Teaching as Research and Action

In T.H. White's The Once and Future King , King Arthur seeks advice from Merlin, his magician and counsel. Merlin's wisdom is sought at a desperate time for King Arthur, trying to find meaning in a world gone awry. May these words create a spark of light in the midst of our global distress.

Merlin speaks:

"The best thing for being sad is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies; you may lie at night listening to the disorder of your veins; you may miss your only love. You may see the world around you devastated by evil lunatics; or know your honor trampled in the sewer of baser minds. There is only one thing for it, then - to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the thing for you."

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Teaching in the 21st century requires us to be continual learners. It necessitates a familiarization with a wide variety of issues that may not seem, at first, connected to one's subject. They are, however, essential:

In this part of the course, we will describe each of the above areas in a separate module. You are asked to choose 1 topic only to study.

Do the reading and the assignments for that 1 topic, and when you're finished and your mentor says you're "Ready," continue to Part Three of this course. In Part Three you will integrate what you have learned in Courses 1-4 with this special topic to create and implement a Service Project.

Descriptions of Topics

After reading the topic summaries below, choose 1 topic only that you would like to study in depth. (You may also wish to skim the modules by clicking on the Outline button.)

Once you decide on a topic, go to that module and complete the reading and assignments for that topic only.

Early Childhood Education - Addresses the needs of our youngest learners in terms of health-issues, cognition, and creativity during this critical stage of growth.

Literacy and Numeracy for Adult Learners - Focuses on the elements of creating, sustaining, and evaluating literacy training for the adult learner with the idea that teaching parents to read helps educate children.

Environmental Education - Introduces the skills of observation, questioning, listening, and attunement coupled with a reverence for the earth and the inhabitants coexisting on our planet.

Education through the Arts - Creates a venue for different ways of knowing about ourselves and others while it sparks lively dialogue within our schools, our community, and our culture.

Girls' Education - Demonstrates how powerfully we can connect education with human welfare. Educating girls offers a multitude of benefits for the girls (themselves), their current and future families, and their societies.

Conflict Mediation - Ensures that young people develop the social and emotional skills needed to reduce violence and prejudice, form caring relationships, and build healthy lives.

Special Education - Examines some of the myths concerning special needs and offers suggestions for creating inclusive classrooms.

Community Teaching and Learning Centers - Introduces the basic elements of starting and sustaining a Teachers Without Borders CTLC - a center where the communtiy can connect with each other and with the world.

Overview

It has often been said that anyone can take care of little children. Nothing, in our opinion, could be farther from the truth. Children are most likely to succeed with a good start, under the care of skilled, compassionate professionals.

This section gives an overview of the dynamics of the brain, and age-appropriate early childhood practices with an exemplary model in the Reggio Emilia approach. It addresses the needs of our youngest learners in terms of health-issues, cognition, and creativity during this critical stage of growth.

Early Childhood Education

Early childhood, birth through age 7, is a time of rapid growth and development. Research has shown unequivocally that during these critical first years, young children go through a long period where play and hands-on experiences are vital to learning. This process is essential to later success in more complex tasks. Early learning seems so simple that it is tempting to devalue it as merely a child's recreation rather than recognize it as an extremely complex and absorbing effort to build a rich understanding of the world. Sight and sound, size and shape, must be experienced by a child through all the senses, at his or her own pace.

Families, caregivers, and schools must be prepared to understand and support this critical stage of growth for the children in our charge. Our challenge is to be sure that programs and schools meet the special needs of very young children.

Resources:

What are the Determinants of Children's Academic Successes and Difficulties - by Marion Diamond, Ph.D

"How can parents and teachers provide conditions that will most effectively promote growth and change in our children's brains? How can parents help a child develop his or her full potential and set a pathway of lifelong learning? In this article, Marian Diamond, neuroanatomist, describes ways in which parents and teachers should create a climate for enchanted minds to obtain information, stimulate imagination, develop an atmosphere to enhance motivation and creativity and experience the value of a work ethic."

What are the Determinants of Children's Academic Successes and Difficulties

Embryological Development of the Human Brain - by Arnold B. Scheibel, MD

"Dr. Scheibel tells the fascinating story of how the brain develops in human beings from conception to birth. He makes clear that this complex, rapidly developing process is affected continually by the environment in which it is taking place. What mothers eat, drink, and feel - the environments which they themselves experience - affect daily the neural development of their unborn child."

Embryological Development of the Human Brain

The Emotional Basis of Learning - Noboru Kobayashi, M.D.

"All pediatricians know that when a child is deprived of emotional support in daily life, he or she may be delayed in growth and development - physically and mentally. This usually happens in child abuse and other distress, when the parents or the family have problems. This is called "Emotional (or Maternal) Deprivation Syndrome." It is important to know that the deprived child may be able to catch up in growth and development if he or she is provided with emotionally supportive care."

The Emotional Basis of Learning

Here is a link to an annotated bibliography on early childhood education: Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children From Birth Through Age 8 - Sue Bredekamp, Editor (Adapted from www.newhorizons.org. New Horizons for Learning is a web-based educational resource that culls the wisdom of the world's teachers in order to create a learning renewal.)

Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children From Birth Through Age 8

Facts for Life - UNESCO Online Health Book

Teachers who work with young children, especially, need to be well versed in issues regarding health.

Required Reading:

UNESCO's Facts for Life (full PDF document)

Features of Facts for Life :

Every year, nearly 11 million children die from preventable causes before reaching their fifth birthday. Millions more survive only to face diminished futures, unable to develop to their full potential.

Many of these deaths can be avoided if parents and caregivers understand what to do when illness strikes and how to recognize the danger signs that signal the need for medical help. Facts for Life presents, in simple language, the most authoritative information about practical, effective and low-cost ways to protect children's lives and health. Everyone has the right to know this information.

