UNESCO IN THE WORLD — INTERNATIONAL BUREAU OF EDUCATION

EDUCATIONAL DOCUMENTATION AND INFORMATION

Initially centred around its library and collection of educational journals, IBE’s work in educational documentation and information has increased to a remarkable extent. The Bureau’s Documentation Centre is connected to all the major national education centres, and international and regional networks via its International Network for Educational Information (INED); it publishes the quarterly newsletter Educational Innovation and Information; national reports on the status of education prepared by Member States for ICE are processed separately. Since 1993, these reports form part of the ‘World Data on Education’ data base, the content of which is now reproduced and disseminated on CD-ROM and via the Internet. In addition the ‘INNODATA’ data base was also set up in 1993 in liaison with UNESCO Headquarters, specifically for information about curricula, teaching methods and teacher training. At present, this data base contains a description of approximately 450 innovative projects; it can be consulted on Internet (http://www.unicc.org/ibe).

IBE has been constant in its educational efforts throughout the years of its existence. Its three statutory functions - that of a forum for international dialogue, a centre for comparative education and a worldwide observatory on the development of education - have adapted to contexts of change marked by the upsurge of information and communication technologies, the worldwide spread of economic, social and cultural relationships, and democratization in the decision-making process.

PRESIDENTS OF THE IBE COUNCIL Jean THOMAS France_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _1969-1972 N. L. B. SUCUPIRA Brazil_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _1973-1974 N.N’SOUGAN AGBLEMAGNON Togo_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _1975-1978 Charles HUMMEL Switzerland_ _ _ _ _ _1979-1983 Chams ELDINE EL-WAKIL Egypt_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1984-1985 Yves BRUNSVICK France_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1986-1989 Anil BORDIA India_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _1990-1991 Ruth LERNER DE ALMEA Venezuela _ _ _ _ _ _ _1992-1995 Bakary TIO-TOURÉ Côte d’Ivoire_ _ _ _ _since 1996	DIRECTORS OF IBE Pierre BOVET Switzerland_ _ _ _1925-1929 Jean PIAGET Switzerland_ _ _ _1929-1967 Laurent PAULI (a.i.) Switzerland _ _ _ _ _ _ _1968 René OCHS (a.i.) France_ _ _ _ _ _ _1969 Leo FERNIG United Kingdom_1970-1977 André LESTAGE (p.i.) France_ _ _ _1974-1975 (22) James B.CHANDLER United States_ _ _ 1977-1983 Seth J.SPAULDING United States_ _ _1983-1986 Chikh BEKRI Algeria_ _ _ _ _ 1986-1987 Gaston MIALARET France_ _ _ _ _ _1987-1988 Georges TOHMÉ Lebanon_ _ _ _ _1988-1992 Juan Carlos TEDESCO Argentina_ _ _ _since 1992	W. D. Halls (United Kingdom) Educator, author The IBE existed before UNESCO and its hand was considerably strengthened when it was taken over by the larger international organization. Today it forms the indispensable hub of an information network, as well as a prime initiator of comparative studies. Moreover, it links the official world with the academic world in a unique fashion. Comparative Education: Contemporary Issues and Trends, UNESCO, 1990 Federico Mayor (Spain) Director-General of UNESCO since 1987 This year we are celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the IBE’s integration with UNESCO. The success of this Conference fully demonstrates the role of record-keeper and guardian that the International Bureau of Education can and must play. Closing address to the 44th session of the ICE, Geneva, 1994 Yves Brunsvick President of the IBE Council from 1986 to 1989, Vice-President of the French National Commission for UNESCO Finally, he [Piaget] stressed that it was undeniable that psychologists’ research had been the starting point of almost all methodological or didactic innovations in recent decades, but the links between teaching and psychology are complex, teaching is an art whereas psychology is a science. If the art of teaching requires innate, irreplaceable, gifts, it also calls for knowledge about the human being who is to be taught. Un peu d’histoire à propos du BIE, Centre international d’études pédagogiques de Sèvres, 1996
TO KNOW MORE(see also CD-ROM, Vol.I)

                               

FOOTNOTES:

(22) In the absence of Leo Fernig, appointed Assistant Director-General for Education a.i. at UNESCO Headquarters.

TO KNOW MORE (see also CD-ROM, Vol. I)

• International Conference on Public Education. Recommendations 1934-1977. UNESCO-IBE, 1978. With a historical note by P. Rosselló. (English, French, Spanish)
• The International Bureau of Education in the Service of Educational Development. Suchodolski, B. et al., UNESCO, 1979. (English, French, Spanish)
• Comparative Education. Contemporary Issues and Trends. Paris, UNESCO-IBE/Jessica Kingsley, 1990. (English, French)
• The Bureau international d’éducation in Geneva: a Centre of the Progressive Education/New Education Movement. L.Fernig, in: The internationality of Progressive Education. H. Röhrs, ed. Heidelberg University, 1993. (English)
• International Conference on Education (45th session). 1996. Final Report. UNESCO-IBE, 1997. (Arabic, English, French, Russian, Spanish)