understanding of the educational campaigns and programmes planned in accordance with the objectives of this recommendation;

(c) the parties concerned, whether public or private, should endeavour to take advantage of favourable situations and opportunities, such as the social and cultural activities of youth centres and clubs, cultural centres, community centres or trade unions, youth gatherings and festivals, sporting events, contacts with foreign visitors, students or immigrants and exchanges of persons in general.

The term "inter-active learning" was the closest translation available for the concept "co-learning", proposed by a South American delegate to indicate that in an optimal setting everyone learns continually from everyone else, with no distinction between those who teach and those who learn.

The perceived importance of teachers' awareness for effective international and intercultural education as well as the perceived complexity of changing teacher behavior is indicated by the care with which the Committee of Experts refined the statement on teacher preparation. It reads very much like a restatement of all the guiding principles and specific actions from the perspective of required changes in teacher training and certification:

33. Member States should constantly improve the ways and means of preparing and certifying teachers and other educational personnel for their role in pursuing the objectives of this recommendation and should, to this end:

(a) provide teachers with motivations for their subsequent work: commitment to the ethics of human rights and to the aim of changing society, so that human rights are applied in practice; a grasp of the fundamental unity of mankind; ability to instil appreciation of the riches which the diversity of cultures can bestow on every individual, group or nation; (b) provide basic interdisciplinary knowledge of world problems and the problems of international co-operation, through, among other means, work to solve these problems;

(c) prepare teachers themselves to take an active part in devising programmes of international education and educational equipment and materials, taking into account the aspirations of pupils and working in close collaboration with them;

(d) comprise experiments in the use of active methods of education and training in at least elementary techniques of evaluation, particularly those applicable to the social behaviour and attitudes of children, adolescents and adults;

(e) develop aptitudes and skills such as a desire and ability to make educational innovations and to continue his or her training; experience in teamwork and in interdisciplinary studies; knowledge of group dynam

ics; and the ability to create favourable opportunities and take advantage of them;

(f) include the study of experiments in international education, especially innovative experiments carried out in other countries, and provide those concerned, to the fullest possible extent, with opportunities for making direct contact with foreign teachers.

An innovative, active, and interdisciplinary approach is stressed.

The necessity of evaluating the attitudes of students and tailoring programs to meet their needs and interests is noted. Refresher courses (including those conducted abroad) and teacher exchanges are encouraged (paras. 34, 36, 37). The role of those who supervise and direct teachers in making this "gradual but profound change in the role of education" is highlighted in paragraph 34. The following paragraph points out that inservice training in international education is also necessary:

35. Member States should endeavour to ensure that any programme of further training for teachers in service or for personnel responsible for direction includes components of international education and opportunities to compare the results of their experiences in international education. Although teacher preparation differs greatly in the Member States of UNESCO, any attempts to improve international or intercultural education which are to have a long-range effect must devote extensive effort to improving both in-service and pre-service teacher education and to providing continuing support to teachers from their superiors to seek innovative and effective. programs.

The absence of appropriate international educational materials is a reason given by many educators for their failure to deal with global issues and human rights. Several paragraphs of the Recommendation recognize the importance of developing and disseminating materials for use within the classroom and also training students to better analyze and utilize the information to which they are exposed in the mass media outside of school hours:

38. Member States should increase their efforts to facilitate the renewal, production, dissemination and exchange of equipment and materials for international education, giving special consideration to the fact that in many countries pupils and students receive most of their knowledge about international affairs through the mass media outside the school. To meet the needs expressed by those concerned with international education, efforts should be concentrated on overcoming the lack of teaching aids and on improving their quality. Action should be on the following lines:

(a) appropriate and constructive use should be made of the entire range of equipment and aids available, from textbooks to television, and of the new educational technology;

(b) there should be a component of special mass media education in teaching to help the pupils to select and analyse the information conveyed by mass media;

(c) a global approach, comprising the introduction of international components, serving as a framework for presenting local and national aspects of different subjects and illustrating the scientific and cultural history of mankind, should be employed in textbooks and all other aids to learning, with due regard to the value of the visual arts and music as factors conducive to understanding between different cultures;

(d) written and audio-visual materials of an interdisciplinary nature illustrating the major problems confronting mankind and showing in each case the need for international co-operation and its practical form should be prepared in the language or languages of instruction of the country with the aid of information supplied by the United Nations, Unesco and other Specialized Agencies;

This reinforces previous sections of the Recommendation in that materials. representing various disciplines are to be incorporated in many courses, not only those in history or social studies. The international perspective is proposed as a context within which national and local matters are to be considered a reversal of the trend in many materials to consider local governmental structures and problems first. The existence of a problemsolving focus and the perspectives of different cultures are included among the specifications for educational materials. Finally, the most effective use of recently developed educational technology is encouraged.

