more clearly it is necessary to look back and see what preceded it.

THE JEWISH AND EARLY CHRISTIAN TRADITIONS OF STUDY Israel is often referred to as the nation of the Book and the book of the Torah is for the Jewish believer a unique gift of God. It is a means of creating a special relationship between God and Israel as the people of God. In the Torah God reveals Godself to Israel.

But in order to remain true to the Covenant and God, Israel is invited to continually learn about and discover God not only in prayer and daily life, but also through the study of the Torah. And so alongside charity works, liturgy and prayer, the study of the Torah has become an important religious act that connects the Jewish believer with the event of the Exodus and the revelation on Mount Sinai and actualizes them.

The importance of the study of the Torah gradually gained more ground and especially in the Rabbinic tradition played a constitutive role. Among the Rabbis the study of the Torah did not have just an informative aspect but also a mystical one. The study created space for the experience of the sacred; space for experiencing God’s presence—Shekinah.

According to the teaching of the Rabbis, when someone studies the Torah, God’s presence becomes revealed and is immediately present in the study in the same way as it is present in the sanctuary, only this time it needs no building and no ritual.

The Jewish tradition of study naturally echoed also in the early Christian communities. God’s sanctity, wisdom and self-revelation—that for the Jews were contained in the Torah—became from the Christian perspective embodied in Jesus Christ. As the proclamation of Christ’s message was in the early Church still connected to people who had the unique first-hand experience of God’s self-revelation in the historical Jesus, Christian literature contained from its very beginning an essential relational dimension.

Study played an even more specific role in the monastic tradition, where the reading of God’s word was combined with prayer and became basic spiritual nourishment, a time for listening to God. The study of the Scriptures was later supplemented by the study of Church Fathers and other spiritual authors. The aim was not to diminish the authority of the Scriptures, but rather to enrich the knowledge and relational potential towards God and people on the part of the monks. Interestingly enough, this type of study was in the monastic tradition placed in a special framework—the framework of asceticism.

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THE CONTRIBUTION OF ST. DOMINIC Dominic Guzman—the founder of the Dominican Order— availed himself of the aforementioned traditions; while on the other hand he attempted to create an orginal synthesis tailored to his time. In order to understand better the essence of Dominic’s contribution, it is important to mention at least some of the circumstances of the given historical era.

In the early XIIIth century the Augustinian canon Dominic Guzman, together with the bishop Diego of Osma, were passing through South France, where the movements of the Cathars and the Albigenses were expanding. The efforts of the papal legates to solve the situation and reach reconciliation proved to be a failure and a war broke out. Dominic and Diego, however, saw a potential solution to the situation in a revival of apostolic life – in the form of travelling preachers, since this was the way the new spiritual movements operated.

However, what they saw being neglected by the travelling preachers was intellectual formation, which resulted in various excesses. Therefore, if Diego and Dominic were to initiate dialogue with the preachers of spiritual purity, they needed preachers with appropriate intellectual preparation. In this way the requirement of study for the sake of the salvation of souls became a constitutive condition for the formation of a preacher. It became such an obvious emphasis that study replaced manual work that had been until then an indispensable part of monastic life.

By 1214 a small group of collaborators gathered around Dominic. In 1215 they received from bishop Fulk of Toulouse the permission to preach; a right that was in those times reserved solely to bishops. The bishop even provided them with funds for food and books. The brothers soon erected a monastery adapted to the purpose of study.

On December 12, 1216, Dominic received from the Pope Honorius III an official authorisation of the order and thus his brothers became independent of the diocese. Being aware of the importance of spiritual and intellectual formation, in 1217 Dominic sent the first brothers to the major university cities of his time – Paris and Bologna.

The inner life of the monasteries was set by the Constitutions, approved in 1220, whose key focus was prayer and study for the sake of the salvation of souls.

Therefore, from the very beginnings of the Dominican tradition, study had a central position in the life of the brothers, although it was not regarded as separate from other crucial commitments of theirs.

STUDY IN THE DOMINICAN TRADITION The most complex and most widely used concept of study in the Dominican tradition is the one elaborated by Thomas Aquinas in his Summa theologiae. In many aspects his ideas proved to be supertemporal and were further elaborated by the later authorities of the Order. At times they needed adjustment to changing circumstances, but on the whole there is an obvious continuity in their interpretation in the framework of the Dominican charisma.

The step which can be seen as epochal is linked to Thomas’ view of the gnozeologic process. This was embed-

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Study and Renewal ded in the Aristotelian structures and contemporary academic discourse and led Thomas to the thesis that study is a human act that in itself is morally indifferent.

Why is this thesis important? Although Aquinas admitted that the process of determining the object of cognition, the analysis of reception mechanisms and the creation and classification of concepts has its intrinsic value, he also recognized that not every form of study necessarily leads to a greater love for God, as was often maintained in the early Christian tradition in connection with the lectio divina and the study of the Church Fathers.

On the other hand Aquinas – as a man of faith and monastic formation – realized that such an “autonomistic” understanding of study is possible only at the abstract level. In real life study is always part of the moral life of the individual that either strives for growth in virtues and the good or in negative life attitudes and partial satisfaction of the self.

And so, apart from defining the process of study as morally indifferent, Thomas Aquinas insisted on the necessity to cultivate study in a relationship with God, who is the fullness and goal that the human strives for. In this context St. Thomas presented three chief reasons for study – contemplation, preaching or instruction, and growth in personal maturity.

CONTEMPLATION The relation between prayer and study has been mentioned already in the paragraph on early Christian and monastic traditions. This relation constitutes an important basis for the concept of contemplation in the Dominican tradition. The link between these realities is in Aquinas synthesized through the concept of Veritas (Truth).

Through study the human acquires “an insight into the truth about things.” It is a time when the human opens her- or himself to truth. She or he makes an effort to perceive the truth about things, relations, values or concepts. This truth about things prevents us from getting lost in conjectures, imaginations and stories.

As the things around us are understandable, the human does not have to be reliant on a confabulated explanation of events, circumstances, relations and phenomena.

Through study—and thus through an insight into the truth about things—the human acquires the awareness that she or he is not in the middle of a space that is beyong her or his influence and out of reach.

Similarly, prayer should be based on the solid ground of study. Spiritual life cannot be reduced to personal enlightment, individual inspiration and emotional experiences, although these are also important parts of it. This is one of the reasons why the Dominican tradition always emphasized that spiritual formation and prayer need to contain a deep Biblical and theological dimension.

A balance of emotional and rational emphases in prayer prevents either of the extremes. Such a prayer is then a time when human lets her- or himself be permeated by Truth-God. In this way prayer is not an opportunity to gather merits, but a space and time of an encounter with God when God talks to the human through the Scripture or theology. Prayer becomes a mode of listening and encountering.

Veritas—as the aim of study and prayer—becomes a unifying force that one experiences in contemplation.

Aquinas defined contemplation as “a simple insight into truth.” Inevitably contemplation becomes linked to the metanoia of the individual.

The aim of contemplation is not to see oneself as the

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centre of things that are perceived rationally and emotionally. If this were the primary focus, the human would have to perceive her- or himself with all her/his limitations, passions and failures, and would need to sink into despondency.

In contemplation, however, the human on the basis of study and prayer, lets her/his intellect and heart be filled with truth and love. In this way the human can grow in the familiarity with God and experience a gradual unification with God. Such a view of God’s truthfulness, beauty and love empowers the human and prompts her/him to embrace discipleship.

In contemplation the human opens up and step-by-step learns to see the world with God’s eyes. Therefore true contemplation cannot be a flight from the neighbour and the world. On the contrary, inspired by God’s affection to humankind and the world, the individual is prompted to create deeper relationships and to intensify her/his involvement in the world.

PREACHING IN ITS VARIOUS FORMS The Dominican Order was founded according to its Constitutions for the purpose of mediating to the believers the fruits of contemplation—thence the parole contemplata aliis tradere. When St. Thomas elaborates on styles of life, he touches upon the two boundary modes—contemplation and action. He claims that there are people who, without much regret, abandon contemplation in order to immerse themselves in the stream of life. This he denotes, however, as imperfect love.

Others, on the other hand, do not want to part from contemplation at any price. And even though Aquinas sees contemplation as qualitatively more valuable than mere action, he points out that true friendship is practiced when the contemplation of God is given up in order to serve God in the active care of souls.

Thus contemplation, although truly crucial, is not the ultimate aim of the life of a Dominican. It is a means that serves the aim of the Order which is preaching for the sake of the salvation of souls. Similarly, prayer and study do not have their aim within themselves. They should lead the individual to wisdom that teaches the human to see God’s mercy, compassion and solidarity.

This approach enables the human to cultivate sensitivity to the worries and problems of her/his neighbours and she/he realizes that the service of truth and intellect go hand in hand with the service of justice, compassion and solidarity in the world. This wisdom contemplated in God and revealed in interpersonal relationships and the world can be practiced in manifold ways. The key way for the Dominican is preaching.

The term preaching denotes stricto sensu the passing on of knowledge, mediation of the mysteries of life and faith to others. This sort of preaching is closely linked to the spoken word of the liturgy, but can also take place in other ways, formal and informal. Often it is embodied in the written word too.

But the concept of preaching in the Dominican tradition has a broader meaning. Study and prayer enable the individual to perceive human crises, problems and sufferings in a deeper way which leads the preacher to compassion and solidarity that is not necessarily expressed verbally. It can at times be more efficiently expressed in social involvement or simply in a responsible fulfilment of one’s life tasks as the most powerful witness about one’s sincere faith.

The words of prayer of intercession for those in need are

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yet another mode of preaching for the sake of the salvation of souls. Therefore it is not only the brothers who partake in the preaching charisma of the Dominican Order, but also the contemplative nuns, congregations of sisters and many lay Dominicans living in families and working in public life.

PERSONAL MATURITY AND THE VIRTUE OF STUDIOSITAS Study is in the Dominican tradition also a way of personal growing-up. Aquinas emphasized this aspect by highlighting in his doctrine the virtue of studiositas. He coupled this virtue with one of the main virtues, namely the one of temperance. In this way he tried to create a holistic approach to the perception of humankind.

Since nothing can be fully separated from other parts of the whole, every virtue is to be seen in the context of other qualities of the human. Therefore also the virtue of sudiositas, if cultivated earnestly, contributes to the growth and perfection of the entire personality. In what ways does studiositas enrich the personality?

Firstly, assiduous and consistent study requires self-discipline. One has to sit down, state her/his priorities and

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Study and Renewal structure her/his time accordingly in order to adequately channel her/his efforts. Such a distribution of time requires the incorporation of study into the context of other requirements of life, creating a daily framework for study and an environment that supports study.

At the thematic level study should be aimed at personal growth of oneself and others, realizing that study is not its own aim, but an attempt to find answers to problems and issues of a chosen area. Its focus is the improvement and perfection of things, relationships and the furthering of the inner growth of people. As a result this requires a parallel development of other personal qualities of the student.

The second dimension of study is to create space for an encounter. Namely, as it was already considered in the Judeo-Christian tradition, study is not only about the amassing of information, but above all about the integration of information in the studying subject. It needs to create space for the encounter with oneself and with God. Only in such a space is the human able to experience a certain form of metanoia through study.

Transcending one’s own limitations both at the level of intellect and emotions makes it possible for the human to become increasingly mature as a personality.

Consequently, study as a space for encounter pre-supposes the opening of the human for a relationship. In a relationship the human becomes conscious of her- or himself and the other. In a relationship information is not merely a technical means but an existential communication. In a relationship both of the essential dimensions of contemplation are practiced. The active dimension concerns the acquisition of knowledge, relationships; it is the penetration of things in their depth. The other dimension is an active approach to the creation of silence. Silence is the space for listening; an attempt to detect and understand voices that reach the human both from the depths of her/his own soul and from outside.

In this way silence opens the human to both God and people; it becomes a vital part of dialogue. Learning to listen to others is the education of the mind. In every human there is some spiritual egoism that needs to be mastered and educated. The opening of the mind to unexpected insights and new relationships requires therefore inner asceticism that teaches the human to be present here and now, ready for a thought, a human, a relationship. If this integrative approach is applied with full earnestness, study can become an important helping instrument in the development of communication and in the reinforcement of community.

Suggested Reading AQUINAS Thomas, Summa Theologica. Westminster, 1981.

AUMANN Jordan, Christian Spirituality in the Catholic Tradition. London, 2005.

ENGEL Ulrich, Dominikanische Spiriualität. Leipzig, 2000.

RADCLIFFE Timothy, Sing a New Song. The Christian Vocation. Dublin, 2000.

WOODS Richard, Mysticism and Prophecy. The Dominican Tradition. London, 1998.

Irenej Marosˇ FINTOR OP was born in 1978 in Krupina, Slovakia. He is currently finishing his theological studies at the Ruzˇomberok Catholic University in Kosˇice.

He took part in study programmes in Cork, Ireland, and Fribourg, Switzerland, and is an active member of Ekunet (Slovakia SCM). He has participated in a number of WSCF events, as well as in national ecumenical activities in Slovakia.

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Bogdan P O P E S C U

Does Europe Need Religious Education?

From the very beginning, Christians have not denied the role of education, nor did they reject cultural values.

They did reject immorality and idolatry, connected to the Hellenistic world, but tried, at the same time, to reshape the ancient patterns. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, was a highly educated person; Luke the Evangelist studied medicine; Justin the Martyr was initiated in philosophy; Tertullian studied literature, rhetoric, philosophy, medicine and law. Origen read Plato and was the disciple of the great philosopher Ammonios SAKAS; Ambrose of Milan studied literature and law; John CHRYSOSTOM studied rhetoric, philosophy and law; Augustine of Hippo read Aristotle, Plato and Cicero.

CONTROVERSIAL RELATIONS BETWEEN EDUCATION AND CHRISTIANITY The great Christian schools from Antioch and Alexandria, or later Constantinople, were strongly influenced by Hellenistic thought. Within these schools, during the first Christian centuries, the process of education began with Greek literature and included different classes not necessarily related to religion, such as mathematics, law, history, geography, music or even astronomy.

Philosophy was adapted to the new spirituality and became a very useful tool. Many Christian writers from the IInd and IIIrd century believed it was a pedagogue who introduced Christianity to the Gentiles. Therefore, Clement of Alexandria considered education a “godly gift,” “an image of the truth” or an “intellectual exercise,” which precedes the conversion to Christianity (Stromata I.II). Tertullian also considered philosophical thought very similar to Christian thought (About the soul II).

The Christian Church was ready, however, to accept as members both educated and uneducated persons. The great philosopher Origen stressed: “We do think that everybody who studied, all the wise and clever persons are welcome. In the meantime all the uneducated or less clever people, even childish ones, are accepted. If they come, the Logos heals all of them and makes them worthy in front of God (Origen, Against Celsus III. XLIV).

It is true that most of the members of early Christian communities were not highly educated persons, but this fact had a particular economic and financial basis. The people who lived in the Roman Empire at that time had very few chances to have access to the expensive schools. The elementary school, organised by a litterator, was the only alternative for

poor children. In order to continue studies they were supposed to pay 500 sestertii to a grammaticus per year, while a rhetor used to receive around 2000 sestertii.

Education and Christianity commingled during the centuries. Christian teachings were studied and taught according to the ancient philosophical methods and means; all the other classes were restructured according to the religious perspective. This strong relationship lasted for centuries in both Eastern and Western Europe, but was later challenged by the Renaissance and tended towards an open conflict during the Enlightenment.

At that time, civil states began to reject the religious character of education and did not accept theology as a field of scientific research. The Christian faith was considered a superstition; a “darkness” which overshadowed for centuries les lumières of reason.

The principle credo ut intelligam was replaced by alternative slogans, such as sapere aude. Descartes affirmed the superiority of the patterns offered by nature; Montesquieu underlined the relativity of laws and challenged the idea of divine authority; Rousseau promoted the idea of a harmonious society under the rule of reason.

In the Europe of the third millennium, the relationship between religion and education is rather controversial.

There are different voices that propose different patterns, experienced in various European countries.

Do we need classes of religion in public schools? Should we keep religious symbols in these institutions? Are faculties of theology legitimate members of universities? In order to answer all these questions, I will analyse briefly the challenges and the achievements of the Romanian system of education.

THE POST-COMMUNIST EXPERIENCE OF ROMANIA In Romania, as in other Eastern European countries, the first schools were organised close to the churches and monasteries, while priests and theologians were the first professors. This relationship lasted for centuries and was quite important for both sides. Science and religion coexisted and cooperated in these countries in the field of education, even during the Enlightenment, until fifty years ago, when this tradition was challenged by communism.

The atheistic regime denied all means of religious education except the formation of future priests. Theological schools were forced to leave the universities and theology was not considered a science any more. The cooperation between Church and state in this field was seen as useless or even dangerous.

After the revolution of 1989, the situation changed dramatically. Religion is taught in public schools for children between 7 and 18 years of age, although there is the possibility to opt out, and the teachers are paid by the state. The facul-

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ties of theology are again accepted as members of universities. For example, Bucharest University includes the Orthodox Faculty, the Baptist Faculty and the Roman Catholic Faculty, with different departments.

However now, when the Romanians are trying to follow and adopt all the western traditions to become citizens of the European Union, many voices claim that we should not return to the traditional cooperation. They strongly recommend the pattern of some European countries, where religious education is not a part of the state system of education.

Personally, I think each country should keep the traditions that have proven to be successful over the centuries.

The European Union is seeking the unity through diversity and does not impose infallible patterns. Religious education is a part of Romanian history and tradition and it is very important during this difficult period of transition. The educational system is democratic, and the denominations that are legally registered in Romania should have access to public education.

Classes of religion should be supported by the state because they are important for the formation of the future citizens, and not only from the spiritual, cultural or moral perspective. For example, recently the Romanian Orthodox church developed, in cooperation with USAID, a program aimed at the prevention of domestic violence and the transmission of HIV. The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church

adopted the project. During the religious classes, young Romanians are educated from the Christian point of view, on how to fight against the spread of the virus, and how to relate to people living with HIV. Religious education, organised in a democratic and transparent way, could also develop a better understanding of religious and inter-religious relationships. Society could benefit from this education, overcoming superstitions, prejudices and dangerous conflicts.

