by Wolfgang Schawaller
October 25, 2017
In 1992 I went to Russia and worked there for 4 years. Russian people are nice and deep hearted people, and most of them hated the communist regime anyway. I worked in Kaliningrad, former “Königsberg”, which belonged to German territory before WWII. Guess what? It is the place where my mother was born.
The International Education Foundation (IEF) in Russia supports an association of master teachers who train and mentor colleagues in the use of My World and I and other character education resources. Teacher Training Seminars are held frequently throughout the Federation to introduce teachers to the curriculum and to support those already engaged in intentional moral education. Beginning in autumn 1998, a professor from Bridgeport University in Connecticut conducted research in 17 Ivanova schools on the success of the IEF curriculum, especially its impact on the moral growth of teachers. In May of 2000, educators associated with the International Center of Character Education (ICCE) toured participating schools in Samara. In 2000, master teacher and director of IEF in Ivanova, Valentina Luganskaya gave a keynote address at a character education conference in San Diego, co-sponsored by ICCE and IEF.
For those schools wishing to establish character education programs on a school-wide level and become “model schools” in their community, IEF has been offering an annual workshop since 1998. Representatives of prospective model schools receive guidance on how to teach values through every aspect of the school environment, beginning with the curriculum. An additional focus is how to enlist parental cooperation.
On the banks of the Volga River, in the city of Tver, halfway between Moscow and St. Petersburg, stands the Upper Volga Institute. Since 1997,the private institution has provided higher education with an ethical focus, offering Bachelor of Arts degrees in sociology, psychology and economics. UVI is a project of IEF in collaboration with a group of local professors. The university aspires to participate in the World University Federation and make a contribution towards world peace.
Military ethics was the topic of a Moscow gathering on Oct. 4-7, 1994 that was sponsored by IEF in conjunction with the Russian Military University, the most prestigious institution in Russia for educating military officers.
Siberia was the setting of an international discussion on sustainable development in July 2001. Americans, Iranians and Egyptians joined with Russians in Buryatia near historic Lake Baikal and the border of Mongolia to explore different perspectives, including an IEF presentation on the impact of character and the environment. One highlight was a session featuring an exchange of views by American and local students.
Note:
In Kaliningrad region where I was assigned for 4 years between 1992 until 1996, I worked very close with the “Kaliningrad Ministry of Education”. With their help we could sent more than 100 teachers and school directors for training to our My World and I seminars.
We distributed in the Kaliningrad region 2000 copies of My World and I.
50 schools are using the material to teach their students.