Research Problem Statements re: Peacekeeping Training in SA

COMMUNITY NEEDS FOR CO-OPERATIVE PEACEKEEPING TRAINING WITH OPEN-DISTANCE AND E-LEARNING (ODEL) MODES AND OPEN EDUCATION RESOURCES (OER) IN AFRICA Dr KJ De Beer ( kbeer@cut.ac.za) Dr PJ De Montfort ( pierrem@lantic.net) ABSTRACT One of the reasons why peacekeeping training for African militia not always bearing fruit, may be the ignorance of laymen, civil servants, educators and community leaders. In order to address this problem, greater community awareness is necessary. The Commonwealth of Learning (COL), could become a pacemaker in integrating peacekeeping training in civil education programmes via Open and Distance E-Learning (ODEL) in collaboration with the African Council for Distance Education (ACDE), the National Association for Distance and Open Learning of South Africa (NADEOSA) and the Southern African Regional University Association (SARUA). Currently one of UNESCO’s sub structures is promoting the use of Open Education Resources (OER), also referred in ODEL as Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOS). Both COL and UNESCO provide a neutral platform for the academe world wide to engage in African affairs, especially in sensitive conflict regions where children and women suffer the consequences of various forms of military conflict. The challenge for the academe is to determine whether peacekeeping skills training has any impact on curbing the violence spiral at all. The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), Geneva, has initiated a series of Peacekeeping Operations Correspondence Instruction (POCI) courses specifically for capacity building within global military institutions, civil police forces, intelligence communities, diplomats and academe in strategic studies. These courses can be downloaded for free from E-Learning For African Peacekeepers (ELAP) (elap.unitarpoci.org). Likewise the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre (PPC), based in Nova Scotia, Canada, inter alia offers a programme that focuses on training those who serve in conflict zones, including civilians, military personnel and police officers (http://www.peaceoperations.org/web/la/en/default.asp). Within this context the relationship between the major themes and subsequent crosscutting aspects for the 5thPan-Commonwealth Forum (5PCF) will be discussed under ‘Governance, Conflict and Social Justice with particular emphasis on the application of open and distance e-learning methodologies (ODEL). 1. REVIEW The 5PCF- reviewers (2008) referred our research to the sub-theme ‘Governance, Conflict and Social Justice’ with emphasis on open and distance learning. The reviewers also referred to the work of the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre (PPC), Canada. The PPC consulted for example NGOs and military commanders regarding their roles in post-conflict situations (http://www.peaceoperations.org/web/la/en/default.asp) and said that: “A Discussion of the motivation for developing such a course and the outcomes would be interesting.” 2. RESEARCH PROBLEM Absence of civil education could largely be blamed for the perpetual conflicts in Africa(Cf. CNBC Africa. 2008). Even government officials may be the by result of political illiteracy. In our opinion, school teachers, university lecturers, civil servants, diplomats, intelligence staff, especially soldiers and civil police officers are generally ignorant about human rights formulated in the United Nations charter and International Law (Cf. SA Media 2000 – 2008). Aspects implied are:  The suffering of women and children;  Health and wellbeing of civilians;  Peacekeeping community training how to manage conflict for social justice through Cooperative Education via Open and Distance E-Learning (ODEL) modes and with Open Education Resources (OER) ;  The sustentation of peace in post conflict sones; and  How offensive soldiers could be transformed to diplomats in uniform. Appropriate distance education generations are first (correspondence), second (dual face to face) and third (educational technology) methodologies for a proposed instructional model. It is an action research project (De Montfort 2007) on how to integrate ODEL and OERS with Africanised practices in collaboration with global partners and ex militia to enhance and sustain peace (Cf. UNITAR POCI and PPC). Two imminent research questions emerge:  “How should ODEL practitioners establish an awareness of peacekeeping training through political literacy (read civil education here after)?; and  “What are the outcomes?” 3. GOVERNANCE, CONFLICT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE UN-structures already promote peacekeeping and enhance social development via higher education institutions (HEIS) in Africa to educate co-operative communities with ODEL and OERS practices to understand, appreciate and sustain a just and fair civil society (Cf. De Beer, et.al 2002. Unfortunately, co-operation cannot be taken for granted in communities in conflict (Cf. SA Media. 