Since it was first published in 1989, Facts for Life has become one of the world's most popular books, with more than 15 million copies in use in 215 languages in 200 countries. The book is co-published by UNICEF, WHO, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNDP, UNAIDS, WFP and the World Bank.

This revised edition of Facts for Life has updated information on the major causes of childhood illnesses and death, including HIV/AIDS, Emergencies and Accidents.

On behalf of both UNICEF and Teachers Without Borders, we urge everyone to share and use these health messages to help save children's lives. Reading in EACH of these areas is required.

Facts of Life - Chapter by Chapter online (below):

What is Facts for Life?

Timing Births

Safe Motherhood

Child Development and Early Learning

Breastfeeding

Nutrition and Growth

Immunization

Diarrhoea

Coughs, Colds and More Serious Illnesses

Hygiene

Malaria

HIV/AIDS

Injury Prevention

Disasters and Emergencies

Assignment 1: Reflective Reading

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Assignment 1: Reflective Reading

Reggio Emilia - Example of Excellence

Researchers at Wayne State University tell us that "The Reggio approach is not a method or a curriculum, but is a set of principles for integrating children's development and social-cultural environment with the best theory and practice concerning children's education. This approach has created great enthusiasm among parents, teachers and educators throughout the early childhood community."

Teachers Without Borders has tested many of Reggio Emilia's ideas and find them to be workable in multiple settings, across cultures and economic lines.

(Adapted from www.education-world.com)

If you were to walk into a Reggio school, you would see an extraordinary engagement of children and a high degree of responsiveness and creativity. At first, one might be concerned that children are not drilled, early on, to learn their numbers. Rather, this skill is developed, gradually, through a variety of activities. The children also learn about numbers by solving number-related problems. For example, teachers might ask children to determine whether their school or another building nearby was taller. They had two to three days to contemplate the question. Teachers might not tell them how to arrive at the answer but, rather, would allow them to find the answer on their own.

Teacher training is taken quite seriously.

The U.S. Secretary of Education, Richard Riley observed: "The teachers respect the ideas and values that the children bring to the school, and the teachers are smart enough to build on the creativity of the children."

"In the last ten years, an extraordinary amount of scientific research has been developed that tells us in very clear terms that all of our children, even in the earliest months of their lives, have an amazing ability to learn." Riley continued: "We now know that it is absolutely imperative that we put a new, powerful, and sustained focus on the early years - birth to five - before children even enter first grade.

"Put simply, and this should be our collective motto - the stronger the start, the better the finish," Riley added. "We now know that every conversation we have with an infant can literally spark [his or her] brain to grow some more. Our children are eager to learn, they are creative in how they learn, and they have an extraordinary capacity to learn if we know how to encourage them the right way. "

Reggio Emilia

Adults are often amazed by young children's unexpected perceptions of the world and the unique ways in which they express their imagination. We also know, however, that children usually need adult support to find the means and the confidence to bring forth their ideas day after day. When considering both teacher-initiated and child-initiated strategies for enhancing young children's self-expression and creativity, the preschools of Reggio Emilia, Italy, can be a universal resource.

How Young Children Learn

In Reggio Emilia, Italy, home of some of the best preschools in the world, children grow up surrounded by centuries-old masterpieces of architecture, painting, and sculpture. Citizens are especially proud of their artistic heritage, and art becomes a natural vehicle in educational approaches for helping children explore and solve problems.

The documentation of young children's work provided by Reggio Emilia educators highlights young children's amazing capabilities and indicates that it is through the unity of thinking and feeling that young children can explore their world, represent their ideas, and communicate with others at their highest level. When educators fully understand how exploration, representation, and communication feed one other, they can best help children achieve this potential.

Several aspects of young children's learning are important to consider when thinking about art and creative activities (Edwards & Hiler, 1993). First, young children are developmentally capable of classroom experiences which call for (and practice) higher-level thinking skills, including analysis (breaking down material into component parts to understand the structure, seeing similarities and differences); synthesis (putting parts together to form a new whole, rearranging, reorganizing); and evaluation (judging the value of material based on definite criteria).

Reggio Emilia Continued

Second, young children want and need to express ideas and messages through many different expressive avenues and symbolic media. Young children form mental images, represent their ideas, and communicate with the world in a combination of ways. They need increasing competence and integration across formats including words, gestures, drawings, paintings, sculpture, construction, music, dramatic play, movement, and dance. Through sharing and gaining others' perspectives, and then revisiting and revising their work, children move to new levels of awareness. Teachers act as guides, careful not to impose adult ideas and beliefs upon the children.

Third, young children learn through meaningful activities in which different subject areas are integrated. Open-ended discussions and long-term activities bring together whole-language activities, science, social studies, dramatic play, and artistic creation. Activities that are meaningful and relevant to the child's life experiences provide opportunities to teach across the curriculum and assist children in seeing the interrelationships of things they are learning.

Teachers have many opportunities to integrate curriculum. For example, the arrival of a new sibling is a common occurrence. Teachers might ask parents of children in their class to contribute photographs of the children as infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, so that the children who are interested can make scrapbooks. If such photos are unavailable, the children can draw or cut pictures from magazines, or dictate stories about remembered foods, toys, or bedroom furnishings. Such activities, designed to help a child deal with a new baby, also help children to use spoken and written language and to select and organize materials.

Fourth, young children benefit from in-depth exploration and long-term, open-ended projects which are started either from a chance event, a problem posed by one or more children, or an experience planned and led in a flexible way by teachers (Edwards & Springate, 1993; Clark, 1994). The adults act as resource persons, problem-posers, guides, and partners to the children in the process of discovery and investigation. They take their cues from children through careful listening and observation, and know when to encourage risk-taking and when to refrain from interfering.

