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Centre for International Education and Research

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Coordinates:52°27′05″N1°55′38″W/ 52.4515°N 1.9271°W/52.4515; -1.9271
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Educating for Global Justice

TheCentre for International Education and Research(CIER) evolved in the 1950s, at theUniversity of BirminghamUK, in the context of the involvement of British academics in the new international educational role of theUnited Nations.

Within the philosophy ofGlobal justice,research and teaching interests at CIER include:human security,extremism,conflictandemergencies,sustainable developmentandenvironmental justice;global citizenship,human rights,anddemocracy;marginalisation,street children,inclusionandspecial educational needs(SEN);international development,and university internationalisation. The Centre runs an 'International Studies in Education' programme, at Masters and PhD levels, reflecting the fields ofInternational educationandComparative education,and the work of international organisations such asUNESCOandUNICEF.

The Centre has worked with academics and students from most parts of the world, including Africa, South and East Asia, Europe, Middle East, and North and South America. Staff have carried out international research for academic and other organisations including theBritish Academy,British Council,Carnegie Foundation,CfBT, Council for Canadian Studies, Daiwa Angro Japanese Foundation,Department for International DevelopmentUK (DFID),Deutsche Bank,Economic and Social Research Council(ESRC),Esmée Fairbairn Foundation,European Commission,GTZ,Gulbenkian Foundation,Home Office,Japan Foundation,Joseph Rowntree Foundation,Oxfam,Sino-British Fellowship Trust,United States Department of Labor(USDoL),United Nations University(UNU),UNESCOandUNICEF.

Anti-corruption poster, Liberia, 2004

CIER is a member of theUNESCO Associated Schools Network,and Development Education Association.[1]It helped to set up theBritish University in Dubai(BUID), and has formal links with Ontario Institute of Education (OISE),University of Toronto;Deshkal Society,Delhi; the Gambia Youth Movement for Peace and Unity in Africa; and the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU) in Seoul.

History[edit]

Elihu Burritt, the "grandfather of the United Nations", in Birmingham, circa 1860

Early international influences in Birmingham includeElihu Burritt,a US Consul sent byAbraham Lincoln,who lived inHarbornejust north of the present Birmingham University campus. Known as the 'learned blacksmith', Burritt educated himself and became an exceptional linguist and social activist, working against slavery and famine, and for peace and industrial workers rights. In 1847 he created precursors to theLeague of NationsandUnited Nations– theLeague of Universal Brotherhood,and anInternational Peace Congressin Brussels (1848) and Paris (1849). He proposed a 'Congress of Nations' and a 'High Court of Nations',[2]and was an instigator ofpeace education.[3]He advocated free universal education, and in a 'Speech at the Anniversary of the Parish Schools, Harborne' concluded, "The pursuit of knowledge is not a steeple-chase...stimulated by the ambition to excel, and carry off the largest number of prizes and certificates of merit. It is the acquiring of the working capital of a useful life when the learner comes to act for himself or for others".[4]

The ethos of Burritt's work continued when, after World War I, Birmingham University staff collaborated with theWorkers' Educational Association(WEA) andLeague of Nations UnioninHarborne,to teach local factory workers.[5]In 1947, theInternational Student Service and Refugee Committeeworked with theBritish Councilto bring to the University eighty-three students from sixteen countries.[6]

In 1952,Educational Review,the journal of the Birmingham UniversityInstitute of Education,ran a summer school at Malvern. Speaking in the era of a post-war world, and the formation of theUnited Nations,the Institute's director, Professor M.V.C. Jeffreys, observed, "The fate of our civilisation hangs in the balance. It is an age of conflict and confusion, both material and spiritual." At Malvern, "a group of men and women whose main purpose was a comparative study of education" met. The result was a report, 'Education in other countries'.[7]

