Choice of Activities
Pedagogia Globale presents this test as an invitation for dialogue to as many people as possible; the association hopes it will succeed in soliciting reflection on these proposals which it deems essential for life long education.
The Person
The concept of a person is inspired by the personalist communitarian movement conceived by Emmanuel Mounier.
The person is unique being, who cannot be identified with another person. This is achieved in time through subsequent stages of integration.
The person, by his own nature, is essentially FREE.
This fundamental principle of freedom guides him to learn and master his determinisms and his biological, mental, social and cultural conditioning. It is by focusing on his freedom – which is at the same time autonomy and solidarity – that the person develops himself.
Choosing between possible actions available, he chooses himself and commits himself. At work, in his free time and in all actions of his life, he fulfils his creative potential.
Every person seizes his freedom at every stage of his life by belonging to a SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT. He discovers that he can identify with it and advances towards the other, accepting differences, acknowledging comparison.
Such a concept recognizes a SPIRITUAL REALITY at the heart of man’s freedom and activity, a model of existences which change his values to achieve a fulfilling personal life.
The Values
For the moment, it is important for us to defend personal and community VALUES which allow the person to exist and oppose every form of alienation.
Let us cite the definition of health as given by the WHO: physical, mental and social wellbeing, meaning global and personal wellbeing. It is therefore necessary to achieve, through individual pace, the fulfilment of one’s own complementary needs such as rest, creative activity, giving and receiving, expression and interiorization.
This balance is threatened by technical and urban civilization. Scientific development, and above all, medial development should allow every person to embrace wholeheartedly the mind and body.
Freedom is not possible without conscience. It is important to guarantee every person with lasting education. Each person should have the possibility to achieve his own vocation and have access to true equal opportunities but, unfortunately, all too often, structures and social differences perpetuate every society.
Freedom also means reflection, interiorization that unites and CONTEMPLATION that embraces reality.
Relationships between people are essential. They should be spontaneous and free, and not only technical and functional. They have to allow comparisons and enable coordinated, concrete actions.
Sexuality is a component of everyone’s lives and is a powerful force in a relationship with another person and with a group. It should be experienced as a choice motivated by respect for life, by balance and the growth of people in tune with their social life. It is difficult to achieve these due to either social taboos or to the commercial or political use of sexuality.
Sharing and giving continue to be essential values. We need to rediscover them in a society that promotes consumption, profit and money.
Solidarity, conscious and chosen, the effort and willingness to face the consequences of our own actions normally lead to participation and commitment. This is the way to fight the risk of irresponsibility which generates bureaucracy in every society.
Freedom of opinion guarantees the development of one’s personality, but the truth is not a person’s prerogative, and it is established gradually with everyone’s contribution through activity and reflection.
The search for happiness is a deep desire in very person, one which nevertheless has to be cultivated and nurtured.
Training
Pedagogia Globale places itself within the social, economic and political context. It does not set up a world apart, cut off from everyday reality. The training takes place in the same context and should help those in charge to define the objectives of the activities they organize and promote, with constant reference to the various fields they address.
The quality of the training should be coherent with the quality that it attributes to education.
Education itself is an irreplaceable tool for training.
Purposes of Training
On the one hand the training is aimed at learning about functions and activities in education, and on the other hand it is aimed at the personal and unique development of each educator. Both aspects of the training never end, it is therefore an ongoing project.
Without the training, the educator does not fully develop aptitudes such as: welcoming, dialogue, commitment, the ability to analyze, synthesize, to create, nor does the animator understand the conditions in which he works; the people and the environment have expectations and needs that must be clarified within a pedagogical framework.
More precisely, the training helps one to become:
- A pedagogue who is concerned with the progress of each person at a personal, familiar, professional and community level, and with helping groups to become part of the community.
- A coordinator of activities of expression, communication and discoveries.
- A research organizer and relationships manager who helps to create the necessary conditions to establish new paths for social relationships.
- A representative for cultural development, concerned with making each person aware of his own CULTURE so that they can take their place in society at a given moment and acquire tools for analysis and creativity.
- An expert in charge of practical everyday problems: safety, law, management.
- An educationalist who is always willing to think about his purposes, increasingly aware of his commitment and his role in society, and always taking responsibility of his own continued training for which he adopts a process of LIFE LONG LEARNING.
The training does not only address educationalists or those with social responsibility. Organizational communities themselves are in need of training to better understand the mechanisms of their activities, to find solutions, to understand environmental and economical restrictions, to master them better and improve their own sources of communication.
Education
A comprehensive education, on the one hand developed from the expectations and experiences of the trainees, and on the other by the objectives of the trainers, reinforces the need for dialogue. This gradual journey, which depends on the age and experience of the participants and the trainers, on the situations, and the progress of the training itself, engages the trainees in their learning. This has to be evaluated together between the participants and the team of trainers. They are in charge of the conditions of existence of each member of the group, and their task is to listen to each participant, to ensure the quality of teaching and learning, and respect institutional requirements.
Life with Pedagogia Globale – as a training and self training community – offers a chance for each person to multiply his personal resources and evaluate his achievements. This allows for self evaluation and strengthens motivation. It should ultimately guarantee each person to fulfil his training objectives. Pedagogia Globale therefore relies on the life of the group, centred on itself, but also on a commitment suited to the purposes of training and the promotion of man.
Code of Ethics
This refers to the ethical principles behind every training activity, bearing in mind that initiative and drive are the priority qualities of each educator, to be implemented in a critical and responsible manner inside the institutions in which they practice.
Coupled with the concern for the personal growth of those in training, there is a need to be aware of a person’s potential fragility. If, for example, it is necessary to question someone, it must nevertheless be remembered that the psychological analysis of the reasons will be heard only if these somehow help the person to become more rounded. This questioning cannot take place in a group during a brief period of training, without a suitably qualified trainer, without reference to the goals of the training, without considering the individual’s maturity, or without the person’s consent.
Educational research is necessary. Practically, this means: the conscience of people who request training as well as that of those for whom they will be responsible, must be regularly activated. On the other hand new methods of training mediation, and at times, changes to the purposes of training have to allow for EXPERIMENTATION.
We must be wary of the way trainers and leading participants are projected to group members. The life of the group does not always necessarily lead to a person’s development. It does not automatically lead to a community life. Trainers will try to assist each person in finding his own place within the group, and will be aware of the artificial regrouping that takes place at each training session.
The life of the group should not suffocate personal reflection, but should respect the alternating rhythms of work and interiorization. It is up to the person engaged in training, and not the trainers, to draw up a synthesis of the information he receives, the behaviour he adopts, and the behaviour he generates.
Conclusions
The real conclusions are in the facts.