The Reggio Classroom

A Reggio classroom is noticeably different from a traditional one. Large windows fill the rooms with light, and there is plenty of open space allowing room for children to move around. The room is decorated with children's art. All of the decorations in the room are created by the children. Natural materials such as pine cones, seashells, and wood are freely available and encourage exploration, expression and learning.

The goal of the Reggio approach is to educate the whole child - spirit and heart as well as mind. It's a holistic approach to education, one in which art - in all forms - plays a large part. Reggio teachers allow children to express themselves in ways other than writing or speaking.

According to the Reggio approach, each child is born with 100 "languages" to help them represent their ideas, but society, parents, and teachers take away 99 and leave the spoken language as the only way of expression. The goal of the school is to give back the other 99 - allowing for an enormous range of expression.

Children may start the day with an assembly and discussion. Back in their classrooms, they're free to move around the room, work with other children and become involved in projects of their own choosing.

Artistic opportunity abounds. Children often learn to write through clay - they form their letters and numbers with it. The children built the letters using wire as a base so that the letters stand up.

Reggio also emphasizes group projects and team approaches to solving problems. In one Reggio school in Italy, for example, the children thought that their playground was boring. They brainstormed ideas to make it more interesting - with the teacher as guide and observer - and decided to create an amusement park for birds. The idea turned into a year-long project in which the children built a bird-bath complete with fountain, learning about hydraulics in the process.

Tools for Teachers

Given what is known about young children's learning and about their amazing competence to express their visions of themselves and their world, how can the classroom be modified to best support children's emerging creativity?

Time - Creativity does not follow the clock. Children need extended, unhurried time to explore and do their best work. They should not be artificially rotated, that is, asked to move to a different learning center or activity when they are still productively engaged and motivated by a piece of creative work.

Space - Children need a place to leave unfinished work to continue the next day, and a space that inspires them to do their best work. A barren, drab environment is not conducive to creative work. Rather, children's work is fostered by a space that has natural light, harmonious colors, comfortable and child-sized areas, examples of their own and others' work (not only their classmates, but as appropriate, also their teachers' and selected adult artists), and inviting materials.

Materials - Without spending great amounts of money, teachers can organize wonderful collections of resource materials that might be bought, found, or recycled. These materials can include paper goods of all kinds; writing and drawing tools; materials for constructions and collages, such as buttons, stones, shells, beads, and seeds; and sculpting materials, such as play dough, goop, clay, and shaving cream. These materials are used most productively and imaginatively by children when they themselves have helped select, organize, sort, and arrange them.

Climate - The classroom atmosphere should reflect the adults' encouragement and acceptance of mistakes, risk-taking, innovation, and uniqueness, along with a certain amount of mess, noise, and freedom. This is not a matter of chaos, or of tight control, but instead something in between. In order to create such a climate, teachers must give themselves permission to try artistic activity themselves, even when they have not been so fortunate as to have had formal art training or to feel they are naturally "good at art." Through workshops, adult education classes, or teamwork with an art teacher or parent, classroom teachers can gain the confidence for, and experience the pleasure of, venturing some distance down the road of self-expression in a medium in which they did not know they could be successful. Their skill will then translate into the work with the children.

Occasions - Children's best and most exciting work involves an intense or arousing encounter between themselves and their inner or outer world. Teachers provide the occasions for these adventures. Children find it hard to be creative without any concrete inspiration. Instead, they prefer to draw on the direct evidence of their senses or memories. These memories can become more vivid and accessible through the teacher's provocations and preparations. For example, teachers can encourage children to represent their knowledge and ideas before and after they have watched an absorbing show, taken a field trip, or observed and discussed an interesting plant or animal brought into class. Teachers can put up a mirror or photos of the children in the art area, so children can study their faces as they draw their self- portrait. Teachers can offer children the opportunity to check what they have drawn against an original model and then let them revise and improve upon their first representation.

(Adapted from: www.kidsource.com/kidsource, "Encouraging Creativity in Early Childhood Classrooms" by Carolyn Pope Edwards and Kay Wright Springate ERIC DIGEST December 1995)

The Role of Documentation

Lillian Katz and Sylvia Chard have written about the importance of teachers as documentarians of student work (part of the article is excerpted below).

"Documentation, in the forms of observation of children and extensive recordkeeping, has long been encouraged and practiced in many early childhood programs. However, compared to these practices in other traditions, documentation in Reggio Emilia focuses more intensively on children's experience, memories, thoughts, and ideas in the course of their work. Documentation practices in Reggio Emilia pre-primary schools provide inspiring examples of the importance of displaying children's work with great care and attention to both the content and aesthetic aspects of the display.

Documentation typically includes samples of a child's work at several different stages of completion; photographs showing work in progress; comments written by the teacher or other adults working with the children; transcriptions of children's discussions, comments, and explanations of intentions about the activity; and comments made by parents. Observations, transcriptions of tape-recordings, and photographs of children discussing their work can be included. Examples of children's work and written reflections on the processes in which the children engaged can be displayed in classrooms or hallways. The documents reveal how the children planned, carried out, and completed the displayed work."

Suggested Reading:

Click on the icon below to access the following resource:

Reggio and Art

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More on Reggio

Assignment 2: Reflection

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Assignment 2: Reflection

"Our children are eager to learn, they are creative in how they learn, and they have an extraordinary capacity to learn if we know how to encourage them the right way."

Discussions

Discussions and Innovations - Early Childhood Education

This section is devoted to a) Discussion forum on Early Childhood Education and b) Global links regarding innovations in Early Childhood Education

This is an opportunity to participate in a global discussion on early-childhood education. This will give you an example to seek and give advice, find out what is going on in other countries, and trade lesson plans.

Listservs: (Online only) This is a place where you can communicate with teachers in early-childhood education, worldwide.

