7. Principles and Qualities

These guidelines are based on the belief that there are principles or precepts which are essential cornerstones on-which an education for a humanistic and international society must be built. The principles are:

· a sense of self-esteem; both personal and cultural

· a respect and tolerance for others; both as individuals and as members of ethnic/cultural groups

· a sense of belonging; meaning that all must have a secure physical, emotional and political locus within society

· a sense of social responsibility; meaning an understanding that the diverse society in which we live must recognise the imperative to act with tolerance and responsibility in relation to social, political, cultural and environmental factors

· an appreciation of the importance of learning; meaning a recognition that knowledge, in whatever construction, is a means to new understandings, insights, creative opportunities, and an appreciation of the interconnectedness of our world.

Such principles on their own are not enough. They need to go hand in hand with certain ‘ethical qualities’¹⁹ or dispositions that foster humanistic and international understanding. The necessary qualities are:

¹⁹ LEICESTER IN Leicester and Taylor ‘Ethics, Ethnicity and Education’ Kogan Page 1992

· openness, a willingness to discuss and to listen, and

· decency, meaning to have ‘an attitude of goodwill towards non-intimates, which will be expressed in different ways in groups. It will often involve not insisting on one’s rights and giving other people more than is due to them’²⁰.

²⁰ WHITE P Decency and Education for Citizenship Journal of Moral Education Vol 21, No 3, 1992.

In schools the importance of these principles and qualities must be made explicit as must their liberal nature. What must also be made clear is that the principles and qualities are not negotiable, although there will be occasions on which they collide with each other. It is this inevitable conflict of principles that creates many of the difficult issues of practice in the area of education for humanistic and international understanding. Nevertheless, educators must recognise not only the primacy of the principles but also their role in the peaceful and respectful resolution of conflict. In this the two ethical qualities of openness and decency are particularly important in “promoting and preserving an uneasy equilibrium, which is constantly in need of repair”.²¹

²¹ BERLIN ibid