Education for Democracy and Civic Culture in the Arab Region:
Comments on a Postponed Reform Project
Mohsen Marzouk
General Executive Coordinator
Al-KawakibiDemocracyTransitionCenter
Most researchers, experts and specialists consider education reform in the Arab region an urgent necessity. The hoped-for reform concerns various fields, including the establishment of the knowledge society, the gender-based approach, higher education, linking education to the job market, and the issue of information and communication technologies.[1] This paper focuses on the relationship between education reform and democratic reform.
In light of the successive waves of democratization in different parts of the world, all Arab countries are faced with the necessity to launch the process of democratic transition, in order to undertake a comprehensive reform of their political systems, and thus achieve political, social and economic development ensuring human security in its broad sense.
Despite this urgent necessity, action to promote knowledge of democratic transition contents and experiences is still very weak in the Arab region. Institutionalizing the methods of communicating knowledge of democratic transition experiences constitutes not only an essential part of the process of Education for Democracy, but also a fundamental pillar for building the cognitive, practical and human capacity for change.
Promoting democracy in the Arab countries is vitally linked to the development of Education for Democracy and the “production” of “good citizens”. For the crisis of authoritarian political regimes is dialectically intertwined with the weak civil culture of the governed.
Achieving political progress in the process of democratization, for instance through the holding of free elections in a country living under an authoritarian regime, will constitute a step in a long road. For indeed, moving from an authoritarian political system to a democratic system is a long and strenuous process, as it involves the education of generations.
What is meant by “education” is not merely the general political principles and theories of democracy, but also practical aspects and experiences related to the local political systems per se. Many Arab education officials would argue that democracy as a political system is being taught in faculties of law and political sciences and even as part of civil education programs.
This is true. But in most Arab universities and secondary education institutions, democracy is being taught as if it were a type of tropical climate or a polar bear, something that exists but concerns other regions. To fulfill its role in facilitating and anchoring the process of democratic transition, Education on Democracy should: first, be grounded on strong theoretical knowledge; second, be open to practical experiences within the local context of the education process; and finally, be targeted purposefully to support a democratic system or the project of a democratic system.
Reform and national democratic dialogue
In response to persistent foreign pressures, some Arab Governments have, in recent years, introduced reforms into education curricula, especially as regards subjects accused of encouraging extremism and fanaticism. It is indeed regrettable that these reforms were made as a result of pressures. Even more regrettable is the fact that these reforms, which were partial, incomplete and hasty, were not the result of a large national dialogue that involves not only educational actors, but also civil society, the political community and public opinion.[2]
These reforms were, in fact, a re-production of the mechanisms of authoritarian decision-making. They were thus deficient, as they did not reflect a moment of national awareness and choice laying the ground for the whole education process.
Education reform as a means to promote civil culture and democratic knowledge should in itself be a part of a process based on large participation, not a re-establishment of its opposite, that is, authoritarian and autocratic decision-making in order to achieve quick political gains.
Ideas for an education reform promoting the culture of citizenship and human rights
Postponed education reform projects in the Arab region should take into consideration the following essential elements of Education for Democracy[3] :
Concerning curricula :
— All Arab education curricula should admit that the democratic system is the most appropriate system in modern times to manage public life in all countries, including the country of the concerned educational institutions, that nothing of a cultural or racial nature runs counter to this reality, and that nothing of a specific nature may comport with democracy if it naturally differs from democracy, such as the concept of “Shura”. It is also important to avoid contradiction between the contents of curricula. Political sciences and religious education, for instance, should not provide contradictory material.
— Sustainable education concerning the concept of democracy, democratic government, and democratic society. What is democracy and what is its opposite? What are the characteristics of democratic governments and societies? In the Arab countries, education should concentrate, in its definition of democracy, not only on the element of elections but also on power alternation, human rights, fundamental freedoms, and legal and constitutional guarantees. Moreover, Education for Democracy should adopt the comparative approach, which allows comparing international and local models, to benefit from different experiences, and to understand democratic transition as a process.
— Education for Democracy curricula should not be confined to non-local international or historical models. They should also address the local experience, that is, political and constitutional systems, and the existing civil society components. They should identify and judge them, based on theoretical definitions of the democratic system, and assess their evolution. This implies openness on differences within society and on different opinions, as well as on different assessments, both positive and negative, of the nature of the local system. There is, in fact, no point in keeping education curricula isolated from the students’ direct environment.
— Education for Democracy curricula should include experimental elements to enrich theoretical knowledge with practice. This can be achieved, for instance, by involving students in a true democratic practice in the university, or by allowing them to participate in national events; thus building their capacity to play tangible citizenship roles.
— Education for Democracy curricula should cover all education levels—primary, secondary and higher education, and touch on various subjects such as literature, history, economics, etc, in a gradual and cross-specialty manner.
