Browsing by Subject "UNESCO"
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Item Analysis and evolution of the ICT educational program in Colombia(2016-05) Daza Gomez, Miguel Felipe; Resta, Paul E.; Hughes, Joan EThis Master’s report represents the culmination of a study; wherein I set out to evaluate the evolution of the Information and Communication education policies in Colombia. I conducted the original self-study with a historical analysis of the technical policies in Colombia since 1930, tracing the connection between policymaking and the implementation of national educative programs. Based on primary sources from the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications, Colombian National Development Plans, and the Decennial Plan of Education, I was able to identify changes in the Colombian legislation regarding the development of ICT education policies. The Colombian development of ICT education policies is an interesting case, as since in 1991 the educative system is decentralized meaning that municipal governments should be accountable of the adoption and integration of educative policies created by the Ministry of Education in Bogotá. The regional adoption of national policies is done through the strategic coordination between the Ministry of Education and the Regional Education Secretaries. This Master’s report presents a historical analysis that describes the socio-economic impact of ICT on the development of a knowledge-based society that supports economic growth in innovation and research. Continuously, is a historical description of the Colombian educative system, analyzing decisions made by policymakers to modernize the ICT infrastructure and teacher training in public schools to increase the quality of Colombian public education through the use of technology. The implementation of technology in public schools has been supported by the conjunct efforts of the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Information Technologies and Communication through the program “Computadores para Educar” (Computers to Educate). The program Computers to Educate had facilitated computers, tablets and teacher training to public schools across Colombia. An alliance between public and private sector had facilitated the creation of open-source content in the five Innovation Centers around the country, who creates the content for the national portal “Colombia Aprende”. This national portal facilitates content on science, language, math, and other areas to teachers and students. Colombian Policymakers had also utilized UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for Teachers to create an own competency framework for Colombian teachers.Item The edge of obscurity : affect, precarity, and culture in rural Japan(2016-12) Bruce, Chad Richard; Stalker, Nancy K., 1962-; Hindman, HeatherJapan has recently faced the threat of cultural continuity, a result of factors ranging from demographic issues to economics ones. A variety of methods have been employed to combat some of the negative economic effects and the potential disappearance of cultural heritage and tradition, especially in rural areas. Some of these methods include attracting domestic tourism through various media, encouraging young, urban individuals to move to rural towns and villages, and increased international recognition through the designation of important cultural heritage using organizations like UNESCO. However, underlying these ostensibly optimistic endeavors run intense feelings of anxiety, uncertainty, and hopelessness, feelings often associated with a sense of precarity. This paper argues that while such attempts at revitalization and recognition do have positive effects, they often come with significant downsides. The laws and policies forming the framework of UNESCO's “intangible cultural heritage” designation come from colonialist policies that continue to shape understanding of “cultural heritage” through the designation system and its governing body. In many ways, the system also implicitly encourages Orientalism among consumers of non-Western cultural heritage, some of which may be the result of intentional exoticism and essentialism on the part of the designation-seeking entities. These practices, inherited from colonial governments and bureaucracies, work in conjunction with preexisting conceptions of “heritage” and “tradition,” often linking them to rural, implicitly pre-modern areas and peoples, which perpetuates modernist lines of thought about successful designees. Abstractions of the rural from real places and objects significantly contributes to the feelings of a “vanishing” experienced by nations like Japan, but especially in declining rural areas. This, in turn, leads to further feelings of precarity, and this narrative of precariousness becomes embedded in national consciousness and discourse through media exposure. While attention needs to be paid to the potential instability of cultural heritage and precarity, the ways in which people approach these things warrant serious reconsideration.Item Traditional music as "intangible cultural heritage” in the postmodern world(2013-05) Li, Mai, active 2013; Slawek, StephenCompared with its roles in pre-modern societies, traditional music, previously called “folklore,” has been playing very different roles in the globalized world. These new roles, however, are rarely articulated in a systematic manner. While most discourse on the contemporary use of traditional music comes from the case studies of ethnomusicologists, the concept of “intangible cultural heritage,” which is usually associated with the initiatives of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) in safeguarding intangible cultural heritage (including traditional music), provides a new perspective to understand the new roles that traditional music plays in the postmodern world. A systematic examination of these roles is crucial, because it allows an in-depth analysis of the hidden power relations behind the contemporary use of traditional music. Furthermore, with the idea of “salvation from disappearing” being more and more problematic in contemporary practice, the project of preserving traditional music cannot be firmly grounded unless its contemporary values are demonstrated. In order to systematically identify and analyze the contemporary use of traditional music, this paper examines the current literature on intangible cultural heritage and the related international initiatives undertaken by the United Nations and its specialized agencies such as UNESCO and UNDP, in combination with the major issues raised by ethnomusicologists regarding the use of traditional music in creative industries. Using two major case studies–Kunqu and HAN Hong’s new Tibetan music–to demonstrate the aesthetic, political, economic and ethical dimensions of the use of traditional music in contemporary society, I argue that there is a fifth dimension, the social dimension, of the value of traditional music in the postmodern condition. The articulation of this social dimension of the contemporary use of traditional music serves to establish its universal relevance and to identify its unique character that makes it a powerful tool to serve as a counter-hegemonic force.