This initiative was followed by a series of country studies, including a description of 'Education in India' by B.C.L. James who was a Lecturer in Education at Birmingham University. James concluded, 'If every citizen is to exercise his [sic] legal rights in an atmosphere of goodwill, the teacher must be in a position to give his pupils a full understanding of his country's democracy',[8]which was prescient of CIER's subsequent work on democracy, citizenship and global justice. A report about 'Education for International understanding',[9]appeared in 1954, and inspired the UNESCO Recommendation of 1974.[10]This Recommendation provides the basis for theUNESCO Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding(APCEIU), which is formally linked with CIER.[11]

Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, at Birmingham University, June 2009

In the 1960s, international work became located within theUnit for Commonwealth and Development Studies in Education,under the direction of Robert Dalton and then Rex Oram, which provided a 'CommonwealthCourse' for ministry officials and head teachers. Dalton wrote,Education on the move: a handbook for teachers and administrators in the British tropical commonwealth,in 1968,[12]and the Unit hosted the Annual Conference of the Association of Teachers of Overseas Education (ATOE) in 1984, with Philip Coombs as keynote speaker.[13]While collaborating with theBritish Council,the Centre became known as theInternational Unit,and Peter Willig, who had taught in China soon after theCultural Revolution,established aComparative educationcourse. In 1992, Roy Lowe, a Reader in the Education Faculty, wroteEducation and the second war,[14]which covered European countries and Japan. This prefaced CIER’s work on education and conflict[15]in countries such as Sierra Leone, Liberia, Lebanon, Palestine, and Afghanistan.[16]

To reflect the broadening scope of its endeavours, the name was changed in 1996 to theCentre for International Education and Research(CIER), while under the directorship of Professor Lynn Davies.

References[edit]

  1. ^"Error".Archived fromthe originalon 11 December 2013.Retrieved6 November2018.
  2. ^Speech at the Congress at Frankfort, August 24th 1850, in Burritt, E. (1869)Lectures and speeches by Elihu Burritt,Sampson Low: London.
  3. ^Howlett, Charles F.; Harris, Ian M. (2010).Books, Not Bombs: Teaching Peace Since the Dawn of the Republic(e-book ed.). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing Inc. p. 27.ISBN978-1-61735-158-7.Retrieved10 June2015.
  4. ^Speech 'Speech at the Anniversary of the Parish Schools, Harborne', in Burritt, E. (1869)Lectures and speeches by Elihu Burritt,Sampson Low: London.
  5. ^Ives, E. (2000)The first civic university 1880–1980,Birmingham University Press: Birmingham, 205.
  6. ^Ives, E. (2000)The first civic university 1880–1980,Birmingham University Press: Birmingham, 282.
  7. ^Dobinson, C. H. (1952) 'Education in other countries',Educational Review,vol.4(2), pp. 92–116.
  8. ^James, B.C.L. (1955) 'The Background of Education in India',Educational Review,vol.7(2), pp. 90–107.
  9. ^Strong, C. F., (1954) 'Education for International Understanding',Educational Review,vol.6(2), pp. 79–102.
  10. ^Recommendation concerning education for international understanding,co-operation and peace and education relating to human rights and fundamental freedoms adopted by the Geneva Conference at its eighteenth session, Paris, 19 November 1974.
  11. ^"▒ Cultures of Peace▒".unescoapceiu.org.Archived fromthe originalon 15 May 2009.Retrieved6 June2022.
  12. ^Dalton, R H F (1968)Education on the move: a handbook for teachers and administrators in the British tropical commonwealth,University of Birmingham Press.
  13. ^Education for development – a role for Britain?
  14. ^Lowe, R.Education and the Second World War,Routledge: London.
  15. ^Davies, L. (2004)Education and conflict,RoutledgeFalmer: London,
  16. ^Williams, C. & F. Yazdani (2008)'The rehabilitation paradox: Street working children in Afghanistan',Diaspora, indigenous, and minority education,3:1,4-20.

External links[edit]

52°27′05″N1°55′38″W/ 52.4515°N 1.9271°W/52.4515; -1.9271

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