I do think that Europe should accept Romania as a member, together with its old traditions, which could be found among other member states. The religious education that survived here could be an example of a good relationship between Church and state, an expression of ecumenism and interfaith mutual respect.

Suggested Reading CLEMENT of Alexandria, Stromata.

ORIGEN, Against Celsus.

GRANT Michael, The World of Rome. New York, 1960.

HAMMAN Adalbert, La vie quotidienne des premiers Chrétiens. Paris, 1971.

LAISTNER Max L., Christianity and Pagan Culture in the Later Roman Empire. New York, 1951.

Bogdan POPESCU was born in Bucharest, Romania, in 1976. He graduated from the Orthodox Seminary of Bucharest (1996) and from the Faculty of Theology, University of Bucharest (2000). He has a master’s degree in ecumenical studies (Bossey, Switzerland, 2002); his thesis dealt with the Church and state relationship. He recently finished his PhD in Sibiu, doing research on Early Christian Literature; currently he is the Theology Coordinator of WSCF Europe and works as an inspector for the Department of Education of the Romanian Orthodox Church. His email adress is bogdanpopescu76@hotmail.com.

N A G Y P Á L Szabolcs

The Edification of Community: Education and Ecumenical Renewal “Theological education is our nerve centre, and our willingness to shoulder it is an indication of our growing maturity in Jesus Christ.”

(Prince THOMPSON)

The phenomena of culture and religion are mutually accountable to each other, and together they constitute the context where theology and education are to be conducted. The ecumenical movement is especially responsible for the Christian education for unity.

Through its institutions and methodologies, it serves the visible unity of the Church, for her renewal in dialogue and community.

CULTURE AND RELIGION According to Paul Tillich, “Religion is the substance of culture, and culture is the form of religion.” In Tillich’s thinking, the three forms of culture are the autonomous, the heteronomous and the theonomous.

Culture shapes the human voice that answers to the voice of God in faith. In these ways we have to provide an authentic witness within each culture, taking into account the one Gospel and its diverse expressions.

In the theology of cultures, five main models were developed by H. Richard Niebuhr to describe the relationship between Jesus Christ and culture: Christ against culture, the Christ of culture, Christ above culture, Christ and culture in paradox, and Jesus Christ the transformer of culture.

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Historical examples of the various Gospel and culture relationships include firstly indigenisation (taking root in the soil), as well as contextualisation (the interpenetration of subject and object).

Other historical examples also include acculturation and adaptation (applying Christian practices to local cultures) and inculturation (the prophetic and liberative insertion of new values into one’s heritage and worldview).

In the understanding of contextual theology, the divine form of contextualisation is incarnation. According to this, there are already theological meanings embedded in the cultures, showing the depth and breadth of the mystery of God. The main rule for religious and cultural encounters remains, in accordance with Acts 15,28, to impose no further burden than the essential things. The Gospel illumines and transforms a culture, and cultures illumine and incarnate the Gospel.

As a result, every human culture is de-stigmatised, renewed and revitalised by the Gospel, and every human culture is at the same time deabsolutised, relativised and brought into dialogue by the Good News.

Genuine Gospel values are present in all cultures in the forms of life, faith, peace, humility, solidarity, justice, freedom, compassion, dialogue, reciprocity, joy, wisdom and holistic relations with creation.

When rediscovering the catholicity of the Christian Church in each cultural context, the incarnation, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ serves as the standard for our wise discernment.

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ties of theology are again accepted as members of universities. For example, Bucharest University includes the Orthodox Faculty, the Baptist Faculty and the Roman Catholic Faculty, with different departments.

However now, when the Romanians are trying to follow and adopt all the western traditions to become citizens of the European Union, many voices claim that we should not return to the traditional cooperation. They strongly recommend the pattern of some European countries, where religious education is not a part of the state system of education.

Personally, I think each country should keep the traditions that have proven to be successful over the centuries.

The European Union is seeking the unity through diversity and does not impose infallible patterns. Religious education is a part of Romanian history and tradition and it is very important during this difficult period of transition. The educational system is democratic, and the denominations that are legally registered in Romania should have access to public education.

Classes of religion should be supported by the state because they are important for the formation of the future citizens, and not only from the spiritual, cultural or moral perspective. For example, recently the Romanian Orthodox church developed, in cooperation with USAID, a program aimed at the prevention of domestic violence and the transmission of HIV. The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church

adopted the project. During the religious classes, young Romanians are educated from the Christian point of view, on how to fight against the spread of the virus, and how to relate to people living with HIV. Religious education, organised in a democratic and transparent way, could also develop a better understanding of religious and inter-religious relationships. Society could benefit from this education, overcoming superstitions, prejudices and dangerous conflicts.

I do think that Europe should accept Romania as a member, together with its old traditions, which could be found among other member states. The religious education that survived here could be an example of a good relationship between Church and state, an expression of ecumenism and interfaith mutual respect.

Suggested Reading CLEMENT of Alexandria, Stromata.

ORIGEN, Against Celsus.

GRANT Michael, The World of Rome. New York, 1960.

HAMMAN Adalbert, La vie quotidienne des premiers Chrétiens. Paris, 1971.

LAISTNER Max L., Christianity and Pagan Culture in the Later Roman Empire. New York, 1951.

Bogdan POPESCU was born in Bucharest, Romania, in 1976. He graduated from the Orthodox Seminary of Bucharest (1996) and from the Faculty of Theology, University of Bucharest (2000). He has a master’s degree in ecumenical studies (Bossey, Switzerland, 2002); his thesis dealt with the Church and state relationship. He recently finished his PhD in Sibiu, doing research on Early Christian Literature; currently he is the Theology Coordinator of WSCF Europe and works as an inspector for the Department of Education of the Romanian Orthodox Church. His email adress is bogdanpopescu76@hotmail.com.

N A G Y P Á L Szabolcs

The Edification of Community: Education and Ecumenical Renewal “Theological education is our nerve centre, and our willingness to shoulder it is an indication of our growing maturity in Jesus Christ.”

(Prince THOMPSON)

The phenomena of culture and religion are mutually accountable to each other, and together they constitute the context where theology and education are to be conducted. The ecumenical movement is especially responsible for the Christian education for unity.

Through its institutions and methodologies, it serves the visible unity of the Church, for her renewal in dialogue and community.

CULTURE AND RELIGION According to Paul Tillich, “Religion is the substance of culture, and culture is the form of religion.” In Tillich’s thinking, the three forms of culture are the autonomous, the heteronomous and the theonomous.

Culture shapes the human voice that answers to the voice of God in faith. In these ways we have to provide an authentic witness within each culture, taking into account the one Gospel and its diverse expressions.

In the theology of cultures, five main models were developed by H. Richard Niebuhr to describe the relationship between Jesus Christ and culture: Christ against culture, the Christ of culture, Christ above culture, Christ and culture in paradox, and Jesus Christ the transformer of culture.

8

Historical examples of the various Gospel and culture relationships include firstly indigenisation (taking root in the soil), as well as contextualisation (the interpenetration of subject and object).

Other historical examples also include acculturation and adaptation (applying Christian practices to local cultures) and inculturation (the prophetic and liberative insertion of new values into one’s heritage and worldview).

In the understanding of contextual theology, the divine form of contextualisation is incarnation. According to this, there are already theological meanings embedded in the cultures, showing the depth and breadth of the mystery of God. The main rule for religious and cultural encounters remains, in accordance with Acts 15,28, to impose no further burden than the essential things. The Gospel illumines and transforms a culture, and cultures illumine and incarnate the Gospel.

As a result, every human culture is de-stigmatised, renewed and revitalised by the Gospel, and every human culture is at the same time deabsolutised, relativised and brought into dialogue by the Good News.

Genuine Gospel values are present in all cultures in the forms of life, faith, peace, humility, solidarity, justice, freedom, compassion, dialogue, reciprocity, joy, wisdom and holistic relations with creation.

When rediscovering the catholicity of the Christian Church in each cultural context, the incarnation, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ serves as the standard for our wise discernment.

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THEOLOGY OF UNITY “Evangelism is the test of true ecumenism,” states Philip Potter. Within culture and within religion, theology (or Godtalk) in the ecumenical movement is that committed human activity by which the confessing and believing Christian community mutually accounts for the faith of the Church.

Theology deals most of all with the transmission of the faith, with the sharing of the experience of belief, and with the edification of the community. It expresses faith in a manner, which preserves the shared experience of God by the witnesses of all times.

The formative factors of theology are the experience of God’s Self-exposure, the Scripture, the Tradition, culture and reason. As a basic rule, the freedom of theological schools within the same orthodoxy has to be emphasised.

A theology of unity in diversity requires self-emptying (kenosis), total humility and intellectual honesty, with a constant awareness that no-one can comprehend in its entirety or circumscribe the fullness of the mystery of God. In accordance with this mystery, theology has mystical, experiential and apophatic dimensions, as well as intellectual, rational and doctrinal ones. At the end of the day, however, it is the Spirit of Truth Who guides us into all Truth (John 16,13).

Genuine ecumenical theology, therefore, is also a permanent crucifixion for the reason and for the intellect, in the sense that it is at the same time intellectual, as well as prayerful and doxological.

We must try to say together what can be said to express consensus, agreement or convergence. The Church exists for the life of the world; therefore her unity is as absolute as her diversity, in the image of the Holy Trinity.

In accordance with this theology of unity, theological education should concentrate on the training of native (indigenous) leaders, on the requirements of context and culture, on liberation and cross-cultural discussion, and on curriculum development in the ecclesial institutes of higher learning as well.

Its main institutional means, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Theological Education (ETE, 1996) was previously called the Theological Education Fund (TEF, from 1958) and the Programme on Theological Education (PTE, from 1977).

The aim of these three endeavours has been to assist the churches as a catalyst for the reform and renewal of the entire theological education for genuine authenticity, imaginative creativity and overarching quality.

We constantly have to ask ourselves during the whole process of theological education for unity: what will best serve the transmission of the faith in the diversity of the one-Church-to-be in the ages to come?

EDUCATION FOR ECUMENISM Ecumenical education is common endeavour of culture and religion (theology). The line of education is generally considered the oldest of the four main branches within the ecumenical movement, coming before Mission and Evangelism, Faith and Order, and Life and Work.

The Office of Education within the World Council of Churches (WCC) used to be called the World Council of Christian Education (WCCE) between 1947 and 1971, and World Sunday School Association (WSSA) between 1907 and 1947.

Ecumenical learning has two parallel aims. First, it works towards the visible unity of the Church in order to let the churches be more truly the Church; and second, it works for the renewal of the human community in order to live as a liberating and reconciling community in dialogue, thus creating a dwelling place for all.

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Ecumenical education is democratic; it respects the ministry by all God’s people; it is based on a theology by the people, and it employs a shared and apostolic type of leadership. This type of education concludes in the cross-fertilisation of ideas and strengthened linkages among all the participants.

Ecumenical formation is also comprehensive; it emphasises consensus, agreements, convergences and our common witness. It concentrates on learning by experience, and by direct encounter and confrontation with situations in a world horizon.

As a parcel of this, adult education is an organised learning outside the school system, a collective diffusion of knowledge involving worldview, vision, values, understanding, attitudes, practices, strategies, skills and tools.

Basically, all of life is a learning experience from the cradle to the grave. Through adult education, the formal, informal and non-formal ways of education are integrated into a lifelong learning process.

Ecumenical catechesis is primarily an oral teaching about the faith, doctrine, liturgy and life of the Church, while catechism is a written religious instruction. Both of their main aims are to contribute to the growth of the unity and communion of the Christian Church.

Catechesis creates and fosters a true desire for unity, and it facilitates involvement in the ecumenical movement, preparing the way for dialogue and for fruitful and fraternal relations with each other. After all, we should not educate someone just to educate an individual—but rather in order to educate a nation, the Church, and humanity as a whole.

In short, education for ecumenism is fostering an understanding of, a commitment to and an informed participation in the whole ecumenical process. Through this, we are called to become vulnerable to the suffering of the others, to become compassionate and empathic, by becoming neighbours to (and from) strangers.

Education for ecumenism and dialogue is a total process that has ecclesiological, missionary as well as social-ethical elements. It aims to transcend barriers in an actionoriented way, interculturally learning together in community, in order to bring about an experience of the riches of creation in nature, history and culture.

ECUMENICAL INSTITUTES In the worldwide process of education for ecumenism and dialogue, a crucial part is played by the various interdenominational and confessional ecumenical institutes, which express their ecumenicity through their organisation and their thematic foci.

As for ecumenical institutes, important examples are the Franciscan Centro Pro Unione (Rome, 1948); the Centre Saint-Irénée (Lyons, 1953); and the Chambésy Orthodox Centre of the Ecumenical Patriarchate (1966).

The Benedictine monastery of Chèvetogne (1925, founded

by Dom Lambert Beauduin OSB) publishes Irénikon (1926), which is the very first Roman Catholic ecumenical review in the world.

The first director of the Bossey Ecumenical Institute (1946) of the World Council of Churches (WCC) near Genève was Hendrik Kraemer. The Bossey Institute still functions as a laboratory for ecumenical life.

The Johann-Adam Möhler Institute for Ecumenics (and Controverse Theology) (Paderborn, 1957, founded by Archbishop Lorenz Jaeger) aims to acknowledge our commonalities, in the light of which one can better understand and evaluate our differences.

The Pro Oriente Institute (Wien, 1964, founded by

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Cardinal Franz König) worked out the famous Wiener Christologische Formel (Wien Agreement on Christology) in 1988 with the Oriental Orthodox churches.

The Benedictine Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research (Collegeville, 1967, founded by Kilian McDonnell OSB) aims to dispel religious ignorance and to promote better understanding and harmony.

The Tantur Ecumenical Institute (Jerusalem, 1972) aims at a community life of prayer, study and dialogue.

Considered by many as an oasis of sane discourse, TEI deals especially with ways of creative non-violence.

The Benedictine Békés Gellért Ecumenical Institute (BGÖI, Pannonhalma, Hungary, 2001) was founded by Bishop and Archabbot Várszegi Asztrik OSB. Through its ecumenical research and publications, it serves as one of the main catalysts for ecumenical rapprochement in Central Europe.

The Fellowship of Study Centres (1980) brings together the dialogue centres or institutes for religion and culture.

Similarly, the Societas Œcumenica (1978) is the European Society for Ecumenical Research.

Finally, Oikosnet (1972) is a global ecumenical network of laity centres, academies and movements for social concern working for just, participatory, sustainable and inclusive communities, through dialogue on the world’s agenda and weaving communities of hope.

ECUMENICAL PEDAGOGICAL PARADIGMS It is worth examining two important pedagogical paradigms which have gained momentum in the history of the ecumenical movement. The two are in many ways complementary to each other.

Joseph Houldsworth Oldham (1874–1969) was the pioneer of the imaginative ecumenical study method. The Oxford conference (1937) of the Life and Work (L&W) movement, organised by him, was the first ecumenical study conference on social issues.

According to Oldham, the Church must be not only a community of worship and love, but also a community of thought: “In the fulfilment of her task, the Church must call to her aid the best minds that she can command.”

As ‘best minds’ he means spiritual insights, understanding and abilities for dialogue, keeping in mind that the realities of the spiritual world may be hidden from the wise and prudent and revealed precisely to the children. Jesus Christ

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The Brazilian Paulo Reglus Neves Freire (1921–1997) worked out the pedagogy of the oppressed, with its focus on the preferential option for the poor. This pedagogy aims to enable the marginalised to become subjects of their own history and to participate actively in decision-making.

The key word of Paulo Freire’s concept is conscientisation (awareness-raising). According to this idea, both teachers and pupils simultaneously become knowing subjects in a two-way process, brought together by the object they know.

Freire’s theory signifies a radical shift from teaching about to learning together with. Here the learners are fully involved themselves in selecting the subject; then they pose, discuss and tackle the problem in a dialogue situation.

This action-and-reflection model requires serious wisdom and refined discernment. This pedagogy can never be neutral, but comes from a certain context and aims for a commitment towards the transformation of the society and the Church.

RENEWAL AND DIALOGUE Genuine communication happens when information is imparted, ideas and thoughts are exchanged, cultures are shared, and people and places are brought into close relationship, cooperation and dialogue.

The Christian principles of communication (being bound together as one) are participation, liberation and prophesy, which together create community and communion and support and develop culture.

It is certain that each teaching requires reception, the mutual critical testing and apt appropriation, the gradual and mutual acceptance of the results of ecumenical dialogues by individuals and the community.

While reception is a response to rapid change, it is also a recovery and a re-endorsement of the basic and ancient truths of the valid Church Tradition and the personal and communitarian experiences.

Therefore, the aim of education for ecumenism and dialogue is renewal from the roots (aggiornamento or bringing up-to-date). Before the others, we must renew ourselves, so that we may be found increasingly faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

As an eternal model, the very nature of the Triune God is communication and the dialogue among the three Persons of the Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, in the holy perichoresis (mutual interpenetration) of love.

Suggested Reading AMIRTHAM Samuel – MOON Cyris H. S. (eds.), The Teaching of Ecumenics. Genève, 1987.

ARIARAJAH S. Wesley, Gospel and Culture: An Ongoing Discussion within the Ecumenical Movement. Genève, 1994.

FREIRE Paulo Reglus Neves, Pedagogia do Oprimido (Pedagogy of the Oppressed). New York, 1970.

KRAEMER Hendrik, A Theology of the Laity. London, 1958.

LOSSKY Nicholas – BONINO José Míguez – POBEE John S. – STRANSKY Tom F. – WAINWRIGHT Geoffrey – WEBB Pauline, Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement. Genève, 2002.

NEWBIGIN Leslie, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society. Genève, 1989.

NIEBUHR H. Richard, Christ and Culture. New York, 1951.

OLDHAM Joseph Houldsworth, The Function of the Church in Society. London, 1937.

POBEE John S. (ed.), Towards Viable Theological Education: Ecumenical Imperative, Catalyst of Renewal. Genève, 1997.

TILLICH Paul, Theology of Culture. New York, 1959.

