1.

Chapter One: FOOTNOTES

The authors of this book deplore the growing politicization of UNESCO and regard some of the measures recently taken by the Organization as incompatible with the ideals that the UNESCO Constitution as well as the 1974 UNESCO Recommendation proclaim. See G. Lang, UNESCO and Israel," Harvard International Law Journal, vol. 16, p. 676 (1975). For an excellent analysis bearing on this entire subject, see D. Partan, Documentary Study of the Politicization of UNESCO (American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1975), which also contains a useful introduction to the structure and functions of UNESCO.

la. On UNESCO generally, see W. Laves & C. Thomson, UNESCO: Purpose, Progress, Prospects (Indiana Univ. Press, 1957); H. Krill de Capello, "The Creation of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization," International Organizations, vol. 24, p. 1 (1970); Partan, supra, at pp. 1-8.

2.

3.

The Sakharov Statement, New York Times, December 11, 1975, p. 10, col. 1.

See UNESCO, Birthright of Man (Paris, 1969). See also McDougal, Lasswell & Chen, "The Protection of Respect and Human Rights: Freedom of Choice and World Public Order," American University Law Review, vol. 24, p. 919 (1975).

4.

See generally, C. Alexandrowicz, The Law-Making Functions of Specialized Agencies of the United Nations (Sidney: Angus & Robertson, 1973); T. Buergenthal, Law-Making in the International Civil Aviation Organization, p. 57 (Syracuse Univ. Press 1969).

5. The General Conference is the principal policy-making body of the Organization; all UNESCO Member States are represented in the General Conference.

6.

See UNESCO Constitution, Arts. IV(4) and VIII, as interpreted by the UNESCO General Conference in Article 16(1) of its "Rules of Procedure Concerning Recommendations to Member States and International Conventions Covered by the Terms of Article IV, paragraph 4, of the Constitution," 1975 UNESCO Manual of the General Conference, vol. I, p. 79.

7.

For the text of these rules, see 1975 UNESCO Manual of the General Conference, supra. For a report summarizing these preliminary activities, see UNESCO Doc. EDMD/27, pp. 3-4 (1973).

8.

9. UNESCO General Conference, Res. 1.222 of November 17, 1972, Records of the General Conference, 17th Sess., vol. I (Resolutions and Recommendations), p. 24 (1972).

10. UNESCO Doc. ED/MD/27, 16 August 1973.

11.

12.

UNESCO Doc. ED/MD/32, Annex III, 15 March 1974.

The text of the draft recommendation adopted by the Committee of Experts and the Committee's report thereon are reproduced in UNESCO Doc. 18C/24 of 12 July 1974. For an analysis of work of the Committee of Experts, see Report of the United States Delegation (submitted to the U.S. Department of State on June 20, 1974).

13.

14.

See 1974 UNESCO Recommendation, para. 15.

Report of the United States Delegation to the 18th Session of the General Conference of UNESCO, p. 14 (submitted to the U.S. Department of State, April 2, 1975).

CHAPTER TWO

International Education:
An Historical Review

I. INTRODUCTION

The idea embodied in the UNESCO Recommendation that education can make a major contribution to understanding between countries and to the achievement of peace is not a new one. However, a new approach, a new direction, and a new surge of activity appear to be necessary. As the Preamble to the UNESCO Recommendation notes, there is "a disparity between proclaimed ideals, declared intentions, and the actual situation," with regard to international education.

In reading documents of forty or fifty years ago, one cannot escape the impression that little has changed in this area in half a century. Along with the feeling that little change has taken place it seems that if some of the programs set in motion then had been effectively pursued, we should by this time have more successfully reduced the level of international conflict. The present publication must therefore speak not only to those already convinced and committed to international education but also to a new audience.

In addition to attracting widespread interest and motivating concerned individuals to become active and effective in support of international education, we should prepare the way for maximum institutional support for programs so that individual commitment can be translated into long-range planning and implementation.

However, to promote effective institutionalization, a clear understanding of what is meant by the term international education must be developed. Of course, the UNESCO Recommendation identified in its title four requisite elements: Education for 1) International Understanding, 2) Cooperation, and 3) Peace, and Education Relating to 4) Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. But one must take care not to be too inclusive in the definition, including material from every program (no matter how organized or toward what objectives) which provides for the exchange of students between countries, or which exposes students to the study of other nations (no matter how ethnocentric or political the content of the material provided). On the other hand, if one defines international education too narrowly, those who have not made an intensive study of the problem will find it difficult to relate the aims of their programs to the goals of the Recommendation.

The purpose of this brief history of various initiatives toward education for international understanding, cooperation and peace is to examine a range of definitions of international education, to consider the way in which individuals have become involved in developing these programs, and to identify and describe the institutional supports which have resulted.

II. EARLY EFFORTS

In the seventeenth century, a Moravian churchman, John Amos Comenius, proposed an international Pansophic College as a means to further the cause of peace. There is no evidence of the establishment of any institution such as that envisioned by Comenius, whose works relating to this theme were collected and published by UNESCO in 1957. During the nineteenth century several organizations were established with comparative education as their focus. In connection with the international exposition of 1876 in Philadelphia an International Conference on Education was attended by representatives of fourteen nations. John Eaton, United States Commissioner of Education, used this occasion to present a plan for a permanent organization that would be responsible for further international meetings. No record of any of this organization's activities has survived.