Global Innovations

First Impressions of Early Childhood Education in China - Mary Ellen O'Keefe, Ed.D - in New Horizons for Learning website

ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education-links, resources (online only)

Early Childhood Education Online - website, resources - (online only)

Early Childhood Education Webguide (online only)

The Step by Step Approach - Child-centered, Early Childhood Education in Eastern Europe offers children the opportunity to make choices about their own learning. Click on the Word icon below to access it:

The Step by Step Approach

Previews of Books on Early Childhood Education

The Child's Reality: Three Developmental Themes- David Elkind - (online only)

The Child's Conception of the World- Jean Piaget - (online only)

Assignment 3: Connecting Learning to a Need

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Assignment 3: Connecting Learning to a Need

When you're done with this assignment and your mentor says you're "Ready," continue onto Part Three of this course: Designing and Implementing Your Service Project.

Overview

Literacy is the ability to read, write, and calculate in one's local language.

How many of us know what it is like to be an adult and illiterate in one's own language? It's hard to imagine the humiliation, the frustration, and the rage that many people have to live with day after day.

Literacy creates access to information, and, therefore, an increase in health, livelihood, and civic participation. Literacy contributes to self-respect and self-reliance. It empowers men and women and it strengthens communities.

2003 is the beginning of the literacy decade, according to the United Nations, and with this declaration, the UN aims to:

In this module, we focus on the elements of literacy training itself for the adult learner with the idea that teaching parents to read also helps educate children.

Orientation to Adult Learning

In these courses, we have often discussed the need to use appropriate pedagogies (teaching methods) in order to reach the developmental levels of the children we teach. At the same time, it is necessary to know the mindset and characteristics of adult learners. Here, we discuss the mental, physical, social, and psychological features of adults. We can call the teaching methods that serve adults as "androgogy."

Mental Development and Androgogy

Adults have an improved ability to integrate their senses and logical abilities by relying on experience and judgments. The self-concept of adults derives from a greater sense of inner satisfaction and strength. Adults distinguish between issues of greater and lesser importance.

At the same time, some adults experience declining eyesight and hearing. The seating arrangements for classes should be more circular than linear, ensuring equal access to the teacher and a feeling of equality. It is important that writing on slate or blackboard be clear and large enough to accommodate those with declining eyesight. In a similar fashion, it is essential that the teacher speak clearly and loudly, and rotate around the classroom in order that all can hear what is being said.

The room itself should be spacious, properly ventilated, and bright. It should also be protected from adverse weather conditions. Furniture should be comfortable for adults in whatever form - mats, chairs, or desks.

The materials themselves should be adult-related and take on the issues and problems that adults address on a daily basis and that reflect their concerns. Although the material should move from easy to more complex, content should never patronize adults.

Motivation and Adult Learners

Physical Factors

Adult learners are busy people. There are several issues such learners consider when participating in literacy circles or committees:

Social Factors

Adult learners seek a way to improve their social status; increase their sense of belonging; gain social recognition; and participate in the affairs of their community. Many seek to overcome feelings of inferiority brought about by illiteracy - to overcome embarrassment and discomfort. They seek to be admired by others; to satisfy curiosity; and to win the affection and respect of others.

Research-based Best Practices

(Adapted from Best Practices in Literacy Instruction , edited by Lesley Morrow, Linda Gambrell and Micael Pressley.)

Adult Literacy Programs

The greatest literacy programs engage local leaders in "each-one-teach-one" settings and a wide network of "literacy circles" or "literacy committees." These "literacy circles and committees" adopt program structures that rely on a particular technique towards literacy and depend on rotating leadership, mandatory attendance, and assessment.

These structures rely on the mobilization of individuals, groups, agencies, religious bodies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to participate actively in mass literacy as volunteer teachers, learners, sponsors, or organizers.

Each-One-Teach-One Program Elements

There are four general principles governing adult literacy:

(Adapted from several sources, most notably: "The National Commmission for Mass Education," with the assistance of the United Nations Development Program - NIGERIA)

Assignment 1: Reflecting

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Assignment 1: Reflecting

Organizing and Managing First-Rate Literacy Classes

Literacy classes must be well organized, for the students themselves require smoothness and order as they adopt a new role as a student. Disruptions hamper the learning process. Records are essential. The following forms should be developed, accompanied by a clear and user-friendly system for gathering information:

Registration Form (initially to be filled out by the instructor on behalf of the student). This form is used to judge interest, assess the community by determining a profile of students, and plan for future events and trainings.

Attendance Register (to be kept by the instructor to determine rates of attendance). If students are missing classes, it is the instructor's duty not to embarrass or punish, but to find out why and determine how to get the student back.

Instructor's Records (including anecdotal notes on individual students as well as official scores on examinations)

Local and Regional Records (with demographics of literacy rates in order to prove that the program is successful or needs help. Such information provides comparative data)

Monthly Reports (on general progress, to publish in newsletter form, post to a website, or submit to government authorities).

Supervision

Those serving as administrators for literacy programs must highlight achievements and problems, along with suggestions for solving problems. Such adminstrators should be able to substantiate their progress by providing data to outside observers and evaluators, who shall compare this particular program with others and with the statistics and norms of national curriculum standards.

Observations of instructors in the field should take into consideration:

Evaluation

The objectives of evaluation are to fix areas of ineffectiveness. Evaluation also instills a sense of duty to the original objectives of literacy training itself.

Evaluation can be done by direct observation or by the use of questionnaires and checklists (or a combination of both). Designers of such rubrics must identify specific aspects of the program on which attention is to be focused, using a check mark or "x", depending upon whether the answer to specific questions are postive or negative. However much this may seem obvious at first, this fact must be emphasized in trainings of those conducting the questionnaire, as research has shown that inaccurate reporting introduces variables that often invalidate the questionnaire itself.

