Transcript Raising the Consciousness of World Citizenship The most

Teaching “World Citizenship” in
Schools around the world
The most critical issue of our time
(manual operation -- press left/right cursor
keys to continue)
© Greg Kagira-Watson 2004
1
Teaching “World Citizenship” in
Schools around the world
在全世界教导世界公民
The most critical issue of our time
当代最紧要的问题
By Greg Kagira-Watson
© 2004
2
Are today’s young people ready to face
the challenges of today's world?
Is education training
people to become
responsible
“world citizens”?
3
Are the people today following the
wisdom of the sages of the ages?
4
Is the ancient wisdom sufficient
to tackle today’s global problems?
5
Signs of Disunity:
The walls of yesterday
分裂的象征:
昨日的长城
屯
6
Signs of Disunity:
The walls of today (West Bank)
7
Without Unity we cannot have World Citizenship
8
Why World Citizenship?
“The purpose of great learning is to
manifest and illustrate virtues, to
renew the people, and to stop only
when one reaches perfection.”
大学之道在明明德,在亲民,在止於至善.
---孔子 <<大学>>
Confucius—The Book of Great Learning
9
T’ai / Peace
The Chinese hexagram T’ai
from the Classic Book of Changes (I-Ching / Yi Jing).
Trigram above = The Receptive, Earth
Trigram below = The Creative, Heaven
《易经》第十一卦 泰 天地泰 坤上乾下
泰：小往大来，吉亨
彖曰：泰，小往大来，吉亨。则是天地交，而万物通也；上下交，而其志
同也。内阳而外阴，内健而外顺，内君子而外小人，君子道长，小 人道消也
象曰：天地交泰，后以财(裁)成天地之道，辅相天地之宜，以左右民。
初九：拔茅茹，以其夤，征吉
象曰：拔茅征吉，志在外也
九二：包荒，用冯河，不遐遗，朋亡，得尚于中行
象曰：包荒，得尚于中行，以光大也
10
The role of a scholar is “to bring a
heart to heaven and earth, to bring
livelihood to the general population, to
continue the lost teachings of past
sages, and to bring about peace to ten
thousand generations.”
为天地立心，为生民立命，为
往圣继绝学，为万世开太平
— Sung dynasty scholar
11
T’ai / Peace
Trigram above = The Receptive, Earth
Trigram below = The Creative, Heaven
The hexagram is the symbol for the “unity of earth and heaven”
The Judgment: Peace: The small departs, the great approaches.
Good fortune. Success.
彖曰：泰，小往大来，吉亨。
The Image: Heaven and earth unite: the image of Peace.
Thus the ruler divides and completes the course of heaven and earth.
象曰：天地交泰，后以财(裁)成天地之道，辅相天地之宜，以左右民。
“Now that ye have refused the Most Great Peace, hold ye fast unto
this, the Lesser Peace, that haply ye may in some degree better your
own condition and that of your dependents.” (Baha'u'llah, 1863) 12
World Citizenship as “consciousness”
“The supreme aim of education is to develop men
and women who can carry on effectively and
nobly the work of the world.”
“... The phenomenal growth of a world
consciousness is the distinctive feature of
the twentieth century; and contributing to this
development is the whole category of human
activity. In the advancement of industry,
education, religion, science, literature, art,
philanthropy and government, the inhabitants of
the world, regardless of national boundaries,
have intermingled their interests in the
pursuit of great achievements.”
F.F. Andrews (1908)
13
World Citizenship as “consciousness”
In 1908, F.F. Andrews continued….
“The teacher of the twentieth century is an international
figure, and he can never perform his highest function
until he is imbued with this international
consciousness. He should stand shoulder to shoulder
with his fellow teachers in the world for the achievement
of a higher civilization. One generation of teaching the
principles of justice, peace and international unity
would revolutionize the world; these sentiments
can be taught in literature, geography, history, and,
in fact, in every exercise connected with the
school... To what nobler work can the teacher consecrate
himself than to build up a new people whose country is
the world, whose countrymen are all mankind!”
14
World Citizenship
Listen again to those key words and
concepts ringing through her vision:
“international consciousness,” she said.
“Teaching peace and unity,”
(in all subjects)
could “revolutionize the world”
within “one generation.”
15
Reverse-Engineering Peace
Peace depends upon unity (a more evolved worldview).
Unity depends upon a perception of Oneness.
Consciousness of Oneness depends on
understanding realities of what a human being is.
