We Humankind, Our Earth
—Education for the Global Citizenship in the Globalization Era
——Paul Yip Kwok-wah
(Paul Yip Kwok-wah, Chairman of Hong Kong Policy Research Institute and Council Chairman of Institute for Asian & European Studies at Xi'an Jiaotong University)
Civilization interactions among regions and continents, including materials, knowledge and cultural exchanges, whether in a peaceful or conflicting way, have been taking place in the history of humankind. Nevertheless, globalization in the past 20 to 30 years has had the epoch-making significance in terms of civilization interactions. In the real world or the virtual world, our world has grown interrelated and interdependent more than ever. Such form of relation and interdependence has been different from any of those that existed before, and the degree and speed of the changes of relation and interdependence have been far greater than any of those in the past.
Globalization has brought to many countries, companies and individuals unprecedented markets and opportunities. However, the present-day world has not been able to establish a worldwide system, which can transcend interests of individual countries and sets limits to superpowers in pursuing unilaterally and across the world their national interests in political, economic, military and value aspects. We need a system, which is genuinely concerned with the interests of the whole world and humankind, effectively co-ordinates the development of the whole world and leads the globalization to develop along a path based on the knowledge and wisdom of humankind. In this way, the majority of the people of the world will be benefited and this planet can continue to provide a lasting habitat for our future generations and coexistence of all species.
A key to building such system is to construct a world outlook and value. We have already seen that as there is absence of a world outlook and value which concern with the interests of the whole world, it is difficult to establish a balanced and harmonious world order. This era is confronted with the question of whether civilizations are conflicting or integrating with each other and how people take up the responsibilities of a world citizen in addition to the responsibilities of a national citizen.
All schools in the world should take initiatives to meet the challenges of education for global citizenship, tell our children how the world is going to change and teach them
how to become a national citizen and at the same time a world citizen. For an educator, this has been the most urgent job so far. This is because the world is changing every second, and members of the next generation are becoming adults rapidly in an ever-changing environment. Their world outlook and value system will affect the future of humankind.
Globalization: How we look at the world and ourselves
The greatest impact of globalization on us is the challenge it poses to our world outlook and value system, which are the core of forming the building capacities and the attitudes of individuals and countries. The concepts to view the world and values to guide the deeds will determine the capacity, scope, way and effectiveness of people interacting with each other, will determine whether the interactions will enhance understanding, trust and co-operation or increase suspicions and confrontations, and will also determine whether the interactions will promote the well-being of the majority of people or lead to more misfortunes and deaths of humankind.
The world has entered a space era in which ordinary people can participate. Only if we expand our sight and perspective beyond the Earth to the universe and look at humankind and our blue planet from the perspective of the universe, we can understand better our environment, tolerate more the plight that we are facing, and adopt a more suitable direction for development. Only by using the yardstick of the vastnesses of the universe to judge the smallness of humankind, we can really understand that as human beings we have to be humble.
The accumulated achievement of the science and technology in the past 100 years has affirmed that through the various dangers confronting the Earth, twists and turns of species and millions of luck in the past billions of years of the evolution of our planet, humankind and the Earth have survived. In the vast universe, humankind is rare but it cannot be affirmed that we are unique. So how can we be arrogant and reckless? How can we be impassive and merciless? How cannot we co-exist with other species? How cannot different civilizations appreciate each other and live harmoniously? How cannot today's humankind leave behind a sustainable home to next generations of humankind and other species?
In order to display the merits and avoid the demerits of globalization, and enhance well-being of humankind, we have to look at our world outlook and value system on a vantage point and devote our efforts to educate the next generation to become global citizens. This is unavoidable both to national schools or international schools.
To international schools, this is an urgent pilot scheme. Students in international schools come from those mobile families in the upper economic stratum. They are from different countries and races, speak different mother's tongues, and come from different religions and cultures. They study and live at the same campus, and they share joy and sorrow together, and their future is tied together. They will shape the future world.
