Activities in Eurasia

The heritage of the Russian Federation and its East European neighbors is famous for its literature and art permeated with profound moral philosophy. Yet as the Soviet Union fell at the end of the 20th century, many of its citizens felt the need for reform and renewal in their national character and citizenship education approaches.

Beginning in 1993, an international team of IEF educators collaborated with noted professor Branislav Bitinas of Vilnius University and other experts in and around Moscow to develop a comprehensive character education resource entitled My World and I. This effort led to student textbooks, teacher manuals and parent handbooks that are currently being used in over 10,000 schools as part of school-wide character building initiatives. In addition, social workers and those working in orphanages, prisons and other settings employ the curriculum. It includes the moral and ethical teachings of the predominant religions of the region - Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism - and thus helps to promote respect for different cultures. Innovative features include student-centered methods, parent involvement, teacher education and community building activities.

These texts have since been adapted and translated into Moldovan, Armenian, Latvian, Mongolian, Azeri, Tajik, Kyrghyz, Kazakh and Filipino languages.

Since then, IEF Eurasia has published other original texts as well as provided translations of helpful works. "Eurasian Times" is a continent-wide, Russian language bi-monthly newspaper published by the organization that includes sections on education, marriage and family life, youth issues, religion, culture, ecology and health, and media.

Russian Federation

IEF in Russia supports an association of master teachers who train and mentor colleagues in the use of My World and I and other character education resources. Teacher Training Seminars are held frequently throughout the Federation to introduce teachers to the curriculum and to support those already engaged in intentional moral education. Beginning in autumn 1998, a professor from Bridgeport University in Connecticut conducted research in 17 Ivanova schools on the success of the IEF curriculum, especially its impact on the moral growth of teachers. In May of 2000, educators associated with the International Center of Character Education (ICCE) toured participating schools in Samara. In 2000, master teacher and director of IEF in Ivanova, Valentina Luganskaya gave a keynote address at a character education conference in San Diego, co-sponsored by ICCE and IEF.

For those schools wishing to establish character education programs on a school-wide level and become "model schools" in their community, IEF has been offering an annual workshop since 1998. Representatives of prospective model schools receive guidance on how to teach values through every aspect of the school environment, beginning with the curriculum. An additional focus is how to enlist parental cooperation.

On the banks of the Volga River, in the city of Tver, halfway between Moscow and St. Petersburg, stands the Upper Volga Institute. Since 1997,the private institution has provided higher education with an ethical focus, offering Bachelor of Arts degrees in sociology, psychology and economics. UVI is a project of IEF in collaboration with a group of local professors. The university aspires to participate in the World University Federation and make a contribution towards world peace.

Military ethics was the topic of a Moscow gathering on Oct. 4-7, 1994 that was sponsored by IEF in conjunction with the Russian Military University, the most prestigious institution in Russia for educating military officers.

Siberia was the setting of an international discussion on sustainable development in July 2001. Americans, Iranians and Egyptians joined with Russians in Buryatia near historic Lake Baikal and the border of Mongolia to explore different perspectives, including an IEF presentation on the impact of character and the environment. One highlight was a session featuring an exchange of views by American and local students.

Ukraine

Three hundred representatives from the Ukraine attended the first Eurasian IEF conference in the Crimea in 1992, and programs have continued since that time. The federal State Center for Social Services to Youth, an organization dealing with youth issues—drug- and alcohol-abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, teen pregnancies and juvenile crime—has been using the My World and I curriculum in their work. In March 2001, a Teacher Training Seminar was conducted to serve the heads of their regional social service agencies throughout the country.

Tajikistan

On May 15-16 2001, in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the nation's independence from the Soviet Union, IEF sponsored with the Ministry of Education a gathering of ministry officials, professors, school directors and teachers along with representatives of UNESCO, Red Cross and other non-governmental organizations to discuss the challenges of raising up responsible youth.

Armenia

The Armenian translation of My World and I is in publication, and Teacher Training Seminars have begun, starting in the capital city of Yerevan in April of 2001.

Character Education and the Martial Arts

The International Educational Foundation has developed curriculum to promote character values education to young people in schools and universities. Now IEF is engaging in a joint project with the World Tong-Il Moo-Do Federation to promote this philosophy of universal values and its related areas of education to martial artists throughout the world. The result of this cooperation has been the publication of four booklets, of which this is one, with the following titles and subsections:

I. Character Education and the Martial Arts
1. The Need for Moral Education
2. The Role of Religion in Moral Education
3. Universal Principles and Life Goals
4. Causes and Resolution of Conflict

II. True Family Values Education and the Martial Arts
5. The Family as the School of Love
6. Successful Marriage Preparation
7. Promoting a Marriage Culture
8. Building Healthy Marriages

III. Purity Education and the Martial Arts
9. Consequences of the Sexual Revolution
10. Family Life Education: Which Road To Take?
11. An Ethic of True Love and Sexuality
12. Drug Abuse: Focus on Prevention

IV. Service for Peace Education and the Martial Arts
13. Fostering a Culture of Peace Through Service

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