ConCrit

On adademic freedom and freedom of expression.
By President Ingrid Stage, The Danish Association of Masters and PhDs (DM), Denmark.

Why it is important and why it is vital to fight current trends that limit the freedom of expression traditionally upheld by universities.

The new public management with its internal market, commercialism and political control is an explosive cocktail. The impact has been greater and developments gone further in higher education than at other levels of education. And the effect of this development on society is very great. Therefore it is hugely important for us all, not just university researchers, to discuss and fight these trends.

But first of all, we should note that we are not as alone, as we might think.

Read the rest of this entry »

This post is written in Danish. You are very welcome to translate the text into other languages. Please write the translation in the “comments” (read more about comments here) - see the link below this post.

Fra demokrati mod marked
Af: »Marie Bille, for Information, 21. maj 2008«
- Artiklen var at finde i dagbladet Information den 21. maj 2008. -

Nyliberale og nationalistiske tendenser inden for uddannelse og pædagogik stod for skud under en europæisk konference i Bologna, hvor forskere blandede sig med praktikere.

BOLOGNA - “En konference i Giardini Magherita?” spørger den italienske taxichauffør med skepsis i stemmen og løftede øjenbryn. Da han får destinationen bekræftet, griner han højlydt.

“En konference midt i en park, det er ikke så dårligt,” siger han så og ruller af sted fra banegården i Bologna mod den atypiske konferencesal.

Det er tredje år, at konferencen ConCrit, der har fokus på uddannelse og pædagogik, bliver holdt under åben himmel i en europæisk by. ConCrit står for constructive criticism, og konferencen samler en blandet flok af forskere, pædagoger, lærere, studerende og fagforeninger.

I to dage skal de overvinde sprogbarrierer og kulturforskelle for sammen at være ‘kritisk konstruktive og danne netværk på tværs af nationale grænser’, som der står i invitationen. Der er dog flest danskere, men også en gruppe spaniere, nogle italienere og en enkelt tysker.
Read the rest of this entry »

You can now see pictures from the conference in Bologna, Italy. They are available trough filckr.com and can be seen by clicking one of the pictures below. A slideshow is also available:

The ConCrit conference in Bologna is now over. Approx. 100 people joined the conference in Parco Giardini Margherita in Bologna. Within some days you will be able to find a lot of information from the conference on this site. Please try again later.

If you don’t want to get back all the time, to check if there is any new post on concrit.org please consider using concrit.org’s RSS-feed. This way you will be notified if any news is available on the site. Read more about RSS-feed here.

ConCrit is now a group on the online social network Facebook. If you have never been on Facebook you need to register. You do that here: www.facebook.com

What is Facebook?
Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.

Anyone can join Facebook.
All that’s needed to join Facebook is a valid email address. To connect with coworkers or classmates, use your school or work email address to register. Once you register, join a regional network to connect with the people in your area.

Join the Facebook Group.
When you have registered on Facebook you can add the ConCrit Facebook group here.

…in Bologna, 16 & 17 May 2008.

You can register for the ConCrit-conference in Bologna using this email address right now: register@concrit.org - important! Please provide us with your name, organisation, mail and phone details. You can download the invitation as a PDF here.

Agenda for the ConCrit Conference

* Themes for the working groups are current presented and developed at the homepage www.concrit.org. Consider which group you will participate in and clear your thought: write a few lines about the theme and bring it with you. Or bring photographs or other kinds of illustrations of problems and ideas related to the theme: articles, artwork, film, music, etc.

* The speeches will also be presented in a written translation (Etiher/or Spanish/Italian/English).

* Lunch every day: All the participants eat together. Friday at a cost of 7 euro and Saturday at 12 euro. Wine, water and soda included.

Friday 16. May 2008.

We will meet in Parco Giardini Margherita, Bologna (see a map showing the exact spot here).

10.00 am: Welcome by Claus Jensen and Søs Bayer, Denmark.

• A little speech: ”The importance of being critical”
• Presentation of the themes for the discussions in the working groups
• Organisation of the working groups.