VISCHER Lukas – FEINER Johannes (eds.), Neues Glaubensbuch: Der gemeinsame christliche Glaube (The Common Catechism: A Christian Book of Faith). London, 1975.

NAGYPÁL Szabolcs (1974) is a graduate in ecumenical theology, law and literature. He is a theologian in the Benedictine Békés Gellért Ecumenical Institute (BGÖI) in Pannonhalma, and teaches philosophy in ELTE University in Budapest. He was chairperson of KÖD (Magyar SCM) and WSCF CESR; a member of the ERC and ExCo. He co-edited the books: A Pentatonic Landscape: Central Europe, Ecology, Ecumenism (2002); The River Book: Identity, Culture, Responsibility (2003); medi(t)ations, (re)conciliations. Conflict Resolution and European Integration (2004); and Subtle as Serpents, Gentle as Doves. Equality and Independence (2005). He is the editor-in-chief of Student World (2003–) and was editor-in-chief of Mozaik (2001–2004).

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MINI-BIOGRAPHY

“No road to peace exists other than that of the narrow path whose name is conversion.”

Nathan Söderblom (1866–1931) Nathan Söderblom was among the pioneers of the ecumenical movement in Europe. Shaken by the horrors of Word War I, he became an ardent promoter of peace among nations as well as of the unified witness of Christian churches.

Especially as the Archbishop of Uppsala, he dedicated a substantial part of his agenda to international co-operation between churches in the field of common action.

Söderblom, who grew up in the family of a Swedish Pietist pastor, emphasised the fact that neither world peace, nor the unity of Christianity, can be attained by merely outer measures. Both of these ideals require a metanoia on the part of those involved in this striving. As a result of this belief, Söderblom dedicated his energy and time not only to the organisational part of the emerging ecumenical movement, but simultaneously he preached the inner obligation of the individuals involved in ecumenism. Similarly, the peace among nations was to him a matter of individual conversions: “It is my belief that ‘leaving ourselves in peace’ with our selfconceit and evil passions does not lead to real peace. Peace can be reached only through fighting against the ancient Adam in ourselves and in others. (…) No road to peace exists other than that of the narrow path whose name is conversion. All men of goodwill ought to unite in perceiving this. We must not allow ourselves to be lulled into any monistic peace dream. (…) This fight must be directed primarily toward the primitive man within us.

Impatient minds may perhaps find such a concept hopeless, pessimistic, and old-fashioned. But we must face reality. The noble and practical measures for world peace

will be realized only to the extent to which the supremacy of God conquers the hearts of the people.”

LIFE AND WORK Nathan Söderblom was born in Trönö, Sweden, in 1866. As a student of the University of Uppsala he acquired a solid knowledge of languages (Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Arabic), which enabled him to study the Holy Scriptures from a deeper perspective and to be aware of the contextual factors in the ancient narratives. After his ordination in 1893, he was assigned as a pastor to a mental hospital in Uppsala, but shortly after accepted the challenge of the spiritual care of the Swedish community in Paris, where he served from 1894–1901.

In these years Söderblom became familiar with the contemporary French spiritual and cultural movements and acquired a broad overview of international issues. The Swedish church administered by Söderblom in Paris was attended by a number of important Swedish thinkers and writers – such as Alfred Nobel or August Strindberg – some of whom became his friends. During his seven-year stay in France he was also charged with the spiritual care of Swedish seamen at Calais and dedicated his time to study, becoming a doctor of Protestant theology at the Sorbonne.

After his return to Sweden, Söderblom held a teaching position at the University of Uppsala between 1901 and 1914. In 1914 he was appointed the Archbishop of Uppsala and the Primate of Sweden and could pursue his ecumenical efforts now also from the position of an official representative of the ecclesial hierarchy. In many instances Söderblom used his position to support pioneer grass-roots initiatives created by

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people who at times faced the difficulty of finding adequate backing in clerical circles.

The peak of Söderblom’s ecumenical “career” was the Stockholm Conference in 1925, which brought together Anglican, Protestant and Orthodox Christians and crowned his efforts from the previous years. The Archbishop of Uppsala had been, however, attentive to ecumenical strivings throughout the world for several decades by that time.

Especially during World War I he supported joint peace initiatives, such as those organized by the World Alliance for Promoting International Friendship Through the Churches.

The fact that the war managed to unite Christians of various denominations in common witness led Söderblom to the conviction that “applied Christianity” should be among the first steps on the path to the unity of the Church. The Christian Conference on Life and Work that Söderblom helped to organise presented this message also at the first World Conference on Faith and Order in Lausanne in 1927, where more than 400 delegates from over a hundred churches met to discuss the prospects of ecumenism. For his commitment to peace Nathan Söderblom was in 1930 awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

SPIRTUALIZING PATRIOTISM

The movement of Life and Work that grew out of ecumenical peace initiatives was to some extent a parallel effort to doctrinal dialogue that was centered around Faith and Order. The lesson Söderblom and other activists of Life and Work learned in their peace-promoting activities was that united action has a large-scale political impact.

Söderblom used to express this with the quote by Lloyd George, who claimed that “if the church communities of Great Britain were unanimous about a question, no government could oppose it.”

Already in the international debate on destructive nationalism and religious narrow-mindedness, the Archbishop of Uppsala saw that even at the political level a real change is needed, not just enforced modifications. In his speech on the occasion of his reception of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1930,

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Söderblom borrowed a quote from Adolf von Harnack to illustrate the necessity of inner re-prioritization of values on the part of Christians: “We are delighted when noble patriotism is brought to light in this world of material interests, but poor indeed is the man who finds his highest ideals in patriotism alone or sees the nation as the epitome of all good. What a relapse from the time when we in this world experienced the presence of Jesus Christ among us! We should, therefore, strive with all our might for Christian unity of mankind and we should be generous in our small circles to prove that the brotherly unification of mankind is not an idealistic dream of utopians but a realistic aim, inseparable from the Gospel.”

THE FULFILLED PROPHECY OF NATHAN SÖDERBLOM One of the disappointments that the emerging ecumenical movement experienced during the mid-war years and that had an impact also on the ecumenical activities of the Archbishop of Uppsala was the deprecatory stance of the Roman Catholic

Development in Context Church towards ecumenism.

Nonetheless, Söderblom did not lose his hopes of co-operation with the Roman Catholics and followed actively the grass-roots initiatives among the Catholics.

In his Nobel Lecture he quoted the words uttered by his friend Wilfred Monod during the 1925 Stockholm Conference: “In communion with Chrysostom and Origen, with Pascal and St. Francis of Assisi, with Luther and Livingstone, let us first turn to our brothers separated from us, the Roman Catholics, whose seats among us have remained empty in the physical sense, but whose spiritual presence is deeply felt.” Söderblom did not live long enough to see the change in the Roman Catholic Church happen, but it is beyond doubt that his spiritual heritage contributed to the changes that led to the embracement of ecumenism by the Roman Catholic Church at the Second Vatican Council.

Suggested Reading The quotes from Nathan SÖDERBLOM’s Nobel Lecture, as well as the biographical data, are cited according to: http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1930/soderblom-bio.html; http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1930/soderbl om-lecture.html.

ROUSE Ruth – NEILL Stephan C., eds., A History of the Ecumenical Movement 1517–1948. London, 1954.

SÖDERBLOM Nathan, Christian Fellowship: The United Life and Work of Christendom. New York, 1923.

SÖDERBLOM Nathan, The Church and Peace. Oxford 1929.

SUNDKLER Bengt G.M., Nathan Söderblom: His Life and Work. London, 1968.

Ulla UTTRUP was born in 1979 in Frederikshavn, Denmark. She studied economics in Copenhagen and Berlin. She took part in study programmes in Hamburg, Gothenburg and Berkeley, California.

Apart from economics, she is also interested in theology, ecumenism and the science of religions.

In 2002 she spent four months in Taiwan, where she took part in an interfaith study programme.

Currently she is doing her PhD studies in Berlin.

She is also an active member of Amnesty International.

Jesus said: “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.”

St.Paul wrote: “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God.” St. Peter wrote: “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake.” This rule was valid even when Nero was emperor of Rome. Romantics and unthinking individuals have taken offense at such words. But society and history are not built of romantic effusions and dreamy ideas, but by labor according to the dictates of conscience and the order of law. There is one universal tenet: “We ought to obey God rather than men.”

—From Nathan SÖDERBLOM’s Nobel Lecture held on December 11, 1930, in Oslo.

Serge T A N K E U K E S S E U

Higher Education in Africa: Context and Prospects Higher education has been a major issue in all the debates these past decades in Africa and around the world. Our educational system is sick. In many areas of educational policies, people have become aware of this evil, of its magnitude and its meaning. Many reflective thinking workshops, debates and symposiums have been organised one, two and countless more times on this issue.

Despite all this, the lack of organisation in universities and secondary schools, with their rampant failure rate, is increasing every year. The alienation of elites, which is related to the absence of reliable state and social policies confronted with the failing educational system, is very problematic.

The current analysis is an additive tool to understand the situation of education in Africa; it opens new horizons on opportunities and alternatives likely to enroot Africa in her permanent quest for a more and more effective educational dynamic.

How did we get to this point? What are the possible ways out? And how can our faith and hope completely free us and enable us to reach academic excellence in higher education at the world level? We will focus on these questions while scrutinizing the crucial issue of higher education in Africa.

12

AFRICA AND EDUCATION: TIME FOR CRISES AND DOUBTS The desire to take a concerted action with the other continents in the dynamic of giving and receiving was a total failure, mainly because of the mistaken approach adopted in the internal educational system of Africa, whose objective was to train new people after independence.

The “school of hostages” which was introduced in subSaharan Africa at the beginning of the XIXth century by the

colonial powers was principally for the children of kings.

Its primary aim was to perpetuate dominance. The goal of this approach was to build an innocent and socially strong Africa.

Particular students were singled out and suffused with an educational content that had nothing to do with the mentality of the colonised and did not consider his primary needs.

Rather, it was designed to “wash his brain” and make out of his “savage” mentality a “civilised” one likely to emancipate the Negro and lift him up to the level of a “man.”

Moreover, this colonial educational approach aimed at raising colonial administrations in our countries to use those few-trained indigenous people as subordinates. Because of their knowledge of the local culture, they were then used as interpreters with local populations to explain the essential cultural elements of the colonised to the coloniser.

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Söderblom borrowed a quote from Adolf von Harnack to illustrate the necessity of inner re-prioritization of values on the part of Christians: “We are delighted when noble patriotism is brought to light in this world of material interests, but poor indeed is the man who finds his highest ideals in patriotism alone or sees the nation as the epitome of all good. What a relapse from the time when we in this world experienced the presence of Jesus Christ among us! We should, therefore, strive with all our might for Christian unity of mankind and we should be generous in our small circles to prove that the brotherly unification of mankind is not an idealistic dream of utopians but a realistic aim, inseparable from the Gospel.”

THE FULFILLED PROPHECY OF NATHAN SÖDERBLOM One of the disappointments that the emerging ecumenical movement experienced during the mid-war years and that had an impact also on the ecumenical activities of the Archbishop of Uppsala was the deprecatory stance of the Roman Catholic

Development in Context Church towards ecumenism.

Nonetheless, Söderblom did not lose his hopes of co-operation with the Roman Catholics and followed actively the grass-roots initiatives among the Catholics.

In his Nobel Lecture he quoted the words uttered by his friend Wilfred Monod during the 1925 Stockholm Conference: “In communion with Chrysostom and Origen, with Pascal and St. Francis of Assisi, with Luther and Livingstone, let us first turn to our brothers separated from us, the Roman Catholics, whose seats among us have remained empty in the physical sense, but whose spiritual presence is deeply felt.” Söderblom did not live long enough to see the change in the Roman Catholic Church happen, but it is beyond doubt that his spiritual heritage contributed to the changes that led to the embracement of ecumenism by the Roman Catholic Church at the Second Vatican Council.

Suggested Reading The quotes from Nathan SÖDERBLOM’s Nobel Lecture, as well as the biographical data, are cited according to: http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1930/soderblom-bio.html; http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1930/soderbl om-lecture.html.

ROUSE Ruth – NEILL Stephan C., eds., A History of the Ecumenical Movement 1517–1948. London, 1954.

SÖDERBLOM Nathan, Christian Fellowship: The United Life and Work of Christendom. New York, 1923.

SÖDERBLOM Nathan, The Church and Peace. Oxford 1929.

SUNDKLER Bengt G.M., Nathan Söderblom: His Life and Work. London, 1968.

Ulla UTTRUP was born in 1979 in Frederikshavn, Denmark. She studied economics in Copenhagen and Berlin. She took part in study programmes in Hamburg, Gothenburg and Berkeley, California.

Apart from economics, she is also interested in theology, ecumenism and the science of religions.

In 2002 she spent four months in Taiwan, where she took part in an interfaith study programme.

Currently she is doing her PhD studies in Berlin.

She is also an active member of Amnesty International.

Jesus said: “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.”

St.Paul wrote: “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God.” St. Peter wrote: “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake.” This rule was valid even when Nero was emperor of Rome. Romantics and unthinking individuals have taken offense at such words. But society and history are not built of romantic effusions and dreamy ideas, but by labor according to the dictates of conscience and the order of law. There is one universal tenet: “We ought to obey God rather than men.”

—From Nathan SÖDERBLOM’s Nobel Lecture held on December 11, 1930, in Oslo.

Serge T A N K E U K E S S E U

Higher Education in Africa: Context and Prospects Higher education has been a major issue in all the debates these past decades in Africa and around the world. Our educational system is sick. In many areas of educational policies, people have become aware of this evil, of its magnitude and its meaning. Many reflective thinking workshops, debates and symposiums have been organised one, two and countless more times on this issue.

Despite all this, the lack of organisation in universities and secondary schools, with their rampant failure rate, is increasing every year. The alienation of elites, which is related to the absence of reliable state and social policies confronted with the failing educational system, is very problematic.

The current analysis is an additive tool to understand the situation of education in Africa; it opens new horizons on opportunities and alternatives likely to enroot Africa in her permanent quest for a more and more effective educational dynamic.

How did we get to this point? What are the possible ways out? And how can our faith and hope completely free us and enable us to reach academic excellence in higher education at the world level? We will focus on these questions while scrutinizing the crucial issue of higher education in Africa.

12

AFRICA AND EDUCATION: TIME FOR CRISES AND DOUBTS The desire to take a concerted action with the other continents in the dynamic of giving and receiving was a total failure, mainly because of the mistaken approach adopted in the internal educational system of Africa, whose objective was to train new people after independence.

The “school of hostages” which was introduced in subSaharan Africa at the beginning of the XIXth century by the

colonial powers was principally for the children of kings.

Its primary aim was to perpetuate dominance. The goal of this approach was to build an innocent and socially strong Africa.

Particular students were singled out and suffused with an educational content that had nothing to do with the mentality of the colonised and did not consider his primary needs.

Rather, it was designed to “wash his brain” and make out of his “savage” mentality a “civilised” one likely to emancipate the Negro and lift him up to the level of a “man.”

Moreover, this colonial educational approach aimed at raising colonial administrations in our countries to use those few-trained indigenous people as subordinates. Because of their knowledge of the local culture, they were then used as interpreters with local populations to explain the essential cultural elements of the colonised to the coloniser.

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Development in Context Finally, after this selective system, education was opened to everyone in order to build indigenous societies with a language and ideas foreign to our culture and our philosophy, and whose ultimate goal was to marginalise - indeed to abandon - local cultures incompatible with the “New Negro.”

Nowadays more than ever, the result is frightening. From the enthusiasm of independence to the economic and politic slump, it is agreed that the colonisers made tools and forced them into our young states, which were only longing to live. Thus four decades following independence, the majority of our states have moved backward.

Even worse, our educational system as a whole has remained and still remains a system favourable to extraversion and alienation - a system that conveys mentalities and behaviours based on open-mouthed daydreaming in front of colonial, neo-colonial and global approaches, whose values and ambitions we awkwardly internalised without wondering whether they correspond to our profound hope as race.

Today, once more, Africa is dying, dying out of this deep evil because of our incapacity to consume western modernity from our own protocols of understanding human existence and its profound drama. Marcus Ndogmo said in this regard: “The modern school … having ousted traditional initiative so as to reduce it to a minor fact, has become the main and decisive instance for education in Africa. This school is said to be responsible for all the deep social upheavals that occurred in black Africa.

“It not only undermined and destroyed the structure of the African cultural scene, putting into question all its system of moral and symbolic values, but deeper, it destroyed the social link. Because of its insularity, all those who benefited from the instruction granted in the modern school found themselves separated from their environment, their parents, their peers and from schemes of traditional ways of thinking.”

Thus by reproducing the spirit of colonial nations even after independence, without either understanding the deep effects of the spirit of nations, or the fundamental needs of our population now, the African school showed it limits.

Higher education in Cameroon copied the so-called English technocratic approach in the Anglophone institutions of the country, the French rhetorical elegance and flimsiness in the Francophone institutions of the country, without questioning the adequacy of approaches drawn from a different but problematic context for all, which showed its weaknesses.

How can we explain the fact that in less than one decade we are already embarking on the third general reform of higher education, from the system licence (bachelor’s degree)—maîtrise— DEA (master’s)—doctorat (Ph.D) without a thought for the student and the costs it entails? In front of this state of facts, many questions are arising. Did we use enough time to efficiently experience a system?

Should we end up there? In my opinion, we shouldn’t.

EDUCATION IN AFRICA: SOME QUESTIONS It would be too easy to conclude that realities inherited from colonisation and the post-colonial period, whose aspects we presented, alone are responsible for the failure of education in Africa. As I see it, the major problem is not related only to the educational system; generally taken, it is also related to major changes in a society, that is, very deep changes of conditions, practices, strategies, schemes, theoretical and practical codes that define modalities when

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dealing with questions and ways of finding answers to them.

Presently, once more, when facing realities that are making Africa a loser at all levels, is it not time to ask questions that will constitute a leitmotif for all those who are still dreaming of an Africa where great hope for the occurrence of a new educative society is being released? I tried to draw tracks for useful researches and I am now submitting them to all of you who are every day confronted by disasters and huge fears in our families and populations.

