International Network For Democratic
Education
Another structural component of the
Center is an international network of school and community renewal networks.
Educational analysts suggest that one of the most powerful reasons attempts to
reform educational practices have been largely unsuccessful is due to the
isolation in which teachers operate (see e.g., Fullan, 1996; Wasley, 1999). The
same might be said of school and community renewal networks. Just as schools and
communities within a network learn from each other by collaborative interaction,
so also can networks learn from each other by interaction across networks. To
facilitate the movement of school and community renewal networks to the next
level of learning, the networking of networks is needed. To facilitate global,
democratic school and community renewal, the international networking of
networks is essential.
Led by President David L. Boren, who had a distinguished 16-year tenure as a
U.S. Senator, the University of Oklahoma is moving to become one of the most
internationally oriented universities in the country. OU has more than 1,600
international students from 111 countries and sponsors 102 reciprocal exchange
programs with universities worldwide. OU underlined its commitment to
international studies and to internationalizing its curriculum by establishing
the International Programs Center, which is directed by Dr. Edward J. Perkins,
former Ambassador to South Africa as well as the United Nations. Ambassador
Perkins is senior advisor to the Center for Educational and Community Renewal.
The Center promotes and facilitates the International Network’s on-going
projects. Charter members of the international network include school and
community renewal organizations in Finland, Kuwait, South Africa, and The
Netherlands. Other international members will be added as these networks develop
in other parts of the globe.
International Network Activities & Outcomes
I. Activities of the International Network for Democratic Education
The types of activities in which the
international network of networks engage include:
- cross-network meetings for
sharing and critique (university faculty and students, teachers, principals,
community leaders and others from networks);
- meetings of network directors and
staff for sharing and critique;
- sharing and critique of best
practices across networks via technology;
- cross-network visitation for
purposes of sharing, critique, and learning; and
- being critical friends for other
networks
II. Outcomes of the International
Network for Democratic Education
The outcomes we project will be achieved
include:
- sharing and critique of best
practices internationally, including serving as critical friends for each
other;
- establishment of international
trust and cooperation;
- development of a common knowledge
base and language for successful school and community improvements around
the world;
- providing an avenue for
international students and faculty to learn from each other and to return to
their countries with additional tools for educational and community
improvements;
- development of a sense of
collective responsibility for all students around the globe, resulting in
seeing students from different countries as "our" students rather than
"their" students;
- development of ways of
influencing educational policy within countries and across international
lines; and
- examination and development of
action plans for addressing national and international equity issues.