• Keynote speech by professor Stefan Hoffmann, Austria: “A critical approach to Pisa”.

11.30 am: Discussion and work in the groups

01.00 pm: Lunch: Panini…
- A cultural event…..
- A little speech by Josepa Gómez, Rosa Sensat: “Civil disobedience – the catalan way”.

02.30 pm: Discussion and work in the groups.

04.00 pm:
• Keynote speech by professor Peter Moss, University of London, England: “Early childhood Education Markets and Democratic experimentalism”.

• Discussion Corner with the participants and Peter Moss.

05.00 pm: Discussion and work in the groups.

06.30 pm: End of day

08.30 pm: Reception in Bar de Marchi, Piazza San Francesco.

Saturday 17. May 2008.

10.30 am: Another day of work: Welcome by Charlotte Palludan and Allan Baumann, Denmark.

• Keynote speech by professor Massimiiano Tarozzi, Italy: “Education and Democracy”.

• Discussion Corner.

11.30 am: Discussion and work in the groups.

01.00 pm: Lunch: Mortadella and grana, lasagne classiche and vegatariane, dolce zuppa inglese and crostata.

02.00 pm: A speech by Ingrid Stage, President of Danish Masters, Denmark: “Freedom of expression”. And by CGil, Italy: “ Democracy and organisation”.

02.30 pm: Discussion and work in the groups – important thoughts and points.
• Finishing a sort of presentation: wallpaper, films, drama, articles or perhaps a speech.
• Considering how to become a net-working group.

05.00 pm: Presentations of all kinds….
• A cultural event…

06.00 pm: See you on the internet, in the net-working groups and next year in a B-town (???)…

* The working group has to:

• finish a sort of presentation of their work at the conference: wallpaper, films, drama, articles or perhaps a speech. (bring material to be creative)
• consider how to become a net-working group after the conference.
• consider how the discussions of the working group can be spread after the conference in some actions (write an article, start a web-site discussion, arrange a new conference about the theme, make a song and spread on the internet, write a letter to politicians or journalists, arrange a dialogue with trade unions, politicians, do something at your working/study environment etc.)

We invite you to participate in a two-day international meeting with discussions and analyses of trends in pedagogics and educational policy. The meeting will be held in an unconventional set up and serves the purpose of establishing international networks for the introduction and development of critical and alternative ideas and thoughts on pedagogical institutions and national educational systems. Focus this year will be on aspects of democracy.

The meeting will be held in Bologna, on May 16-17, 2008

(Download the invitation as a PDF here)

We are witnessing a combination of neo-liberal marketized solutions to educational problems and neo-conservative returns to higher standards.

Many practitioners, philosophers and researchers around Europe are concerned about these trends. There is a general impression that techniques of accountability, measurement and “management” are increasing while the pedagogical opportunities are being limited and that we are seeing an unfortunate standardisation taking place. The pedagogical environments of Europe are able to provide much more than that, which is what Europe needs:

– Is pedagogics the victim of a global competitive trend?
– Do political trends contribute to turning pedagogics into a technical quick fix?
– And do we narrow down childhood to a question of skills as a result of the policy pursued?
– Are the European democracies moving away from the idea of providing general education on a broad basis in favour of a kind of thinking dictated by the needs of the educational institutions?

Therefore, it is time to take the international perspective seriously and to stage discussions that invite broader reflection and analysis in addition to strengthening the democratic dialogue between the populations of Europe.

For this reason, we invite you to take part in an unconventionally organised conference on:

Friday May 16 and Saturday May 17

We will meet on Friday, May 16 in Bologna, Italy, and we will finish on Saturday, May 17, after we have exchanged ideas about the movements future activities. See the exact programme, schedules and location on www.concrit.org from the end of March.

The challenge to you is to take care of your own transport, food and accommodation in Berlin and to be generally prepared to participate and contribute something, to work, think, discuss, reflect, be productive and critically constructive and to network across national boundaries.

Mail this to people you know might be interested in participating. You may register for the conference on the web page www.concrit.org which will present the latest news, papers as well as an update on the number of participants.

