1951 UIE founded 1955 International Review of Education launched 1955-1966 Summer universities for young teachers from countries in Europe 1959-1961 International Project on the evaluation of educational achievement 1965 Revision of the statutes 1968-1972 SOLEP Seminars for young educational researchers 1972 Lifelong education becomes the main theme of the Institute

CHANGE AND ADAPTATION In 1951 UNESCO founded three international institutes in the Federal Republic of Germany in key sectors for the promotion of human rights and international understanding: at Gauting, near Munich, an institute for youth which remained active until 1965; at the Cologne University, a social science institute, which ceased to exist as early as 1960, and in Hamburg, an institute for the study of comparative education and promotion of educational research. (1) During the 1950s, UIE contributed to promoting collaboration ‘without distinction of race, sex, language or religion’ (2) amongst German educators and their counterparts from other countries in Europe. In 1965, whereas the other two institutes had closed down, the Federal Republic expressed a desire to preserve the Institute for Education of which it was to assume the bulk of regular running costs. The statutes were revised to take into account the Institute’s new international purview, and it was decided that the Governing Board should include representatives of all regions of the world. (3) Until the fall of the Berlin Wall the Institute maintained a bridge between West and East and, as of the 1980s, the needs of developing countries became one the of main thrusts of its concern. Whilst the four main areas of emphasis of the Institute’s work are research, training, documentation services and publications, both its vocation and its functions reflect not only the recent political changes in Europe and the rest of the world, but also the evolution, the diversification and the expansion which the very concepts of education and literacy have undergone during the past fifty years. THE 1950s, INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING In the beginning, the Institute’s vocation was of a general nature (4) ranging from pre-school education and primary and secondary education to university and adult education or leisure-time activities, but always closely linked to the ideals of UNESCO and to international understanding. A significant event for the future was the first seminar organized by UIE, in 1952, on adult education as a means of developing and strength-ening social and political responsibility. From 1955 to 1966 UIE, in co-operation with a different UNESCO National Commission (5) each year, organized an annual seminar or summer university which brought young German teachers together with colleagues from other countries in Europe to discuss education for international understanding between individuals, groups and nations.

1955 EXTRACT FROM A REPORT OF THE GOVERNING BOARD OF UIE The results of Institute’s work up to the present cannot be precisely assessed. It can, however, be stated with confidence, that all those who have been connected with the Institute’s work, particularly participants at the meetings, have expressed, by personal statements, by letter or by writings in their national press, their great satisfaction with the conception, method of work and congenial atmosphere of the Institute. In a wider circle, who have not yet had personal context with the Institute, its publications have aroused great interest: for example, in both France and Germany there has been a demand for special editions of the printed booklets on Adult Education and Pre-school Education. The International Review of Education has especially roused interest, and in view of the number of subscriptions secured by June 1955, i.e. over 500 in the first six months of its existence, may be said to have had a very good start. It is also known to the Institute that its meeting on film, radio and television has led to substantial changes in certain adult educational broadcasts transmitted by Radio Geneva and Radio Salzburg; to the extension of the work of télé-clubs in France, with the support of UNESCO - particularly though a conference of club leaders held in December; to similar activity in Switzerland, and to the invitation of foreign participants to meetings arranged in Spring 1955, by the authorities of ‘Jeunesse et Sport’ (Radio Section), in France. Ref. 42EX/II, Annex II/A.

Maria Montessori (Italy) Distinguished educationist, promotor of ‘new education’ and education for peace If the Institute has a justification for existing it can only be the blazing of a new path for education, in which education is a support to the inner life of human beings. First meeting of the Governing Board, 1951 Johannes Novrup (Denmark) President of the Governing Board, 1952 A kind of international brotherhood between adult educators does already to some extent exist. This is a great promise for the future. It is our sincere hope that this Institute, in the course of some years, will be able to serve as a focus for all these more or less scattered attempts and thus make a real contribution to European adult education. First UIE Seminar: Adult Education as a Means of Developing and Strengthening Social and Political Responsibility Paul Lengrand (France) Acting Director of the Institute from 1967 to 1968 If man can and should continue learning, training and improving his professional qualifications, developing his intellectual, emotional and moral potentialities, contributing more to his personal relationships as well as to the community at large, and if adult education is to provide adequate facilities to help him achieve these aims, then educational thinking and processes must undergo a radical transformation. Perspectives in Lifelong Education, The UNESCO Chronicle, Vol. XV, July-August 1969

                               

FOOTNOTES:

(1) UIE is a UNESCO foundation which complies with German law. It is managed by a Governing Board composed of eleven members appointed by the Director-General. Its Director is a UNESCO staff member, who heads a team of about twenty-four people. The Institute is financed by the German Government, UNESCO and voluntary contributions from Member States. The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg provides and maintains the premises.

(2) The 1951 Constitution of UIE, Article II.a., and the Constitution of UNESCO.

(3) Six Germans were appointed to the First Governing Board which comprised distinguished men and women working in educational research in Europe, amongst whom Roger Gal, Maria Montessori, Jean Piaget, Johannes Novrup, etc. Professor Leontiev (ex-USSR) joined the Board in 1959.

(4) Until 1969, UIE was the only UNESCO research Institute in Europe. The European Centre for Leisure and Educationhad been established in Prague in 1969, at the same time as IBE became part of UNESCO. This involved a redistribution of research activities in the Organizations’s programme.

(5) The first seminar was organized in Sèvres (France) with the French National Commission; subsequent seminars were arranged in co-operation with National Commissions of Austria, Belgium, former Czechoslovakia, Federal Republic of Germany, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

Caption: UIE premises, built in 1908-1909, made available to the Institute by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.