Elimination of prejudice depends on new emotion
and the experience of interconnection
People feel differently when perceive the truth
(science can enhance this perception & emotion)
Perception of profound interconnection of all Life
16
Let’s look at the current efforts to
build unity through schools –
through “Multicultural” Education
Stages of its evolution and purpose:
Tolerance
 Appreciation of Diversity
 Recognition of Oneness

17
Early stage
of Multicultural Education
Tolerance
(agreement to “peacefully
co-exist” without real love as the basis for this
false peace. Tensions can still reside just
beneath the surface of behavior.)

State of Consciousness:
Putting up with someone who is different
(but often the tolerant person does this
“toleration” with a subconscious sense
of superiority).
This sense is the cause of cultural prejudice.
18
Present stage
of Multicultural Education

Appreciation of Diversity
State of Consciousness:
Greater equality, but still
“US and THEM”
19
Next NEEDED stage
of Multicultural Education:
Perception of humanity’s Oneness
State of Consciousness:
Only “US”
One human race
One human family
Consider: We may not be able to achieve “global
integrative education” without this new perception.
20
How does
the “recognition of oneness”
create World Citizenship ?
Sometimes the only way to
see something is
to look at its opposite.
21
Darkness is a
proof of light
Chinese yin-yang:
The universe is run by a single principle,
the Tao, or Great Ultimate.
Birth /
Death
High /
Low
Male/
Female
Light /
Darkness
Beginning
/ End
Opposites
are
one
reality,
defining each other
Stillness / Motion
Good/
Evil
Inner /
Outer
Being /
non-being
23
These galaxies are moving at great speeds,
but because of our limited perception the
distance freezes them in stillness.
This giant
galaxy is so
far away that
it looks small.
We can’t see
this motion
without
stillness
Large motion
appears not to
be moving.
Out of nothing,
everything has been created.
Out of Stillness, Motion has been created
“Behold how, in this Day, the Beginning is
reflected in the End, how out of Stillness Motion
hath been engendered. This motion hath been
generated by the potent energies which the
words of the Almighty have released throughout
the entire creation.” – Baha'u'llah
25
Sometimes the only way to know
what something is,
is to look at its opposite.
The opposite of the perception of
the oneness of the human race is
the perception of difference…
the sense of separation and
the sense of disunity.
26
Let’s take a look at what the
“perception of
differences”
has created.
27
EUROPE
“white race”
CHINA
“yellow race”
AMERICA
‘red race’
AFRICA
“black race”
INDIA
“brown race”
Who are we kidding?
The world has a false perception that we are different
peoples – different races – when, if fact, science has
proved we are all one people – one HUMAN race. 28
Sometimes our view of the world is a little distorted.
29
Let us look at
the consequences of an
“Us and Them”
mentality or consciousness…
and the disastrous consequences of
the false perception that we have
different human realities…
instead of One Human Reality (“us”).
30
False Perception=almost 100 million deaths
WWII Soviet Union: 13.6M military, 7.7M civilian
WWII China: 1.3M military, 10 million civilian
WWII Germany: 3.2 million military 3.8 M civilian
WWII Poland: 850,000 military, 6 million civilian
WWII Japan:1.56 million military,300,000 civilian
WWII USA: 295,000 military. Civilian (zero?)
Korean War casualties (1950-1953): 2.8 million
Second Indochina War (1960-75): 3.5M (sourcesx&y)
Two Persian Gulf Wars: 100,000? (sources: x & y)
Africans killed before WWII in colonization: 9M
Africa civilians killed since WWII = approx. 6 M
31
“Parallel with this, and pervading all
departments of life. . . . is the crass
materialism, which lays excessive and everincreasing emphasis on material well-being,
. . .forgetful of those things of the spirit on which
alone a sure and stable foundation can be laid for
human society. It is this same cancerous
materialism, born originally in Europe, carried to
excess in the North American continent,
contaminating the Asiatic peoples and nations,
spreading its ominous tentacles to the borders of
Africa, and now invading its very heart. . .
. . .[It is] a devouring flame and. . . the chief factor
in precipitating the dire ordeals and world-shaking
crises that must necessarily involve the burning of
cities and the spread of terror and consternation
in the hearts of men. . .”
(Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith)
32
Prevailing Order is lamentably defective
“How long will humanity persist in its waywardness?
How long will injustice continue?
The winds of despair are, alas,
blowing from every direction,
and the strife that divideth and afflicteth the human race is
daily increasing. . .
signs of impending convulsions and chaos
can now be discerned,
inasmuch as the prevailing order appeareth to be
lamentably defective. . .
