The training of teachers within the project “A Global Ethic in a School: Integrating a Global Ethic into Educational Structures and Processes in Bosnia-Herzegovina”, done with the partnership of The Global Ethic Foundation from Tübingen, had been held in Sarajevo in Hotel Hollywood on Saturday and Sunday on May 30 and 31, 2015. Alen Kristic, Monja Suta-Hibert and Ivana Krstanovic – a professional team of TPO Foundation Sarajevo – presented a project of a global ethic to teachers of secondary schools and worked on the demonstration of double lessons. The training was attended by 15 teachers and an adviser for education of the Educational-Pedagogical Institute of Sarajevo Azemina Bogdanovic.
In the second day, Mr. Sci. Sedzida Hadzic gave lecture on the theme “The Dimensions of Learning About a Global Ethic” and looked back on the experience from the previous trainings.
Alen Kristic introduced teachers with the concept of a global ethic, whose founder is a Catholic theologian Hans Küng, who claims that there is no survival without a global ethic and requires a coalition of believers and non-believers. An alliance of believers and non-believers is possible in connection with the building of a better world based on shared values because fundamental ethical values common to the world religions are precisely the values advocated by all the great philosophical world’s traditions of humanistic orientation. The origin of the idea of ​​a global ethic is closely related to world religions, but a global ethic is understood as an ethical basis that beyond religion includes humanistic ethos without a religious foundation. The idea of ​​a global ethic should contribute to the way in which religion can find a basis for dialogue and in that way become more relevant for peace – they should be occasions for meeting and getting to know. Then they will discover that, despite their many differences, they have quite crucial communion – to share the responsibility for our planet, to have a shared responsibility for society, city and country, and that this responsibility must also be carried out jointly.
The idea of a global ethic does advocate neither syncretism nor the domination of one religion over another, nor creation of a new unique global dimension of religion, but consciously-responsible cooperation of believers of different religions, including non-believers, in terms of building a better world, that emerges and allows deeper roots in their own religious tradition. A global ethic is then about building an ethical culture among the people, life holding that should from individuals act towards groups and entire society. In a pluralistic society, we must search for a discourse on ethical grounds, the core values ​​that include all partners, regardless of on which religion, worldview or philosophy they establish their action. Where people want to live together in peace, there they should, therefore, have common ethical foundation, carrying ethos.
Kristic gave lectures on the following themes: “A Global Ethic: Rules of the Globalized World”, “A Global Ethic – Jewish, Christian, Islamic and Philosophical Foundation”, “A Global Ethic in BiH – Contextualization and Application”, and “A Global Ethic and Religion Dialogue with Reference to Contemporary Issues”. Monja Suta-Hibert introduced us with lectures on the theme “A Global Ethic as a Pedagogical Project”, showed a video “The Lie We Live”, and worked on the demonstration of four double lessons. After each double lesson was done, double conclusion and review of all the dimensions of the implementation of the particular double lesson was done.
The main aim of this project is to introduce teachers of secondary schools to a global ethic and qualify them that they mediate principles and values of a global ethic to their students in a professional and systematic way. The training was organized with the approval of the Ministry of Education, Science and Youth of Canton Sarajevo, and the Educational-Pedagogical Institute of Canton Sarajevo on the recommendation of the minister Abid Kunic, an assistant of the cantonal minister for preschool, elementary and secondary school. Participants received certificates for the successful completion of the two-day training – teaching unit “A Global Ethic in School”.
