Resumen de ETEN: an european network open to the world
José Portela, Alice Hindsgavl, Astrid Schoonacker, Danny Wyfells, George Bieger, Helle Schousboe
Some years ago the transition from the �Industrial Society� to the �Information Society� was the main concern for many of us. Information permeated all aspects of our societies; lately, we have moved on to talk about the �Knowledge Society.� At the present time we live in a society of heterogeneity and interdependence which demands from us more flexibility, more openness, more awareness of others, more interconnectedness among our institutions. As professionals of education we need to think differently: we need to focus on man�s ability to grow and learn, on human resources and values, and less on institutions and systems; we need to focus more on learning ability, playfulness and creativity, less on memorizing facts, more on children as a valuable source of ideas, and not just on adults as the sole source of ideas, on technology to enable us to do new things, instead of on technology to enhance efficiency.
The challenge, we believe, is to construct partnerships driven by common interests that will multiply creativity, the keyword to an unpredictable world, but that will only happen if we pay more attention to new approaches to solving the prevalent problems of the increasingly multicultural societies. This is one reason why we believe that it is through enticing professional mobility networks that we lay the foundation for solutions to promote a more peaceful planet.
Recently, we see an increasing number of institutions applying for international networks membership. And why do people join networks? In our opinion there are two main reasons: first, like the tide, it is inevitable: we cannot avoid it; it is a natural movement to become connected; secondly, this world is becoming more open (market-, finance-, information-, business-, health-, and education-wise). We are moving from a relatively fragmented world to the dense and indispensable interdependencies of an integrated planet. So we need collaboration, and we need policies which encourage the potential synergies and which can minimize the friction and risks of conflict that these changes may bring. These are just some of the motivations why we got involved in ETEN.