2008 ). One of problems is the misinterpretation of a true democratic government. Another issue is “whether traditional African societies are in essence community orientated and if so, what place the individual has in such a collectivist perspective”? ( Higgs 2007). 3.1 Governance Normative forms of governments in Africa are considerably virulent. In analysing human rights, and freedom of speech within a differentiated civilised social order, state philosophical- and constitutional approaches of political scientists are generally to test whether the relation structures, community structures and social figurants are in tact within the differentiated powers of the trias politica. That implies the differentiation of powers of the state into law giving, administration and judicial functions. Transgression of the aforementioned sub-variant authoritarian boundaries (or the Rule of Law) creates a qwasi democracy and de facto governments in many African states. Duvenhage (1998) defines the crisis of such nation states as the absence of a political culture where knowledge is not imparted. It needs understanding how to differentiate between the array of Africa’s ethnic cultures. Ethnicity “etnos” according to its Greek concept entails more than race. It inter alia means to have dominion over a specific life sphere. Political scientists differentiate several life spheres to define a democratic society. Consequently, civil education ODEL programs which include peacekeeping modules, could also be developed as a specific sphere to assist educators. Free education curricula could subsequently be extended to post conflict areas (Cf. Connections. 2007). 3.2 Conflict According to Connoly (2007) most conflicts on the African continent are caused by “ethnostress”. In one of her workshops she referred to the disruption of the “aboriginal spirit” to explain the confusion that these people are experiencing inside themselves. Ethnostress, derives from “ethnicity” which refers to the aboriginal identity and “stress” pertaining to the impact on their individual experiences. “Living within native communities, is a very stressful experience” (Aboriginal Spirit. 2006). Researchers recognise that specific “hurting” behaviours are associated with feelings of fear and anger. When people suffer mental confusion, physical and emotional pain, it causes feelings of hopelessness (Antone and Hill. 1992). To counteract this feeling of hopelessness, new generation DE-modes could be used to educate the masses. Free satellite broadcasts, decoders and satellite dishes, open radio education stations, DVD’s, memory sticks, I-pods, Mp3-players and correspondence based materials could assist the academe to orientate communities about ethnic differences and to enhance a culture of tolerance. Also in the aftermath of civil wars… 3.3 Social justice HEIS are co-responsible for educating people about ethics. Morality is learned within families, communities, schools, associations and public organisations. Lenn (2002) says these “are the crucibles in which individuals make choices, where they take cues from others about what is right and wrong, good and bad, appropriate and inappropriate”. OER courses, such as UNITAR POCI and PPC, could assist to transform communities in conflict into communities of social justice. Antone and Hill. (1992 ) inter alia prioritise so called “frozen needs”:  to feel secure, safe and at peace;  to know that their existence is beneficial; and  to love, live and let live. It is unimaginable that victims of perpetual conflict could develop their full human potential; neither exercises their democratic rights, nor experiences the international principles of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. 4. ODEL, OER AND CO-OPERATIVE EDUCATION ODEL is the fastest way of counteracting illiteracy in Africa. An example is the Open Learning Systems Education Trust (OLSET) which uses radio broadcasts (www.olset.org). Many other learning programmers use free satellite channels. This is becoming a very practical way of curbing the ignorance of ordinary civilians who often fall prone to the war lords of Africa. Another reason why conflicts flare up again after peace settlements is a lack of knowledge. What then are the means to educate both laymen and the official peacekeeper? As stated earlier, peacekeeping modules could be integrated with civil education in primary and secondary schools while programmes for HEIS sessions could be extended into community education such as Adult Basic Education (ABE). Communities could become aware of international goodwill instead of distrusting foreign military staff under the UN flag. Ignorance often hampers settlements. The idea is to establish a ‘needs driven modality’ with military intelligence to sustain a peaceful society throughout the process. How should practitioners then enhance civil /peacekeeping programs? The answer is to regard