Establishing the TIMSSE Series in the Constructivist Tradition
As educators we strive to translate “swords into words” in the spirit advocated by former
UNESCO Director General Mayor. (Mayor, Remarks, Peace Education Program, Teachers
College, Columbia University, 2002). In order to realize this vision, we must first comprehend
the basis of traditional teaching in higher education, and more specifically in conflict prevention.
In the 21
st
century, the unprecedented challenges and opportunities in education influence our
vocation. Our responsibility is to be proactive as we anticipate and seizes upon new approaches
to learning.
In “The Futures Project: Policy for Higher Education in a Changing World”, Newman
discusses a critical weakness in United States higher education as we begin the 21
st
century. In his
findings, higher education fails to apply insights about the nature of effective pedagogy to
teaching and learning on a consistent basis. In this context, Newman also cites a slower pace in
the academy to take advantage of technology that introduces effective pedagogy either in the
traditional classroom or in distance learning. (Newman, “The Futures Project,” 2002.) Our
experience to date in the TIMSSE series identified ways in which constructivist principles
enhance our pedagogical approaches. For this reason, after the rationale for the TIMSSE
experience is explained, it is essential to analyse some basic principles that apply in a
transcontinental constructivist learning community.
The TIMSSE initiative dates back to the spring 1999 bombing of Serbia by the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Mazzucelli was responsible as Founding Director for the
curriculum of the new MA Program in International Peace and Conflict Resolution at Arcadia
University. This Program was designed to offer graduate students study abroad during the second
year to complete their curriculum and acquire internship and/or service learning experiences. The
design of the TIMSSE series aimed to respond proactively to the requirements of a new century.
Its purpose was to educate leaders with a global perspective in the midst of a communications
revolution driven by technological innovation. The incorporation of technology in the TIMSSE
series to create a global classroom had as its goal to balance theory and practice in the analysis of
2
Convention