First track - to educate is to narrate: I am deeply convinced that men are building new generations by telling them all kinds of stories: tales, dynastic sagas, fables, legends, myths, and so on, about the grandeur of their ancestors.

Which stories did our parents tell us? Which stories are we telling or will we tell to younger generations of African men and women, in our families, schools, communities and public arenas of debate, in order to train the leaders of tomorrow?

Do we have a collective database system that is deliberately being used as collective reference in our educative system? Do we have showcases of living memory that are fed by the power of the word that tells about the past while building the future in the imagination?

We all know what Americans are telling their children in the USA; President George W. Bush is constantly reformulating its substance: The greatness of America is boundless.

Because heroes are exalted, values defended, and fights celebrated, I can know all the mythology orchestrated by this American truth.

Today many Latin-American states are formulating it differently: We are a cosmic race, the fruit of the inter-fecundation of all races, and we must learn to live at the world level.

Second track— to educate is to choose: It is scrutinizing the long and uncountable customs of other peoples to feed oneself with those that can be productive, in order to solve problems in our current societies.

Rightly, we can refer to the Orange Revolution in Ukraine that developed the liberating counter-violence that opposed the ruling order to engage liberating actions in view of a society of freedom. This invention of freedom is a model of self-defence and self-assertion, since it secretes revolt, dissidence and will for a new life in the imagination of a dominated and oppressed people.

Third track—to educate is to integrate: Words like humanity and community must have a vital and concrete meaning. Then we will be able to integrate one or many persons in our communities of life, faith, vision, and values with very useful aspirations. Has our society integrated those important words in the education of persons so that they can grow and serve tomorrow as adults?

Fourth track—to educate is to acculturate: As from time immemorial, civilisations have been meeting, confronting, engaging their hopes and inventing projects of societies through difficulties or dialogue. I am convinced that a people cannot pretend to invent everything for its own existence. How is it possible to use knowledge, cognisance, beliefs, practices and arts of existing from outside as deep power in the building of our future?

Fifth track—to educate is to build: It is to build a structure for the spirit, a foundation, pillars and levers that enable members of a society to be and live together, to act and hope together on the basis of markers they consider as foundations and prisms of their being in the world.

It has to do with training intellectual, ethical and spiritual

13

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Development in Context of the Congolese pastor Kä Mana, we see only one answer: to instruct, train and educate oneself and our future only in this perspective.

In my opinion, such a project, such an ambition can be possible only if we add our faith and hope in the future to the constituents of knowledge. This faith and hope will be the keystone of any reliable answers to the problems raised by education.

AFRICAN EDUCATION: LET’S HOPE IT

personalities to master the world, organise it and live in it as human beings; to be able to defend oneself against the dangers of nature, external threats and difficulties of life.

Understood from this point of view, to educate is to put in place concrete and pragmatic strategies, thought-out programmes to reach natural goals that were set, ambitions that were developed. Which kind of individual and collective intelligence do we intend to develop and boast in front of the expectations of our society, here and now? By means of which kinds of programmes and to achieve what goal?

Sixth track - to educate is to orient: That is, to find another focal point of hope, as a society and a person, in a deep life different from the one we have in the current Africa. It has to do with orienting people who consider hope as a principle for vision and deep action both in training as in working. What is our hope and what are our methods to embody it in energies and faith, to give an assumed radiance to our African societies in their quest for affirmation?

Seventh track - to educate is to create: To avoid, as it is the case today, to live the destiny of enslavement and domination forever, it is imperative we produce a dynamic capable of invention, so as to enroot and enrich our peoples, as well as all peoples; and to reinforce the planetary heritage of knowledge. What can we do to encourage this trend?

Out of all the tracks proposed here, based on a publication

14

At this level, my desire is to deeply and reasonably open horizons to give rise to other contribution for productive answers to issues related to higher education in Africa. Viewing the damages and the proposed tracks, it is important now, more than ever, for us as people with beliefs guided by our faith, while making strategic choices in order to get out of our problematic systems.

Talking of faith is integrating our values for hope, ethics, and actions inherent to our African traditions when transferring deep knowledge and religion in education. I see it as mastering the content of our traditions in their profound sense for work, thinking, individual and collective introspection of how we understand ourselves and the future we want and have to build.

In front of a reality that requires our awakening, we present the necessity to continue the debate in four points.

Mobilise and stimulate the action of getting back to the basics, in order to find the treasures of our legends, tales, fables, which could help us in narrating the world destiny with reference to ourselves, as contributions, services and humanity are submitted to the world awareness.

Eradicate biases we have about ourselves, since the possibility for every African to see him- or herself in a mirror and assume the image of God he is, could help us to build our deep effects from the energies and hopes we possess.

Make young people, irrespective of religion and custom or tribes, familiar with mutual exchanges and meetings with adults, without complexes and freed from the cult of alienation, in order to ask the essential questions of life and to question the destiny of humanity, of our people and of each person.

Promote culture and free thinking, critical thinking and excellence as a dynamic for the permanent construction of a society that is always evolving.

These four axes we presented as requirements for thought must first be based on our relationship with God so as to give rise to a productive sense with our neighbour. It is also necessary to add them to contextualised and open educational policies in order to raise a challenging sense of local training for the world arena of knowledge. Thus summarised, the present scientific tool would be used, not as means favourable to collective alienation, but as tools for intellectual enrichment.

Suggested Reading Mana Kä, La mission de l’eglise africaine: Pour une nouvelle éthique mondiale et une civilisation de l’espérance. Bafoussam, 2005.

Fokam Paul K., Et si l’afrique se reveillait? Paris, 2000.

Mozaik 12, Black and White. Ecumenical Journal of the World Student Christian Federation—Europe Region. 2003/II. Serge Tankeu Keusseu (1981) is reading a maîtrise in Chemistry at the University of Yaoundé I. He is also studying for a Higher National Diploma in Accounting and Company Management in a private higher institute. He has been the national coordinator of the Movement of Protestant Students in Cameroon (SCM Cameroon) since 2002.

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Development in Context

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Adèle Djomo N G O M E D J E

Education in the Context of Poverty and Inequality According to the 2005 Human Development Report, extreme inequalities in opportunity and life chances have a direct bearing on what people can be and what they can do in terms of human capabilities. With the widening gap between rich and poor, and the growing inequality between and within countries, most of the world’s population are restricted in what they can do or become if they are poor, ill, illiterate, uneducated or discriminated against for any reason.

For people living in poverty, education is empowerment.

It offers the possibility for inclusion into the larger social fabric, but it is often associated with training for jobs and capacity building to break the cycle of poverty.

It is of course legitimate to hope for a better life, a bright future, and to improve one’s own conditions of living.

Speaking from my own experience, as a young woman who was born and educated in Cameroon, the way out from the stark realities to fulfilling the dream is not always easy and requires a lot of commitment, determination and perseverance.

CONTEXTUAL REALITIES I can still hear the encouraging voice of my mother, telling me at a very early age, “Education is your first husband; no matter what happens you must go to school.” At that time, I could not really make sense of those words, but as time passed I gradually unpacked those words. Even now, they continue to inspire me to understand local realities and help to move beyond them.

To compare “education” to “husband” within the context of a patriarchal African setting is a subtle reminder of my gender and status in the traditional setup, while at the same time referring to the privileges and wonderful opportunities that education could offer to any girl child.

Access to education has contributed to my formation and shaped my perception of human beings as persons with dignity, irrespective of sex and class, against the backdrop of traditional beliefs that a woman exists only through a man.

My mother believed that having an education would enable me to blossom into full “womanhood.” I would be empowered to run my own life - not subjugated to, dependent on and waiting for someone else. It was therefore out of question that I would not go to school because of lack of money or any other reasons.

Hearing those words time and again forced maturity on me. I had to be responsible, hardworking, do my homework and perform well at school. I also had to be accountable, as I was aware not only of the efforts to send me to school but also of the hopes and expectations for me. I graduated successfully from primary and secondary school, and from university with a degree in arts.

During all those years, I hardly questioned the purpose of education because I thought its ultimate goal was to get a job. However when, like many others, I was faced with the sad reality of not getting a job, I started to ask myself, “What for?” “What was my education for if I cannot get a job?” At this point, I discovered anew the importance of informal education through the SCM and its contribution towards holistic formation.

PUTTING A VALUE ON EDUCATION Education is often seen as an economic benefit to the individual and the community. In this sense, education is supposed to provide employment, which in turn contributes to sustaining the extended family; ensuring that later in life children will care for their parents.

Based on these expectations, some families invest all their income in the education of their children because they believe it is the way to a better life. Others even go to the point of putting all they have on the line for their offspring’s education. They put so much into education (which is of course proper) and have such high expectations that they run the risk of being disappointed when their children end up with no jobs. This brings into focus questions about the purpose of education within the context of poverty and inequality.

In Cameroon, girls and boys have equal access to education, without discrimination at any level. Only primary education is free.

For the girl child, education is one of the key components leading to autonomy.

Ironically, the higher up you go, the fewer girls you find because they drop out along the line from primary to tertiary education for many reasons.

Often, after the first degree, most girls may find themselves in a situation where they have either to look for a job, go for vocational training to get easy access to the job market, or get married simply because they get very little or no support from their families if they want to pursue postgraduate studies.

15

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It is silently implied that, “Your level of education is enough for a woman.” The psychological pressure girls go through at this particular time has a tremendous impact on major decisions for the future.

There exists unspoken competition between arts students and science students and those who go for vocational training, because of the scarcity of jobs. The former often appearing to be deemed less bright and intelligent. The current trend is to give emphasis to vocational and scientific fields of education, because people may get specific training and are therefore more likely to find a job upon completion of formal education.

How can people not be disillusioned with the educational system, when after putting all their efforts, means, energy, strength and resources to go through a formal education, they get “nothing” in return?

In a heavily indebted poor country (HIPC), deeply marked by the effects of the structural adjustment programmes imposed by international financial institutions (IFIs), the disengagement of the state as the main job provider, and the absence of adequate structures to take over, it is imperative to question the purpose of education.

THE WAY FORWARD Having gone through an educational system that overemphasises the utilitarian component, I think it is high time to take some insights on the purpose of education, in light of the Report to UNESCO by the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century.

The report highlights the importance of education throughout life as the “heartbeat of society.” It is an ongoing process for people at any stage of their lives in order to meet the challenges posed by a rapidly changing world.

This is particularly relevant in less developed countries, where education is a unique tool of survival, and people must be equipped to cope with the pressing needs of their milieus. Education throughout life therefore appears to be based on four pillars: learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together, and learning to be.

“Learning to live together” was identified by the commission as central to the other pillars. It is achieved through “developing an understanding of others; their history, traditional and spiritual values, and on this basis creating a new spirit. Which, guided by recognition of our growing interdependence and a common analysis of the risks and challenges of the future, would induce people to implement common projects or to manage the inevitable conflicts in an intelligent and peaceful way.”

The interdependence of humanity is interesting when looking at consumerism, wealth and its benefits on the one hand and lack, hunger, poverty and its disadvantages on

16

Development in Context the other; the gap between 20 percent of the world’s population as “haves” and the 80 percent “have-nots.”

I have been living in a Geneva for two years now and it is always heartbreaking to see the “happy few” dispose of food, books, and many other useful, basic tools that people do not have access to at all in other parts of the world. How can we be responsible and accountable to each other as human beings when knowing that our actions have an impact on other lives around the globe?

“Learning to know” or “learning to learn” is a lifelong process, a combination of a sufficiently broad general knowledge with the opportunity to work in depth on selected subjects. At this juncture, we inevitably need to talk of access to education for all, equal opportunities for both boys and girls, and basic literacy skills.

The year 2005 was meant to be the year to achieve parity in primary education within the framework of Education for All (EFA). Without access to education, girls are denied the knowledge and skills needed to make choices, to advance their status, and even to protect themselves against disease such as HIV/AIDS. “Learning to do” is more than training for jobs. It is the acquisition of skills and competencies, which enable people to deal with a variety of situations and to carry out teamwork. It is also entails alternative methods of study and work and value-learning experiences of young people in different informal social contexts.

This particular pillar resonates with faith formation (which I mentioned briefly earlier) in the Student Christian Movement, which provided me with the space to give a new meaning to and have a balanced view on formal education.

“Learning to be” focuses on how to better develop one’s personality and be able to act with greater independence, judgement and personal responsibility. In this regard, education must also provide people with the opportunity to use their talents and gifts, as well as enhance the development of other potentials such as memory, imagination, reasoning, aesthetic sense, physical capacities and communication skills.

Education goes beyond the acquisition of knowledge to include other forms of learning. The shift in thinking of education as a release from poverty to education that improves the quality of life is crucial to the sustainable development of the third world.

As it is true that education is one of the only means for economic and social advancement, it is also obvious that for as long as it remains accessible to a very small minority, the gap between rich and poor will remain and all people, especially women, will remain disempowered.

The education of the girl child is related to the empowerment of women, and through them to the development of society. A good-quality education will enhance women’s capacities and prepare them to seize opportunities in the public and private sectors. This is important to transform some of the societal attitudes and behaviours that discriminate against girls and women.

Suggested Reading SCHREINER P. – BANEV E. – OXLEY S. (eds.), Holistic Education Resource Book: Learning and Teaching in an Ecumenical Context. Münster, 2005.

DELORS J. et al, Learning: The Treasure Within. UNESCO. Paris, 1996.

United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report 2005. http://hdr.undp.org/ EFA Global Monitoring Report 2003/4, Gender and Education for All: THE LEAP TO EQUALITY. UNESCO, www.efareport.unesco.org/.

Adèle Djomo NGOMEDJE was born in Ndoungue, Cameroon, in 1980. She studied languages at the University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon. She is a vice-chairperson of WSCF and the former General Secretary of the Movement of Protestant Students in Cameroon (MEPC). She joined the World Council of Churches in January 2004 working first for the organisation of the Conference on World Mission and Evangelism and then with the Assembly Office. She plans to resume her studies in September 2006. Her email address is djomongomedje@justice.com

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George A S A N T E

Women and Education for Accelerated National Development: The Ghanaian Situation “If you educate a man, you educate an individual; but if you educate a woman, you educate a whole nation.”

Dr. Kwegyir Aggrey

For a long time, the general notion of Ghanaian society was that the woman’s place is in the kitchen. The last few decades, however, have brought a gradual departure from the perceptions that limit the potential of the Ghanaian woman.

AGENTS OF NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT The perceptions which most women came to accept as natural, and allowed to hold them back, are gradually being changed due to much education by most women’s advocacy groups, such as the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) and similar organisations.

Women play different roles in any given society, and their situation is determined by several factors like legislation, religion, norms, economic status or class, cultural values, ethnicity and types of productive activities of their country, community and household.

In Thailand for instance, research has showed that Thai women have enjoyed a more active role and better status than women in other developing countries have. This, however, does not free Thai women from discrimination experienced by women around the world.

In Ghana, women constitute 51.4 percent of the total population and form an important human resource base, especially in the urban informal sector. The centrality of women to production and reproduction makes them important agents in accelerated national development.

TO EDUCATE A WHOLE NATION As Dr. Kwegyir Aggrey, one of the leading Ghanaian scholars, once beautifully put it: “If you educate a man you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate a whole nation.”

When it comes to developmental issues, we should look not only at activities that we normally consider as economically relevant, but also at the roles of women as mothers and wives, as these too are of great importance for the national development. Women are often the ones responsible for the care of children, family health, cooking, providing food and other household services. The services they provide to the family and society at large go a long way to help in national development.

NO CONTRIBUTION IS TOO SMALL In the area of agriculture, for example, women represent more than seventy percent of the workers in the sector.

They play a crucial role in food production in Ghana and are largely responsible for the access to food in the urban areas. They engage in subsistence farming, which while giving them little, greatly benefits society. Women are frequently involved in food processing and storage, which saves a lot of perishable food from wastage. Women play an

active part in often insufficiently valued income-generating activities like petty trading, dressmaking, hairdressing and catering, which keep the economy on track.

Unfortunately, society does not recognise that these efforts of women contribute towards national development.

However, as the saying goes, “kitiwaa biara insua,” which means that ‘no contribution is too small.’

POOR AND DISADVANTAGED Women are not left out when it comes to the formal economic sector. They make their mark in the construction industry, banking and finance, politics, administration and health sectors. Let us just think of such extraordinary women as Esther Ocloo, the first female industrialist, or Afua Hesse, the only female pædiatric surgeon, or Abena Dolphyne, the first woman professor and the first female pro-vice chancellor of the University of Ghana, as well as many others.

Despite the enormous contributions that women are making to society, they are still the least advantaged of all.

They are also considerably poorer and less educated than their male counterparts are. According to the World Bank statistics for the year 2000: “Women in Africa receive less than ten percent of all credit going to small farmers and only one percent of the total credit given to the agricultural sector.”

IMPROVEMENT AND ENCOURAGEMENT For women to become a vital force in accelerating national development, a lot more has to be done to enable them to increase their contribution. For our society to develop, the contribution of more than half of the population can no longer be ignored and relegated to the background.

First and foremost, women have to be encouraged, enabled and empowered to achieve higher levels of education. This will go a long way to increase the participation and output of women in our national development.

For those who wish to pursue specialist progressive ventures, as in the production of clothing, food processing or in other economic activities, information on how to improve their services and refine their products must be made in a manner that is easy for them to access.

THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT The government quest to empower women in accelerated national development led to the establishment of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs whose task is to formulate and implement strategies to elevate women out of their present predicament.

Policy makers need to take into consideration the important role women play in the development of society and work towards safeguarding this contribution, passing laws that protect the life, integrity, respect, health and dignity of women.

In this light, we have to appeal to the government to expedite the passing of laws on Domestic Violence and on Spousal Property Rights. Policy makers also have to work on making sure that legal and policy changes are actually gender-sensitive.

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Development in Context Women also need to be empowered to strengthen their skills in the areas of institution building, of organisation capacity building, in the use of new technologies, banking and management, which will subsequently enable them to transform their activities from small-scale operations to bigger ones.

SERVING AS EACH OTHER’S KEEPERS The current position of only 9 percent of women involved in decision-making needs large-scale changes. Statistics indicate that, out of the 230 parliamentarians in Ghana only 25 are women.

