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OMEPUpdate

Margaret Roberts

XVIII OMEP WORLD CONGRESS· JERUSALEM· July 1986

NEWS FROM OMEP

Young Children and the Qualityof Life

Our thanks and congratulations tothe Israeli OMEP Committee for thehighly successful Congress, and espe­cially to Lynne Jasik and Avima Lom­bard for the energy, idealism andproblem-solving approach with whichthey initiated and carried through thistremendous undertaking. Their effortswere signalled from the openingceremony with the flag-bearing childrenand the young people's singing anddancing- it was going to be an enjoyable,hardworking and impressive Congressand we were not disappointed.

There were 400 overseas full-timeparticipants, 50 students and 150 Is­raelis, total 600 with representativesfrom 51 countries - an amazing ac­complishment considering the anxietythat many members felt about the venue.

The main lectures in the Larommewere well presented, wide-ranging andrelated to fundamental issues in early

childhood. The Publications Commissionis hoping to assemble this material inbooklet form. A great variety of inter­esting shorter papers were presented anddiscussed in smaller groups throughoutthe Congress. Abstracts of these wereprinted and made available to par­ticipants. Many would have valued moretime for Talk-it-over sessions in view ofthe great benefit to members of time toexchange information, ideas andresearch issues, and simply to get toknow one another better with link-upsacross the world. Field trips providedsome opportunities for this and coveredmany aspects of child and family welfare,health and education, including oppor­tunities to visit combined Israeli-Arabcommunities and to meet Ethiopian Jewsin their new homes. Children were oftenaway on holiday but we had very able,often young, guides who were mostknowledgeable about all aspects of thescene including controversial mattersand differing viewpoints.

The West Bank, we were told by an

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official who addressed us, was little morethan 500 yards down the road from theConference Centre and we could walkthere and see for ourselves. We sawvarious levels of housing, somemakeshift and very poor, others on theother side of the street greatly improved.We were told by the same official thatalthough there was a state of war, peace­ful negotiations were being sought. Onthe surface Jews and Arabs appeared tobe freely going about their everyday lives'but rolls of barbed wire were lying on theroad ready to be used and young soldierswalked among the crowds in the streetsand markets equipped with their guns.Young people are required to give threeyears military or, in the case of the girls,community service.

The most impressive aspect of lifewas the enormous drive and powerfulmotivation of the Israelis to develop theircountry, and to welcome overseasvisitors. They were also enthusiasticabout going out as ambassadors andworkers especially to underdevelopedcountries, and share their varied ex­periences.

New towns were emerging in thedesert, modern style housing was beingestablished on the rocky terrain. Pre­cious water is pumped from deep wellsand conserved during the three months ofheavy rainfall to be used to irrigate thedry soil in the heat of summer.Electricity is being produced from an ex­perimental system making use of thechemical content of the Dead Sea. Allthis with the nomadic Bedouins living, asthey did in Biblical times, out in the aridJudean desert, bringing their camelsonto the highway to entice the tourists tomount their apparently docile animals tohave their photographs taken.

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OMEP's business meetings:Executive, World Council andWorld Assembly

OMEP's business was a main fea­ture of the Congress with the Executivemeetings a week before and the WorldCouncil Meetings on three full days. Aninnovation was the holding of the WorldAssembly in the middle of the Congressrather than as in the past after the finalsessions. In the event it was in the after­noon following the field trips in the morn­ing. It was a very full day but the as­sembly was well attended and importantbusiness was carried through.

Proposed changes in OMEP's Con­stitution were strenuously debated espe­cially in regard to the system of nomina­tions for the position of World President.Announcements of elections to the Ex­ecutive and World Council brought im­portant changes, the high-light being theelection of Eva Balke of Norway, long­serving member of the World Council, tobe the new World President as from 1stJanuarY,1987. Congratulations and bestwishes were extended to her.

A presentation of an album ofphotographs and tributes from NationalCommittees and individuals waspresented to Madeleine Goutard, OMEP'sWorld President for two terms (six years)together with our thanks and apprecia­tion for her wonderful service to OMEP,to her energy, enthusiasm and skill indeveloping further the life and work ofthe Organization throughout the world.