Checklist for Observation of Literacy Classes

Spreading the Word

A literacy center is not the only place where literacy education can take place. Mass contact can come from:

Required Reading:

Living Literacy shares stories about literacy and education from Africa, Bhutan, Brazil, El Salvador, Germany, Haiti, Tamil Nadu, Israel, Mauritius, and New Zealand. Click on the Word icon below to access this resource:

Living Literacy

Suggested Reading:

BRAC (online only) Through an organized network, BRAC aims to develop the reading habits of both the rural and urban people of Bangladesh. These objectives are achieved through the establishment of Union Libraries and Reading Centres.

Assignment 2: Other Considerations

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Assignment 2: Other Considerations

Assignment 3: Taking a Closer Look

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Assignment 3: Taking a Closer Look

When you're done with this assignment and your mentor says you're "Ready," continue onto Part Three of this course: Designing and Implementing Your Service Project.

The Seamless Whole

Some people know they are part of the seamless whole. There is no separation between humans and nature - for we are nature, along with plant life, animals, rocks, trees, minerals.

Some people grow up in cultures attuned to the winds and the waves, to the land - where the tiniest shifts in the landscape are noticed - an overturned rock indicating a passerby. At the same time, there are people in cultures who leave urban centers to take "retreats" into the wilderness in order for young people to know the grandeur of which we are naturally a part.

Environmental education may have varying degrees of exploration for different cultures. There is, however, a common thread, and it is this: to develop an awareness and a reverence for the earth and its inhabitants.

This module introduces you to the concept of "deep ecology" - the study of how we are connected - to ourselves, with our surroundings, with our fellow sojourners.

This module connects you with ideas and organizations doing essential work in environmental education and it introduces you to the skills of observation, questioning, listening, and attunement important to its study. To take these skills and to apply them to a community need is our goal.

Observation

"How many times I have wished that I could look out onto the world through the eyes, with the mind, of a chimpanzee. One such minute would be worth a lifetime of research." - Dr. Jane Goodall

Dr. Jane Goodall has been known for her pioneering research with chimpanzees. One key to Jane Goodall's success while she was at Gombe was her ability to be a keen observer. Although most people will not have an opportunity to observe wild chimpanzees, we need to be sharp observers because careful observations are the foundation of environmental inquiry. Also, keep in mind - what we observe and how we observe determines the questions we ask.

To get a feeling for the power of observation, here is an excerpt from Jane Goodale's writing In The Shadow of Man:

"At about noon the first heavy drops of rain began to fall. The chimpanzees climbed out of the tree and one after the other plodded up the steep grassy slope toward the open ridge at the top. There were seven adult males in the group, including Goliath and David Greybeard, several females, and a few youngsters. As they reached the ridge the chimpanzees paused. At that moment the storm broke. The rain was torrential, and the sudden clap of thunder, right overhead, made me jump. As if this were a signal, one of the big males stood upright and as he swayed and swaggered rhythmically from foot to foot, I could just hear the rising crescendo of his pant-hoots above the beating of the rain. Then he charged off, flat-out down the slope toward the trees he had just left. He ran some thirty yards, and then, swinging round the trunk of a small tree to break his headlong rush, leaped into the low branches and sat motionless.

Almost at once two other males charged after him. One broke off a low branch from a tree as he ran and brandished it in the air before hurling it ahead of him. The other, as he reached the end of his run, stood upright and rhythmically swayed the branches of a tree back and forth before seizing a huge branch and dragging it farther down the slope. A fourth male, as he too charged, leaped into a tree and, almost without breaking his speed, tore off a large branch, leaped with it to the ground, and continued down the slope. As the last two males called and charged down, the one who had started the whole performance climbed from his tree and began plodding up the slope again. The others, who had also climbed into trees near the bottom of the slope, followed suit. When they reached the ridge, they started charging down all over again, one after the other, with equal vigor.

The females and youngsters had climbed into trees near the top of the rise as soon as the displays had begun, and there they remained watching throughout the whole performance. As the males charged down and plodded back up, so the rain fell harder, jagged forks or brilliant flares of lightening lit the leaden sky, and the crashing of the thunder seemed to shake the very mountains.....Twenty minutes from the start of the performance the last of the males plodded back up the slope for the last time."

(Goodall, Jane (1988) In The Shadow of Man . Houghlin Mifflin: Boston p. 52-53)

Assignment 1: Ecological Survey

Observation is a key skill in environmental education. Connected to that skill is the skill of asking questions and listening, then synthesizing - putting it all together to serve a community need.

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Assignment 1: Ecological Survey

In this assignment, you will get a good sense for the ecology of your community as you conduct this survey and find out the answer to the following questions:

Plants

Animals

Human Community

Resources

There are several reasons for hope, some of which are listed below: (Online only)

Lessons for Hope

Dr. Jane Goodall has been known for her pioneering research with chimpanzees. Now, in order to save them - and the quality of life on our planet for people, animals, and the environment - she travels the world 300 days a year, spreading the message of hope. Her book, Reason for Hope, is a testament to human generosity in the face of environmental degradation. Her new work, Lessons for Hope, translates her message into a practical guide for teachers and students of all ages.

Environmental Education Resources

Provides access to education literature and resources - lessons, journals, organizations, conferences and more.

Environmental Storyteller With deep laughter, magical visions, intensity, warmth, mischief and love, this storyteller has enchanted tens of thousands of listeners with Earth Mother Stories - Tales of Earth Stewardship & Stories of Human Fellowship - stories for children, for teens and young adults, for families, and for adult audiences.

Environmental Curriculum Development Delivers comprehensive education materials that include a complete curriculum, materials, assessment, educator training, and background information.

Environmental Education Information Portal for environmental education resources and information on the Internet. Developed for K-12 educators, EE-Link offers comprehensive information on organizations, classroom resources, and research.