(Baha'u'llah, 1863)
33
The Peoples of the World are
being Challenged
"Our world has entered the dark heart of an
age of fundamental change beyond anything
in all of its tumultuous history.
Its peoples, of whatever race, nation, or
religion, are being challenged
to subordinate all lesser loyalties and
limiting identities to their oneness
as citizens of a single planetary homeland.”
The Universal House Of Justice – The Kitab-i-Aqdas (1992)
34
UNITY in Diversity
多样性中的统一
“Within four seas, all men are
brothers.”
Confucius
四海之内皆兄弟.
孔子----<<论语>>
35
“Know ye not why We created you all from
the same dust? That no one should exalt
himself over the other…” (Baha’u’llah)
37
The world is emerging from its
adolescence – attaining to maturity
“The principle of the Oneness of
Mankind... implies an organic change in
the structure of present-day society —
a change such as
the world has not yet experienced.”
Shoghi Effendi (1938)
38
Our “normal” state of alien-nation
“The condition of alienation, of being
asleep, of being unconscious, of being
out of one's mind, is the condition of
the normal man. Society highly
values its normal man. It educates
children to lose themselves . . .
and thus to be normal. Normal men
have killed perhaps 100,000,000 of
their fellow normal men in the last
fifty years.”
British psychiatrist R.D. Laing (1967)
39
The Us and Them mentality results
from a “normal” education:
Most people are probably not aware that
education as it is presently conducted in
every country around the world is
overwhelmingly about one’s own group,
virtually ignoring the outside world and
attitudes, values, and beliefs of other peoples.
This is even true of provinces within nations.
Thus all children tend to build a strong sense of
identity with their tribal, racial, regional, national,
or religious culture (all partially gender-biased) –
separate from the rest of humanity.
This creates an “us and them” mentality.
40
Who are we?
Identity and self-interest widen with a more
accurate perception of one’s world…
Family
家庭
Clan家族
Tribe 部落
城市－地区
City-state-region
Nation-religion-culture
国家－宗教－文化
Earth 地球
. . . Ever-expanding loyalties and
greater sense of belonging and whole-ness
41
“US and them”
Symptoms of discounting the "Other"
“You have to be wrong for me to be right.”
“You have to be weak for me to be strong…”
“You have to be worse for me to be better…”
“You have to be subordinate for me to be generous…”
“You have to lose in order for me to win.” (of course)
“My culture is better”
The “clash of our different civilizations” is inevitable.
42
“US and them”
Symptoms of discounting the "Other"
“My view of the world
is the only valid way
to view the world.”
Why should this be so?
How do people develop
this attitude?
43
Consult briefly in separate
groups of 4 people for 5 minutes:
Discuss society’s
“us and them” mentality
Ask yourselves the question:
“If humans bond together around certain identities, for what
other reasons do they choose to segregate and be violent?”
“如果人类被某种共识连结在一起，我们还有什么理由相
互分离，暴力相对？”
(In 5 minutes be prepared to share one key
idea from your group to the larger group)
45
Survival depends on Education moving more
rapidly… and in the right direction.
“...Before long, humanity will face many grave
difficulties that can only be solved on a global scale.
For this there must be a much higher degree of
understanding and a far greater capacity for cooperation
between disparate peoples and nations than exist now.
Education, however, as it is presently conducted in this
country—and in every country in the world. . .
is not moving rapidly enough in the right direction to
produce the knowledge about the outside world and the
attitudes toward other peoples
that may be essential for human survival within a
generation or two.” Edwin O. Reischauer (1973)
46
“. . .the biggest educational task of all”
“. . .the world community we must develop will never
come into being or operate successfully unless
the bulk of the people feel themselves to be
members of a world community
— that is, unless they develop a sense of world citizenship.
This is clearly the biggest educational task of all,
for millenniums of history have conditioned men to
think in terms of smaller and more exclusive units,
while suspicion and hostility toward other groups
lie deep in their patterns of thought.”
47
“. . .the biggest educational task of all”
“. . .the world community we must develop will never
come into being or operate successfully unless
the bulk of the people feel themselves to be
members of a world community
— that is, unless they develop a sense of world citizenship.
This is clearly the biggest educational task of all..
for millenniums of history
have conditioned men to
<><><><><>
O. Reischauer,
Professor
and
thinkEdwin
in terms
of smaller Harvard
and more
exclusive
units,
former U.S. Ambassador to Japan—
while suspicion and hostility toward other groups
in his book (1973) “Toward the 21st Century:
lieEducation
deep in their
of thought.”
48
for patterns
a Changing
World”