L2C – Official Presentation

Our Vision

A world in which education is the foundation of a just, inclusive and thriving society.

Our Mission

We re-think and transform education and pedagogy. Our mission is to develop individual and collective potential to co-create and actively participate in a sustainable, open and peaceful society.

Who are we?

We are a group of dedicated education professionals and citizens who strive to transform our education structures and practices so that education serves the vision of a society we want to live in: a society in which human rights, dignity, equity, cooperation, participation and happiness are upheld. In April 2014, a Manifesto: ‘Education for Change – Change for Education’ that calls for an important change of mind-sets, of policies and practices was presented at a conference organized by the Council of Europe.  The manifesto was adopted by 200 teachers from all over Europe. L2C strives to carry on the message of the Manifesto; we – the members – stress the importance of education for preparing our youth and adults for a life as democratic citizens in diverse democratic societies, for their future in a global workforce and for the development of their personality. We focus on the implications this has for the image and ethos of the teaching profession as well as other educators, and subsequently act to support the development of the values and competences that all educators need in their day-to-day practices to answer the challenges that lie ahead.

What issues do we want to address?

In an increasingly complex world in which more or less radical changes take place in many areas of our life (information, communications, international mobility, finance and globalised economy), the sustainability of the objectives, methods and content of our traditional schooling and education settings ought to be put into question. We want education to play a humanistic role for our future destiny. Therefore,

• We emphasize that responsibility for active participation of every individual in a democratic society, without discrimination or violence, is shared between families, schools, universities, political and civil society.
• We reconsider educators’ roles, transform teaching processes and view school as a learning community.
• We act to support educational transformation for the benefit of building sustainable democratic societies, while developing learners as whole persons (head, heart, hands).

What we do and why does it matter?

Our actions promote transformative educational practices that generate conditions for the development of the whole person and excellence within a frame of social justice and creative human emancipation. For this, we focus on personal and professional development:

• We offer training through courses, workshops, and conferences at local and international levels;
• We support the educational activities through consultancy and direct services in formal and non-formal contexts;
• We collect and spread ideas that promote educational transformation through our resource center and publications;
• We develop and assess competence for democracy;
• We seek to influence policy making through educational research and partnerships.

While our organization puts educators at the center, it concerns each of us, as lifelong learners, as teachers, as parents, as social, political and cultural actors who care and can act for the social good.

Pascale MOMPOINT-GAILLARD – Social Psychologist and Pedagogical Consultant for the  Pestalozzi Programme, Council of Europe, France

Guðrún RAGNARSDÓTTIR – Teacher and Researcher, University of Iceland, Iceland

Carolina GONÇALVES – Professor, School of Education, Lisbon, Portugal

Visnja RAJIC – Professor and Teacher Educator, University of Zagreb, Croatia

Sabine ROHMANN  – President of the Commission Education and Culture of the Conference of INGOs, Council of Europe, France

Jón Torfi JONASSON – Professor and Former Dean at the Faculty of Social Science and School of Education, University of Iceland, Iceland

Robin WILSON – Journalist and Editor of ‘Open Security’ at opendemocracy.net, United Kingdom

Charlot CASSAR – School Principal and Teacher Trainer, Malta

Carmen BECKER – Teacher of English, Tübingen Professional, Germany

Alessandro SORIANI –  Co-founder and Trainer at Ferfilò Associazione Culturale, PHD Candidate, University of Bologna and Paris – Sorbonne Nouvelle, Italy

Ólöf Þórhildur ÓLAFSDÓTTIR – Former Director of Democratic Citizenship and Participation at the Council of Europe

Gabriele MAZZA – Former Director of School, Out of School and Higher education at the Council of Europe, France

Jean-Claude COUTURE – Associate Co-ordinator of Research for the Alberta Teacher’s Association, Canada

P. Jean STILES – Principal of Jasper Place High School, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Lilian THURAM – Professional Football Player and Founder of ‘Foundation Lilian Thuram – ‘Education Contre le Racisme’, France