Please suggest which kind of subjects you would like to discuss within the theme of democracy and how you wan’t to work with these themes (i.e. discussions, happenings, writings, theatre, singing, painting, you name it…)

You can pre-register on this email address now: register@concrit.org - important! Please provide us with your name, organisation, mail and phone details.

Neither Public nor Private – Regaining Solidarity in Education
By Professor Jörg Ramseger, Freie Universität, Berlin.

Ladies and Gentlemen, dear friends of a better future for education!

Let me first welcome you in this town. I am not the Mayor, but as a simple citizen I would like to wish you a very warm welcome in Berlin! It is nice to see you all here and I will give my very best not to bore you.

I would first like to tell you what you are expecting. I will talk about 35 minutes on a simple question: Should schools be run by the state or should they be private?

First, I will point out what it meant that in this country, as in many other ones, 200 years ago education in the school became compulsory.

Secondly, I will give you some details about a global phenomenon called „privatisation“. It does not only occur in the tranport industry, the energy or water supply sector, but takes place just these days in this town at a very rapid speed in the field of education as well. We have very nice high speed trains in Germany and also high speed privatisation!

In a third step I will cite some critics on privatisation of education.

In a fourth step I will try to figure out why both ways of running schools – by the state as well as by private business – are wrong and I will check whether there might be a third way. To do this I will refer to a famous German philosopher – It’s not Karl Marx! Another one! – a philosopher and educator who offered this third way already 200 years ago when public schools just began to come into existence.

At the end I will report of some spots in today’s Africa where this third way is practised – and very successfully. So my last chapter will be entitled “Why not learn from Africa? Read the rest of this entry »

We, the participants of the ConCrit-conference in Berlin 2007, want to express our support to Zwiazek Nauczycielstwa Polskiego – the Teachers Union in Poland.

We are deeply concerned about the situation and the development in the educational system in Poland.

Inadequate funding for education, for example low wages for teachers, and disrespect of human rights in the educational ministry’s policies are tendencies of the neoliberal development going on in Europe, which will create more inequality.

Espacially the discrimination of homosexual teachers and students are an attack on the human rights and the democracy.

As professionals and students, people with knowledge of education, we can’t support this neoliberal tendencies – we see equality as a democratic right.

Therefore we show our support to Zwiazek Nauczycielstwa Polskiego, because they work against these tendencies and raise a necessary critical voice to oppose the undemocratic educational policies in Poland.

ConCrit
June 2007

You can see pictures from the conference in Berlin in 2007. They are available trough filckr.com and can be seen by clicking one of the pictures below. A slideshow is also available:

This post is written in Danish. You are very welcome to translate the text into other languages. Please write the translation in the “comments” (read more about comments here) - see the link below this post.

Tæerne fik fri på dannelseskonference i Berlin
Af: »Henriette Harris, Informations Korrespondent, 4. juni 2007«
- Artiklen var at finde i dagbladet Information den 4. juni 2007. -

[BØRNENES VE OG VEL]
Fuglene sang, og solen skinnede, mens Information var med en flok konstruktivt kritiske lærere og pædagoger til konference i Berlin

BERLIN - Berlin er nu noget særligt. For det er faktisk lidt svært at forestille sig et lignende arrangement i Øregårdsparken i Hellerup. Fredag formiddag har et par hundrede mennesker forsamlet sig på græsplænen på den chikke Käthe Kollwitz Platz i Prenzlauer Berg i Berlin. Mange af dem ligner med deres rygsække og fornuftige sandaler med bare tæer til forveksling danske pædagoger og lærere. Og det er lige, hvad de er.

De deltager i konferencen ConCrit (Constructive Criticism), som er en alternativ konference om uddannelse og pædagogik. Men de heldige asener skal ikke ind at svede i en konferencesal på et dødssygt hotel med syntetiske gulvtæpper og bitterklam kaffemaskinekaffe. De skal i stedet i to dage sidde i solen på det grønne græs under træerne og høre fuglene synge, mens de lytter til oplæg om og diskuterer emner som:’Det nye karaktersystems indflydelse på de demokratiske principper og mentaliteten i den danske uddannelse.’ Read the rest of this entry »

This post is written in Danish. You are very welcome to translate the text into other languages. Please write the translation in the “comments” (read more about comments here) - see the link below this post.