Pachamama Alliance Preserves the Earth's tropical rainforests and contributes to the creation of a new global vision of equity and sustainability for all.

Cheetah Conservation An example of successsfully working with local farmers to come up with a common solution that both saves the cheetahs and helps the local farmers in Namibia.

African Wildlife Preservation The African Wildlife Foundation, together with the people of Africa, works to ensure that the wildlife and wild lands of Africa will endure forever.

Earthships Biotecture Building low-cost sustainable homes out of used tires.

Assignment 2: Reflective Reading

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Assignment 2: Reflective Reading

Assignment 3: Bringing it All Together

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a figure in the distance. As he got closer, he realized the figure was that of a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. Approaching the boy, he asked, "What are you doing?" The youth replied, "Throwing a starfish into the ocean. The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them back, they'll die." "Son," the man said, "don't you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can't possibly make a difference!" After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it into the surf. Then smiling at the man, said, "I made a difference for that one." - from "The Star Thrower" by Loren Eiseley

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Assignment 3: Bringing It All Together

Overview

The arts play a central role in many cultures around the world. In Bali, for example, the community participates in art-making from birth to old age. Each member of the community knows him/herself to be "an artist." In other cultures the artist is put up on a stage to sing alone or the term "artist" is reserved for people demonstrating a particular level of skill or advanced form of study.

From the example of the Reggio Emilia preschools, however, it becomes clear that children are, indeed, natural artists, and that educating through the arts comes easily. In this section, we move from this premise of an natural fit between education and the arts to examine application in the classroom and our communities.

Learning through the arts supports the work of multiple intelligences and helps create a venue for different ways of knowing about ourselves and others. Art stimulates the imagination, nurtures students' willingness to be innovative, to problem solve, to learn about each other, and other cultures. It reinforces observational and interpretive skills, and adds a qualitative dimension to life. Through art children learn about working in groups, working alone, and expressing personal insights and emotions. Art creates a lively dialogue within ourselves, our schools, and our community.

Emerging Creativity

Given what is known about young children's learning and about their amazing competence to express their visions of themselves and their world, how can the classroom be modified to best support children's emerging creativity?

Time - Creativity does not follow the clock. Children need extended, unhurried time to explore and do their best work. They should not be artificially rotated, that is, asked to move to a different learning center or activity when they are still productively engaged and motivated by a piece of creative work.

Space - Children need a place to leave unfinished work to continue the next day, and a space that inspires them to do their best work. A barren, drab environment is not conducive to creative work. Rather, children's work is fostered by a space that has natural light, harmonious colors, comfortable and child-sized areas, examples of their own and others' work (not only their classmates, but as appropriate, also their teachers' and selected adult artists), and inviting materials.

Materials - Without spending great amounts of money, teachers can organize wonderful collections of resource materials that might be bought, found, or recycled. These materials can include paper goods of all kinds; writing and drawing tools; materials for constructions and collages, such as buttons, stones, shells, beads, and seeds; and sculpting materials, such as play dough, goop, clay, and shaving cream. These materials are used most productively and imaginatively by children when they themselves have helped select, organize, sort, and arrange them.

Climate - The classroom atmosphere should reflect the adults' encouragement and acceptance of mistakes, risk-taking, innovation, and uniqueness, along with a certain amount of mess, noise, and freedom. This is not a matter of chaos, or of tight control, but instead something in between. In order to create such a climate, teachers must give themselves permission to try artistic activity themselves, even when they have not been so fortunate as to have had formal art training or to feel they are naturally "good at art." Through workshops, adult education classes, or teamwork with an art teacher or parent, classroom teachers can gain the confidence for, and experience the pleasure of, venturing some distance down the road of self-expression in a medium in which they did not know they could be successful. Their skill will then translate into the work with the children.

Occasions - Children's best and most exciting work involves an intense or arousing encounter between themselves and their inner or outer world. Teachers provide the occasions for these adventures. Children find it hard to be creative without any concrete inspiration. Instead, they prefer to draw on the direct evidence of their senses or memories. These memories can become more vivid and accessible through the teacher's provocations and preparations. For example, teachers can encourage children to represent their knowledge and ideas before and after they have watched an absorbing show, taken a field trip, or observed and discussed an interesting plant or animal brought into class. Teachers can put up a mirror or photos of the children in the art area, so children can study their faces as they draw their self- portrait. Teachers can offer children the opportunity to check what they have drawn against an original model and then let them revise and improve upon their first representation.

(Adapted from: www.kidsource.com/kidsource, "Encouraging Creativity in Early Childhood Classrooms" by Carolyn Pope Edwards and Kay Wright Springate ERIC DIGEST December 1995)

Suggested Reading

Suggested Reading:

Click on the links below to get ideas for using online art resources to enhance learning about world cultures, mythology, and a variety of other topics: (online only)Click on the Word icon below to access the following resource:

Reggio and Art

World Myths and Legends in Art: Myths are stories that explain why the world is the way it is. All cultures have them. Throughout history, artists have been inspired by myths and legends and have given them visual form. Sometimes these works of art are the only surviving record of what particular cultures believed and valued. But even where written records or oral traditions exist, art adds to our understanding of myths and legends. PDF file of complete curriculum below:

World Myths and Legends in Art

Online Resources

Online Arts Education

Access to the Art Institute of Chicago

Access to The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Explore and Learn

Tour the Louvre

Egyptian Museum

Visit The Hermitage

Assignment 1: A Look at Reggio Emilia

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Assignment 1: A Look at Reggio Emilia

Assignment 2: Integration

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Assignment 2: Integration

Lesson Format

Subject:

Arts Category:

Teacher Supplies:

Student Supplies:

Objectives (what would you like the students to accomplish?). An example might be: Students will learn about how cells work by creating a small drama presentation.