The president and the cabinet should constantly ensure that the constitutional obligations towards achieving reasonable gender balance in recruitment and appointments to public office are adhered to.

Similarly, the parliament should raise the issue of appointments of women to public office, and ensure that the executive adheres to the obligation to ensure gender balance in appointments to public office.

Furthermore, there should be an excessive media advocacy to portray women in much more positive ways. This will go a long way to influence society for the better. We should encourage each other, serve as each other’s keepers, and push the agenda for accelerated national development forward.

George Asante is the president of the Ghana SCM. Their e-mail address is ghana_scm@yahoo.com.

PROGRESS “We spend our lives trying to bring together in the same instant a ray of sunshine and a free bench” —Samuel Beckett, Texts for Nothing

Life has taught me to create and manufacture, To mold a moment into opportunity and result.

Time has taught me to prospect, To tap each moment for possibility and promise.

Livelihood has taught me to refine, To transform crude possibility into productivity and progress.

But when I am with you, I do none of these things—not even consume— I’m simply the blessed fool Who has stumbled upon those opposing poles, Miraculously coexisting in the same moment: a ray of sunshine and a free bench.

— J. Mueller 2005 Jennifer MUELLER searches for sunlight and free benches in Baltimore, Maryland. She is a former copy editor of Mozaik.

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Development in Context Women also need to be empowered to strengthen their skills in the areas of institution building, of organisation capacity building, in the use of new technologies, banking and management, which will subsequently enable them to transform their activities from small-scale operations to bigger ones.

SERVING AS EACH OTHER’S KEEPERS The current position of only 9 percent of women involved in decision-making needs large-scale changes. Statistics indicate that, out of the 230 parliamentarians in Ghana only 25 are women.

The president and the cabinet should constantly ensure that the constitutional obligations towards achieving reasonable gender balance in recruitment and appointments to public office are adhered to.

Similarly, the parliament should raise the issue of appointments of women to public office, and ensure that the executive adheres to the obligation to ensure gender balance in appointments to public office.

Furthermore, there should be an excessive media advocacy to portray women in much more positive ways. This will go a long way to influence society for the better. We should encourage each other, serve as each other’s keepers, and push the agenda for accelerated national development forward.

George Asante is the president of the Ghana SCM. Their e-mail address is ghana_scm@yahoo.com.

PROGRESS “We spend our lives trying to bring together in the same instant a ray of sunshine and a free bench” —Samuel Beckett, Texts for Nothing

Life has taught me to create and manufacture, To mold a moment into opportunity and result.

Time has taught me to prospect, To tap each moment for possibility and promise.

Livelihood has taught me to refine, To transform crude possibility into productivity and progress.

But when I am with you, I do none of these things—not even consume— I’m simply the blessed fool Who has stumbled upon those opposing poles, Miraculously coexisting in the same moment: a ray of sunshine and a free bench.

— J. Mueller 2005 Jennifer MUELLER searches for sunlight and free benches in Baltimore, Maryland. She is a former copy editor of Mozaik.

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Myroslava M Y T S A K

The Myth of Europa: Europe as Intellectual Construction Different kinds of “mental maps” and stereotypical beliefs have always been an integral part of our thinking, as they allow us to omit the stage of analysis and to follow commonplace formulas. Psychologists define the notion of “mental maps” as images of the outer world created by the human mind. A characteristic feature of “mental maps” is their subjective nature, political bias, tendency to ruinous generalization, formation of negative image of the “other” for the sake of one’s own political goals and satisfaction of one’s own pride, often resulting from one’s inferiority complex.

EUROPE AND THE EAST In the last ten years in the political arena of the countries of Eastern Europe, fine words about the necessity of a common European house, new European society, high European values, etc. have become quite popular. Yet, what is that “Europe” which all who had been deprived of it are striving for? What do we, even though Eastern-, yet Europeans, understand of it? How does Europe comprehend herself?

In the common geographical sense, Europe is the region that reaches from Gibraltar to the Ural Mountains. Along with this definition, one could find also such definitions that present Europe as the main representative of modern civilization or at least of the Western Christian civilization.

However, such classifications are just a few from many possible, and they don’t seem to capture the essence of Europe.

When it comes to a definition of Europe’s eastern part, quite often we encounter statements such as the one by Timothy G. Ash: “Europe is one of the biggest and most continuous myths.” The vision of Europe as a mythical creation was not provoked just by some inimical relations between the “backward” East and the “flourishing” West. It was rather the result of a rapid change of Europe itself, the impossibility to grasp or taste the idea of prosperity that has been popularized in so many European centuries.

From the historical point of view, Europe had been in a certain sense a monolithic construction till the division of the Christian world into the “Catholic” and “Orthodox” one.

Later on, the term “Europe” was used more often in relation to its Catholic and Protestant part, even though there has never been any evident attempt to cut off the Orthodox nations and countries entirely. Far more drastic changes happened in the epoch of the Enlightenment: the line of division changed its direction from “North-South” to “WestEast.”

Since then the term “Europe” is more often used along with the word “civilization,” and the East is perceived as the “foe at the gates.” The middle ground between East and West—the eastern part of Europe—is thought of by Enlightenment intellectuals as “Not-So-Much-Europe.”

The image of the West as something good, valuable per se, and naturally superior, comes along with this conviction.

On the other hand, the word “Asia” is associated with cruelty, ugliness, and cunning. The “Asian exotics” come as the only more or less positive reflection.

THE ISSUE OF CENTRAL EUROPEAN IDENTITY “From Szeczin at the Baltic to Triest at the Adriatic the iron curtain has pulled down through the entire continent,” Winston Churchill declared in 1946 in Fulton, Missouri, far in the depths of another continent. These words signified the final division of Europe. Throughout the entire “Cold War,” the iron curtain was understood as a quarantine barrier that was saving the world of the Christian civilization from its major danger. Gradually Eastern Europe became another world, the dark side of the continent, an alter ego to the West.

In 1989 a number of revolutions in the “Eastern” countries overthrew the local communist governments. The end of “Cold War” in Eastern Europe made irrelevant traditional notions such as the “iron curtain,” “zone of Soviet influence,” and “shadow,” which emphasized the division of the continent into two parts. The freed states intensively attempted to become part of the elite club of the Western countries.

In 2000 at a conference in Bucharest, the Magyar publicist György Konrád presented his vision of principles of belonging to Central Europe. It was said that one who had fought against the Soviets had the right to be “cleansed.”

Such “fighters” were Hungary (1956), Czechoslovakia (1968), and Poland (1956, 1968, 1970, 1980). Romanians and Western Ukrainians were not taken into account in spite of their long and enduring post-WW II resistance movements. The civil war in Russia was also ignored.

In a vigorous desire to define a new place for their countries on the virtual map of Europe, Central European intellectuals used Russia as the “Other” to produce an image of their own “Europeanness.” The creators of the image of Central Europe—Milan Kundera, György Konrád, Mihály Vajda—used whatever lay a little further to the east as an instrument for the construction of their own European identity. There was even a joke: the East begins at the eastern border of your country.

The dialogue between the West and the East is a halfway communication: the West uses the idea of Central Europe at times to reformulate its internal conflicts, yet the citizens of Warsaw, Budapest, Bratislava or Prague would never agree to be perceived by the “Westerners” with sweetness or acid patience. Still, they are more than ready to express the same “sweet/acid” attitude toward the people of Moscow or Kiev. On the other hand, for the countries which have become members of NATO and the EU to be called “Central European” turned out to be a sign of their inferiority. A new virtual border of the “elite club” has been drawn, and it became a dream target for the newcomer states.

MODES OF DEFINITION OF EASTERN EUROPE ˇ

The third part of the continent is Eastern Europe. Where does this region start? Where are the actual borders of Europe now? Asia, Western and Eastern Europe were notions that appeared as a result of the intellectual reasoning of the Enlightenment and Romanticism. The

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Enlighteners used Eastern countries to supply a vivid contrast to the “civilization” of Western Europe. Asia has never been an alternative center; it has always been seen as periphery.

Instability is to be considered the main trait of Eastern Europe. It is somewhere between the West and the East, “civilization” and “barbarianism.” It is vague in itself and in relation to others. What is it then? Is it Western Asia or Eastern Europe? Such allocation would provide the possibility for creating something unique that could integrate the best of the two worlds. Yet, has this selection, integration, transformation and development ever been possible?

Remaining the middle ground and therefore the object of political desires of both sides, it has experienced evident difficulties in the development of its own identity. So far its efforts have mostly been spent on constant attempts at selfpreservation. Its values became flexibility, conformism, and the ability to keep away. The dark and infamous East was seen as a mere crash-test dummy, a buffer zone against the communist malady.

CENTRAL VS. EASTERN EUROPE? What is the essential difference between Central and Eastern Europe? In regard to today’s politics it is comfortable to talk about the history of Central Europe. However, the enthusiasts of originality and superiority of the Central European countries tend to forget that not so long ago their

Culture of Integration countries were far too easily given up to the Soviets. For some reason, the West did not oppose such a crucial “amputation.” Later on, when the entire Soviet infrastructure fell apart, Western Europe was comfortable to embrace again the aborted idea of Central Europe.

What has happened to those Eastern European countries that have common borders with Russia? On one hand, they experienced isolation. The more Eastern post-Soviet countries, such as Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova or Romania, proved to be too far from the headquarters that offered support—such as the United States or Western European countries—which has been of so much use to the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.

It is hard to compare the losses of the times of Stalin’s regime. Nonetheless, the Central European countries were incorporated into the Soviet bloc thirty years later than the “Soviet republics.” They were “lucky” because the centre of the totalitarian regime was in all senses “safely” distanced from them. They did not experience the full brainwashing of their national identities, starting with famine and being oppressed with the idea of a non-existent nation, culture, and identity – You have never been, you are not to be, you are an inferior nation and a premature idea. Humiliation is truly the only thing that a person from Eastern Europe could have a copyright on—something like “Made in the East.”

And this is how the Eastern Europeans perceive themselves: weak, insecure, non-civilized, yet with some reasoning that makes them move toward the West. This is a syndrome that the Bulgarian scholar Alexander Kiossev called the sickness of the “self-conquering nation.” We conquer ourselves in the name of the conquest of a new civilization and culture. We adopt the ideas expressed about us by somebody else about the absence of our own culture, and then we strive for integration into Europe.

MODEST SEARCH FOR EUROPE Let us give to the myth its own and live our own life with our own opportunities and history. The constant knocking on the neighbours’ door, hoping to get there, is not a solution. The search for one’s own identity in a strange place would at best lead to schizophrenia. It is not worth sacrificing our own existence to be considered as a scrap of Europe.

There are hopes that the European myth has some positive tendencies for problem solutions of modern societies.

Analyzing the Ancient Greek myth about Zeus having stolen the king’s daughter Europa, we could say that the “European” is the one who is in search of Europe, since Europe is a constant search per se. Europe is not just power or prosperity, punctuality or precision. Questioning and willingness to discuss the value not of a result, but of search and striving—this is the Europe we should look for.

Suggested Reading Ash Timothy G., Does Central Europe Exist? New York, 1990.

Brodsky Joseph, Why Milan Kundera Is Wrong about Dostoevsky. Cross Currents 5, 1986.

Kiossev Alexander, The Self-Colonizing Cultures. Oslo, 1995.

Neumann Iver B., The Uses of Other. The “East” in European Identity Formation.

Minneapolis, 1986.

Said Edward W., Orientalism. New York, 1978.

WOLFF Larry, Inventing Eastern Europe. The Map of Civilization of the Mind of the Enlightment. Stanford, 1994.

Myroslava MYTSAK is a Ukrainian Greek Catholic and was born in 1985 in Lviv, Ukraine. Currently she is studying at the Philosophical and Theological Faculty of the Ukrainian Catholic University. Her main interests are modern philosophy (gender studies) and Eastern Christian studies (iconography, dogmatic theology).

She is also a member of the charity organisation Echoes.

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Kristin N I C K E L

From Segregation to Integration: An Alternative Approach to Education Among Roma Diversity can be a blessing or a burden within an education system. In a town where three distinct communities coexist, but with significant divisions, the appropriate structure for an effective and fair local education system requires careful consideration.

A TRANSCARPATHIAN CASE STUDY The ethnic composition of Szürte (Syurte), a village of 2,000 people in Transcarpathia, Ukraine, is roughly 55 percent Hungarian, 25 percent Ukrainian, and 20 percent Hungarianspeaking Roma. An education system that equally meets the needs of these distinct groups requires much more than the basic teaching of reading, writing, and arithmetic.

Although the community is divided along many different lines, the clearest division is that between Roma and Gadje (non-Roma). The reasons behind this division are complex and, for the most part, outside the scope of this article. This division, in the case of Szürte, is apparent in terms of geography, social status, and education level, among other factors.

The Roma in Szürte live in ‘camps’ that are physically separate from the other communities and generally at a much lower standard of living. Severe poverty is much more prevalent among Roma than among the Hungarian or Ukrainian communities.

The average level of education is also much below the Gadje communities and illiteracy is prevalent. Considering these factors, an education system that serves the needs of the Roma community would appear quite different from one that serves the Gadje communities. In Szürte, an alternative education system for Roma has become a reality.

THE UNIQUE NEEDS OF ROMA IN SZÜRTE For years, Roma attended the state school in Szürte.

Classrooms are divided between Hungarian speakers and Ukrainian speakers and the Roma sat in the classroom along with the Hungarian children.

Some of the Roma children learned and progressed well, but they were the exceptional cases. On average, even after years of formal education, Roma children would be unable to perform simple tasks, such as writing their names. For a multitude of possible reasons, something was not working in the education system.

Perhaps prejudices were to blame. Many Roma students felt that they were excluded and isolated by their peers and their teachers. They often sat in the back row, and were more or less ignored year after year, passing from one grade to the next with little progress in their education.

The stereotype that Roma cannot be taught and that Roma hate education may have influenced the way the Hungarian teachers and students interacted with the Roma students.

These factors likely restricted the Roma students’ ability and willingness to learn.

Perhaps history was to blame. The majority of the current generation of Roma children in Szürte are being raised by illiterate parents. Parents of many of the Roma children do not place education as the first priority. On average, the children have little support in their education and often missed important developmental steps that are expected to occur before a child is of the age to attend school.

Other children never even began attending school. Some

Roma parents who are enthusiastic to support their children’s education are limited by their own lack of education.

Undereducation can therefore create a vicious circle that cuts across generations.

Perhaps poverty was to blame. Living in poverty often promotes a short-term perspective when looking at the future. Decisions must be made for survival now, regardless of what may be most beneficial for the long term.

Perhaps many Roma parents are indifferent to their children’s education because they do not see any clear benefit that would result.

In other cases, parents depend on their children’s help to look after siblings, enabling the parents to seek income; or the children themselves are expected to be a source of income for the family. The result of these circumstances is irregular attendance at school. For some weeks the children may come, for other weeks they will not. For a teacher with a full classroom, it may be unrealistic to keep these students at the level of their regularly attending peers.

The problems associated with Roma attending the state school were multidimensional with several possible causes, but one thing was clear. In order for Roma children to receive a comparable education to their Gadje peers, something had to change.

THE MODEL: UNFORCED SEGREGATION The new model rose up out of the Roma community itself.

Some of the educated adults in the community saw that the children were not progressing in their education and that many children were receiving no education at all.

In response, children began to gather in the homes of Roma and literate Roma adults began to teach them to read, write, and count. The movement was successful in getting many Roma children enthusiastic about learning, and eventually the gatherings became so crowded that they hardly fit into the homes where they met.

Approximately five years ago, a Dutch organisation learned of this movement and decided to support the community by constructing a school building where the children could come to learn. Together with members of the community, a two-classroom school was built, with a large second floor that could be used for community gatherings and the developing Reformed congregation within the Roma community.

Importantly, the school was constructed in the center of the largest and poorest Roma camp in Szürte. Two years ago, the doors opened and school bells began to ring, calling Roma children to a separate school.

Initially the students who attended were those that previously had not attended any formal school. Later the news about the school spread, and some of the Roma children from the state school chose to transfer to the exclusively Roma school. Many Roma children do still attend the state school and some of them are learning successfully, but many continue to be left behind.

Ideally, the pace of learning in the Roma school should exceed the pace in the state school, enabling the Roma children to ‘catch up.’ Currently the children range in age from six to sixteen and are officially at the first - and secondgrade level.

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Some of them have been attending the state school for as many as eight years. Some of them began their formal education as they were approaching their teenage years.

The range of ages and abilities within a classroom is wide, but given that there are forty students and five teachers, the children are receiving much-needed attention.

In the morning, the children have a devotion followed by the traditional classes taught by state teachers. Then they receive a hot lunch provided by the state. In the afternoon, they have an after-school program with time for completing homework and enrichment activities, led by Hungarian and foreign volunteers who commit one year to working in the school.

It is a full day for the children and they are sent home to read independently each evening. The attendance pattern of many of the Roma students continues to be irregular, but the teachers work in hope that no child will fall behind.

The success of the model is apparent in that over the past two years, because of dedicated teachers, the education level of the students has progressed dramatically. Their confidence has grown and so has their ability, but they are still remarkably behind their Gadje peers. Despite the clear benefits associated with the school, the question remains: what is the social cost of segregating the Roma students?

THE HOPE: INTEGRATION The Roma school in Szürte was not built to promote the segregation that exists between Roma and Gadje. Indeed, there are only two classrooms in the Roma school, which is certainly not enough space to educate all Roma children for their complete primary and secondary education.

The intention of the separate Roma school is to provide the children with a base necessary for them to successfully continue at the state school. The hope is that a strong foun-

dation will teach the children how to learn and enable many Roma students to study at the levels of their Gadje peers.

For now, this remains as only a hope. After one more year, the Roma children who have attended the separate school for three years will be asked to return to the state school to continue their education. Many of them have bad memories of attending the state school; others have great fears of leaving the safe walls of the Roma school.

However, when the students who have achieved appropriate levels are asked to switch schools, they will be better prepared and hopefully capable of making the transition.

Perhaps this will also challenge the stereotypes commonly held by Hungarians about Roma.

