UNESCO’s Philosophy of EducationUNESCO’s Two Important Recom

　The first document is “Education for the Twenty-first Century”, a recommendation on education to which UNESCO gave shape in 1997 after three years of work led by Jacques Delors, the president of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century.　It says that education promotes learning, and learning is based on four pillars:

　The Commission accepted the item ③, adopting the suggestion made by Isao Amagi, the Japanese member.　The word “kyosei” is now in common use as an international word just as “judo”.　The same idea is also found in a Japanese old word “tomo-iki”, which has often been used since the 13^th century in the Jodo sect of Buddhism as well as other religions and thoughts.

　This is the concept that incorporates the first three concepts.　Regarding it as the concept that perpendicularly intersects the triangle with apexes ①, ②, and ③ would make it easier to understand.　(See Fig. A)

　①, ②, and ③ alone can be comprehensive enough, and yet the inclusion of somewhat heterogeneous concept ④ is quite significant.　“Learning to Be” suggests “real being”, and I’d like to mention its philosophical background　- “Being and Having” written by Gabriel Marcel.　“Being” and “having” are opposite concepts - they are in inverse proportion to each other.　One extreme is “God has nothing; God is the very being.”　The other extreme is “the incarnation of possessiveness; dehumanization”.　Unfortunately the modern era has been heading for possessing “things”.　Historically, Ryokan-san, St. Francis of Assisi, and Mother Teresa of India, who loved people and were loved by them, who possessed nothing but lived a full life, may be considered to have been the ones close to God.　In the opposite extreme is Enron of America, a Mr. Suzuki of Japan, and many other people who are mad for money, who are far from what man should be.　Unbounded possessiveness and greed will ultimately lead to the end of mankind. (See Fig. B)

　The pillar “Learning to Be” teaches us the importance of “kyosei”, and further, the significance of living with a fuller realization of spiritual values.　That education should be carried out following that idea is what “to be” indicates, and that is UNESCO’s philosophy of education.　There are no other recommendations at present that surpass this one.

　The second document is the “UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity”, and in the limited time available I’d like to talk about this declaration that UNESCO’s General Conference adopted in November 2001.　I think it is the most important declaration after the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”.　Unfortunately there is not at present a Japanese translation that is written in a natural style and easy to read.　I do suggest that Meguro UNESCO perform such translation.　　　　　The trend of the world is towards globalization - “growing uniformity”, and that is a very dangerous direction.　In contrast to this trend, UNESCO regards “cultural diversity” as “essential to mankind”.　In 1995 at the United Nations University Jacques-Yves Cousteau said, “The greater the number of species, the stronger the ecosystem.”　This law of nature, being true of mankind, led to the expression “Cultural diversity is essential to mankind”.　And that is what Article 1 of the Declaration proclaims.

　As we are regrettably running out of time, I’d like to give you a copy of the original text of the Declaration for your reference.　I expect you to read Article 2 and the following too, and ask me a lot of questions.

　　The whole lecture transcribed by Tadashi Nakamura, member of the Training Program Committee, is on the Web site of Meguro UNESCO.　The whole text of “UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity” both in English and Japanese is also on our site