International Educating Class (postgraduate certificate)
Education is fundamental for a positive and humane transition into the future and for development that is sustainable. The programme is not just for educators, but for everyone who is committed to become a changemaker, a peacebuilder and a true global citizen.
International Educating Class
Administration office
To change the world, educate the world… start here.
In the words of the great Dutch footballer, Clarence Seedorf, Education is the key solution for change, for peace, and for help in the fight against racism and discrimination in general. This Post-graduate certificate programme is called “International Educating Class” (PIEC) and aspires to positively and sustainably change the world for the better. The programme is not just for educators, but for everyone who is committed to become a changemaker, a peacebuilder and a true global citizen.
Education is fundamental for a positive and humane transition into the future and for development that is sustainable. Hence, this Postgraduate aims to actively contribute to the realization of the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs), particularly SDG4: to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Dynamic and flexible two semester programme
This one-year English-language 60 ECTS credit programme is divided into two (2) semesters of 30 ECTS credits each. You can begin either in the Fall or Spring.
- Fall programme (sept-jan): entrepreneurial education for change
- Spring programme (feb-june): learning for a sustainable future
The courses support you in building lasting professional and personal capacities to be successful in life, in work and to become the change needed in the world today. You will enhance your English language skills, but also specific skills sets like self-reflection, critical-thinking and creative problem-solving, communication and understanding the implications of technology and media, intercultural collaboration, entrepreneurship, leadership, … Each semester you embark upon your journey as a class, developing empathy and understanding for other perspectives and cultures, but also lasting and lifelong friendships and networks.
Based on unesco inspired values, the programme offers:
- Immersion into capacity building, empowerment, human rights, cultural awareness, appreciative inquiry, academic communication, strategic scenario planning, global citizenship education, project cycle management, …
- Project-based collaborative group work where students from differing cultures and backgrounds work together towards a common goal
- Based on UNESCO’s learning objectives for sustainable development education, the programme supports you to become an agent for positive social change and peace, while stimulating the building of capacities you will need to be successful in life and work
- An officially recognized certificate by both the Flemish Ministry of Education and UNESCO. The certificate provides you with an important edge when applying to other institutions of higher education and for employment. The certificate does not lead directly, however, to a teaching certificate or another degree.
Post-graduate students may visit important international institutions like the International Court of Justice in the Hague; the Headquarters of UNESCO, IIEP and the OECD (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development) in Paris as well as international and national institutions in Belgium.
Application deadline
- Fall programme
- non-EEA students requiring a study visa: 1 May
- all other students: 15 August
- Spring programme
- non-EEA students requiring a study visa: 30 September
- all other students: 30 November
Ambition: together we can change the world
Since 2009, the Postgraduate International Educating Class has empowered students to become agents of positive and sustainable social change and contributors to peace through education.
Today’s challenges require specific skill sets. Humane skills like critical-thinking, entrepreneurship, communication, creative problem solving, understanding the implications of technology and media, but also social skills like self-reflection, deep listening, collaboration, leadership, flexibility and just plain grit. Through formal, non-formal but also informal learning, PIEC students build on their capacities to acquire important and lasting professional and personal skills, but also significant networks and friendships.
Fall semester
This one-year English-language 60 ECTS credit programme is divided into two (2) semesters of 30 ECTS credits each. You can begin either in the Fall or Spring. At the end of each Semester, you receive a valuable certificate that is recognized by the Flemish Ministry of Education and endorsed by UNESCO.
- Navigating the complex world (6 ECTS)
- Environmental awareness and sustainable action (6 ECTS)
- Personal growth (3 ECTS )
- Global citizenship & changemaking (6 ECTS)
- Community building (9 ECTS)
Spring semester
This one-year English-language 60 ECTS credit programme is divided into two (2) semesters of 30 ECTS credits each. You can begin either in the Spring or Fall. At the end of each Semester, you receive a valuable certificate that is recognized by the Flemish Ministry of Education and endorsed by UNESCO.
- Learning for life (3 ECTS)
- Between memory & dialogue across cultures (6 ECTS)
- Language, code & culture (3 ECTS)
- Global citizenship & changemaking (6 ECTS)
- Scenarios for living together (5 ECTS)
- Service learning (7 ECTS)
Inspired by UNESCO
The programme is officially recognized by the Flemish Ministry of Education in Belgium and supported by UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization). IEC shares UNESCO’s commitment to a holistic and humanistic vision of quality education, the realization of everyone’s right to education and the belief that education plays a fundamental role in human, social and economic development. Inspired by and based on UNESCO’s Four Pillars of Education (Learning to know, Learning to be, Learning to do and Learning to live together), the International Educating Class is a future-oriented programme for sustainable development education that leads to greater personal and professional growth. We are committed to the attainment of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Together we learn about and educate for a sustainable future.
Admission and requirements
As a postgraduate programme in sustainable development education, IEC welcomes students, who have successfully completed a Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree and are interested in developing educational competences as well as professional and personal capacities.
Students are required to have attained a level of English language proficiency based on internationally recognized standards.
For both Spring and Fall semesters, students are required to live in Belgium and be available for our Introduction Days that will be communicated to them before the beginning of each semester.
Students must go through an admissions process.
For more information about the programme and admissions, please contact the coordinator at iec@ucll.be.