When the students prove they can perform in school on the level of their Hungarian peers, one can only hope that they will earn a new level of respect and alter the reputation of Roma in Szürte. Only time will tell what these children can achieve.

The education model being employed in Szürte has the potential to confront many of the challenges that are perpetuating a vicious cycle of undereducation among generations of Roma in the village. It requires the support of the Roma community, international support that finances some of the special needs, and state support that can support integration.

Although change will certainly be gradual and involves initial segregation along ethnic lines, hope remains that this model will be a way to promote integration in a divided community.

Kristin NICKEL is serving as a volunteer at the Szürte Roma School through a mission program of the Presbyterian Church (United States of America). She has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Economics from Davidson College in North Carolina, USA, and a Master of Arts in International Relations from Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. Her email is kristin_nickel@yahoo.com.

Louk B O X

The Great Transformation in Higher Education — Into Something Rich and Strange?

Nothing of him that doth fade But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange.

Shakespeare, Ariel’s Song in The Tempest

The world of higher learning has changed more over the past decade than it has over the past century. It is now more international than it has been for centuries. The university, once anchored in the nation state, is increasingly international in character, and higher education is one of the sectors that is globalising most rapidly.

Globalisation processes have their own dynamic, generally associated with the emergence of new market-structures and a different role for the state and for public interest institutions based in civil society. In this article, I argue that the Great Transformation in higher education has drastic consequences for international education and for institutions that are associated with it, such as the Institute for Social Studies (ISS).

I argue that traditional international education has had its time. If we are to reap the benefits of half a century’s investment in human capital and institutional development, a drastic transformation is called for. In the process, however, a uniquely efficient and effective form of international cooperation can help maintain diversity in a globalising system of higher education.

22

TRANSFORMATIONS: WAGENINGEN–MAASTRICHT What are the transformations that are confronting us? An example: Wageningen Agricultural University in the early 1980s. The occasion: a debate in the University Council on the so-called “internationalisation” of the University. The rector had just presented a plan; students and staff voiced their reactions.

The one I remember most clearly was by someone who said: “Is this the end of Dutch in higher education?” It could not be; safeguards had to be promised for courses to be given and exams to be taken in Dutch, for it to remain the main language in the university. Times have changed. In 2005, international students make up half the student body in Wageningen University and, as a result, most of its graduate courses are taught in English.

Another place, another time: Maastricht University, September 2002. New international students in European Studies enter the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. International students had been there all along, but they were in the minority—20 per cent in 2001. The lingua franca was Dutch; messages on notice boards or in e-mails were in Dutch. Three years later, there was a curious mix of

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Some of them have been attending the state school for as many as eight years. Some of them began their formal education as they were approaching their teenage years.

The range of ages and abilities within a classroom is wide, but given that there are forty students and five teachers, the children are receiving much-needed attention.

In the morning, the children have a devotion followed by the traditional classes taught by state teachers. Then they receive a hot lunch provided by the state. In the afternoon, they have an after-school program with time for completing homework and enrichment activities, led by Hungarian and foreign volunteers who commit one year to working in the school.

It is a full day for the children and they are sent home to read independently each evening. The attendance pattern of many of the Roma students continues to be irregular, but the teachers work in hope that no child will fall behind.

The success of the model is apparent in that over the past two years, because of dedicated teachers, the education level of the students has progressed dramatically. Their confidence has grown and so has their ability, but they are still remarkably behind their Gadje peers. Despite the clear benefits associated with the school, the question remains: what is the social cost of segregating the Roma students?

THE HOPE: INTEGRATION The Roma school in Szürte was not built to promote the segregation that exists between Roma and Gadje. Indeed, there are only two classrooms in the Roma school, which is certainly not enough space to educate all Roma children for their complete primary and secondary education.

The intention of the separate Roma school is to provide the children with a base necessary for them to successfully continue at the state school. The hope is that a strong foun-

dation will teach the children how to learn and enable many Roma students to study at the levels of their Gadje peers.

For now, this remains as only a hope. After one more year, the Roma children who have attended the separate school for three years will be asked to return to the state school to continue their education. Many of them have bad memories of attending the state school; others have great fears of leaving the safe walls of the Roma school.

However, when the students who have achieved appropriate levels are asked to switch schools, they will be better prepared and hopefully capable of making the transition.

Perhaps this will also challenge the stereotypes commonly held by Hungarians about Roma.

When the students prove they can perform in school on the level of their Hungarian peers, one can only hope that they will earn a new level of respect and alter the reputation of Roma in Szürte. Only time will tell what these children can achieve.

The education model being employed in Szürte has the potential to confront many of the challenges that are perpetuating a vicious cycle of undereducation among generations of Roma in the village. It requires the support of the Roma community, international support that finances some of the special needs, and state support that can support integration.

Although change will certainly be gradual and involves initial segregation along ethnic lines, hope remains that this model will be a way to promote integration in a divided community.

Kristin NICKEL is serving as a volunteer at the Szürte Roma School through a mission program of the Presbyterian Church (United States of America). She has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Economics from Davidson College in North Carolina, USA, and a Master of Arts in International Relations from Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. Her email is kristin_nickel@yahoo.com.

Louk B O X

The Great Transformation in Higher Education — Into Something Rich and Strange?

Nothing of him that doth fade But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange.

Shakespeare, Ariel’s Song in The Tempest

The world of higher learning has changed more over the past decade than it has over the past century. It is now more international than it has been for centuries. The university, once anchored in the nation state, is increasingly international in character, and higher education is one of the sectors that is globalising most rapidly.

Globalisation processes have their own dynamic, generally associated with the emergence of new market-structures and a different role for the state and for public interest institutions based in civil society. In this article, I argue that the Great Transformation in higher education has drastic consequences for international education and for institutions that are associated with it, such as the Institute for Social Studies (ISS).

I argue that traditional international education has had its time. If we are to reap the benefits of half a century’s investment in human capital and institutional development, a drastic transformation is called for. In the process, however, a uniquely efficient and effective form of international cooperation can help maintain diversity in a globalising system of higher education.

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TRANSFORMATIONS: WAGENINGEN–MAASTRICHT What are the transformations that are confronting us? An example: Wageningen Agricultural University in the early 1980s. The occasion: a debate in the University Council on the so-called “internationalisation” of the University. The rector had just presented a plan; students and staff voiced their reactions.

The one I remember most clearly was by someone who said: “Is this the end of Dutch in higher education?” It could not be; safeguards had to be promised for courses to be given and exams to be taken in Dutch, for it to remain the main language in the university. Times have changed. In 2005, international students make up half the student body in Wageningen University and, as a result, most of its graduate courses are taught in English.

Another place, another time: Maastricht University, September 2002. New international students in European Studies enter the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. International students had been there all along, but they were in the minority—20 per cent in 2001. The lingua franca was Dutch; messages on notice boards or in e-mails were in Dutch. Three years later, there was a curious mix of

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Culture of Integration English, German, Dutch, and sometimes Spanish.

International students were the majority (65 per cent) in the faculty, and the English language had taken over.

Wageningen and Maastricht Universities experienced one aspect of what I call “The Great Transformation in Higher Education.” I participated in both these transformations.

Having been an international student myself in the 1960s, I firmly believed in mobility—be it geographic, intellectual or mental—and therefore promoted it in both places.

The use of English was just one aspect of a transformation that implies the entire restructuring of higher education in Europe and probably in the rest of the world. I will argue that it means a sea change for the institutions involved, and that will need all our intellectual, academic, administrative and political skills to understand and to guide it.

The main lesson that I draw has to do with the value of diversity in the face of a global homogenisation of higher education; but this diversity will need to be stimulated through new alliances between public, private and civil society actors.

The ISS is a fascinating case in point: it was international well before the Dutch universities, and it fulfilled a mission to serve cooperative capacity building. We, at ISS, now ask ourselves what that mission should be at a time that most universities have internationalised. In Shakespeare’s words (as spoken by Ariel in The Tempest), ISS “doth suffer a seachange—into something rich and strange.”

SEA CHANGE IN INTERNATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION Sea changes come as the tsunami did—unannounced.

Their effects are sudden and they take time to understand.

We lack statistics and careful, trustworthy analyses of what has been happening over the past decade. Yet a first sketch of that sea change is now emerging.

Estimates are that some 2 million students currently study outside their home country. Some 85–90 per cent visit Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, especially the United States (which receives about 500 000), the UK (226 000) and Germany (200 000). In the U.S. alone, this student mobility contributed some $40 billion gross to its economy in 2002.

In the U.S. and UK, but also Australia and increasingly Singapore, the balance of trade is positively affected by the provision of these services.

Most students entered an English-speaking system; some three–quarters of Asian students did so. Philip Altbach stresses its significance, for the “language of instruction and research is key to understanding the political economy of higher education.”

Stéphan Vincent-Lancrin shows the regional origin of international students in the respective OECD regions in 2001. The single largest group comes from Asia (42 per cent), about half of whom go to North America (47 per cent). The second group comes from Europe (34 per cent) and they too go primarily to North America. Africans form the third group (12 per cent)—and they go to Europe for the largest part (75 per cent). In 2001, this made Europe the area with the single largest number of international students. However, will Europe maintain this position?

‘Internationalisation’ (taken to mean an increase of both student and staff mobility, together with emerging international agreements and arrangements) has shaken the notion of a ‘national university system’ as it emerged in XIXth century Europe. Altbach and Teichler argue, “Perhaps at no time since the establishment of the universities in the medieval period has higher education been so international in scope.”

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The nation state, as the main determinant of higher education systems, is under challenge. Jürgen Enders indeed notes that it is “appropriate … to see current trends as part of a process by which national systems of higher education are being challenged by new forces of internationalisation. Universities are thus objects as well as subjects of ‘internationalisation’ or ‘globalisation.’

“Global power relations manifest themselves and are articulated by systems of higher education. In this sense, universities and the systems they are part of, became global players cooperating and competing for power and status.”

The picture that emerges is of a rapidly globalising sector, with its geographical ‘hub’ in English speaking countries (like Australia, but also in Singapore and Hong Kong), and its academic centre in an association between a small number of research universities and academic publishers.

This picture corresponds quite well with the one of student flows, attracted to the Global Ivy League.

A similar picture exists of staff mobility, since many researchers in the Global Ivy League first came as students.

These universities can compete effectively at a global level for their main resources, i.e. student enrolments and staff time. National governments compete also, through regulations that facilitate student and staff mobility.

Europe is in the interesting position that it is still the largest recipient when it comes to attracting international students, but it is also quite reticent about promoting NonEuropean student and staff mobility. Europe is likely to lose its position soon, if it maintains present visa restrictions for international scholars and their families.

THE GREAT TRANSFORMATION: A SOCIAL STUDIES PERSPECTIVE The emerging global scientific network can also be characterised through the social relations of production. To illustrate this, allow me to take you briefly to one of the cellars in the house of the social sciences, where we can clearly see the foundations.

The cellars contain the remains of two social scientists who shared a biography so common that the differences become even more astounding. Both were born towards the end of the XIXth century in Central Europe to liberal Jewish families; both wrote seminal works in the 1930s; both fled to Anglo-Saxon safety; and both received worldwide renown due to their followers in North America.

One became the founding father of neo-conservative political economy, honoured by a highly influential think tank in the United States. The other wrote a seminal study on the development of XIXth century capitalism and is honoured by an academic institute that organises international conferences to keep his intellectual heritage alive.

Ludwig von Mises (1881–1973) was born in Lemberg in Austria-Hungary (now Lviv, Ukraine). He received a humanistic education in Wien, where he became interested in history and politics - the same city that would produce other notable economists.

In the words of his followers, von Mises “concluded that the only viable economic policy for the human race was a policy of unrestricted laissez-faire, of free markets and the unhampered exercise of the right of private property, with government strictly limited to the defence of person and property within its territorial area.”

Karl Polanyi (1886–1964) was raised in Budapest, also Austria-Hungary, in a family “remarkable for its social engagement and intellectual achievement.” He worked in Wien in the 1920s, where he became acquainted with and seriously challenged von Mises’ ideas “to restore the intellectual legitimacy of market liberalism.”

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Whereas von Mises and his follower Hayek became influential after World War II, inspiring the Thatcher and Reagan policies, Polanyi was largely forgotten. Yet, with the end of the Cold War, theorists revisited the debates of the 1920s and re-read Polanyi’s seminal work of 1944, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time.

Polanyi argues that the market-economy needs to be ‘embedded’ in society. ‘Embeddedness’ “expresses the idea that the economy is not autonomous, as it must be in economic theory, but subordinate to politics, religion and social relations.” If the market subordinates society an inevitable response is triggered to protect society from the market’s vagaries. This happened after World War I, leading to the Great Depression and, in its turn, to fascism.

Polanyi had influence in trans-disciplinary fields like economic anthropology and economic sociology; his current stature is largely due to the new reading that scholars make of his work. Since 1987, the Karl Polanyi Institute of Political Economy has been dedicated to: “the extension of economics beyond the narrowly defined study of the laws of market exchange to embrace redistribution (the role of the state) and reciprocity (the role of the community) as organising mechanisms of economic activity, with special emphasis on the relevance of Polanyi’s approach to modern mixed economies, including socialist and third world variants; the exploration of the relevance of Polanyi’s work in economic anthropology to the contemporary world.”

Two visions of social science - two opposing paradigms with great relevance for the question: how do we analyse the globalisation of higher education? Do we see it principally in terms of free market relations, or in terms of redistribution and reciprocity?

In terms of one global market for educational services (as in the World Trade Organisation [WTO] General Agreement of Trade in Services), or in terms of the embeddedness of higher education in general social values such as those of cultural diversity (as in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation [UNESCO] Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity)?

Whither should we go with Dutch international education? Do we go for all-out liberalisation, through shocktherapy, as proposed to the post-1989 Central and Eastern European countries as the way to competitive efficiency?

Or do we value cultural diversity, maintained through some form of state intervention?

THE ‘DUTCH MODEL’: FROM ‘AVANT GARDE’ TO ‘DÉPASSÉ’?

Started in the early 1950s by founding fathers such as De Vries, Schermerhorn and Tinbergen, the so-called ‘Dutch model’of higher education stressed post-graduate education for practitioners from developing countries in social or technical sciences. It was unique in that Dutch universities cosponsored English language education at the master’s level.

This was quite different from countries like Belgium, France or Germany where only national degrees were given to international students, through national language programmes. This ‘Dutch model’ was well ahead of the times in the fields of remote sensing, hydraulic engineering, urban housing, management science and indeed the social studies. The respective institutes produced more than 40 000 academic graduates from developing countries.

Others have sung the praise of the model, but as a good Dutchman I shall therefore rather be critical—though not about its results over the past half century, for which the

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Culture of Integration Netherlands academic community can be proud. I refer to its relevance in the near future.

I argue that in line with Jan Romein’s “premium on relative backwardness” (Wet van de remmende voorsprong), the advantage of the Dutch model may have turned into a limiting factor, because of the apparent lack of need for innovation in the system as such.

In other words, the paradox is one of a country that promoted international education through acclaimed English language master’s programmes, but now finds itself lagging behind in terms of international education.

What has happened? Dutch academia was happy on the whole to stay “rather Dutch,” leaving English language master courses to institutes like ISS. With the exception of Wageningen Agricultural University, a separation occurred: Dutch students could continue to study in a Dutch environment—international students studied at international education institutes.

What does this mean for the traditional academic institutes of international education? Essentially this: the universities and these institutes have to find a new modus vivendi. In line with the British cry, The King is Dead - Long Live the King!

We need to reinvent ourselves as Dutch academia on the basis of strengths in the system of higher education.

The King is Dead - neither the traditional universities, nor the traditional institutes of international education, will be able by themselves to face the storm of academic globalisation. We are already running behind our Southern neighbours and will need to shape up or ship out.

‘Shaping up’ means: face international competition and win a place under the sun. ‘Ship out’ means: accept an ancillary role in a secondary tier of academic relevance. If we prefer the former, it will mean universities and institutes have to profit from each other’s strengths.

LONG LIVE THE KING: INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION TRANSFORMED The new mission of ISS is to be a research-led institution of higher learning, which provides critical social science analysis and debate on phenomena of globalisation and inequalities, plus practical approaches to confront these through partnerships with universities, governments, civil society and private enterprise.

The first choice is to be research-led. That means more attention for academic research in the best sense of the word. Through our research networks in the global South and in Europe, we can contribute to make a difference in social science development. ISS has a long history in that respect, starting with Egbert de Vries’ dream of post-colonial relations, through Jan Tinbergen’s staunch position on a tax on Northern wealth for Southern development, by way of Kurt Martin and Jan Pronk.

This intellectual history needs to be written, and I challenge the present generation of doctoral researchers to engage in it. ISS carries its intellectual weight, but has at times been timid to show it. We need to show it through our contribution to the intellectual debates about unprecedented wealth and just-as-unprecedented poverty.

The second choice is to move upstream in higher learning.

I use the term ‘learning’ on purpose, as in Maastricht University where I came to appreciate the benefits of problem-based learning. ‘Higher learning’ refers to the core task of academia: the preparation of skilled intellectuals who have learned to learn and can share that learning with others.

‘Moving upstream’ means concentrating on researchoriented learning, which will involve novel arrangements

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Culture of Integration and a corresponding need for joint programmes and joint degrees to allow students to profit from field experience in the global South and from comparative work in the global North.

Many intricacies, however, are involved in rethinking international education. Will the respective staffs see the need for cooperation, both national and international? Will they be able to link up seriously with partner institutes in the global South? Will the funding agencies be ready to provide support? Will accreditation agencies be ready to recognise joint degrees? These are important questions that we have to face.

A third choice: engage public debate. Our founding fathers wisely called us the International Institute of Social Studies.

Social studies form the link between academic insight and public action, or between the conceptual realm and the realm of policy and practice. I have argued the continued relevance of social theorists like Karl Polanyi or Ludwig von Mises: they deal with the conceptual, or even, the ideological realm.

There is no single truth in the social sciences; there are different viewpoints that explain more, or less, of a particular phenomenon. In this article, I have followed the views of Polanyi, but a neo-conservative could probably make a

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sensible counterargument based on von Mises to explain the relations between society and economy, or polity and market.

