Dr. Leo Semashko President, Global Harmony Association (GHA) 
ISA Member: RC04 and RC51 Director, Tetrasociology Public Institute St. Petersburg Russia Web: http://www.peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=253 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Global Education as Harmonious Education of Global Harmonious Civilization Paper on the ISA XVII World Congress of Sociology, RC51 Gothenburg, Sweden, July 14, 2010 My paper is devoted to the main generating mechanism of a harmonious civilization: to global harmonious education.
The one-dimensional industrial civilization, with its priority of maximum profit, demands the one-dimensional man (Herbert Marcuse) and one-dimensional education limited to narrow specialization, which is an industrial priority. The processes of globalisation, which started to occur in 1990 as a result of the collapse of the USSR and elimination of its main barrier, demand that the global citizen and global education develop in tandem with globalisation. This interconnection of both processes gives them a Sociocybernetics perspective. Both processes testify to the birth of the new harmonious civilization going on to change the industrial civilization and create the new harmonious education necessary for the harmonious civilization.
2010 as the first year of the Harmonious Civilization For more than 5 years, we (Global Harmony Association: GHA) have been intently watching the new historical trend of global harmonization which may be traced back to 1947. This time we collected approximately 65 instances of global harmony in the different spheres and countries: http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=382. We defined two critical points in this trend: a) 1990 witnessed the socialist camp collapse, which replaced the past historical alternative "capitalism-socialism" within industrialism by the new historical alternative "industrialism-harmonism" (or "industrial civilization - harmonious civilization"), and b) 2009 marked the birth of a harmonious civilization (therefore 2010 is its first year), connected with two new key historic initiatives: 1) The beginning of nuclear disarmament, which is possible only in harmonious civilization, instead of an industrial militaristic civilization, and 2) 2009 also marked the creation of the scientific theory of a harmonious civilization, which provides a conscious and peaceful evolution. These historical events have been strengthened by the two simultaneously occurring facts in this direction: 1) Since 1992, The European Union (a union of approximately 30 countries with a population of 500 million) was established on the harmony principle ‘Unity in diversity’, and 2) Since 2006, China (with a population almost a quarter of the total humanity) is consciously building a harmonious society. It is absolutely unimportant that this consciousness is initially observed only within a small international community of the Global Harmony Association (GHA). It is important enough that it is observed and insuperable. And along with the simultaneous sprouting of the Age of Harmonious Enlightenment, Education and Renaissance its expansion will not keep waiting for long. This is an unprecedented event in history when the new civilization is aware itself since its first year. Harmonious thinking and education of a new civilization Harmonious Enlightenment begins with the alphabet, language and thinking of harmony. Enlightenment is a transition from ignorance to knowledge, from one level of knowledge to another, essentially new level. Most of us are competent in the disharmonious alphabet and language of industrialism: wars, conflicts, crimes, violence, global and local crises and etc. But all of us are ignorant in harmony, individually and socially. We do not know harmony language. We do not know even the alphabet of harmony.For the first time, the alphabet, language and thinking of harmony are scientifically presented in the GHA program book Harmonious Civilization: http://www.peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=379. Only global harmonious education on the basis of Tetrasociology as a science of social harmony (it is presented in the book above) is capable to overcome ignorance in harmony and to give to all people this scientific knowledge and harmonious thinking for conscious building of a harmonious civilization and cultivation of individual harmony. Even though harmonious education has not been a component of an industrial civilization, its embryos have been intensively developed in the most different pedagogical schools and the educational directions, which are known by various names: integrated, holistic, alternative, humanistic, and valued education. The sources of these concepts go back to French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), Swiss teacher Johann Pestalozzi (1746–1827), and were proceeded in the 19th and 20th centuries by the works of American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925), Italian doctor Maria Montessori (1870–1952), American philosopher John Dewey (1859–1952), Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, (1875–1961), Austrian philosopher Ivan Illich (1926–2002), Brazilian teacher Paolo Freire (1921–1997) and many others. This pedagogical direction demands that society consider the complete person and build its educational systems according to the concept of a unified and holistic nature and society. Some modern examples include: The Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education established in India in 1943. This education is based on understanding that the person is an integral essence who unites five aspects: physical, vital, psychic, mental and spiritual. Integral Elementary School in San Diego, California, USA, has the intention of “Creating Lifelong Learners – Mind, Body, Heart & Soul.” The school uses innovative holistic education approaches and methodologies inspired by the Integral Education philosophy of Sri Aurobindo. Harmony Science Academies is a college-preparatory charter school system more than 20 schools in Texas and Louisiana, USA, originating in 2000. However, their harmony is limited by mathematical and natural sciences. Soka University was created in Japan by Buddhist leader Daisaku Ikeda in 1971 on the basis of humanistic pedagogics of known Japanese teacher Makiguchi, the author of the Value Creating Educational System that proclaims “the purpose of education is to lead students' happiness” on the basis of harmony.
However, despite this rich background, the scientific concept of “harmonious education” has not developed until now. The reason for this was the absence of the science of social harmony. Its occurrence in Tetrasociology has allowed scientifically defining a harmonious education as the education, which is balanced on the four spheres of social and individual harmony in the processes of informing, learning, teaching and upbringing of the person throughout all his life, which is necessary and acceptable for people of all nations, religions and cultures without exception. This is caused by the fact that all societies, nations and people are, in an equal measure, affected and impacted by the deep structure of social and individual harmony. Because this is so, harmonious education, by definition, is global education. In turn, global education can be only harmonious education and not any another. The basic aspects of this education are opened in the GHA projects: “World Harmony/Peace Academy and General Harmonious Education in an Information Society”: http://www.peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=277 and “Academy of Harmonious Leadership”: http://peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=429.
Harmonious education: conscious and nonviolent way for harmonious civilization Global harmonious education is the basic generating mechanism of a harmonious civilization at least in four moments. First, only it is capable to transform the spheral classes of the population from spontaneous in conscious actors of social harmony or harmonious civilization. Secondly, only it provides these classes with scientific knowledge of building this civilization at all levels: global, regional, national and local. Thirdly, only it creates the person adequate to this civilization: homo harmonicus. Fourthly, creating the harmonious (multidimensional instead of one-dimensional) human resource, which unique makes all resources, harmonious education harmonizes all other social resources through the person: information, including culture and religion; organisation, including finance (money) and democracy; and economy, including markets, property, competition, incomes and environment. Harmonious education provides conscious, peaceful and nonviolent evolution of a harmonious civilization. This education is harmonious in four aspects: on the purpose, content, way and executors-educators who will prepare by the corresponding Academies of Harmony (above). only similar education is capable to learn us and our children to become the good citizens of global village, providing it an everlasting peace, prosperity, fraternity and happiness to all nations. Therefore, this education demands the priority development and financing in the process of conscious building harmonious civilization at all levels and from all sources, including unprecedented, harmonious in essences, philanthropy of 40 billionaires from the USA. If all previous civilizations in history were established spontaneously and violently in continuous wars, the harmonious civilization, the first and unique, can and is established only knowingly, that is why peacefully and nonviolently, thanks to global harmonious education. Formation of this education is the most essential requirement of modern humankind without which the harmonious solution of all global problems is impossible and, finally, survival of humankind. =============================================================
Up
|