peacekeeping as a skills training process in:  Developing Free Education Curricula; with  Co-operative Education; and  ODEL methodologies; as well as  Academic accreditation. Developing Free Education Curricula D’Antoni (2007) of UNESCO proposes a grid with a classification policy for responses in an online discussion. Their OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) researched the term, ‘Open Educational Resources’ (OER) which refers to “web-based materials, offered freely and openly for use and re-use in teaching, learning and research.” Intellectual property rights linked to OER (http: // www.w3.org) are inter alia:  to balance openness and intellectual property;  equal distribution;  open access;  quality; and  adjusting new resources.  copyright or under Creative Commons (http://creativecommons.org/education). Government representatives in the Association for African Universities (AAU) favour their idea of Free (Libre/ Freedom) Open Source Software (FLOS) initiatives for OER (Tucker 2007). Likewise, UNESCO, COL, AAU and its African Council for Distance Education (ACDE), are constantly promoting the ODEL-development in Africa. Peacekeeping is also very pertinent in their agendas (CF. AAU Conference 2006). 4.2 Co-operative Education (Co-op) Co-op is a philosophy of learning that promotes learning based on the co-operation between HEIS, industry, commerce and the public sector ( SASCE. 2004). Types of Co-op lend itself for peacekeeping instruction, e.g.:  Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) / army, police, intelligence agencies;  Experiential Learning / students in strategic studies;  Work-based Learning / correctional services;  Internship / diplomatic corps ;  Learnerships / HEIS;  Research Collaboration / ex militia;  Staff Development / navy, air force;  Exchange Programs / co-op learners;  Partnerships / government departments / security companies;  Community Outreach / Adult Basic Education; and  Life Long Learning / peacekeepers in post-conflict sones.. Our university has taken the initiative to register the modules of UNITAR POCI according to the required unit standards for higher education accreditation. Workplace learning is structured, planned, monitored and assessed for the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) levels and to ensure integration with curriculum outcomes of the whole qualification (De Montfort 2007). Service learning could be specifically applied to:  engender civic responsibility in peacekeeping;  develop peacekeeping skills and awareness of personal, social, cultural values and respect; and  engage in peacekeeping activities where both the community and the militia are primary beneficiaries. ODEL methodologies Morrow and Nonyongo (2003) state that ODL has become the global “mode of delivery” in HEIS’s formal and non formal teaching and learning modes. OL-practitioners develop strategies for delivery at affordable cost. It is an integration of various learning resources into a flexible pattern for training and learning. This concept was also used to construct the National Plan for Higher Education in South Africa. It focuses on the specific needs of communities in multiple learning and training areas (Morrow in SAIDE, 1996:4). Comparingly UNITAR POCI modules are geared towards:  enhancing access for learners;  using co-op for employability;  supporting social development;  emphasising Learner centeredness;  Lifelong learning to link with globalisation;  Flexibility for individual needs of learners (Cf. ELAP. 2008); and  andragogical accessibility to higher expertise. An important is the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) for those students who have acquired other career experiences. Consequently ex militia are often co-authors of peacekeeping modules (Cf UNITAR POCI and PPC. 2007). South African accreditation efforts Lt Col De Montfort (2007) of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) is since 2004 busy with the administrative process to get UNITAR POCI modules accredited by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). His aim is to integrate training modules for militia, diplomats, and to prioritise it as part of possible school curricula in civil education and political literacy inductions at HEIS. After accreditation, all learners could generate academic credits for further skills training in PSO. De Montfort also strives to enhance the awareness of international initiatives and how to implement skills in post-conflict sones. Currently, there is no Higher Learning programme on generic PSO offered by any university in southern Africa. To fill this hiatus, De Montfort submitted the unit standards for accreditation to SAQA while his second active research cycle is to write a comprehensive Instructional Design Report (ISD), curriculum and adapt the learner guides accordingly. 