WORLD COUNCIL OF COMPARATIVE EDUCATION SOCIETIES

Transcription

1 WORLD COUNCIL OF COMPARATIVE EDUCATION SOCIETIES CONSEIL MONDIAL DES ASSOCIATIONS D ÉDUCATION COMPARÉE CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE SOCIEDADES DE EDUCACION COMPARADA Office of the President WCCES Bureau du Présiden CMAEC/ Oficina del Presidente WCCES Department of Education. Graduate School of Education and Information Studies (GSEIS), Moore Hall Box Cell: University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA USA presidentwcces@gseis.ucla.edu Websites: Second Message from Dr. Carlos Alberto Torres, President WCCES: The first 100 days of my Presidency Dear colleagues: September 19, 2013 marks the first 100 days of my WCCES Presidency. I am delighted to report that we have established a wonderful working relationship with the Secretary General Dr. Diane Napier, complementing each other very nicely. The Council should be grateful to Diane for her indefatigable work, attention to detail, her careful drafting of documents that we have initiated together in this new period of the Council, as well as her work as the custodian of the records. Similar accolades are deserved to Dr. Heidi Biseth and the Assistant secretary General Emily Mang for their work as webmasters. Dr. Biseth, Chair of the Finance Committee, also collaborated in many of the key decisions that we have undertaken so far. Dr. Norberto Fernández Lamarra has also provided sound advice and accepted a number of new responsibilities. I am very grateful to him. My appreciation must also go to all the members of the Council who have contributed with their suggestions to the many initiatives and documents that have been generated in this period. I believe this has been a very hectic period, but one of success. The goals have been devoted to increase the efficiency and professionalism of the council focusing on the different roles that need to be in place for the system to work properly. To fulfill these goals, I have proposed a number of new initiatives in the past 100 days. 1

2 What follows is a list of work accomplished during this period: 1. We have launched a call for constituent societies to host the annual meeting of the Executive Committee. Hopefully we will have more than just the required annual meeting. 2. We have designed a system for the incorporation and/or renovation of Standing Committee Chairs and members, which was subject to a thorough and democratic debate inside the Council. This system, that extends the work begun by past President Wing On Lee and Secretary General Diane Napier, I have began to incorporate new members who have been nominated into the different Standing Committees, and confirming for another period those who were already serving, including the new Chairs of committees. We hope to send all the letters of incorporation during the month of September. 3. I have requested the elaboration of strategic planning to be prepared by each SC Chair and the Secretary General for their service period. 4. We have created a new working group under the auspices of the Presidency, which is now constituted as the Office of the President, including the interim Assistant to the Presidency, Mr. Jason Dorio, the 2

3 interim Legal Counsel to the President, Dr. Eduardo Mario Favier Dubois, and the interim Director of Communications, Dr. Greg Misiaszek. This is a virtual office listed in our website but also a real office at UCLA, with funds contributed by UCLA to the workings of my presidency. Soon new members will be incorporated to this office to facilitate our work. 5. We have launched the WCCES Newsletter entitled New Epoch, which is one of the responsibilities of the Director of Communications Dr. Misiaszek. This newsletter will be sent periodically to all of the Presidents of the constituent societies and the standing committees, and will also be publicly posted in the WCCES website. I hope the newsletter will be one of our vehicles not only to disseminate information, but also to promote intellectual exchanges in the council, reinvigorating our international presence. 6. We have created a subcommittee which will work in modernizing WCCES statutes and bylaws I have asked the two Vice Presidents, Dr. Norberto Fernández Lamarra and Dr. Wang Yingjie to coordinate this work. In addition, I have asked few senior members of the Council to serve on this subcommittee. As legal counsel Dr. Favier Dubois will serve as ex-officio member. 3

4 Their work will be presented to the Executive next year. 7. I am working with several colleagues trying to enhance the presence of the Council in the world, and to bring more societies of comparative education into the Council. Likewise we have not been remiss in beginning planning of the Beijing Congress, working with the Congress Conveners and leadership of the China Comparative Education Society (CCES) who are the hosts of the XVI World Congress in Beijing in A number of congress-planning activities have already been engaged with the Officers, also members of the Congress Standing Committee, Finance Standing Committee, and the Bureau. 8. While the Council is deeply grateful to Dr. David Turner for his 12 years as Treasurer, he has indicated his intention to step down and his quest must be honored. Therefore we have launched a call for a new Treasurer. 9. I have also thanked Dr. Vandra Masemann for her service as Historian, and have issued a call for a new Historian. 10. Because I intend to visit as many societies as possible during my period as President, I am happy to report that I have visited with the Italian society in 4

5 Rome early this week, will visit the Chinese Taipei Comparative Education Society in October, will visit Professors Wang and Professor Liu Baocun in Beijing in October, providing a keynote in a meeting planned in Beijing Normal University, and will participate in the Annual Meeting of the Indian Society of Comparative Education in December where I will provide the Valedictorian Address. 11. The Travel Fund Initiative was announced by Secretary General Diane Napier, which began development in The Initiative is currently under refinement and we are anticipating its implementation. In addition to this list, there are a number of new initiatives for the immediate future. We are beginning conversations with many members of the committees and chairs to implement the following projects outlined in my platform: a video biography project, an uncommon conversation project, which will result in a conference engaging the gatekeepers of knowledge in comparative education, hopefully to be organized in 2014 or 2015; a new project regarding gender dynamics and representation in the Council; and new models of association with the projects of UNESCO and the United Nations, particularly in the newly launched Education First Initiative. 5

6 Let me also take this opportunity to thank all of you who have worked feverishly to enhance the quality of our activities, and encourage fulfillment of our mission. This has been a wonderful and very pleasant period of dialogue and negotiations within the Council that has facilitated my learning curve. Nothing is simply in an international organization based on voluntary work, more so one comprised by colleagues from all corners of the world, and a plurality of epistemologies, methodologies, theoretical and political positions. Although there are still a number of challenges and tasks ahead of us, I trust that we will work together towards making the presence of the WCCES in the world more prominent, its activities more professional and efficient, and our deliberations and exchanges filled with the breadth and depth necessary to construct a new community of learning and praxis in comparative education. Sincerely yours, Dr. Carlos Alberto Torres Director Paulo Freire Institute and Associate Dean for Global Programs Graduate School of Education and Information Studies University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) President World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES) 6