What Will Students Need To Do? An example might be:

Group work, assigning parts, designing costumes, staging, etc.

Warm Up

Explain the opportunity to use arts to learn better. Introduce the subject and create an atmosphere so that students are interested in trying something new.

Presentations

These can be individual or group presentations, depending upon what you have decided in advance.

Assessments

Assignment 3: Practices

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Assignment 3: Practices

Overview

For millions of women around the globe, lack of education is a handicap for which they pay a heavy price. Some 565 million women are illiterate, mainly in poor rural areas. These women cannot sign their names, decipher simple instructions, or fill out an application form. Their lack of education limits their ability to earn money and get credit, to participate in decision-making in their families and communities, to delay childbearing, and to offer their children the best life chances.

The failure to educate these women when they were girls is the result of a range of factors, including the need for girls' labor in the home, attitudes that devalue education for girls, fears about girls' security outside the home, and lack of resources to pay for education.

Girls' Education is a central agent of hope. The research shows us, in the end, how powerfully we can connect education with human welfare. Educating girls offers a multitude of benefits for the girls (themselves), their current and future families, and their societies. We ascribe to the cornerstone of international development: go women, go water, go local. Women come first.

This module will introduce you to educational trends and benefits of educating girls, and give you resources to deepen your study so that in the end you may connect your learning with a community need.

Trends and Effects in Girls' Education

Go Women

"In study after study - by the UN, the World Bank, by academics the world over - girls' education emerges as the single best investment that any society can make."

- Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (in a speech given to the Millennium Assembly Forum on Girls' Education, Sept 7, 2000)

Benefits

Education is vital to ensuring a better quality of life for all children and a better world for all people. In country after country, educating girls yields spectacular social benefits for the current generation and those to come:

Case Studies

I am now in Grade two. I am 15 years old and have been married twice, at the ages of 10 and 12. I did not stay with my second husband. My cousin advised me to go to school. I am the first child in my family and have three sisters and two brothers. I like my lessons, I stood seventh among 120 students. My younger sister was married, but because of my advice she now goes to school. My parents are not really willing to send me to school. Nevertheless, I want to continue and will advise other girls to do the same. - Tadfe Tsega, Ethiopia

"In Africa, there are 24 million girls out of primary school. And in 22 African countries, boys outnumber girls in primary school by at least five percentage points. In countries besieged by HIV/AIDS, the very fact that girls do not go to school can be life threatening. More than 40 percent of women without education have no knowledge of AIDS, compared to 8 percent of women with post-primary schooling."

(Carol Bellamy, UNICEF, 8/15/2001)

"Uganda provides a tremendous example of leadership in this area with its policy of free primary education and its emphasis on gender parity. Another example of leadership comes from Malawi. When the country made primary education free in 1994, net enrollment surged from less than 50 percent to more than 80 percent."

(Carol Bellamy, UNICEF, 8/15/2001)

"It is well known that an educated woman has fewer and healthier children, and is more likely to send her children to school. In Brazil, for instance, illiterate women have an average of 6.5 children, whereas those with secondary education have 2.5 children. The child of a Zambian mother with a primary education has a 25 percent better chance of survival than a child of a mother with no education."

(World Education Forum, Women and Girls: Education, not Discrimination 2000)

"Literacy also gives women a voice. In Bangladesh, women with a secondary education are three times more likely to attend a political meeting than are women with no education."

(World Education Forum, Women and Girls: Education, not Discrimination 2000)

The high cost of formal education has prevented girls in many countries from getting school education. Fifteen-year-old Alamassou from Togo was no different. But that all changed for her though, when CARE and its local partners created two new schools in Alamassou's community.

(http://app.netaid.org/programs/GS/Stories/hazara/index.html)

In rural Zimbabwe a girl's education project run by Cambridge Female Educational Trust (CamFed) says only 5% of 387 girls who graduate from secondary school (with CamFed) became mothers between the ages of 18-24. National average if 47% of girls aged 20-24.

(UNICEF)

Assignment 1: Reflecting

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Assignment 1: Reflecting

Resources

The following resources are given to deepen your understanding of the issues concerning Girls' Education:

A Fair Chance: Attaining Gender Equality in Basic Education by 2005 , Report Summary. Click on the Word icon below to access it:

Fair Chance

Partnership on Sustainable Strategies for Girls Education (online only) Collaborative work with country governments examining policy issues relating to girls' educational opportunities - goals, strategies, specific actions taken, and lessons learned.

SEWA: Self-Employed Women's Association (online only) Organizes self-employed, women workers whose goal is to obtain work security, income security, food security and social security (at least health care, child care, and shelter). Through their own movement women become strong and visible. Their tremendous economic and social contributions become recognized.

BRAC (online only) Exemplary education program in Bangladesh with special emphasis on the enrollment of girls. In addition to formal and non-formal schooling, Union Libraries and Reading Centres are set up to develop the reading habits of adolescent girls and women. Click on the Word icon below to access the BRAC Education Program document:

BRAC Education Program

Classroom Activities

Hands-on activities such as role-playing and map-making exploring the idea of inclusivity in the classroom and school with regards to girls' education. Click on the Word icon below to access it:

Classroom Activities

UNICEF (online only) Aims to get more girls into school, ensure that they stay in school, and that they are equipped with the basic tools they need to succeed in later life. Click on the Word icon below to access Educating Girls - Transforming the Future:

Educating Girls - Transforming the Future

NetAid (online only) Committed to helping girls obtain the education that is their basic human right.

SAGE (online only) Conducts research on educational quality and best practices for girls' education and organizes workshops that bring together policy makers, practitioners, advocates and scholars to share knowledge and disseminate strategies for advancing girls' education.

GEMS (online only) Dedicated to issues of monitoring and evaluation of girls' education. A forum for the worldwide sharing of experiences, strategies, and results.