We have to reflect on what we are relaying and will relay to the next generation regarding the world outlook and value system. We also have to reflect on
How do we look at the opportunities and challenges in the globalization era—will we stick to our stubbornness and prejudice due to our own fear and arrogance, and commit mistakes and foolish acts? Will we again engage in a fight for world supremacy because of our concern about short-term benefits?
How do we look at other civilizations? Will we be hindered by the past arrogance and prejudice? Are we getting from closeness and misunderstanding to conflicts of civilizations?
How do we look at the balance of distributions of worldwide resources, interests and responsibilities? Will the imbalance of such distributions lead to more serious terrorism?
How do we look at our own planet? Will we leave a beautiful home with a good natural environment to our future generations and other species?
How do we look at the balance between nationalism and globalism? While we are exercising the rights of a national have we neglected the rights and obligations of a member of the Earth's inhabitants? While we are constructing our own country, should we also show concern for other corners of the Earth and look at our planet from the perspective of the universe?
What kind of citizens the world needs
When we look back at our blue planet from the universe, we find the interconnectedness among human beings and species is increasing. No country, region or nation can now close to others and no citizens can be confined to their own countries. Interconnectedness and interactions have become the basic existence mode of today's humankind. The concepts of family and country have been extended to a global level, and the rights and obligations are not confined to country and nation, but also are related to other countries and nations as well as other species. Citizens of every country, therefore, have dual citizenships – that is, they are nationals of their own country, and at the same time global citizens of the “global village”. As a world citizen, a person is a member of 6 billion people on the Earth, and a member of one kind of hundreds of thousands of species on the Earth. Every responsible country and every responsible citizen has to balance the rights, interests and responsibilities of national citizens with those of global citizens.
On the question of “what kind of citizens the world needs”, this conference will explore from various perspectives. Here, I would only offer my own thoughts on it for your consideration.
Firstly, we have to reflect on some age-old notions and clichés, such as Darwin's natural law of competition and “humans are top form of species”. How should we adjust our views on them or adopt a new interpretation? Should we make the value system of a certain civilization or country as the sole criterion of the world on right or wrong? How will different civilizations and faiths engage in dialogues and integration
so that a world value and ethical system that is conducive to the co-existence and co-prosperity of humankind can be established? How do we make the traditional ethics an integral part of the worldwide ethics today?
The core value of China's Confucian tradition is “to learn for oneself”, that is, to learn to make oneself to become a perfect person with a mission. “Oneself” in the modern sense is “citizen”. The Confucian tradition emphasizes “cultivating one's moral character” and extending responsibilities and obligations from individuals to include others, families, neighbors, society, country and nature in order to achieve the “combination of nature and humankind”. The Chinese classic work, The Great Learning, says, “The ancients who wished to illustrate illustrious virtue throughout the world, first ordered well their own states. Wishing to order well their states, they first regulated their families. Wishing to regulate their families, they first cultivated their persons...” A Chinese scholar in 11th Century, Zhang Zai, contended that “all people are my brothers and sisters, and all things are my companions.” One of China's traditions is to extend the humanity concern for individuals to community, species, nature, the Earth, and the universe. This kind of sentiments of “all people are my brothers and sisters, and all things are my companions” and “combination of nature and humankind” is a manifestation of co-existence and co-growth of individuals as national citizens and global citizens and of all species, and also a combination of the humanity concern for “we humankind” and global concern for “our Earth”. “We” used here, as “self” used in the past by the Chinese, refers not only to individuals, relatives, friends, colleagues and community, but also to the Earth, humankind and all species, and their lasting co-existence and co-growth.
Global citizens should hold up the perspective and obligation of “we humankind and Earth”, should strike a balance between different countries and nations in regard to their worldwide rights, distribution of resources and responsibilities. Global citizens should respect cultural differences, cherish the attitude of endorsing co-existence, co-sharing and co-prosperity, and stick to worldwide ethics and value. Global citizens should negotiate differences, solve conflicts, and create harmony and develop together. Speaking at the United Nations Summit to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the world body, Chinese President Hu Jintao talked of civilization tolerance and building a harmonious world. His statement underlines the Chinese culture's respect for diversity and hope for harmony and common prosperity.