Social studies are always informed by intellectual debate; it is naïve and therefore dangerous to assume one value-free form of social science. It is in the confrontation of different views, and in their respective capacity to explain processes of social change, that we come to greater understanding.

Such debate is the life-blood of an international institute of social studies; it is also the contribution that such an institute can make to public debate by enlightening assumptions and confronting alternatives.

Suggested Reading ALTBACH Philip, “Globalization and the University: Myths and realities in an Unequal World.” Tertiary Education and Management, 2004/1. http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/soe/cihe/publications/pub_pdf/Globalization.pdf ENDERS Jürgen, “Higher Education, Internationalisation, and the Nation-State: Recent Developments and Challenges to Governance Theory.” Higher Education, Vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 361–382. Earlier version available at http://www.iff.ac.at/hofo/CHER_2002/pdf/ch02ende.pdf POLANYI Karl, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time. Boston, 1963.

VINCENT-LANCRIN Stéphan (2005) Cross-border Higher Education and Trade in Education Services. Presentation, Paris 2005 (OECD-CERI). http://www.unesco.org/iiep/eng/research/highered/polforum/PowerPoints/Pape rpresentations/Vincent-Lancrin.pdf Louk BOX is the Rector and Professor of International Cooperation at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), The Hague, Netherlands. This article is an abbreviated version of his 2005 inaugural address at ISS. He can be contacted at rector@iss.nl.

Suzanna V E R G O U W E

We Have More Lives than a Cat: An Eclectic Essay on Culture, Education and Being a World Citizen There is a Hungarian proverb which goes, “You are as many persons as the languages you speak” (annyi nyelv, annyi ember). And once someone told me, “When you meet a new person, you get a new life.” We all look at the world in different ways. According to these sentences above, though, we are never complete replicas of that which is considered to be our ‘culture.’

This fact is strange, because the debate on multiculturality is usually about clashes between clearly cut cultural ways of expression, of politics of culture and identity. “I am Dutch, you are Indian”; or “You behave like a Dane, and therefore are not like me, Ukrainian.”

But everybody is a person in a network of many others.

Then who are we? Products of our cultures? Or hybrid human beings? And what does education have to do with it?

ADAM AND HIS KIND A major chunk of anthropological and sociological writings is about culture. Bill Epstein writes about how similar we are, basing his theories on our common human biological characteristics and emotions. Clifford Geertz envisages cultures as entities that are enclosed in themselves as systems of meaning and thought. Cultures, in his view, are opposed to each other and exclusive.

Fredrik Barth, although I never really got his point, uses the concepts of identity and ethnicity: ‘we’ as opposed to ‘them,’ which presupposes the other in order to define ourselves. Actually, that is not such an odd thought.

In the very beginning, Adam saw that the animals were different from himself and found only Eve to be of his kind.

They were not necessarily of the same opinion, though, and so generic misconceptions of good and bad have become

part and parcel of our nature. And of course there is confusing Babel, which challenged us to use the left part of our brain well by learning a couple of foreign languages.

BABEL IN THE KITCHEN Apart from speech, which clearly marks boundaries between different language zones, there is another sphere which can make one dazed: food. (Globalised food chains and fast-food restaurants left aside, for now).

One of my most memorable culture shocks after having moved into a Romanian family was embodied by a plate of chicken soup. In the tiny kitchen where we used to eat two or three at a time (the table being too small for the whole family to sit around), Grandma poured the soup and placed it in front of me.

There it was: the leg of the chicken, its toes (nails removed), covered with a wrinkled and fluffy skin. Why on earth would they serve exactly that piece of animal to me?

Delicacy probably. Fortunately, Grandma, with who at that time communication was still restricted to gestures and some occasional short sentences, noticed I was puzzled.

She offered to exchange her plate with mine, so I was spared the embarrassment of having to eat the leg. I guess people have the same experience when being served caterpillars for dinner, or frog legs. Alternatively, the mussels and shrimps or ‘head cheese’ (made out of the brains of a pig) some people are so fond of down here by the sea.

Later on, when visiting the Hungarian butchers in order to find meat for a proper ‘Dutch’ dish, I could not figure out what part of the beef I should choose. The meat in the shop window just did not look like the slices of braadlappen I would find in The Netherlands.

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Culture of Integration and a corresponding need for joint programmes and joint degrees to allow students to profit from field experience in the global South and from comparative work in the global North.

Many intricacies, however, are involved in rethinking international education. Will the respective staffs see the need for cooperation, both national and international? Will they be able to link up seriously with partner institutes in the global South? Will the funding agencies be ready to provide support? Will accreditation agencies be ready to recognise joint degrees? These are important questions that we have to face.

A third choice: engage public debate. Our founding fathers wisely called us the International Institute of Social Studies.

Social studies form the link between academic insight and public action, or between the conceptual realm and the realm of policy and practice. I have argued the continued relevance of social theorists like Karl Polanyi or Ludwig von Mises: they deal with the conceptual, or even, the ideological realm.

There is no single truth in the social sciences; there are different viewpoints that explain more, or less, of a particular phenomenon. In this article, I have followed the views of Polanyi, but a neo-conservative could probably make a

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2005/2

sensible counterargument based on von Mises to explain the relations between society and economy, or polity and market.

Social studies are always informed by intellectual debate; it is naïve and therefore dangerous to assume one value-free form of social science. It is in the confrontation of different views, and in their respective capacity to explain processes of social change, that we come to greater understanding.

Such debate is the life-blood of an international institute of social studies; it is also the contribution that such an institute can make to public debate by enlightening assumptions and confronting alternatives.

Suggested Reading ALTBACH Philip, “Globalization and the University: Myths and realities in an Unequal World.” Tertiary Education and Management, 2004/1. http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/soe/cihe/publications/pub_pdf/Globalization.pdf ENDERS Jürgen, “Higher Education, Internationalisation, and the Nation-State: Recent Developments and Challenges to Governance Theory.” Higher Education, Vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 361–382. Earlier version available at http://www.iff.ac.at/hofo/CHER_2002/pdf/ch02ende.pdf POLANYI Karl, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time. Boston, 1963.

VINCENT-LANCRIN Stéphan (2005) Cross-border Higher Education and Trade in Education Services. Presentation, Paris 2005 (OECD-CERI). http://www.unesco.org/iiep/eng/research/highered/polforum/PowerPoints/Pape rpresentations/Vincent-Lancrin.pdf Louk BOX is the Rector and Professor of International Cooperation at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), The Hague, Netherlands. This article is an abbreviated version of his 2005 inaugural address at ISS. He can be contacted at rector@iss.nl.

Suzanna V E R G O U W E

We Have More Lives than a Cat: An Eclectic Essay on Culture, Education and Being a World Citizen There is a Hungarian proverb which goes, “You are as many persons as the languages you speak” (annyi nyelv, annyi ember). And once someone told me, “When you meet a new person, you get a new life.” We all look at the world in different ways. According to these sentences above, though, we are never complete replicas of that which is considered to be our ‘culture.’

This fact is strange, because the debate on multiculturality is usually about clashes between clearly cut cultural ways of expression, of politics of culture and identity. “I am Dutch, you are Indian”; or “You behave like a Dane, and therefore are not like me, Ukrainian.”

But everybody is a person in a network of many others.

Then who are we? Products of our cultures? Or hybrid human beings? And what does education have to do with it?

ADAM AND HIS KIND A major chunk of anthropological and sociological writings is about culture. Bill Epstein writes about how similar we are, basing his theories on our common human biological characteristics and emotions. Clifford Geertz envisages cultures as entities that are enclosed in themselves as systems of meaning and thought. Cultures, in his view, are opposed to each other and exclusive.

Fredrik Barth, although I never really got his point, uses the concepts of identity and ethnicity: ‘we’ as opposed to ‘them,’ which presupposes the other in order to define ourselves. Actually, that is not such an odd thought.

In the very beginning, Adam saw that the animals were different from himself and found only Eve to be of his kind.

They were not necessarily of the same opinion, though, and so generic misconceptions of good and bad have become

part and parcel of our nature. And of course there is confusing Babel, which challenged us to use the left part of our brain well by learning a couple of foreign languages.

BABEL IN THE KITCHEN Apart from speech, which clearly marks boundaries between different language zones, there is another sphere which can make one dazed: food. (Globalised food chains and fast-food restaurants left aside, for now).

One of my most memorable culture shocks after having moved into a Romanian family was embodied by a plate of chicken soup. In the tiny kitchen where we used to eat two or three at a time (the table being too small for the whole family to sit around), Grandma poured the soup and placed it in front of me.

There it was: the leg of the chicken, its toes (nails removed), covered with a wrinkled and fluffy skin. Why on earth would they serve exactly that piece of animal to me?

Delicacy probably. Fortunately, Grandma, with who at that time communication was still restricted to gestures and some occasional short sentences, noticed I was puzzled.

She offered to exchange her plate with mine, so I was spared the embarrassment of having to eat the leg. I guess people have the same experience when being served caterpillars for dinner, or frog legs. Alternatively, the mussels and shrimps or ‘head cheese’ (made out of the brains of a pig) some people are so fond of down here by the sea.

Later on, when visiting the Hungarian butchers in order to find meat for a proper ‘Dutch’ dish, I could not figure out what part of the beef I should choose. The meat in the shop window just did not look like the slices of braadlappen I would find in The Netherlands.

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Culture of Integration

EDUCATION INTO WORLD CITIZENS

There comes culture: the preparation of certain dishes calls for specific ingredients. Try to make a Thai curry in an Amsterdam flat; first of all, you will need to substitute ingredients, and secondly, it will not taste as good as in the narrow streets of Bangkok’s market places. The characteristic smell is missing, the sounds are different, and the atmosphere is not as delicate.

Consequently, when asked the impossible question of the most significant difference between my country’s culture and, for example, Hungary, Thailand or Lithuania, I simply say: “They cut a cow into different pieces than back home.”

Being able to travel, then, enlarges one’s tactile senses to a previously unimaginable extent. Nevertheless, through the senses one also discovers how similar we actually are.

People love to feed their guests anywhere around the world. Sharing a meal, moving on to even sharing the same plate, broadens and deepens the relationship; over a meal, conversation starts (of course presupposing a lingua franca shared by all those involved).

We also discover that wherever we are, people share emotions like anger, laughter, sadness and sorrow. Meeting others makes it less likely that we do not understand each other. We might even actually start liking each other.

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Such mutual understanding was one of the outcomes of a group discussion on higher education among a group of students from all over the world, who met at WSCF’s General Assembly in 2004. While the discussion was ensuing, it became clear that the adaptation of higher education structures, which is taking place around the world, has both positive and negative effects on the learning effect of education.

While students are enabled to follow a more diverse (international) programme, time pressure, specialisation and fragmentation lead to uncertainty about what value diplomas will have. As the commodification of education is sharply increasing, the costs of a good education are flying high as well.

A growing gap is appearing between educational institutions that can attract wealthy students and, consequently, can offer high salaries to the best professors and lecturers.

Accessibility and costs, and a poor labour market, were also commonly perceived as threats to the value of education.

By sharing our experiences and voicing that, we stand for whom we are and where we come from—different, yet equal—we found common perspectives. One of those perspectives was to keep informing each other about what is going on in higher education in our countries; because, in that way, we can learn from each other and take action.

Much of the discussion above is echoed in Martha Nussbaum’s Cultivating Humanity. She envisions education as having the task to educate people as world citizens. She sees educational systems as communities of dialogue, questioning each other on the basis of arguments about lifestyle and principles relating to democracy and wellbeing.

She argues: “Marcus Aurelius insisted that to become world citizens we must not simply amass knowledge; we must also cultivate in ourselves a capacity for sympathetic imagination that will enable us to comprehend the motives and choices of people different from ourselves, seeing them not as forbiddingly alien and other, but as sharing many problems and possibilities with us.

“Differences of religion, gender, race, class, and national origin make the task of understanding harder, since these differences shape not only the practical choices people face but also their “insides,” their desires, thoughts, and ways of looking at the world” (p.85).

So where do we stand, in these ‘politics’? I think we are constantly asked to take a stance, to be critical and reflective in a Socratic way. To consider our own ways not as the best, but as good in the situation with which we are familiar.

Nussbaum attributes a central role to education in this process of becoming ‘world citizens.’ She envisages a world in which people are not centrifugally dragged towards the same point; she argues in favour of education as to develop the tools and ways of dialogue for understanding differences, and opposes the ‘politics of identity’ which do not feed into the practice of dialogue and the creation of understanding among people.

She says: “Under the label ‘multiculturalism’—which can refer to appropriate recognition of human diversity and cultural complexity—a new antihumanist view has sometimes emerged, one that celebrates difference in an uncritical way and denies the very possibility of common interests and understandings, even of dialogue and debate, that take one outside one’s own group.”

“The best way to begin avoiding these pitfalls [the descriptive and normative vices] in teaching is to think in terms of common human problems, spheres of life in which human beings, wherever they live, have to make choices.”

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SHARING PLATE AND CUP Coming from The Netherlands, I see daily how hard a job this actually is. In the past years, integration politics have been listed high on the agenda. It is startlingly easy to live one’s life without really getting to know one’s neighbour, whether being of Dutch, Moroccan, or Chinese origin.

This once much-vaunted miracle of multicultural society has gone bankrupt from its own pride and prejudices. Dutch journalists write books about families from the Middle East who have been living here for the past twenty-odd years, and to my understanding these reports completely miss the core. That is: they sustain the division between ‘us’ and ‘them.’

Fortunately, there are the small local initiatives that one hears about, where people really share plate and cup, bread and wine, and live this global community locally. However, it is true that we are a bit lost at the moment and are faced with a reevaluation of who we are.

Realistically dreaming about history, our ancestors Adam and Eve must have seen themselves faced with this challenge of living with inherent differences, and perhaps they ‘agreed to disagree’ about the shared condition of being human.

Despite the differences in wealth and circumstances people are facing, this is the key identity (among others underlined by Nussbaum) that underlies interaction among people. Or can I say - should?

All too often, the rhetoric in political debates presupposes superiority based on military power, attributed religious power, or economic stronghold. There is no easy answer as to which debate is fruitful, where freedom of speech ends and respecting the (feelings of) the other should prevail.

Using the jargon of results, efficiency and effectivity are out of the question here.

Luckily, these easy ways out do not solve the issues, because it means we cannot sit back in our armchair and be lazy. Somehow, I think the concept of ‘global citizen’ lived locally is a good start. At least it is a basis for empathetic dialogue and understanding and it allows for disagreement, for differences to have their place.

Our identity and self-image is broader than the borders of our country, our culture, our language, like a pancake hanging over the edges of a plate. Alternatively, we might use the comparison of a cat that has nine lives.

AND IF YOU CAN’T SING IT, YOU SIMPLY HAVE TO SWING IT …

Communication across boundaries is not limited to language, though. A good WSCF tradition is to dance together, as dancing is universally practiced. In Chiang Mai, Thailand we had excellent dancers among the women, as one of the first evenings demonstrated. It was a women’s-only party, a safe environment, and most of us felt free to ‘swing it.’

Having said all this, and reflecting about my own journey, I do find myself being an eclectic experiment-in-progress.

Living in The Netherlands, where I was born, I cannot say that I am typically Dutch. Even fellow country-people, when hearing that I have lived in Central Europe for quite some time, suspect some exotic ancestors from that part of the world.

Well, they were exotic, these ancestors, but they came

from Southern Europe. Some of them were Alva’s soldiers who quite liked the Flemish women, jumped in and out of their beds, and there we were, the Dutch Flemish.

Also not to forget the share of the Hugenots, who fled the French guillotine and found a peaceful though harsh living on the muddy clay along the seashore just across the Belgian border (which at that time was not called Belgium, but the Southern Netherlands).

Still, I do find myself being Dutch. I love the sea and the strong wind, the white clouds in the air, lined up as the stage curtains in the theatre. And the cheese and black liquorice sweets that foreigners would stick under the table out of shame for dislike of this national delight.

Clearly, the paths I have walked and the people I have met have changed my world, perhaps more than I can imagine.

Adaptation to new situations has proven not to be that hard.

What was more difficult, to be honest, was to re-adapt to my own ‘culture.’

Somehow, I do not fit the models of being Dutch anymore, but rather challenge them. And I quite like that role, being a spectator and commentator on the tribune of my own society. Then, honestly speaking, who of my friends, colleagues or neighbours is not an ‘odd one out’?

Just what is worrying is precisely the musical part: the Dutch do not really know how to amuse themselves with dancing; folk dances are dull and without fantasy. So not much room for sharing here.

Central European clapping and whirling would do good to get people awake down here, or not to forget the Turkish tradition and Middle Eastern belly dancing. We still have some important borders to erase, it seems.

Suggested Reading Nussbaum Martha, Cultivating Humanity: A Classical Defense of Reform In Liberal Education. Cambridge, 1997.

Terruwe, Anna – Baars Conrad W., Healing the Unaffirmed. St. Paul, 1981.

Epstein A.L., The Experience of Shame in Melanesia: An Essay in the Anthropology of Affect. Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Occasional Paper No. 40, 1984.

Epstein A.L., In the Midst of Life: Affect and Identification in the World of The Tolai.

Berkeley, 1992.

Suzanna Vergouwe (The Netherlands, 1976) is a graduate in Cultural Anthropology and has an MA in Central and South East European Studies. She lived in Budapest and Romania for three years; while part of that time being involved in WSCF’s Central European Subregion. Currently she is a member of the culture and higher education interest group. Her interest is in studying the relationship between culture and faith, and she is fond of jazz, soup and cats.

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2005/2 We note that students’ representatives from the regions of Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa are often excluded for financial and political reasons in the planning and management of higher education.

STUDENT DECLARATION

We also note that a culture of peace must be a priority, especially given the awful destruction of universities and precious cultural resources that has taken place as a result of conflicts.

OF THE UNESCO NINTH COLLECTIVE CONSULTATION ON HIGHER EDUCATION April 8, 2005 We, the representatives of students’ democratically run organisations assembled in Paris for the Ninth Collective Consultation on Higher Education of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), support the work and importance of NGOs consultations within UNESCO Forum. In particular we reconfirm the conclusions of the Ninth Collective Consultation on HE of UNESCO. Hereby we affirm our longstanding commitment in principle and in deed to the right of all people to have complete access to and participation in higher education in all its forms, with special attention to the provision of public education.

