I MESCE Conference
Catania 2004

The Mediterranean Society of Comparative Education (MESCE) was launched in Catania (Italy) during a conference, “Comparative Education in the Mediterranean,” held on 4th-6th March 2004, organized by Giovanni Pampanini. MESCE is very much Giovanni Pampanini’s brainchild.

WCCES 2007
Sarajevo

Meanwhile MESCE followed up on its Catania conference with its involvement in a series of activities including a high profile congress. At the World Congress of Comparative Education in Cuba in 2004, Giovanni Pampanini proposed the candidature of Sarajevo (BiH) as the venue for the following World Congress. This proposal was accepted and this meant that MESCE would serve as the host regional organisation for the congress. The congress was organised by the team from the University of Sarajevo led by Adila Kreso, former MESCE President. MESCE members were very much involved as regional convenors for the Sarajevo World congress that took place in September 2007.

WCCES 2007
Sarajevo

Au Congrès Mondial de l’Education Comparée à Cuba en 2004, Giovanni Pampanini propose la candidature de Sarajevo (BiH) pour le Congrès Mondial suivant. Du moment que cette proposition fut acceptée, le MESCE a représenté l’organisation régionale accueillante. Le Congrès fut impeccablement organisé par l’équipe de l’Université de Sarajevo conduite par Adila Kreso, mon prédécesseur à la Présidence de la MESCE, en septembre 2007.

II MESCE Conference
Alexandria 2006

MESCE organised its second meeting between 4-6 February, 2006. The magnificent newly built Bibliotheca Alexandrina in the heart of the ancient Egyptian city of Alexandria was the venue. Adopting the general theme, ‘Community Participation, Decentralization and Education for Democracy in the Mediterranean Area/Countries,’ the conference was intended to place MESCE on a firm footing.
The choice of Alexandria, Egypt, as the venue was appropriate to ensure a strong Arab participation. As expected, there was a strong Egyptian presence. More pleasing was the fact that there was a strong female presence at this conference both in terms of speakers and convenors.    Representatives from Lebanon, Italy, Turkey and Malta joined presenters from Canada, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, as well as Germany.
Particularly interesting was the presentation concerning the prestigious and ancient Al-Azhar University by Ibrahim Marai and Mohamed Fathy from the same Cairo university. It proposed a renewed role for the traditional Muslim University through e-learning for training of Imams all over the world. Being so topical in light of recent events in the Western world, this presentation led to a huge debate concerning the nature of Islam and the role of Imams. Instructive were debates about the role of ‘civil society’ in Egyptian Education especially with regard to women. The debates involved Raouf Azmy, Nagy Shenouda Nakhla and Omima Gado, Cairo. Traugott Schoefthaler, Executive Director of the Anna Lindh Foundation for the Dialogue Among Cultures, addressed the topic of organising future conferences of this kind around the theme of ‘Dialogue among Cultures,’ without ignoring the political economy dimension.
The Alexandria conference which was convened by Faten Adley from the National Centre for Education, Research and Development, Cairo. Simultaneous translation, in Arabic, French and English, was provided on a voluntary basis by researchers from the same university where Faten Adly is based. Faten Adly edited the book containing the proceedings of the conference which was produced in hardcover this year and which contains papers on a range of topics, written in Arabic and English.

