Intercultural Dialogue, Peacebuilding, Constructive Remembrance and Reconciliation
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
A TOOLKIT FOR TEACHERS IN THE WESTERN BALKANS EDUCATING FOR INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE, PEACEBUILDING, CONSTRUCTIVE REMEMBRANCE AND RECONCILIATION 2019 2 Educating for Intercultural Dialogue, Peacebuilding, Constructive Remembrance and Reconciliation: A Toolkit for Teachers in the Western Balkans Prepared by Dr. Sara Clarke-Habibi © 2019 UNICEF Albania and RYCO This toolkit is produced in the framework of the “Supporting the Western Balkan's Collective Leadership on Reconciliation” a joint UN-RYCO project, funded by the UN Peacebuilding Fund. It is implemented by the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) and the three UN Agencies – UNDP, UNFPA, and UNICEF. The project aims to build capacities and momentum for RYCO, empower young people in having their voice in public decision- making that affects their lives, as well as strengthen them to be a factor in building and maintaining safe and peaceful environments for themselves and their communities This activity contributes to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals. Cover Photo credit: UNICEF Kosovo Innovations Lab The opinions expressed in this work are the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of UNICEF. 3 Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................ 4 Introduction ............................................................................. 5 Why is this resource needed? ............................................................................ 5 Objectives .......................................................................................................... 8 Background and Key Sources............................................................................ 9 Contents of the Toolkit ..................................................................................... 10 Part 1: Key Concepts ................................................................. 11 Part 2: Learning Modules and Activities ......................................... 15 Module 1: Intercultural Dialogue ......................................................... 18 Module 2: Conflict Analysis and Peacebuilding .................................. 54 Module 3: Constructive Remembrance and Reconciliation ............... 124 Part 3: Teaching Methods ..........................................................174 Part 4: Competence Frameworks ................................................181 Part 5: Methodological Tips ........................................................191 Part 6: Help! What to do if… .......................................................201 Glossary ......................................................................................................... 208 Bibliography ................................................................................................... 214 4 Acknowledgements1 The author wishes to thank the following individuals for their valuable support and contributions during the preparation of this volume: Mirlinda Bushati, UNICEF; Bojana Bulatović, RYCO; Nicolas Moll, cross-border factory; Zvezdana Kovac, CDRSEE; Ivan Djuric, Youth Initiative for Human Rights; Amra Pandzo, Karuna Centre for Peacebuilding; Helena Strugar, Croatian History Teachers Association; Berina Bukva, RYCO; Stefan Radojković, Museum of Genocide Victims; Vladica Jovanović, RYCO; as well as colleagues at the UNICEF Society Offices in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Tajikistan, colleagues at UNICEF ECA Regional Office, UNICEF HQ (Innovation Unit), UNDP, UNPFA, and RYCO partner organisations from the region. Special thanks are extended to the teachers and youth trainers from RYCO’s partner schools and organisations across the Western Balkans 6 who piloted and reviewed the training modules and contributed to their refinement. 1 Note: This Toolkit is currently in draft format. It is a living document that will be further developed and refined through feedback and testing in collaboration with educators across the Western Balkans. * For RYCO, this designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence. For UN, all references to Kosovo shall be understood in the context of the UNSCR 1244 (1999). © UNICEF 2019 5 Introduction Welcome! This Toolkit focuses on education for intercultural dialogue, peacebuilding, constructive remembrance and reconciliation. It is designed for teachers and trainers who work with adolescents (14-18 years) in formal and non-formal education settings. It may be adapted, however, for other contexts and age groups, such as for activities with older youth, for pre-service teacher training, and for teacher professional development programs. The guidelines, methods and tips presented here draw from and build upon existing good practices across the Western Balkans and the world. This resource is thus intended to complement existing formal and non-formal education programs with innovative approaches and interactive methods specially chosen to build young people’s competencies for intercultural dialogue, peacebuilding, conflict transformation, and processes associated with dealing with the past. The concepts, competences and methodologies highlighted here can be integrated with classroom subjects across the curriculum and ideas for doing so are provided in this Toolkit. Why is this resource needed? Challenges facing young people in the Western Balkans today Young people in the Western Balkans face many pressures and influences from social and political narratives that are distorted by prejudice, denial, revisionism and nationalism. Adolescents and youth, especially those with fewer opportunities, have limited access to mobility activities and have few chances for exchanges and hands-on experiences with peers in other societies in the region. There are also worrying trends such as the growth of radical youth political groups, the increase of hate speech among young people, and the increased exposure of young people to discrimination in schools, education, and the employment field. Youth participation in public and civic activities at the local level remains rather weak across the region. What is more, the channels for direct participation of young people in decision making processes are neither sufficient nor efficient; they tend to marginalize young people and to exclude the most vulnerable. The critical role of education Education is key to sustained positive change. Yet, school curricula and teaching practices in the region often do not provide young people with positive images of their peers in other societies or in their history, nor offer opportunities to discuss historical and contemporary issues in the region from multiple perspectives with the intention of devising inclusive solutions and promoting regional reconciliation. It has become a major challenge to break the cycle of prejudice towards neighbouring societies and there is concern that schools have failed to provide young generations with the needed skills to foster intercultural understanding and cooperation in the region. Keys to this process include nurturing reconciliation between groups, which depends upon increasing mutual trust and collaboration, and rejecting negative stereotypes. Twenty-five years after the Balkan wars of the 1990's, it is time to address lingering issues of prejudice and mistrust both for each of the RYCO Contracting Parties’2 own peaceful and sustainable development, as well 2 Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia INTRODUCTION 6 as for EU integration. The role of young people in this process is critical. Exposure across group lines, improved education related to social cohesion, cooperation on historical and cultural exchange, and increased volunteerism within the region can help. Moreover, supporting the capacities and skills of youth actors to engage in reconciliation efforts is essential, so that with training on peacebuilding and advocacy they can be mobilized to interact with peers and decision-makers across the region.1 Addressing sensitive and controversial issues in the classroom One of the most challenging aspects of intercultural dialogue and peacebuilding in the Western Balkans is the controversial nature of topics related to the region’s past and its legacies, mixed together with contemporary social, political and economic challenges within a rapidly shifting and less-than-stable global context. The development of alternative educational material for the teaching of history in Southeast Europe has been a challenging venture. Interpretations of the past in history textbooks often cause heated disputes between neighbouring Western Balkans communities. In the post-conflict period, a new generation has now risen to adulthood. Either born during the conflict or since, these young women and men under 30 continue to experience the legacies of conflict. Compared to their predecessors, this generation has no memory of a time before the wars, and either experienced it as infants or grew up listening to its accounts while living amidst ethnic segregation. There are concerns that, as a result of the inter-generational transfer of traumas, the reproduction of nationalistic narratives, and having no memory of a time of peaceful coexistence, this generation is more hardened in its identity lines and views of the ‘other’, making any prospect for social cohesion and sustainable