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Since 2019, the FRQ have been providing financial support for UNESCO Chairs under a joint Declaration of Intent signed with the Canadian Commission for UNESCO (CCUNESCO). Here is a portrait of one of these Chairs, whose work is generating positive impacts for society.
UNESCO Chair in Democracy, Global Citizenship and Transformative Education (DCMÉT)
Co-chairs: Paul R. Carr and Gina Thésée
The co-chairs of the UNESCO Chair in Democracy, Global Citizenship and Transformative Education (DCMÉT) are profoundly convinced that a robust democracy depends on a more participatory, engaged and inclusive education.
The Chair’s research community strives to build bridges between three fields. First, it is taking a critical look at democracy in its broadest sense, to identify ways of building a society capable of tackling issues such as inequality, poverty, sexism, racism and war. One of the Chair’s projects has revealed the difficulty of teaching and engaging with controversial issues in schools, which undermines deliberative democracy.
This theme intersects with a second one, that of global citizenship and our capacity to actively engage with our societies and the world, in order to address issues such as the environment, migration and reconciliation with indigenous peoples.
And finally, the Chair is conducting research into transformative education. Far from simply training the future workforce, transformative education aims to motivate and empower learners by creating a context that values, recognizes and secures all members of the learning community, with an emphasis on social justice.
The Chair is committed to bringing together partners and researchers from North and South around these central themes and to advancing knowledge in these areas. The co-chairs have already carried out missions in several countries, including Chili, Argentina, Mexico, South Korea and Mongolia.
In the longer term, the Chair aims to contribute to the democratization of education systems and societal structures in both North and South, and to generate a strong interdisciplinary research program.
The Chair’s website is the first step in this direction. It explains the team’s approach, and offers tools and publications to help better understand and apply education for democracy.
Some books and a research report by the UNESCO Chair DCMÉT:
Books
Carr, Paul R., Thésée, Gina & Rivas-Sanchez, E. (eds.) (2023). The Epicenter: Democracy, Eco*Global Citizenship and Transformative Education / L’épicentre : Démocratie, Éco*Citoyenneté mondiale et Éducation transformatoire / El Epicentro: Democracia, Eco*Ciudadanía Mundial y Educación Transformadora. DIO Press.
Carr, Paul R. & Thésée, Gina. (2019). “It’s not education that scares me, it’s the educators…”: Is there still hope for democracy in education, and education for democracy? Gorham, ME: Myers Education Press. (+ a Koran translation with Damon Publishing)
Research report
Carr, Paul R. & Thésée, Gina. (2018). Final Report of the Research Project DEMOCRACY, POLITICAL LITERACY AND TRANSFORMATIVE EDUCATION (DPLTE) / Rapport final du projet de recherche DÉMOCRATIE, ALPHABÉTISATION POLITIQUE ET ÉDUCATION TRANSFORMATOIRE (DAPÉT).