Balanced and Inclusive Education (BIE)

ERF's mission was to deliver, promote and embed a new, inclusive balanced education that would enable young people to learn from the contributions of diverse civilisations and cultures.

Balanced and Inclusive Education provided us with both the ethical and the practical framework for redesigning our education systems. The principle of “inclusion” is no longer limited to the access of the marginalised to the school institution as it stands, but goes beyond this by also seeking to resolve the causes of exclusion, marginalisation and imbalance in our societies, the seed of which lies at the heart of our education systems.

Four Pillars of Balanced and Inclusive Education (BIE)

ERF's balanced and Inclusive Education was based on four pillars: intraculturalism, transdisciplinarity, dialecticism, and contextuality.

INTRACULTURALISM

Approach based upon enhancing the understanding of inter-indebtedness and interdependence of cultures

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Drive towards the uniformisation and globalisation of culture.

An ethical concern for interculturalism: welcoming and promoting the difference between « others » and « us ».

Intraculturalism: A deep interest in understanding ones own culture, so as to appreciate its interdependence and inter-indebtedness with other cultures.

TRANSDISCIPLINARITY

Integrative multi-perspective approach based upon inter- connecting both academic as well as non-academic know-ledge domains

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Pluri-disciplinarity: Education is conceived by specialists in education, and consists of different subjects taught side-by-side in different classes.

Interdisciplinarity: Education is conceived together by diverse disciplinary specialists. Educational curricula attempt to overcome barriers between subjects.

Transdisciplinarity: Education is conceived both by specialists and non-specialists. Curricula reflect the social needs and aspirations relevant to educational attainment, going beyond the limitations of academic disciplines.

DIALECTICISM

Interactional and synergetic approach based upon problem-posing dialogue and critical exchange through the proactive participation of learners

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Unidirectional teaching of knowledge by memorisation, with the student responding to questions posed by the teacher, who knows all the correct answers.

There is a concern for stimulating participation by the student in class, such as through moments of debate held under the guidance of the teacher.

Dialecticism: A pedagogy based on back-and-forth dialogue, study and debate among ideas, between students, enabling them to motivate themselves and become positive change-makers – supporting the development of active citizens from school into adulthood.

CONTEXTUALITY

Context-centred approach based upon the integration and adaption to the realities, values, and interpretive frameworks of the learners, to develop their sense of co-ownership and co-creation

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Uniform teaching of standardised pre-approved knowledge, free of any links to the learning context.

Attention is paid to contextualising certain lessons to respond to the specific needs of a given country, society and/or community.

Contextuality: the adaptation of curricula, methods and didactic content to local, national and global realities. Ensure educational institutions are open to the local community, capable of becoming an active development actor and co-creator of solutions to local problems for the common good.

School is a place where young people should learn about and develop a healthy pride in their identities, embracing the humility of knowing that cultures are deeply indebted to each other – and finding the richness, beauty, utility, interconnection in each of them. These are key pre-requisites for building true solidarity and social cohesion, and enabling youth to grow up into engaged, proactive citizens.

ERF brought together governments, academics and civil society to chart a better path, and establish the means to construct innovative education systems that would respond to every student’s needs.