In the late 1800's Molkenboer, a German writer, attempted to establish an organization which would further the aim of educating the children of Europe to respect each other and to live together peaceably in a community of Europe. Although individuals and non-governmental organizations were quick to express interest, governmental agencies were less supportive, and the movement failed.

Scanlon, in a documentary history of international education, points to the period from the close of the nineteenth century to the beginning of World War I as "the greatest effort in the history of civilization to build a realistic basis for world peace. "'1 During this period Francis Kemeny, a Hungarian, published his ideas concerning the existence of an international component in all cultures which he considered to be the result of cultural borrowing; nationalism and internationalism in his view complemented each other. He suggested the formation of an organization which would perform the following functions: "the organization of international conferences for teachers; . . . development of international agreements on the organization and structure of education; . . . the formulation of international statements on the rights of man; the revision of textbooks to eliminate hatred and emphasize mutual trust; and a concentrated effort to eradicate racial prejudice."2 Kemeny was the first author to make improved relations between races integral to efforts for international education. He hoped to include representatives of governments and professional organizations as well as individuals interested in international education in his proposed organization in order to maximize its effectiveness and to reach the most influential audience.

Other organizations which were established with similar aims included the

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Mr. Carnegie in his letter to the Trustees in 1910 envisioned a time when war would be "discarded as disgraceful to civilized men;" at that time the Trustees were to "consider what is the next most degrading evil or evils,"3 and use the endowment's resources against it. The American School Peace League, whose aim was "to promote through the schools and the educational public of America the interests of international justice and fraternity," was also founded during this period. In the early 1900's schools in the United States, England, France and the Netherlands celebrated May 18th as Peace Day in commemoration of the Hague Peace Conference.

Because of the success of these programs Fannie Fern Andrews, an American, attempted to involve both the ministries of education and nongovernmental organizations abroad in expanding the School Peace League throughout Europe. In 1911, with the approval of President Taft, she took on a post in the United States Office of Education to set up an international conference to plan for an international bureau which would include a research clearinghouse and publications program. In 1912, invitations were issued by the Netherlands to sixteen European countries, the United States, and Japan to attend such a conference at the Hague. Only France and Switzerland accepted, and the conference was postponed. In 1914 the invitations were again issued, but the beginning of World War I intervened and the conference was never held:

In the United States in 1912 the National Education Association passed a resolution praising the work of the School Peace League; the report of the NEA Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education, issued in 1916, recommended the development of international world-mindedness, stressing the concept of inter-relationships among nations. 5 The effect of these pronouncements of educational organizations seems to have been limited. A review of the curriculum in use during this period indicated that there was little international content; social studies in the United States tended instead to stress material about heroes, stories of Indians, and information about national holidays.

6

III. LEAGUE OF NATIONS PERIOD

Following the war, during the deliberations over the League of Nations Covenant, the International Council of Women and the Conference of Women Suffragists (including Fannie Fern Andrews) met with representatives of the Allied Governments to present a plan for an International Office of Education. They argued that the popular acceptance of the League depended upon teaching young people about its aims and organization and also that universal schooling was the only way by which the aims of human freedom expressed by the League might be realized. They therefore proposed that the Covenant of the League of Nations provide for the establishment of a permanent bureau of education. No such provision was included in the Covenant, and no such bureau was established. In the opinion of many, the lack of explicit recognition of the

importance of education in the League's mission hindered the development of international education for several decades.

Many nations, jealous of their sovereignty, feared that the League would impose a particular scheme of education on them, and so placed serious limitations on its activities. For example, when a Committee on Intellectual Cooperation was established, a program of international education was not included among its responsibilities. This, however, did not mean that the League did not deal with any matters of education. In spite of obstacles and a shortage of funds, the Committee did sponsor international conferences (which later became a central function of UNESCO). By its mission to China in 1931 it established the principle that international organizations have a responsibility to aid underdeveloped countries and, through the establishment of national organizations formed to support the work of the Committee, the League set a model for later UNESCO national Commissions.

8

One of the lesser known activities of the Committee, which is of great interest for our purpose here, is the Recommendation of its Sub-Committee of Experts for the Instruction of Children and Youth in the Existence and Aims of the League of Nations, which met in Geneva in 1926-27. The League's Assembly in 1923 had passed a resolution urging governments to make students "aware of the existence and aims of the League and the terms of its Covenant"; a number of nations officially recognized this resolution and encouraged their schools to implement it. Then in 1925 a sub-committee of experts was established to follow up on this resolution. The group was limited to proposing measures and coordinating programs to acquaint young people with the League and did not examine the broader aims of education. The document as submitted by the committee of fourteen experts in 1927 contained recommendations on methods to make the League of Nations known to young people and also to develop "the spirit of international cooperation among young children, young people, and their teachers." There is a remarkable resemblance between the 1974 UNESCO Recommendation and some portions of this 1927 document which sought to implement the League's assembly resolution:

SECTION I- HOW TO MAKE THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS KNOWN TO CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

Schools

1. All children and young people should, before completing their formal education, receive instruction suitable to their stage of intellectual development, in the aims and achievements of the League of Nations and, generally speaking, in the development of international co-operation. In view of the important part played by women in forming the character of the young, care should be taken in those countries where the education of boys and girls is different to see that this instruction is given to girls as well as boys. 2. This instruction should begin in the primary school and should be continued to as late a stage as possible in the general education of the pupil.