The 7th International Seminar
of the Cycle “Dialogue of Civilizations and Cross-Cultural Cooperation”
The 5th of December 2014 was the last day of the 7th International Seminar “Dialogue of Cultures in a Common Educational Space: Traditional Values and Innovative Solutions.” The seminar was held in Moscow by the Moscow Institute of Open Education (MIOO) in cooperation with the Moscow City Department of Education.
The event was organized at the discretion of UNESCO Chair (MIOO) in collaboration with the international network and partner organizations from 12 countries and 21 regions of Russia. Assistance was also provided by the Secretariat of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO, the International Bureau of Education (UNESCO-IBE), UNESCO Associated Russian Schools, UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE), the International Federation for Peace and Conciliation, and the Centre for Cross-cultural Education “ETNOSFERA”.
The seminar discussions focused on the specific role of education in the dialogue of cultures and relations harmonization in the modern multicultural community. The plenary session and the interregional round table on cooperation in teachers’ advanced training on “Methods and techniques for multicultural educational environment” were held on the 3rd of December.
During the field session, on the 4th of December, the participants learnt about one of the UNESCO Associated Schools in Moscow – V. Talalikhin School 480. They attended four research and practice sections. MIOO specialists and partner organizations held a series of master classes on innovative practices in multicultural environment and ICT use in teaching Religious disciplines; they discussed educational and methodological issues of spiritual and moral development of junior school children and socio-cultural adaptation of migrants.
The Section called “Dialogue of cultures and other ethnic groups integration as a factor of sustainable development” served as a platform for the educational organizations from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Greece, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Serbia, Moscow and Russian regions to share their experiences in promoting harmonization of cross-national relations and developing cultural identity by means of education. The representatives of intergovernmental organizations (Council of Europe, the International Organization for Migration, etc.) joined the discussion and told the participants how they implement educational programs on integration and develop intercultural dialogue.
During the section called “Preservation of cultural heritage and identity in the context of informatization and globalization”, reports were made about ICT application and other innovative technologies in pedagogy. The colleagues from Russia’s regions delivered interesting reports about ethno-cultural education that help to preserve the native language and culture. The participants explored such topical issues as cooperation between students and teachers in social media and other new formats; they discussed positive and negative aspects of the current processes.
The Section “Education in the spirit of a culture of peace, non-violence and civil responsibility” was mainly dedicated to experience exchange among secondary and preschool educational institutions of Moscow, Russian regions and foreign countries. UNESCO Associated Schools from such regions as “Moscow” and “Volga” took an active part in the section. The teachers from Khanty-Mansiysk, Moldova, Belarus, Azerbaijan shared their experience. The participants discussed various forms of intercultural competence development through education; and problems of advanced training for teachers and heads of educational institutions.
The reports delivered at the section “Harmonization of international relations through education” concerned training and professional development of able teachers for efficient work in today’s multicultural society. The colleagues from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Serbia, Tatarstan and Bashkortostan shared their valuable experience in improving social and intercultural competences of future teachers.
The traditional Youth Forum “Dialogue of cultures and the culture of dialogue” was held on the 3rd and 4th of December and was attended by UNESCO Associated Schools from Moscow, seven Russia’s regions, Moldova and Belarus.
During the International Seminar, MIOO Rector Olga Krutova signed cooperation agreements with the Sevastopol City University of Humanities, the Hellenic Migration Policy Institute and the International Institute for Hellenism and Migration. All agreements had priority action plans for cooperation development in 2015 and beyond.
The participants of the international seminar expressed their gratitude to the Government of Moscow and Moscow Institute of Open Education for warm and hospitable reception and the opportunity to share their professional experience.
The material was prepared by the Dean’s Office
of the Faculty of International Education
Tel. (499) 134-67-21