Paragraph 39 supports a long-standing program of UNESCO which is also taken seriously by many American educators - the analysis of textbooks to identify elements which may foster racial or international misunderstanding. The role of international cooperation in textbook revision is further noted in paragraph 45. The last paragraph in Section VIII encourages the exchange of materials to promote free access to techniques developed in other nations for educational personnel:

40. According to its needs and possibilities, each Member State should establish or help to establish one or more documentation centres offering written and audio-visual material devised according to the objectives of this recommendation and adapted to the different forms and stages of education. These centres should be designed to foster the reform of international education, especially by developing and disseminating innovative ideas and materials, and should also organize and facilitate exchanges of information with other countries.

Section IX, on Research and Experimentation, is relatively brief. The value of collaboration between different educational agencies is noted, and the importance of basic research on the process of social attitude development as well as the evaluation of specific programs is considered:

42. Member States should take appropriate steps to ensure that teachers and the various authorities concerned build international education on a sound psychological and sociological basis by applying the results of research carried out in each country on the formation and development of favourable or unfavourable attitudes and behaviour, on attitude change, on the interaction of personality development and education and on the positive or negative effects of educational activity. A substantial part of this research should be devoted to the aspirations of young people concerning international problems and relations.

Recognition of the importance of research on the sources of favorable attitudes as well as common misunderstandings or unfavorable attitudes is an important new step taken in this Recommendation. If implemented, it could result in a strong base for the construction of effective programs in international understanding and human rights education. The evidence which is presently available on student attitudes and knowledge is summarized in Chapter VI of this publication. This provision of the Recommendation, however, is a justification for a much expanded program of research.

The final section of the Recommendation stresses the importance of international cooperation:

43. Member States should consider international co-operation a responsibility in developing international education. In the implementation of this recommendation they should refrain from intervening in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any State in accordance with the United Nations Charter. By their own actions, they should demonstrate that implementing this recommendation is itself an exercise in international understanding and co-operation. They should, for example, organize, or help the appropriate authorities and non-governmental organizations to organize, an increasing number of international meetings and study sessions on international education; strengthen their programmes for the reception of foreign students, research workers, teachers and educators belonging to workers' associations and adult education associations; promote reciprocal visits by schoolchildren, and student and teacher exchanges; extend and intensify exchanges of information on cultures and ways of life; arrange for the translation or adaptation and dissemination of information and suggestions coming from other countries.

Just as the revision of the Recommendation was a product of international negotiation and cooperation, so too should programs on the local as well as the national level utilize input from other countries and cultures.

IV. CONCLUSION

The 1974 UNESCO Recommendation, as we have indicated, was drafted by government representatives whose cultural backgrounds, educational systems and ideological perspectives mirror the diversity that exists among the nations

and peoples of our planet. It is a consensus instrument and consequently suffers from the defects inherent in such documents. To be acceptable to many different nations, precision and clarity are at times intentionally sacrificed in favor of ideologically neutral and semantically ambiguous phrases. To accommodate different educational philosophies, conceptual consistency must give way to an approach that is at once doctrinally eclectic and that integrates ostensibly conflicting educational theories and methods.

It would be a mistake to dwell on its defects, however, while overlooking the fact that the UNESCO Member States were able to agree on a set of principles and policies governing international education. Given the world we live in, this is a significant accomplishment because it provides a theoretical basis and justification for the promotion of international education on a national as well as a global basis. Moreover, the agenda for action set out in the UNESCO Recommendation is sufficiently compelling that one need not support the particular organization which has sponsored it to favor realization of the objectives it proclaims.