En reportage fra Berlin – ConCrit konferencen 31/5 – 3/6 2007
af Anders Valeur, pædagogstuderende på Dannerseminariet i Jægerspris.

Ankom på mit hotel sent torsdag aften – Transit Loft Hotel, et internationalt Jugendhotel i den nordøstlige del af Berlin. Et simpelt hotel, økonomiklasse, placeret i en stor lidt halvkedelig beton blok på 3. og 4. sal. Men ingen mænd i grå kitler med Kalasjnikovaer, hemmelig politi eller Trabanter overalt - mit utrænede øje kunne ikke se tydelig tegn på, at vi rent faktisk befandt os midt i det gamle Østberlin.

Fredag kl. 11 var konferencen sat til at gå i gang, med et uformelt kryds på deltagerlisten og et navneskilt. Konferencen blev afholdt i en åben park – Käthe Kollwitz Platz, med omkring liggende caféer og restauranter, cirka 10 minutters gang fra hotellet. Parken er opkaldt efter en kvindelig kunstner, der blev jagtet halvdelen af sit liv og udsat for alverdens fortrædeligheder og jeg skal komme efter dig… Men har åbenbart lavet en masse berømte billeder og skulpturer, som sjovt nok ingen af de lokale ”indfødte” kunne fortælle mig noget om. Men om ikke andet – Welcome to Berlin, en virkelig fantastisk by! Read the rest of this entry »

One of the main cultural events at the ConCrit Conference i Berlin was the quartet “Der Singende Tresen”. They managed to get everyone to sing a long on their catchy german ballads. You can get in contact with them or read more about them at their website www.dersingendetresen.de

Further more you can hear some of their music at MySpace.com here.

Between Yesterday and Tomorrow
- or in between

By Principal Søs Bayer, Dannerseminariet, Jægerspris, Denmark

Some of German author Kurt Tucholsky’s texts were gathered in a book with the title ”Zwischen Gestern und Morgen”. Tucholsky was a sharp political author who fought for democracy and who already 5 years before Hitler’s legal takeover of power cautioned against what was happening in Germany. And hence in frustration of the political climate moved to Sweden, where he ended his days only 45 years old.

”Zwischen Gestern und Morgen” Between yesterday and tomorrow, that is today. And maybe he wanted us to focus on today, seize the day, carpe diem, and avoid thinking too much on yesterday and tomorrow. Perhaps he was of the opinion that in order to understand today we should indeed think about both yesterday and tomorrow. Or perhaps he only thought that yesterday and tomorrow would be more important than today, which is also an absent word.

Maybe he did not mean anything by it but found that it was a good way to describe today as that, which lies between yesterday and tomorrow. Between the past and the present.

I wish to use this to talk somewhat about yesterday, today and tomorrow. About the past , the in between and the future. About the future and the tomorrow that contain optimism, variability and the different, if not in reality then as a notion. And about today - about the topicality one could only wish was a period of in between rapidly brought to a halt. The today that is not pessimistic, but politically depressed. The today that views and contemplates the political reality with scepticism and disbelief and that must have as its basis that there is a tomorrow where democracy yet again can demonstrate its skills and be implemented at another level than today. Knowing full well that tomorrow only arises if someone do something about it.

It is a matter of democracy and the democratic possibility and duty, the idea of democracy - and civil disobedience. Read the rest of this entry »

At the 2006 ConCrit-conference in Barcelona - participation.dk was the official site. This site has now been incorporated into concrit.org. This means that everything from the Barcelona conference can now be found at concrit.org. Going to participation.dk will automatically redirect you to concrit.org. You can easily find everything from the Barcelona conference by using the category-link in the navigation sidebar to the right of here.