Openness on practice and the environment
— Education for Democracy is concerned with promoting the values of citizenship, which constitute a basic foundation of the democratic system. Perhaps one of the values to which particular attention should be given is that of confidence and respect for the public good. These values have unfortunately been affected by the long years of autocratic rule marked by corruption and lack of transparency, which has caused a chronic crisis of confidence between the governor and the governed. Autocratic rule and the lack of citizenship culture have obliterated the value of respect for the public good, so that the governed consider the state’s properties as being the ruler’s ownership, so they can take hold of them or damage them whenever possible. Arab educational institutions should, therefore, develop activities that encourage students to undertake voluntary action inside and outside the education environment, in order to instill the value of citizenship in their minds.
— Educational institutions should be open to other actors in order to promote rich education curricula on democracy. To institutionalize the communication of this type of knowledge, it is necessary for academic institutions and civil society institutions specialized in research and training to join their efforts not only to establish education curricula that are close to reality, but also to identify beneficiaries and the knowledge transfer channels.
— Developing education contents will be of no use unless the methods adopted by the teaching staff in classrooms involve democratic participation. This would encourage the free expression of different opinions and the respect of the students’ dignity. It would also encourage dialogue on national issues, and anchor the theoretical concepts acquired by students.
Teaching staff training
— This final element concerns the training of the teaching staff at the level of knowledge, skills and values, so that they can properly accomplish their missions. This requires the establishment of comprehensive programs that concern not only specific specialties but the teaching staff in general.
Recommendation
It is necessary for Arab governments to undertake the reform of their education curricula and institutions, in order to bring them in line with the process of Education for Democracy and Human Rights. In this regard, we call for establishing, in each country, a specific reform strategy that covers curricula, teaching staff, and cooperation between educational institutions, civil society organizations and the private sector. This strategy should set programs of action with clear objectives and activities, and with a time schedule allowing follow-up and assessment.
To ensure the sustainability of reform and establish a mechanism for follow-up and development, it is necessary to create a learning community composed of decision-makers, practitioners, researchers and regional and international institutions such as ALECSO, ISESCO, UNESCO, and ESCWA,[4] to serve as a permanent network for the exchange of information; hence the necessity to provide free access to credible information.
We also call on Governments and international institutions involved in the Forum for the
Future to contribute to this reform effort not only financially but also technically, based on the experiences they have acquired in this field.
An experience for study : Al-Kawakibi Chair and Master’s for Democracy Transition Studies:
An attempt at democratizing participation in education reform
As stated earlier, educational institutions are one of the elements involved in the process of Education for Democracy, but they do not constitute the only element. A large number of Arab NGOs actively participated, in the past decade, in Education for Human Rights. There are also a few experiences of cooperation between universities and NGOs to promote Education for Human Rights.[5]
In line with this constructive orientation, Al-Kawakibi Democracy Transition Center has established a regional cooperation group including a number of universities and Arab NGOs;[6] the aim being to establish a regional Chair and Master’s specialized in democratic transition studies, and, therefore, provide an institutionalized learning space to facilitate the transfer and management of knowledge of democratic transition stages.
Al-Kawakibi Chair and Master’s aim at creating an elite of actors specialized in democratic transition, by providing learning policy and action-oriented material in various fields related to democratic transition; thus reflecting the dialectical relationship between democracy, human rights, development and peace.
The proposed education methodology is essentially based on the transfer of international expertise in the field of democratic transition, relying on an international faculty from different continents, in addition to taking direct cognizance of the expertise of the Chair’s guests, including experts and prominent figures from civil society and political bodies.
To establish scientific programs for the Chair and the Master, a scientific committee will be set up, including an elite of academics, civil society experts, and human rights and democratic transition activists in the region and in the world.
I avail myself of this opportunity to call on institutions and Arab Governments to support this pilot project which constitutes an optimum form of cooperation between governments and civil society to address the huge needs in terms of Education for Democracy in the Arab world.
Tunis – October 15, 2007
[1] Sandy El-Berr & Noha El-Mikawy, ZEF. Regional Perspectives on Education Reform in the Arab Countries. December 2004.
[2] A World Bank report stresses the importance of informing citizens and involving them in the education reform process as one of the necessary conditions for the success of any reform. (See World Bank report on Education in the Middle East and North Africa : A Strategy towards Learning for Development, 1998).
[3] John J. Patrick, Indiana University, USA. « Essential Elements of Education for Democracy : What are they and why should they be at the core of the curriculum in schools ? » October 2003.
[4] ALECSO : Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization
ISESCO : Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNESCO : United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
ESCWA : Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
[5] For instance, the Child Rights Master, co-implemented by the LebaneseUniversity and the Arab Institute for Human Rights.
[6] The LebaneseUniversity, Mrs. Louisa University, MarrakechUniversity, PhiladelphiaUniversity (Jordan), the Arab Institute for Human Rights, the Moroccan Organization for Human Rights, and the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies, on the one hand, and KawakibiDemocracyTransitionCenter, on the other hand, signed a preliminary agreement in this field in Amman on June 19, 2007. Moreover, KawakibiCenter signed preliminary cooperation agreements with the EuropeanInter-UniversityCenter for Human Rights and Democratization and with the international Swedish institution IDIA, for cooperation in the exchange of curricula, research and teaching staff.
