145 principle of serving, and its mission of educating ethical, compassionate and competent citizens: the Inter-Country Committee, Brazil & Portugal and Official Portuguese- Speaking Countries (CIP-Plop). Its participation in that committee was also the result of an invitation it received —and accepted— to become an advisory observer of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP). In order to foster integration between the peoples of those countries, stimulating universal peace, tolerance and dialog, the CIP-Plop was convened during a meeting of Rotarians, in December 2004, in Florianópolis (SC). Eduardo Pimentel was chosen to be its first president, and then succeeded by Carlos Gueiros. The latter also served as national coordinator of the Inter-Country Committees, until he left both of positions in 2014, creating an opportunity for those interested in taking them. Therefore, during 10 years, from its inception until 2014, the Fundação played a key role on the CIP-Plop, contributing to projects concerned with the preservation and dissemination of the Portuguese language, as well as actions designed to improve the living conditions of the communities in those countries, including efforts to combat hunger, eradicate illiteracy, protect water resources and fight a variety of diseases. Benchmarking: to learn, adapt and incorporate best practices Based on the premise that the institution needed to look outside its fences and learn about the best practices in use around the world in the field of education, Fundação de Rotarianos de São Paulo sought to establish a permanent and consistent international benchmarking program, especially from the late 1990s on. “Every year, we send teachers, directors, supervisors and other employees out to see what the innovations were in countries that stood out in education, as well as to take courses abroad. From those trips, they brought back a lot of baggage to our team,” says Eduardo Pimentel. “There’s a lot to be learned from foreign countries. Various cultures have a lot to teach,” Carlos Gueiros adds. The goal is not to copy, but to research and come into contact with new ideas, trends and experiences that can inspire improvements in the processes and practices of maintained institutions. Among the various actions in this area, involving trips and frequent contacts with other institutions, from countries in North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania, two are particularly noteworthy due to the contribution they have been making and their strong connection established with the Fundação. The first is the search for new knowledge and theoretical references at Harvard University, which also involves interaction with education professionals from all over the world who are gathered there, in programs such as “Improving Quality in Education and Mind”, “Brain and Education”, among others. Themes that are now key to the Fundação’s educational institutions, such as cognitive neurosciences, gained recognition following the presentations and discussions with experts that were held there. Its active and constant participation in those forums, as the only institution in Latin America to work with Harvard Graduate School of Education, led the latter to invite the Fundação, in 2014, to be one of its research schools in the subject of mathematics. The second one is the relationship with the education system in Finland. Recognized for its excellence in this field due to leading position it holds in the PISA exam —the main international student assessment program—, the Nordic country first appeared on the Fundação’s radar many years ago, and was part of the first of several benchmarking trips. “Once it was found that there was a model in place in that country from which there was much to be learned, annual visits began, and a special relationship has been established with Finnish people and institutions since then,” says Marco Rossi, who is recognized as a leading Brazilian expert on educational affairs in Finland. Over the past few years, several teachers have taken classroom and virtual courses taught by experts from that country, and several innovations inspired by successful Finnish practices have been introduced in the maintained entities.
Livro Comemorativo dos 70 anos da Fundação de Rotarianos de São Paulo - Uma história de ideias e ideais
To see the actual publication please follow the link above