As a world citizen, one has to possess the ability to build up things. One has to possess the basics of modern scientific knowledge and skills; to know how to use the information technology to obtain knowledge and information; to know how to distinguish, analyze and apply the knowledge and information. One has to master the learning and comprehension skills for life-long learning. One has to have a balanced comprehension and internalization of knowledge of science, technology, humanities and arts. One has to acquire an ability to reflect on oneself, good value system whose core is humility, compassion and kindness. In this way, one's ability to build up things will not easily turn into a destructive force. This is choice dictated by the fate of
the world. In 80s of the last century, Club of Rome already made such an advice for people in the 21st Century.
As a world citizen, one has to strike a balance between awareness for the national culture and comprehension of cultural diversity. Knowing one's national culture is the basis for one's identity and comprehension of the world's cultural diversity. Developing different cultures is itself a contribution to the world's cultural diversity. One should adopt an open, respectful, appreciative, understanding attitude, seeking co-existence and co-prosperity. China's traditional culture always acknowledges diversity and existence of opposing sides in the world, advocates “being harmonious yet different”, and proposes using harmony to negotiate differences and solve conflicts. Zhang Zai's famous statement contends that “whenever there is an object, there will be an opposing side; whenever there is an opposing side, there will be an opposition; whenever there is an opposition, there is resentment; whenever there is a resentment, there will be reconciliation and solution.” Regrettably the world is prone not to solve the conflicts and hatred by respecting differences and enhancing harmony, but by fierce struggles or wars and in the way of zero sum game.
As a world citizen, one has to strike a balance in using one's ability in constructing one's country and fulfilling one's mission for the world. Contributing to the construction and development for one's country and people is part of the effort to contribute to the world's development. At the same time, one should make an effort to tackle the problems of the worldwide poverty, disasters and diseases. This is the realization of human rights and humanitarian spirit, and also a practical demand arising from the needs for balancing worldwide interests and safety. Every citizen has to bear the responsibility of solving the worldwide ecological and environmental problems. Sustainability is not only a matter for governments, multi-national companies and international organizations, but also an ethical yardstick for individuals in their work, life and consumption. We should take heed of our deeds' effects on our regions, other regions and future generations and other species. We should above all remember the old wise African saying, “The earth is not ours. It is a treasure we hold in trust for our descendants.”
As a world citizen, one has to understand, admire and implement the worldwide applicable values and ethics, which include rule of law, freedom, democracy, equality, solidarity, tolerance, and respect for nature and shared responsibility. These values and ethics are well stated in international declarations, such as the Charter of the United Nations, International Covenant on Civil and Political Right, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities, and Declaration of a Global Ethic. Mutual understanding, respect and support are ingredients of the worldwide values and ethics, which themselves are the cultural basis for mutual respect, understanding, tolerance and harmony among individuals and peoples in the globalization era. These values and ethics should not only be applied within one country and one nation, but should also be applied in the international community and made the norms for exchanges among countries and nations and the basis for a worldwide system.
If we can arrive at some consensus on global citizenship after discussion, such as the international community's acknowledgement of worldwide applicable value and ethics, as international schools we should put them in practice and have them reflected in the curriculum, teaching, culture, artistic atmosphere, system, management as well as in the concepts of the staff.
We should not only concern ourselves with the diversity of the nationality, race and culture of our students and staff, nor with whether the teaching medium is a foreign language, the curriculum is from a developed country and the open examination is an international one. The so-called international schools which only concern themselves with these do not necessarily convey effectively the value and notions of international education. The key to education for global citizens is to enact such goals, programmes and curricula, to ensure that the staff understands the cultural diversity, global concern, value and ethics, and to guarantee that the school management fully implements them. Traditional national schools, therefore, can carry out education for global citizenship in their national curriculum. International schools, on the other hand, should play pilot and demonstrative roles in providing education for global citizenship. Of course, education for global citizenship should take reference of the local cultural and practical conditions to underline glocalization which sees the internationalization compatible with indigenization.