A very warm welcome was given tothe new Editor of the InternationalJournal, Dr. Otto Weininger of The On­tario Institute for Studies in Education,Toronto, who attended the Executive andWorld Council meetings and took a lead-

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ing part in the work of the PublicationCommission. He made a special appealfor collaboration from National Com­mittees for news of events and activitiesin the field of early childhood education,and for articles to be submitted for pos­sible publication in order to keep theJournal as representative as possible ofthe work of OMEP and maintain a highstandard.

As always the International Eveningwas the main social event when the spon­taneous expression of delight in meetingso many old and new friends from 51countries was demonstrated in fortyminutes of energetic, impromptu dancingand singing before the concert itemspresented by individual countries. Theopen-air Middle-Eastern Buffet supperbefore the concert was much enjoyed byall.

A number of delegates reported mostinteresting pre-Congress tours toCaesarea, Nazareth, Tiberias, and Beth­lehem. On the Saturday prior to the Con­gress, there was an exciting tour toMasada, "last stronghold of the Jewishzealots in their war against the Romansand a never-to-be-forgotten swim" in theDead Sea. There were further oppor­tunities for extended tours at the conclu­sion of the Congress. One of these in­cluded the Golan Heights and a few daysin a Kibbutz near the Lebanon borderwith opportunities to see agriculturalprojects and work with officials con­cerned with training hospital playworkers. This aspect of the Congress wasmuch appreciated providing oppor­tunities for "person to person" contactswhich are already being followed up.

To many OMEP members theJerusalem Congress appeared on reflec­tion as a "watershed" in that the way for­ward seemed more clearly indicated; newmember countries were welcomed; newcontacts were made with interested pos-

NEWS FROM OMEP

sible members; new officers were electedto serve the different regions, on Execu­tive and the World Council and plans forfuture meetings were formulated. Con­tinuity was preserved with MadeleineGoutard elected to the position of UN­ESCO Representative, a post which she iswell qualified to hold resulting from herlong association with that body. It wasfitting that one of her last and mostpleasurable tasks was to honour JensSigsgaard of Denmark, one of our oldestmembers, with the award of HonoraryLife Membership recorded on an artisticCertificate with citation of his services tothe Organization. We were delightedthat his wife was able to accompany himon this memorable occasion.

OMEPRemembers

Friends and loyal workers for OMEPfrom its inception who had died wereremembered with appreciation andgratitude: Alva Myrdal of Sweden,Susanne Herbiniere Lebert of France,Ase Skard of Norway, Evangeline Wardof USA. While at the time of the congressnews was received of recent deaths ofRosa Yerganian of Belgium and of Alek­sandra Marjanovic of Yugoslavia both ofwhom had given dedicated service to thework ofOMEP.

Sadly we must now add to this listthe name of Vera Webber whorepresented South Africa since the firstOMEP Congress in Prague 1948. Shewill be remembered as a great worker forchildren of all races and cultures in acountry where this is a courageous actand which she carried on throughout herlife with sensitive understanding, deter-

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mination and faith in the future. Thiswas epitomized by her participation inthe Jerusalem Congress and more espe­cially by the size of the South Africandelegation made up of all that country'sdifferent cultures.

It is fitting that the services of thesemembers and other workers should berecorded in the proposed "History ofOMEP". Plans are going ahead toproduce a booklet based on contributionsfrom National Committees dealing withthe first ten years 1948-1957 in time forthe celebrations in Prague of the found­ing ofOMEP in 1948.

Warmest expressions of thanks andappreciation for all the tremendous workin preparation, during and after theXVIIIth World Congress in Jerusalem tothe Israeli Committee, and their agentsOphir, from all whoparticipated Shalom.

Noticias de O.M.E.P.

La Region de America del Sur deO.M.E.P. celebre con todo exito un semi­nario sobre curriculum en educacionprescolar en Julio 1986, en Montevideo,organizado por el Comite Nacional deUruguay. Mas de 2.000 educadoras deUruguay, Argentina y Paraguay asis­tieron a este evento, y el tema despertOun vivo interes.

Nouvelles de I'O.M.E.P.

La Region de l'Amerique du Sud deI'D.M.E.P. a celebre avec grand succes unseminaire sur la curriculum en education

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prescolaire en Juillet 1986, a Mon­tevideo, organise par Ie Comite Nationalde l'Uruguay. Au-dela de 2.000educatrtces y ont participe, provenant deI'Uruguay, de l'Argentine et duParaguay. Le sujet a suscite un grandinteret chez les participants.