In the past, at the 1998 World Conference on Higher Education, we have made our views and hopes known in a document entitled Opening the Big Door. Presently, we affirm these views and note that the concerns that were raised in this document have not yet found solutions that prioritise access and participation.

In particular, we note that the legacies of colonialism and imperialism continue to act as a major barrier to postsecondary education.

We are gravely concerned that the many threats to public education posed by the successive rounds of trade negotiations continue to be manifest, with more and more governments implementing trade liberalization measures that include aspects of higher education. The pressure towards privatization, educational user fees, lack of academic protections and freedom, and restrictions on access that trade liberalization usually entails are real threats to the work of improving access to high quality public education for all.

We note our particular concern about the upcoming ministerial meetings of the World Trade Organization scheduled to take place in Hong Kong from December 13–18, 2005. We urge all governments to remove education from the negotiations of the General Agreement on Trade in Service.

Further, we urge governments and international bodies to make greater efforts to include and encourage the activities of democratic students’ organizations from every region.

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We note that access to higher education is still considered to be a privilege by some, and is not always integrated as a priority with primary and secondary education.

Given that so many new jobs require postsecondary education, and that, in fact, postsecondary education is necessary for a thriving and innovative economy and a democratic citizenry, although informal education is also crucial, an organized and adequately funded higher education sector is as crucial.

As part of our vision for higher education and for society as a whole, we believe that access to public higher education through eliminating student fees and providing grants to students is not enough. Unfortunately gender inequalities still play a role in access to education, and in higher education in particular, therefore, mechanisms to secure equality in access and continuation of studies need to be identified and implemented. We believe that retention of students from all socio-economic backgrounds and women in particular is also of the utmost importance, and this necessitates changes not only to the funding of education, but also to curriculum, hiring, provision of counselling services and the overall relationship of higher education institutions to their local and global communities.

In this, the year commencing the UNESCO decade of education for sustainable development, there are tough choices facing all governments. We see higher education as an important aspect of building each country’s capacity to face these challenges and, as an international community, to continue to build the intellectual capacity to implement decisions that favour sustainable development, even if they call for a significant re-alignment of the global economic and military order. Therefore higher education needs to be seen as an integral part of sustainability development discussion, rather than only an addition. Once again we stress the importance of involvement of democratic and representative students’ organizations in the development of sustainability strategies.

Signed, AEGEE – European Students Forum All Africa Student Union ASA – Asian Students Association ESIB – The National Unions of Students in Europe IAAS – International Association of Students in Agricultural and Related Sciences International Union of Students ISHA – International Students of History Association JADE – European Confederation of Junior Enterprises JECI/MIEC – Catholic Student Movements WSCF – World Student Christian Federation

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Culture of Integration

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Karl-Adolf B A U E R

The Miracle of the Spirit and Her Gifts “A miracle has taken place!” With this cry one Monday morning, a group of mentally handicapped children came running towards me from next door. What had happened?

The day before, on Sunday, I had sung a little three-part round with them and other children in the children’s service.

“Praise, o praise the Lord, you nations, rejoice in Him and serve Him willingly!”

That evening they had tried in their children’s home to sing this tune again not only in unison, but as a round, in three parts; and - o miracle of miracles! - It came off well.

By singing together, they discovered that they are more gifted than they thought! We are a choir, a body of sound, in which one voice completes and encourages the other, accompanying and spurring it on.

I. INTERCONNECTED The spirit of the music had seized them and inspired them to sing and the Holy Spirit had been involved at the same time and taken them beyond themselves: to the delight of them all, and at the same time in praise of the Lord.

Yes, my mouth needs my hand. So too, my hand also needs my arm. My spirit needs my brain. My brain needs my stomach. In my body, everything is interdependent. No member can be missing, however weak and insignificant it may appear.

For one member completes and supports the other. My mouth needs my hand. My hand needs my arm. That is true far beyond the sphere of my body. We all have far more members than only those in our body.

When I was a baby, my mother’s hand became a support for my spine, which was still weak; otherwise, I would not have learnt to sit up and walk uprightly. Without people near me, who spoke to me, I would scarcely have learnt to speak myself.

The whole time, innumerable people, whom I do not know personally at all, act so that I do not starve or freeze to death.

Like members of one body, we join to form society.

Nothing would be more foolish than the sentence: “I am self-sufficient, and I do not need anyone else.” Each person constantly needs others, who complete her or him and encourage, accompany and spur her or him on.

That is why a nation or human society has been compared to a body, whose members we all are. But all too often this image of the body has been used to appease those who work like slaves: you are of course also important, but as in the body, where there is a head above and feet below, there must also be an above and a below in society.

Before you know where you are, with the image of the body and its members, an unfair distribution of privileges and advantages is justified and unequal treatment in society covered up.

No, our social and political world is not simply a body with many members. This image is deceptive. Admittedly it cannot be denied, that in the social struggle of all against all for mutual recognition, one serves the other; even if it is against her or his will; and helps her or him to live.

However, our society as a whole is not yet a serving community. Into this world, still marked by the withholding

of equal rights and unequal treatment, God has through the power of the Holy Spirit, built his Church as a serving community of the Body of Jesus Christ.

Just as in a transplant, one member is transplanted from a dying body into a living body, and can from then on continue living in a new cohesion, so we have been transplanted through Jesus Christ into a new relationship.

By His death, the old person in us has already died; the one who is sufficient to heror himself. By His Resurrection, Jesus Christ gives us a share in the life of the new person.

By baptism, the Holy Spirit has transferred us into the body of Christ, and in every celebration of the Holy Communion the Spirit joins Godself to us anew, and us to one another to be one body: God’s Body!

The words are true: “But you are the Body of Christ, and each of you a m e m b e r ” (1Cor12:27).

Strikingly, it does not say: “You ought to be the Body of Christ!”

The words of the apostle are not a challenge; they are an appointment!

With this appointment, Paul opens our eyes to the presence of the Spirit in our midst. “But you are the Body of Christ, and each of you a Member!” Seen from our point of view, the leap of faith into the bodily presence of Jesus Christ is as impossible as the step of Peter out on to the sea (Matthew 14:22–23).

Based on the word of Jesus Christ, however, Peter dared to leave the boat and walk out onto the sea. Because it is in He who calls with His body “given for you,” we can dare to live as gifted members of His Body. And that has consequences.

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II. CONSEQUENCES 1. EVERY MEMBER IN THE BODY OF CHRIST IS GIFTED There are no useless or superfluous members in this body. Each has received a gift. However much you contradict the fact and maintain: “That is not true for me; I am a failure,” Jesus Christ does not agree.

His promise is for everyone: You are gifted! Get up, and discover the mutual gifts, with which Jesus Christ meets you, completes and encourages you, accompanies and spurs you on, through your sister and brother!

2. THERE ARE DIFFERENT GIFTS, BUT THERE IS ONE SPIRIT God is a friend of original characters, and God’s Spirit is a definite lover of variety. Before God all people are admittedly equal. In spite of that, there are differences of gifts.

For God is an enemy of all uniformity.

The fact that there are different gifts is not a misfortune,

Culture of Integration but rather a cause for joy: no one has to be able to do everything. Not everyone has to be able to do the same things. By this, I am relieved, and the other person is encouraged.

By this, the other person is relieved and I am encouraged through her or him: by the very fact, that she or he is different from me. Without differences, there would be no fellow-humanity and no reciprocal fulfilment and enrichment.

The differences of gifts and the variety serve to supplement one another. Variety serves life. Yes, the variety of gifts is an expression of the manifold and even colourful grace of God. For in the gift granted to the other person, Jesus Christ Himself comes to meet me. Hidden but helpful, He comes to complete me, and, where necessary, to restrict me for my own good.

By letting ourselves and our gifts be seized, moved and inspired by God’s Spirit, we become the handywomen and handymen of God’s grace. In this sense, it is true to say: “Whatever gift each of you may have received, use it in service to one another, like good stewards, dispensing the grace of God in its varied forms” (1Peter 4:10).

3. GIFTS OF SPIRIT, GIFTS OF GRACE When Paul speaks of gifts, one time he calls them gifts of the Spirit, and another time gifts of grace. By this, he makes it clear that they do not belong simply to the natural qualification of a person.

When we speak of “qualification,” we mean a personal ability, which someone has trained for and acquired by hard work and skill. Her or his qualification is always the fruit of her or his talents and achievements.

It is, so to speak, her or his personal capital, which she or he can profit with, improve her or his career and finances, and possibly gain power. When we speak of a “gift of grace or Spirit,” the language implies that it is dealing not with the result of human effort, but with a fruit of divine grace.

The individual never has this gift of grace from heror himself, but from God. Moreover, she or he never has it for themselves, but for others. A gift of grace is not capital, with which to make a career.

It is a gift of relationship and only comes to life when it is able to serve human relationships. You cannot hoard God’s gifts and use them for yourself.

You can only give them away and use them in the community of the Body of Christ, and in the encounter with other people.

Only in this way do they acquire the character of gifts of grace. Only in this way do they serve not separation and isolation, self-edification and selfenhancement, but rather fellowship and reconciliation. In short, the building up of the Body of Christ.

4. BUT IT IS ONE SPIRIT The apostle pleads for unity in diversity, not in uniformity. It is only the variety and diversity of gifts that makes living and viable unity possible. For if only “birds of a feather flock together,” as the proverb says, then similar types become indifferent to one another and make each other superfluous.

Only the abundance of the various gifts serves life.

Any uniformity in thoughts, words and works makes the congregation dreary and bores other people to death. Only unity in diversity makes the congregation an inviting Church!

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Culture of Integration In the midst of the abundance of different gifts in the congregation, however, at Corinth the apostle has reason to remind them of unity: “But there is one spirit.” You see, divisions had arisen in the congregation already there: “I belong to Paul, I to Apollos, I am Christ’s.”

The division continues: “I am Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, Greek Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, Reformed, and Methodist. In addition to these denominational divisions, there are different groupings in every denomination.

One group commits itself above all to passing on the gospel; others are more concerned on behalf of foreigners and asylum-seekers in society. Behind these church divisions and group formations and reaching into nearly every congregation, is not merely our human need to be valued.

Nor is it only our human sinfulness in general. Rather, the situation is this: when the Holy Spirit blows and moves people, even whole churches and groups, there arises immediately the danger of party politics and division.

For the activity of the Holy Spirit is Giving. The Spirit distributes different gifts. One person can convincingly proclaim the gospel. Another has the gift to bring relief and healing to the sick and distressed. Another can pray in such a way that something happens when she or he asks.

Another shares her or his possessions with the poor.

Around such people gifted by the Spirit, others willingly gather, who themselves have received the same spirit or are fascinated by the gift of another.

However, these gifts are never given for our own use, and for our intimate circle. No, the one Spirit always has the whole in view! The Spirit wants to strengthen the whole Church, and bring her to life, and into line with the profession of faith in Jesus Christ, the One Kyrios and Lord (1Cor 12:3).

Typically, before we know where we are, tensions can arise between the groups with their gifts. Each considers her or his gift to be the best and the most important. Thus, the competition for the best gifts is in full swing!

That was the case in those days in Corinth; and all too often, that is what it is like today in and between our denominations, congregations and their groups. What was said with regard to circles in our own denominations and congregations can also be used about the relationship of the denominations to one another.

Each denomination, too, has received different gifts from the Spirit, revealed through the course of their life.

Mischief and division arise when the gift of grace, which is entrusted to a denomination, is made into a privilege or special good, through which it dissociates itself from the others or even maintains that it is superior to the others.

That is what it had come to in Corinth. There, one group with its gifts played itself off against the other, and vice versa. With this presumptuousness, they grieved the Spirit and wounded the unity of the Body of Christ.

5. THE SPIRIT MAKES MUSIC And what does the apostle do? “But one Spirit.” The one Spirit makes music. The Spirit joins the different gifts together to make a choir. Like a good conductor, the Spirit sees that the individual voices are brought in at the right time, so that all the voices complement one another and join in one song: to the joy of all, and the praise of God. It is well known that one sings best in a choir when one does not only hear one’s own voice, but also the other voices, and when one is aware of the harmony of all.

Otherwise, singing together cannot succeed.

Just as in the choir one voice limits the other, so also in

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the concert of gifts in the Body of Christ! One’s own gift is always limited, and sometimes even humbled by the gifts of others.

Under certain circumstances, it must wait until its time and entry comes. It is necessary to see it plainly. It is crucial that the different gifts complement one another and combine for the building up of the one Body of Christ. For building up means joining.

6. UNCONDITIONAL LOVE Denominations and congregations are split by the temptation to compete for the better gifts, with which people seek to outdo one another. Paul’s reply to this (1Cor 13) is unconditional love.

Where love is lacking, everything that we have received from God in the way of different gifts, even if they are the very greatest, becomes fruitless: “It profits me nothing” (1Cor 13:3).

If we share our spiritual knowledge with others, if we care for the sick and needy, and commit ourselves to social justice in our community, if we have received the gift of organisation or leadership, and are committed to it in the congregation or fellowship …

If love is missing, then the situation of others is perhaps a little improved, but only in material terms. Then the situation has not become more human. Not until we devote ourselves to the love that Jesus Christ gives us, can the gifts of the Spirit develop fruitfully for the benefit of the whole Church.

Yes, love alone counts! In 1519, Martin Luther published a document in which he set forth the fruit of the Lord’s Supper, the “sacrament of fellowship, love and unity” (Sermon of the Reverend Sacrament of the Holy, True Body of Christ and of the Brotherhoods).

In this document, the reformer explains that in the Lord’s Supper, we are “incorporated” in Jesus Christ, and amongst one another, we become members of His Body. Called to share with one another all the gifts and good things we have received from Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit, and to bear all the burdens and sorrows with one another. At the end of this little document, he says with reference to the bad state of the Church at that time: “The more it turns out that you are incorporated in Christ and the Fellowship of His Saints, the better it is for you. That is, if you establish that you are strong in the faith of Jesus Christ and His dear saints; that you are certain, that they love you, and stand by you (with their gifts) in all the troubles of life and death, and that the suffering of the whole of Christendom, or the sin of every Christian is your concern, that your love is granted to everyone, and that you wish to help everyone, hate no-one, have sympathy with all, and pray for them, then the work of the Sacrament is well.”

Wherever the Gospel resounds and we celebrate the Lord’s Supper together, God has promised that the miracle of the one Spirit and God’s different gifts will happen among us. When we keep ourselves open to receive this miracle, we must reckon with surprises: even in the ecumenical movement.

Karl-Adolf BAUER (1937) studied (Evangelical–Lutheran) theology. He was assistant professor at the Theological Faculty in Bonn, and then pastor and superintendent in the Saarland. He was the leader of the Institute for the Diaconate in Bad Kreuznach (1975–1987), rector of the Pastoral College (1988–2001) and president of the German Region (2000–2003) of the International Ecumenical Fellowship (IEF). His email address is dkbauer@t-online.de.

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LITURGY

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R O Z S - N A G Y Szilvia

LITURGY

Liturgy for Opening Service of the School Year

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Music Opening Words Call to Worship Leader: How good and how lovely it is, All: To live together in unity.

L: If the Lord’s disciples keep silent, All: These stones would shout aloud.

L: Surely, it is God who saves me, All: I will trust in God and not be afraid.

L: For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense, All: And God will be my Saviour.

L: Make God’s deeds known among the peoples; All: See that they remember that God’s Name is exalted.

L: Sing the praises of the Lord, for God has done great things and this is known in all the world.

All: Cry aloud, inhabitants of Zion, ring out your joy, for the great one in the midst of you is the Holy One of Israel.

Prayer L: Master and Lord Almighty, Look down from heaven upon your Church, And upon all your people, and all your flocks, And save all of us your unworthy servants, the creatures of your fold; And grant to us your peace, and your love, and your help, And send down upon us the gifts of your most Holy Spirit, That, with pure heart we’ll be able to learn your beauty and depth. Amen.

Song Bible Reading (Acts 10:9–15; 34–46a) Song Bible Reading (Matthew 21:28–32) Song Silence Candles of Professors, Staff and Students (While silent music is played [for instance by solo guitar] the

professors, the staff and the students light one candle each and place them onto the altar) Reading L: “You are the light of the World,” says the Lord.

The light emanating from these candles is symbolic of that light we ought to be: A light to shine in darkness, A fire of the Spirit to warm and burn.

Let your Light shine before women and men.

Let your Fire warm and burn women and men with the Holy Spirit, So that they may see our goodness, and give glory to the Father who is in heaven.

A Light becomes witness in a world of darkness …

And a candle can ignite many more candles without losing its own flame; like Love It can be freely given to all without diminishing.

Instead it increases a hundredfold Like the light that increases every time a candle ignites another; yet, to give its flame The candle that can potentially ignite other candles also dies …

It consumes its wax …

So must we give away something to be able to really Love; So must we give away something

to build the One Church of God. Nicene Creed Intercessions For the Unity of the Church For the professors and the staff For the students For our common vocation and task The Lord’s Prayer Sign of peace L: Christ is our peace. The peace of the Lord be with you always.

All: And also with you.

L: Let us offer each other a sign of peace and reconciliation.

Blessing L: May God go before you to show you the right way.

May God be beside you to wrap you in God’s arms and protect you.

May God be behind you to keep you safe from the treachery of evil people.

May God be beneath you to catch you when you fall and pull you out of the trap.

May God be within you to comfort you when you are sad.

May God surround you to defend you when others attack you.

May God be above you and bless you.

Blessed be the God of Goodness now and forever.

All: Amen Song ROZS-NAGY Szilvia is EvangelicalLutheran, an ecumenical theologian and university chaplain from Hungary and a board member of KÖD (Magyar SCM). She was a member of the Executive Committee of the Ecumenical Youth Council in Europe (EYCE) from 2001 till 2003, and she is a member of the WSCF Central European Subregion (CESR) board. Currently she writes her PhD on ecumenical and interreligious spirituality. She has one son, Zsombor Mátyás. Her email address is szilvianagyhun@yahoo.com.