II Conférence du MESCE
Alexandria 2006

Avant le Congrès de Sarajevo, le MESCE a organisé sa deuxième rencontre, cette fois dans le coté Sud de la Méditerranée, en Egypte, auprès de la magnifique Bibliothèque de Alexandria récemment construite. Choisissant le thème « Community Participation, Decentralization and Education for Democracy in the Mediterranean Area/Countries” (La Participation Communautaire, la Décentralisation et l’Education pour la Démocratie dans les Pays méditerranéens), la conférence a posé les bases solides pour le travail du MESCE et a connu une plus large participation que la première conférence. Le choix d’Alexandria d’Egypte a été effectué pour assurer une forte participation des Arabes, normalement entravés de participer aux conférences à l’étranger à cause des pénuries des fonds dont souffrent les universités arabes. Une forte présence féminine soit au niveau des participants soit au niveau des intervenants a été un aspect tout à fait remarquable. Il y a eu des représentants de l’Italie, de la Turquie, de Malte et en plus des animateurs du Canada, de la Malaisie, du Sri Lanka et de l’Allemagne. Une présence distinguée a été celle de l’Editeur de Comparative Education Review, Monsieur Mark Ginsburg, qui été actif en Cairo comme Directeur de la Division pour les Réformes du Programme pour la Réforme Egyptienne de l’Education. Monsieur Ibrahim Marai et Monsieur Mohamed Fathy ont proposé une présentation très intéressante de l’ancienne et prestigieuse Université Al-Azhar : ils ont suggéré un nouveau rôle pour la traditionnelle Université musulmane dans la formation à distancedes Imams dans tout le monde. Etant si actuel à la lumière des évènements qui ont marqué le début de ce siècle, cette présentation a abouti à un grand débat sur la nature de l’Islam et le rôle des Imams. Les débats sur le rôle de la Société Civile dans l’Education en Egypte ont été extrêmement instructifs et ont engagé Raouf Azmy, Nagy Shenouda Nakhla et Omima Gado du Caire.
Traugott Schoefthaler, Directeur Exécutif de la Fondation Anna Lindh pour le Dialogue Interculturel, a adressé le sujet de l’organisation de conférences futures sur le thème du « Dialogue entre Cultures », sans oublier la dimension économique. La traduction simultanée en Arabe, Français, Anglais a été garantie par des chercheurs volontaires de l’Université du Caire. Faten Adly a publié un livre maîtrisant les actes de la conférence an Arabe et en Anglais.

III MESCE Conference
Malta 2008

Over a hundred and thirty educational researchers from various parts of the Mediterranean and beyond participated at the conference which took place at the New Dolmen Hotel, Qawra, Malta, from 11-13th May, 2008.

There were two broad conference themes at the Malta conference, namely, 'Intercultural Dialogue within and across Nations' and 'Education in the Mediterranean.’ Papers selected revolved around such themes as: ‘Education in the Mediterranean,’ ‘North-South, South-North, East-West, West-East Relations in Education,’ ‘Migration – Inward and Outward (Diaspora),’ ‘Post-colonial Education,’ ‘Religion and Education,’ ‘Multi-ethnicity and Education,’ ‘Inter-ethnic Education,’ ‘Inter-cultural Dialogue Within and Across Nations,’ ‘Education for Sustainability in the Mediterranean and Beyond.’ Dr. Carmel Borg and Professor Peter Mayo, from the University of Malta’s Faculty of Education, were the conference convenors.

The keynote speakers were: Ronald Sultana (Editor of the Mediterranean Journal of Education Studies and Director of the University’s Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Educational Research) and Isabelle Calleja from the University of Malta, Zelia Gregoriou from the University of Cyprus, Andre` Elias Mazawi, from the University of British Columbia, Paolo Landri, from the Universita` degli Studi di Napoli Federico II and Mark Ginsburg (Editor of Comparative Education Review), from the Academy for Educational Development (USA).
The full programme could be accessed at:
http://www.educ.um.edu.mt/mesce/cprogramme.html

III Conférence du MESCE
Malta 2008

La troisième conférence du MESCE a été réalisée récemment à Malte au New Dolmen Hotel, Qawra, de l’11 au 13 Mai 2008 et presque 130 chercheurs, issus de tous les Pays de la Méditerranée, ont participé.
Malta a remplacé la Tunisie, originairement désignée comme lieu de la conférence parce que les collègues tunisiens n’ont pas donné suite à leurs expressions d’intérêt.
Les deux thèmes principaux de Malte s’agissaient du « Dialogue interculturel entre et à travers les Nations » et de « L’Education dans la zone méditerranéenne ». Les sujets traités tournaient autour de : « Les relations Nord-Sud, Sud Nord, Est West, West Est face à l’Education », « La Migration interne et externe (Diaspora) », « L’éducation post-coloniale », « La religion et l’éducation », « La multi ethnicité et l’éducation », « L’éducation interethnique », « Le dialogue interculturel entre et à travers les Nations », « L’éducation pour le développement durable de la Méditerranée ». Monsieur Carmel Borg et moi, avons été les facilitateurs des débats.
Les intervenants: Ronald Sultana (éditeur des Mediterranean Journal of Education Studies et Directeur du Centre Euro-Méditerranéen pour la Recherche sur l’Education), Isabelle Calleja de l’Université de Malte, Mehdi Lahlou de l’Université Mohammed V, Maroc, Zelia Gregoriou de l’Université de Cyprus, Andre` Elias Mazawi, de l’Université British Columbia, Paolo Landri, de l’Université de Naples Federico II et Mark Ginsburg (éditeur de Comparative Education Review), de l’Académie pour le Développement dans l’Education (USA). Le programme est accessible au site :
http://www.educ.um.edu.mt/mesce/cprogramme.html