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New Members

Welcome to:

India - elected to full membership

Singapore and Thailand - Preparatory Committee status

Zambia - Associate Membership

NEWS FROM OMEP

Representatives ofMadagascar and New Zealand - Individual Membership

New Commission

After a strong plea by Carmen Fischer de Herrera (Chile) that the Working Groupon Poverty should be given Commission status in order to work effectively it wasagreed that a Commission on Development be appointed. A generous gift had beenreceived from the National Committee ofJapan and it was agreed that a donation fromthis fund be sent to the Solomon Islands which Marian Clegg (Australia) reported hadsuffered fifty per cent devastation from cyclones.

Future Meetings

Belgrade - Yugoslavia Symposium on 5-lOMayIntercultural 1987Education

Toronto - Canada Fourth 25-29 May(OISE, 252 Bloor St. W.) International 1987

Conference ofToy Libraries

Jerusalem - Israel Second 5- 9 JulyInternational 1987

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Congress on EarlyChildhood EducationChildhood in theTechnological Era

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Oslo - Norway

Prague - Czechoslovakia

London - U.K.

World Counciland Seminar

40th AnniversaryofOMEP

19th World Congress

Publications

22 July - 2 August1987

21 - 27 September1988

7 - 14July1989

Pre-School Education for PeaceSynthesis of replies to QuestionnaireEditor: Maria Dunin-Wasowic (Poland)Printed by USA National Committee

Seeds for PeaceReport ofa Four Day Consultation with ten OMEP member countriesAuthor: Madeleine Goutard - World President OMEPPublished by UNESCO, PARIS

Anthology ofTraditional GamesYugoslavian National CommitteeEditor: Ivan Illich

Children are worth the effortA Memorial to Evangeline WardPublished by the Australian Early Childhood AssociationCanberra, Australia

Shareable Experiences in Early Childhood Care and EducationSynthesis of Case Studies oflnnovatory ProgrammesCollated by Margaret RobertsPublished by UNESCO, Paris

Children ofOur TimeChildren of the Fourth World: A chance for all childrenPublished by International ATD Fourth World MovementHeadquarters in France, London and New York

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THE CANADIAN JOURNAL OFRESEARCH IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

This Journal is published by Concor­dia Uni versity in a bilingual formattwice yearly. It is the first forum for thepublication of Canadian Researchprojects related to Early ChildhoodEducation and is composed of articles ofcompleted research, summaries ofresearch in progress and short descrip­tions of recently funded research. A sec­tion of viewpoints provides the oppor­tunity for the expression of opposingviews of early childhood issues. In ad­dition, the Journal contains reviews ofnewly released early childhood texts anda listing of upcoming conferences andseminars. Annual subscription: $50(Can) for librarians; $30 for individuals;$17.50 per issue.

La Revue Canadienne de l'Etude enPetite Enfance est une publication bilin­gue qui parait deux fois par annee.Premier forum Canadien propre auxchercheurs et chercheures dans ledomaine de la Petite Enfance, la Revuevise a divulguer les avancements de larecherche en education prescolaire et, acette fin, comprend des articles derecherches terminees, des resumes derecherches en cours ainsi que de brevesdescriptions des recherchessubventionnees. Divers points de vue,parfois opposes, y sont egalementexprimes. En outre, la Revue contient decomptes rendus de documents recentsainsi que la liste des colloques et semi­naires a venir. L'abonnement annuel:$50 (Can) pour les biblioteques; $30 pourun membre individuel; $17.50 pour lacopie individuelle.

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La Revista Canadiense de EducacionPrescolar es una publicacion bilingiie(Ingles y Frances) que aparece dos vecesal ario. La Revista representa el primerforo Canadiense destinado a la difusionde investigaciones y trabajosrelacionados con educacion prescolar. In­cluye igualmente diversos puntos de vis­tas sobre temas de actualidad,informacion sobre estudios e inves­tigaciones en curso, revision depublicaciones recientes. Precio:Bibliotecas $50 (Can); Individual $30;Por numero $17.50.

Editor - Redactrice:

Ellen Jacobs

Concordia University

1455 de Maisonneuve Boulevard West

Montreal (Quebec) Canada H3G 1MB