Taking up the responsibility of universal ethics
The history of humankind is only a small fraction of Earth's long history. How far can this “Earth” space ship travel? Where will it be headed to? As things develop, will humankind come to extinction at their own peril? Or will Earth be destroyed by hitting by another planet from the outer space unexpectedly (in fact Earth was hit by other planets many times in the past)? Philosopher Bertrand Russell and scientist Stephen Hawking are worried about if humankind have another 1,000 years ahead of them and if they can avoid the fate of self-destruction.
Human beings appear to be the wisest survivors on the Earth, and they should eventually know the lasting way for humankind and other species to co-exist. Let our educators reflect on the worry raised by the two wise men.
But judging from the knowledge and deeds of humankind today, the answer is still not clear. We are still making an effort to get the answer, and indeed every try is worth.
From the time when Thomas Huxley and others founded The London College of the International Education Society (some of the students came from North Africa and Asia besides those from Europe) for promoting the cosmopolitan concept in 1866 until this conference on education for global citizenship, educators around the world have been making numerous efforts in exploring global citizenship. We need to continue to carry out systematic efforts and studies on concept, culture, programme, curriculum, system and teaching staff. We need to continue to implement education for global citizenship through teaching and learning and school management in order to lead the students to realize internalization of the multi-culture and global ethics.
- Firstly, education for global citizenship should be made into the goal and philosophy of schooling. In the globalization era of 21st Century, it is incumbent upon schools to lead students to look at Earth and humankind from the perspective of the universe. We should be concerned with this planet where we live and the relations between humankind and other species. We should be humble in looking at ourselves, and be happy and positive about our existence. Human beings are only one kind of species on the Earth, should enjoy an equal and independent relation with other species, and share the resources on the Earth. Different nations are like brothers and live together in this common home.
- Bi-lingual or multi-lingual education and multi-cultural education should be a main part of the curriculum. Modern global ethics and value, as well as multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-racial understanding should be integrated in the language study.
- Co-teaching by teachers from different cultural, linguistic and disciplinary backgrounds should be encouraged so that students can learn in a culturally diversified classroom.
- A tolerant multi-cultural and mutually-appreciative campus culture should be created. Different nations, cultures and religions should be integrated in the campus. Teachers and students should have opportunities in participating in cross-cultural exchanges and in discussing international affairs from a worldwide perspective.
- MIS should be made a strategic part of the campus's facilities. The MIS in teaching and curriculum, e-learning, human resources and recruitment can greatly enhance the efficiency of school management. They are also a platform for teachers and students to share worldwide information.
- Teaching staff is the most valuable asset of education for global education. In order to educate our next generation as global citizens, our teachers should also possess the perspectives, concepts and attitudes of global citizens. Teachers should be good citizens who are open, engage in life-long education, and have global concern and mission. To international schools, the building of the teaching team is crucial.
In the last days in preparing this speech, I received an e-mail from my daughter who is now in Eastern Africa's Kenya (where the first ancestors of humankind came), informing me of her blog. After graduation from Harvard University, she now works at an internationally renowned investment bank. In her blog, I learn about her voluntary work--“ At long last, I am no longer a cog in the capitalist machine and can ‘make a
difference'. Even though I wasn't working at Doctors without Borders (my life long dream job) I was finally working at a non-profit…. I would be a part of something bigger than myself, I would be helping develop sustainable economies and markets, and I would be doing something noble and ‘worthwhile'.
I'm glad that young people of today have begun to act.
My daughter's choice has reminded me of my advice to my staff 20 years ago—“The world is our home, and our roots are on the Earth”. I would like to use this concern for Earth to end my speech. I hope that educators from the five continents can jointly take up the mission of the world ethics and value.
Click here to download the speech of Mr. Yip
