September 2005 - Association Comenius

The European Union faces a moment of crisis.
The events of May and June 2005 have focused
attention on a range of critical issues, and the
decisions or actions taken by the leaders of the
Union in the coming months will, in the
opinion of many commentators, determine the
future direction and development of Europe.
Declarations of this type have become
commonplace in the media, so common that
we need to be suspicious of them. They are
designed to startle, to unsettle and to create a
sense of impending panic. These are emotions
that we associate with a crisis. They are
emotions that do not facilitate clear thinking,
h o w e v e r. So to begin, let us remember what a
crisis really is.
The Greek word, which lies behind ‘crisis’,
derives from the verb krinein, ‘to judge’. A
crisis, properly speaking, is a moment of
judgement or decision-making. It is a moment
in the life of an individual or community when
our ability to shape our destiny becomes much
more apparent. We are faced with choices and
are asked to decide. Or we face the
consequences of past actions and are asked to
pass judgement, and in doing so we will close
a chapter of our history and simultaneously
commence a new one. Acrisis is not a moment
of disaster but an opportunity to exercise our
freedom to choose, to act and to shape our
h i s t o r y. A crisis is to be welcomed as an
opportunity to be truly human, and to create a
more humane society. The present crisis for the
European Union should be considered not in a
panic but with enthusiasm and hope.
14 | Cormenius Journal
Feidhlimidh Magennis
Principal Lecturer in Religious Studies
St. Mary’s University College,
Belfast
f.magennis@smucb.ac.uk
CRISIS IN EUROPE? A MOMENT FOR DECISION
I do not intend to discuss the wider issues of EU
politics and policies. My aim in this article is to
suggest that the wider context in Europe calls
the members of Association COMENIUS to
seize the moment as an opportunity to renew
the A s s o c i a t i o n ’s sense of purpose and
direction. I would suggest that the wider
context provides a useful horizon against which
we can interpret our own development through
crises.
Like the European Union, the Association has
expanded rapidly by enthusiastically seeking
new members across the full geographical
range of what we call Europe. As a result the
Association has changed. Its biannual meetings
are no longer small, intimate gatherings where
d i fferences in language and custom were not
obstacles to holding efficient business
meetings. Everything happens on a larger scale
n o w, and with that increase, there has been
fragmentation. There are more languages in
which to carry on simultaneous discussion.
There are many more types of activity, each of
which requires a separate co-ordinating group
to meet and plan actions, There are older and
newer members, and dare one say that the
Association now has its inner and outer circles
with different degrees of co-operation and
harmonization. In so many ways, the problems
of enlargement which we see at the level of the
European Union are being experienced within
the Association at institutional and personal
levels also. And like the European Union, the
Association needs to review its procedures to
ensure smoother and more efficient business.
But I do not wish to focus our attention on
matters of business alone. It is true that the
Association will flourish if it is efficient and
productive. If it is not effective, then it will not
conduct itself well and provide the extra
dimensions for teacher education which is its
primary rationale. The function of the
Association is a key matter. The A s s o c i a t i o n
was founded by a number of institutions
coming together to provide opportunities to
develop the intercultural dimension of teacher
education in ways that we could not do alone,
or through other channels. That is our function
but those actions arise from a prior set of beliefs
and values. Firstly, we believe that intercultural
education is essential within the contemporary
European classroom, no matter which country
we come from. Secondly, we believe that
teacher education should have an intercultural
dimension. T h i r d l y, we believe that ‘one learns
what one does’ and so we seek to provide
experiences for students and tutors to engage in
intercultural education and practice. T h e s e
beliefs are not idealistic but are made concrete
in our European setting. We seek to encourage
what we call a European spirit – tolerance of
othes, openness to different cultures and
experiences, celebration of diversity, respect for
d e m o c r a c y, willingness to sacrifice self-interest
for the common good, and so on. It is at the
fundamental level of beliefs and values that the
Association finds its distinctive identity and
utility for the member institutions.