IVth MESCE Conference
Morocco 2009

The fourth conference of the Mediterranean Society of Comparative Education (MESCE) was held under the auspices of the Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS) at Rabat, Morocco on the 9th and 10th November, 2009. The conference title was 'Education, Democracy and Social Justice - Curricular, Pedagogical and Policy Implications'. The conference was held this year rather than in 2010 not to clash with the World Congress of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES) to take place in Istanbul this coming June. MESCE is a full member of the WCCES whose executive meeting also took place in Rabat the day before the MESCE conference started. Members of the WCCES Executive Council participated at the MESCE conference, some even presenting papers at this event.

This was the largest and most representative MESCE conference to date. The programme was packed with plenaries, keynotes and parallel sessions with speakers from both sides of the Mediterranean shores. There were also presenters from other regions, such as North America, sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia, to ensure that the conference involved a certain degree of international border-cros

sing with respect to ideas and experiences, in the best spirit of critical comparative education. There were presentations from Australia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, Cyprus, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Iran, Italy, Malta, Morocco, Palestine, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Tanzania, Turkey, United Kingdom and the U.S.A. There were also scholars from Southern countries (e.g. Algeria, Ghana) who are now ensconced in Western institutions.

Professor Samira Dlimi from ENS, Morocco and MESCE Secretary General, Professor Carmel Borg, from the University of Malta, were the conference convenors. They left no stone unturned to render this a superbly organized event, with simultaneous translations in English, French and Arabic being provided.

The opening plenary was addressed by Professor Abdelhafid Debbagh, Secrétaire Général du Département de l’Enseignement Supérieur, de la Formation des Cadres et de la Recherche scientifique, the Director of ENS, M. Abdellattif Moqine, Professor Dlimi and MESCE President, Professor Peter Mayo, University of Malta. The keynote speakers were: Professor Abdellah Saaf, Universite` Mohammed V, Rabat, Morocco and President of Le Centre des Etudes et Recherches en Sciences Sociales (CERSS) Morocco, Professor Mehdi Lahlou, Institut National de Statistique et d'Economie Appliquée (INSEA), Rabat, Morocco and ME.SCE Vice President, Professor Fatma Gok, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey, MESCE Executive Committee Member and convenor of 2010 WCCES Conference, and Professor Abdelmajid Kaddouri, Hasan II University, Casablanca, Morocco.

Topics addressed throughout the conference included Migration, Postcolonial Education, Organizational Culture, Pedagogies of Memory and Mourning, Youth cultures, Language Politics, Colonization and History, Women’s issues in Education, Higher Education, Vocational Education, Bologna Process, Assessment Policies, Middle Eastern Politics, Inclusion Policies, Maternal Education, Self-Reliance and Education, Human Rights Education, Equity issues in Education and School Leadership, Gender issues in Education, and Scientific Knowledge in a Global Era.

Sponsorship for this conference was provided by the ENS (Rabat-Morocco), Ministry of Education (Morocco), the Italian Cultural Institute and MESCE. The Italian Ambassador to Morocco also hosted a reception for ME.SCE and WCCES Executive Council participants at his residence. A welcome reception was held on the eve of the conference courtesy of the Italian Cultural Institute in Rabat, Morocco. Information regarding the conference can be found on the Society’s website: http://www.mesce.org/