A

Seminar

On

Learning To Live Together: Activities

Inside & Outside School

Presented By

Laxmi BarikPh.D Scholar

Ravenshaw University

Samira Kumar SahooPh.D Scholar

Regional Institute of Education, Bhubaneswar

AbstractThis theme basically presents the values of co-operation, coexistence, sharing and

solidarity in a world that is being pulled apart, by ethnic, religious, individualistic and other

separate forces. Learning to live together has been recognized and declared as one of the four

pillars of education in the Doler report on education for the 21st century. This paper focuses on

objectives, importance, role of teacher and ways and means promoting learning to live together

inside and outside school which gives an idea for students, teachers and stakeholders.

IntroductionAlthough, the world is shrinking into a global village due to the technical advancements, which

facilitate travelling, communication and transaction, our present mindsets are unable to

accommodate the global unity of mankind. We really need to enlarge our minds when the world

is becoming small. Only then can we capture the global human brotherhood. By learning to live

together we broaden our vision, gradually move from self-centeredness, to community, to nation

and from there to the global family. It also means to learn to co-operate and share with each

other and accept diversity and live in harmony. Learning to live together is one of the most

important pillars from the four pillar of education. The Four Pillars of Education form the basis

for the UNESCO-report Learning: the Treasure Within. They cannot be defined separately;

they form an integrated whole, complementing and strengthening each other. Education is, after

all, a total experience.

The Four Pillars of Education

1. Learning to know, that is acquiring the instruments of understanding;

2. Learning to do, so as to be able to act creatively in one’s environment;

3. Learning to live together, so as to participate in and co-operate with other people in all

human activities

4. Learning to be, so as to better develop one’s personality and to act with ever greater

autonomy, judgement and personal responsibility

Learning to live together

Learning to Live Together has been developed for use in different religious and secular contexts

as a resource for everyone concerned with promoting ethics and values. The objective has been

to develop a resource that is relevant on a global level and yet flexible enough to be interpreted

within different cultural and social contexts.

Objectives of Learning to Live Together

The objectives of Learning to Live Together are:

1. To strengthen the capacity of children and young people to make well-grounded ethical

decisions based on values that promote respect for other cultures and beliefs.

2. To empower children and young people to engage in dialogue – to listen and to talk – as a

means of developing greater sensitivity to differences and an understanding of others.

3. To nurture children’s and young people’s ability to respond to the needs of their societies

with an attitude of reconciliation and respect for diversity and to contribute, in this

manner, to a culture of peace.

4. To allow children and young people to appreciate and nurture their spirituality.

5. To affirm human dignity as expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the

CRC and in the teachings of all religious traditions.

6. To affirm the possibility of living together, respecting one another in a world of different

religious, ethnic and cultural traditions.

7. To provide tools for educators to work with intercultural and interfaith learning in

different regions and in diverse settings.

8. To develop and promote successful practices for living together with people of different

cultures, ethnicities, beliefs and religions.

Important to educators because:1. Learning to live appropriately with others is important in our everyday lives – from life in

the school, family and community to the special problems of adolescent relationships.

2. Learning to live together in the wider society requires awareness of and respect for

human rights and the responsibilities of local, national and global citizenship.

3. Learning to live together as responsible citizens can help reduce tensions due to ethnic or

other divisions and social disparities which contribute to the instability or civil conflict

seen in many nations today.

4. Learning to live together be an intercultural, interfaith ethics education programme for

children, designed to promote children’s right to full and healthy physical, mental,

spiritual, moral and social development.

5. Learning to Live Together approaches the issue of ethics education from the perspectives

of intercultural and interfaith learning, human rights and quality education, where ethics

and values are nurtured and where children are given the space to develop their innate

potential for spirituality.

6. Learning to Live Together incorporates both traditional and modern learning

methodologies based on experience, cooperation, problem solving, discussion, and

introspection.

Educators and facilitators – the heart of the learning process Learning to Live Together requires a democratic and participatory style of educators and

facilitators. The idea is not that teachers know about ethics and values those children do not. The

educator/facilitator is not instructing but rather guiding and structuring the learning process by

organising learning activities, whose process helps everyone, students and teacher, to develop

together and question their knowledge, attitudes and behaviour. Educators and facilitators who

are fair and honest will build trust with the students, and help ensure confidence in the journey of

learning. Good role models inspire others to reflect on who I am and who I want to be and

motivate people to find solutions to difficult situations. This is particularly important for children

and young people and even more so in ethics education, which seeks to foster a culture of peace.

Good role models can thus multiply the effects of how to live together in a global and plural

society

How learning to live together can be promoted?Education that wants to cultivate values and spirituality needs to apply a holistic approach to

knowledge, skills and attitudes. Education can no longer be reduced to develop only cognitive

skills but needs to encompass the development of emotional abilities and ethical values, so as to

equip children to strengthen a sense of responsibility, solidarity and empathy with people of

other cultural and religious backgrounds. The type of education needed today has to be sensitive

to the demands of multicultural societies, thus providing equal opportunities for children to

express their beliefs and develop their own identity, aware of others‟ identities.

