October 2022
The prestigious ” UNESCO-Hamdan Prize for Teacher Development” was awarded for the first time to a Swiss NGO, the Graines de Paix Foundation, in this 7th edition.
The award recognizes our “innovative approach” to the redesign of teacher training programs sought by government ministries. Our pedagogy is implemented in Benin and Côte d’Ivoire, while at the same time being developed in Switzerland.
It’s also a major breakthrough for Switzerland in international education.
Reinventing teacher training
Graines de Paix’s innovative approach combines academic success with the prevention of violence and radicalization, as well as school and community peace. To achieve these objectives, teachers are trained in positive pedagogies that value students, and in learning methods that cultivate dialogue, participation and collaboration among students themselves. It is through these forms of interaction that students best develop their human, socio-emotional and reflective skills, as well as their self-confidence. In Africa, this approach is often referred to as “Education for a Culture of Peace”. This term refers to a complete pedagogy, not just a simple course on peace: it transforms the educational methods not only of teachers, but also of parents.
Preventing violence and its impact on education
Implementing such an overhaul in Benin might seem impossible, but it succeeds because educational players are moved to see the extent to which reducing educational violence improves pupil motivation. In Benin, as in other neighboring countries, almost 100% of children (98% in Côte d’Ivoire, UNICEF 2021) suffer physical violence. One of the strongest impacts is a gradual rise in the school attendance rate and a reduction in school dropouts. For Delia Mamon, founder of Graines de Paix and architect of this educational approach, “it’s a major change that international organizations now recognize the link between learning poverty (pupils who can’t read a short story by the end of elementary school) and disciplinary violence. Previously, the two issues were dealt with separately by separate departments. The Prize is a strong signal of validation of pedagogies that link MDG 4 (quality education) and MDG 16 (peace through violence prevention). This is also aligned with the Global Partnership for Education’s choice to fund the development of safe learning spaces, as announced at the Education Transformation Summit this September at the UN.”
International Geneva’s position in education
From the outset, it was clear that Graines de Paix should be based in “International Geneva”, with its concentration of some 760 NGOs, a majority of international organizations, UN embassies and academic institutions. Nevertheless, entities active in education reform make up only a tiny proportion of these, and this is the first time that a Swiss NGO has stood out in this field. For Delia Mamon, “this prize shows the world’s educational players that Switzerland is well ahead in this area. Proof of this is the introduction of the new Plan d’Etudes Romand in 2011, which integrates socio-emotional and reflective skills into the curriculum. Few countries have reached this point, eleven years on.
The UNESCO-Hamdan Prize was awarded to Graines de Paix on October 5, 2022 at 11:30 am at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. In the afternoon, a panel discussion with the prizewinners focused on ways of reinventing education, followed by a preview screening of the film “Être prof”. From October 5 to 7, an exhibition on the prizewinners was open to the public, illustrating the transformations in education underway around the world, including in Benin.