Dear blog followers,
It’s been a while since I wrote something
on my blog. I think that’s obvious as I’m not in Cambodia anymore. Still I was planning
to keep you posted on the other activities I do with VVOB or activities that
had to do with what I’ve done in Cambodia. So here I am.
Since my last blog message about the awareness
activity I didn’t stand still. I kept on studying for my masters degree in
Pedagogical Science and therefore I had another internship at VVOB. This time
it was in Brussels. I was doing a three month internship from September till
November 2014. I worked on a research report about “How are central tests used
to improve the professional development of teachers in Flanders and
South-Africa”. The main purpose of that research was to write recommendations
for teachers, for directors and for the test creators. People who are
interested in the results, please contact me at Griet.Vandeburie@vvob.be.
In general my internship in Brussels was another
amazing and very interesting experience I had with VVOB . As I’m pretty much “stuck”
to VVOB ;) I decided to do my master thesis in cooperation with them. I’ll
do a qualitative research about the influence that interaction with the global
South has on the way teacher trainers think about diversity and how they handle
with diversity.
This was a very brief catch up with the
things I have been doing. In the following part I’ll inform you about my new
adventure!
“Global
Citizenship Education (GCED) creates an awareness and attitude of solidarity
with others in the world. Mutual understanding has to grow, and prejudices and
stereotypes have to disappear. GCED should lead to a greater sense of
connectivity and solidarity and it is a priority to achieve people’s respect
towards their environment as well as other communities in the world.”
Above you can read the description about GCED I gave
on the application form for the Global Youth Advocacy Workshop on GCED
from the 30e of March until the 4the of April. I knew about this workshop
through one of the education advisors at VVOB Brussels. She thought it would be
interesting for the VVOB ambassadors from this year and last year to apply for
it. So I tried.
I had to answer following questions very
briefly (only 350 characters!?!).
- Specify which aspects of GCED you have been engaged in and for how long.
- List your achievements in advocacy activities related to GCED and/ or youth engagement.
- Explain how your actions have brought about change at the community, local and/ or national level.
- Explain briefly how you’ll apply the outcomes of the training workshop to your ongoing/future advocacy activities.
My answers were based on what I did in
Cambodia and what I did in Belgium when I came back. I didn’t have expectations
when I gave in my application because there would be only 50 people selected
all over the world, but on the 7th of March I got an email starting
with this: :) !!
Dear Griet Vandeburie,
Congratulations!
We are thrilled to inform you that
you are one of the 50 youth leaders selected for the Global Youth Advocacy
Workshop on Global Citizenship Education (GCED) to be held in Busan, Republic
of Korea, from 30 March to 4 April 2015.
A bit more information about the
workshop:
The United Nations Secretary-General’s
(UNSG) Global Education First Initiative (GEFI) recognizes Global Citizenship
Education (GCED) as one of its three priorities. UNSG GEFI has generated
momentum for GCED which has since been included in the target of the education
goal in the Muscat Agreement 2014 and in the proposed Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) of the Open Working Group. The proposed SDGs will provide the
basis for further intergovernmental negotiations on the post 2015 development
agenda.
In support of UNSG GEFI, UNESCO held its
Second Global Forum on Global Citizenship Education on Building peaceful
and sustainable societies: preparing for post-2015 from 28 to 30
January 2015 in Paris, France. The Forum aimed to identify GCED related inputs
to the emerging Framework for Action on Education for the post 2015 development
agenda, as well as key dimensions of GCED in relation to peace. Furthermore, it
had a youth dedicated concurrent session on Driving the GCED agenda
forward: acting with and for young people to assemble the perspectives,
ideas, and priorities of youth on GCED.
Thus, the proposal for an international
4-day training session, co-organized by GEFI, the Asia-Pacific Centre of
Education for International Understanding (APCEIU) and UNESCO’s Mahatma Gandhi
Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) aims to
build the capacity of dynamic youth leaders from countries around the world to
advocate for GCED. Participants will be selected on the basis of their previous
experiences, present engagement and future commitment in educating youth at the
local and national levels.
The training objectives are:
- To build a common understanding of GCED and its key priority areas by building on the dialogue initiated at the Paris GCED Forum.
- To allow the participating youth leaders to elaborate an advocacy strategy suitable for implementation at the local and national levels to advance the GCED agenda beyond 2015.
- To establish a wider network of youth advocates on GCED to advance the agenda globally.
So, I think this is more than enough
information to be able to follow my next posts during the workshop. I’m really
looking forward to it. I hope to contribute to the workshop from an educational
point of view. It is going to be a great experience and an amazing opportunity
to get to know the other selected youth leaders.