Relationships often form and build a person’s identity. Daughters and sons have different

types of relationships with the mother or the father, being a pupil in a school shapes another part

of the identity, as does the family and the cultural environment. Traditions – familial, local and

national – shape one’s identity, beliefs and values. Events – personal, national, regional, global –

contribute likewise to the process of identity development.

Religious, spiritual and cultural identity is shaped in the same way. Exposure to a variety

of religious and cultural beliefs and customs, to the uniqueness of each religion and culture,

should not undermine one’s faithfulness to one’s own religious, spiritual or cultural tradition.

Religious communities can engage with today’s educational systems and make positive

contributions in promoting an educational learning approach that

provides space for children to develop their innate potential for spirituality

nurtures values that appreciate the other

applies a learning process that involves critical reflection, a sense of cohesion and building

and practicing positive relationships

develops a stronger sense of ethics though the learning process.

Activities for promoting learning to live together within school

Curricular Activities Demonstrate the many ways in which one can show respect to elders at home and in

school.

Express the meaning of the word ‘cooperation’ indifferent ways

Demonstrate using puppets, how to resolve Conflicts peacefully through the usage of

proper words and gestures

Describe how anger destroys peace and relationship

Complete an incomplete story in different ways with peace messages

Role-play different objects like trees, a broom, various civic facilities, showing how they

benefit us

Write a story on tolerance, sensitivity to others, etc.

Collect newspaper chippings, magazines, articles on different themes and create a wall

magazine Improvise the solution to a problem affecting weaker students through

teamwork, utilizing available resources

Compose various value-words, using a set of letters provided. For example, qualities like

honesty and truthfulness, making new associations among them

Write a letter pertaining to a misunderstanding between two friends, suggesting a way to

resolve the problem without either one feeling humiliated

Collect the works of relatively lesser known people who have contributed to the welfare

of others and analyse their qualities

Organise programmes, talks, workshops, film shows, etc. to inculcate in the students love

and concern for the human family.

Develop projects on ecological changes over the years and their effect on local crops

Provide opportunities for development of social skills through dramatics, plays,

community singing, and group work, etc.

Organize discussions on daily news items, current affairs, etc.

Study problems linked with violence. Encourage the students to share their experiences

with violence so that others in the class can also learn strategies for coping with fears and

anxieties.

Co-curricular Activities Group discussion on international relations

Simulation and role-play,

Field visits and studies

Participation in and observation of national and international conferences

Extensive use of mass media

Community activities

Preparing posters, slides, and materials for campaigns for living together

Debates, seminars, and audio visual shows, role-plays, dramas, composing peace poems,

peace songs, etc.

Participation in various days observed internationally, such as, Human Rights Day,

Children’s’ Day, UN Day, Day for the Disabled, Girl Child Day, Environment Day, etc.

Outside School Activities

Camps, Sports and recreation programmes, Training for community leaders, Workshops for

parents, Media training, Magazines for young people, Travelling theatre, Puppetry, campaigns,

Contests and exhibitions would be organized for promoting learning together outside school

ConclusionThe increased speed of technological change and the rapid growth of knowledge are

creating new opportunities for prosperity and growth, as well as contributing to major social,

cultural and personal change. To fully participate in this new economy schools need to ensure

that future generations possess the skills and knowledge necessary to facilitate lifelong learning.

In order for schools to meet the needs of future students, the general educational system must be

responsive to changes in the society and economy. School should adopt different activities for

promoting living living together to students.

References

1. Learning to live together in peace and harmony; value education for peace, human rights,

democracy and sustainable development for the Asia-Pacc region: a UNESCO-APNIEV

E sourcebook for teacher education and tertiary level education. Bangkok: UNESCO

PROAP,1998

2. Learning the Way of Peace: A Teachers’ Guide to Peace Education, United Nations

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, New Delhi 2001

3. Learning to Live Together. An Intercultural and Interfaith Programme for Ethics

Education. UNICEF 2008

4. Curriculum development For learning To live together: The Caribbean sub-region

Havana, cuba, 2001

5. Margaret Sinclair(2004)Learning To live Together: Building skills, Values and attitudes

For the twenty-first century International bureau of education, Geneva

6. National focus group on education for peace, National Council of Educational

Research and Training, 2006

7. Learning content and strategies for living together in 21st century, International

Conference on Education Geneva, 2001

8. Susan Fountain(1999),Peace Education In UNICEF, Working Paper Education Section

Programme Division, UNICEF New York

9. Delors, Jacques et al. 1996. Learning: The Treasure Within. Paris: UNESCO