5. INTROSPECTION Now,” what are the outcomes of distance peacekeeping instruction?” The Director of UNITAR POCI, Prof H J Langholtz (2008), answers: “There is no simple answer. But it makes for some very interesting analysis and discussion To really answer the question -- Does completion of a UNITAR POCI course make a better peacekeeper? -- We would first need to be able to measure effectiveness as a peacekeeper. And to really do a scientific study of the effectiveness of POCI training, we would need to do an experiment with the proper rigorous experimental design. One design would be to randomly assign soldiers to two groups, and then have one group study UNITAR POCI courses while the other did not. Then, deploy these two groups in a peacekeeping setting, measure their effectiveness, and do a statistical analysis that compared their effectiveness. If the POCI-trained group performs differently at a statistically significant level from the non-POCI-trained group, then this would demonstrate that the training made a difference. Of course this clearly delineated scientific approach is not feasible. We don't really have a scientific way of measuring effectiveness as a peacekeeper.” However, Langholtz (2008) confirms that: ”Each UNITAR POCI course contains a 50- question End-of-Course Examination. We maintain item banks of 100 questions for each of our 21 courses, and we randomly draw 50 questions for each student's unique End-of-Course Exam. In order to pass and earn the Certificate-of- Completion, students must score 75%, and of course this is easily quantified, observed, and measured. So in that sense, yes, it is possible to measure the effectiveness of completion of a UNITAR POCI course. If a student is able to pass the exam it is a safe assumption that they understand the material of the course better than a student who fails the exam. So in answer to the question: "Does peacekeeping training have a measurable impact?" the answer is yes. The measurable impact is the ability to pass the End-of-Course Examination. But if "measurable impact" means effectiveness as a peacekeeper, there is no instrument yet developed that measures that.” Peluk of the PPC wrote the following e-mail on their views:  “Unfortunately, only individuals who have worked for the PPC as facilitators are able to access the Facilitator community on the PPC web site. However, we have passed your information on to our Director, Africa Programs for consideration should we undertake activities in South Africa;  The PPC does not use UNITAR courses in developing our learning products as we find they do not reflect the complexities of contemporary peace operations; and  With regard to the academic accreditation of the PPC courses, we are not accredited by any academic institution currently. For your information, it is our understanding that UN Integrated Training Services has suspended any recognition of training institution courses until they ascertain what their standards are for recognition which UNITS is currently reviewing.” 6. RECCOMMENDATIONS It is evident that this paper is not the panacea for motivating a ‘peacekeeping awareness programme’ or a ‘sustaining peace in post conflict sone programme’. To discuss the motivation for developing an international civil education ODEL programme with OER materials on peacekeeping, we courteously call upon interested researchers to join hands or kindly invite us to join in their projects. We also admit the need to research means how to sustain peace in post conflict regions as earlier proposed by the 5PCF reviewers. Therefore we recommend that:  International action research could be launched through: • United Nations structures (UNITAR POCI, UNESCO’s OECD, UNITWIN and UNICEF); • The COL; • The PPC; • The African Union; and • The World Bank.  An African Higher Education Approach could be through: • The Association for African Universities (AAU); • The African Council for Distance Education (ACDE); and • The African Regional Universities Associations for western—central--and southern --Africa. To conclude this paper with a practical example in sub-Saharan Africa,the New Economic Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) of the South African Government is already supporting with the NEPAD-E-learning project through the Meraka Institute at the Council for Science and Industrial Research (CSIR) into the rest of Africa [lmarques@csir.co.za]. The following organisations within the ODEL movement of southern Africa could soon be expected to align their research with internationally accepted ODEL programmes which include civil education peacekeeping OER / FLOS:  The National Association for Distance Education and Open Learning of South Africa (NADEOSA);  The Distance Education Association for southern Africa (DEASA);  The South African Association for Research Development in Higher Education (SAARDHE);  The Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association of Southern Africa (HELTASA); and  The South African Association for Co-operative Association (SASCE). 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