3. Educational Implications
Whether or not as a reaction to all or some of the points listed
in Section 2 almost all European countries are in the process of renovating or
adapting their education systems in order to respond to the likely requirements
of the twenty-first century. In that process it is increasingly obvious that
responses to the challenges can no longer be found in a strictly national
context, but require intensive international cooperation and
coordination9. It is equally obvious that attending to curriculum
content only in terms of information, concepts and skills will fail to develop
sufficiently the dispositions necessary for life in an increasingly diverse
society. Norway and Spain provide two examples of countries where specific
attention is being given to the values dimension of the curriculum.
9 UNESCO Proposal for a new European
Programme in the Field of Education 1990
In Europe, political, cultural and educational renovation is
perhaps most marked in those Central and Eastern European states moving through
a period of transition from totalitarianism to pluralism and to a market
economy. Such a move creates many difficulties. An unconsidered acceptance of
what are perceived as Western European freedoms may not promote new ways of
thinking. The encouragement of critical autonomous thought and the establishment
of a firm base for civic education of the kind that supports, sustains and
develops the twin ideals of plurality and cooperation are essential if the
simplistic replacement of one set of ideological beliefs with another is to be
avoided. The realization that the worst aspects of a market economy, including
unemployment and inflation, may lead to short-term solutions which could
obstruct the search for those values on which to build new democracies. It is
therefore important that all education systems regard with priority the
development of a coherent long-term
plan.