Assignment 2: Active Reading

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Assignment 2: Active Reading

Assignment 3: Connecting Learning to a Need

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Assignment 3:Connecting Learning to a Need

From the reading, your own knowledge, and possibly interviewing others in your local community, please answer the following questions:

When you're done with this assignment and your mentor says you're "Ready," continue onto Part Three of this course: Designing and Implementing Your Service Project.

Overview

Now it has come clear to me - that in our troubled world, so full of contradictions, it cannot be wisdom to assert the unique truth of one faith over another...The wise person makes justice his guide, and learns from all. Perhaps, in this way, the door may be opened again, whose key has been lost. - Indian scholar, 16th century

In Conflict Mediation we are educating for a culture of peace.

Conflict Mediation is about ensuring that young people develop the social and emotional skills needed to reduce violence and prejudice, form caring relationships, and build healthy lives. Conflict Mediation programs work to change school cultures so that these skills are both modeled and taught as part of the "basics" in education.

In this module, we explore practical lessons for the classroom (Peace Diaries and Peace Doves); introduce you to the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program (RCCP), and other resources in Conflict Mediation - all with the ultimate purpose of applying what you learn to a local, national, or global need.

Assignment 1: Conflict Mediation Activities

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Assignment 1: Conflict Mediation Activities

Two examples of conflict mediation activities - Peace Diaries and Giant Peace Doves - are presented next.

Introduction to Peace Diaries

"We must be the change we wish to see" are the words of Gandhi; they are also the Peace Diaries axiom or "self-evident truth." Every action we take, no matter how small it may seem, has an impact on our self and someone else in the world. Think of a pebble dropped into a pond, a fist raised in anger and a smile. Energy creates a ripple effect that can destroy or heal. Have no doubt that we can change our own lives and the lives of others. It's up to us to decide what we will do and by what means.

We have chosen Peace Diaries as an example of good teaching in the field of Conflict Mediation. The Peace Diaries is a place where teachers and students come together to collaborate on projects to learn about each other and effect change in our lives, communities, and the globe.

In this lesson, students examine effective and ineffective ways to handle prejudice-related conflicts. A theme to emphasize during this lesson is that positive and constructive action can be taken to deal with these conflicts.

To begin, you must first establish the following vocabulary:

Stereotype - A mental image of a group based on opinion without regard to individual differences.

Prejudice - A negative judgment or opinion formed about a group without knowledge of the facts.

Assumptions - Conclusions based on limited knowledge of the facts.

Discrimination - Treating people in a less favorable way because they are members of a particular group. Discrimination is prejudice in action.

Scapegoating - Holding one person or group responsible for all of the community's problems. Isolating or rejecting a person or group.

Peace Diaries Lesson

Step One

Vocabulary Review - Introduce any vocabulary in the lesson that you think will be unfamiliar to your students.

Step Two

Discuss How Stereotyping, Prejudice, Discrimination, and Scapegoating Are Harmful

Step Three

Discussion

What are some of the ways people in these situations "lost" as a result of stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination, or scapegoating?

What are some ways the people who did the stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination, or scapegoating "lost"?

What kinds of conflicts do these situations represent? How would you classify them?

What is the role of stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination, or scapegoating in the conflicts - is it the cause of the conflict? An escalator?

Can you think of other examples where people have lost out because of stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination, or scapegoating - either as victims or perpetrators?

How do you think the people in these situations learned stereotypes or prejudices?

Have you ever been the victim of stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination, or scapegoating?

Step Four

Reflecting

(Adapted from www.peacediaries.org)

Note from Jane Goodall

MY VISION FOR U.N. PEACE DAY- SEPTEMBER 21, 2003

The first Giant Peace Dove was conceived by Matthew Hoffman and Robert & Kelly Cornett of Puppet Farm Arts to commemorate my appointment by Kofi Annan, as a UN Messenger of Peace. Already some 40 of these spectacular doves have taken part in many peace demonstrations.

My vision is that on 21st September - the designated UN Peace Day - Roots & Shoots groups will "fly" these doves all over the globe. Roots & Shoots is now in 70 countries with some 4,500 active groups (pre-school through university with seeds growing in senior citizen residences!). But not only Roots & Shoots groups shall "fly" the doves. Other groups and individuals shall also make and "fly" the doves. My sister and her daughter will make one. They will be taken to sea in boats, taken up mountains, appear in parks and gardens.

They will help us everywhere to celebrate the yearning for peace of the peoples of the world. A celebration of all that is noble and free in the human spirit. Will you help to make my vision take off so that our flocks of Giant Peace Doves shall be seen from a satellite? Thank You.

Peace and love,

Jane Goodall, PhD CBE

Founder-the Jane Goodall Institution & UN Messenger of Peace

Giant Peace Doves

Jane Goodall's Giant Peace Dove Campaign continues every day, everywhere. With your students, consider making one of these peace doves and flying it in a place that is visible.

Giant Peace Doves are an easy-to-build, portable, and visible symbol of peace that anyone can make. These doves show the power of collaborative art to unify communities, cities, and the world.

Click on the link below to learn how to make the Giant Peace Dove. It comes with a diagram. There is also an "Image Gallery of Peace Doves" and "World Map of Giant Peace Doves" showing where peace doves were created and flown.

Make a Giant Peace Dove

Make a Mini Peace Dove

You can start now to plan the construction of your Giant Peace Dove to be ready for U.N. Peace Day in September 2004, or to fly sooner.

Resolving Conflict Creatively Program

Here is an example of a conflict mediation program that can be adapted in your school. The Resolving Conflict Creatively Program (RCCP), a program of Educators for Social Responsibility (ESR), is a research-based school program in social and emotional learning. RCCP supports school staff, parents, families, and the community in teaching young people conflict mediation skills, promoting intercultural understanding, and providing models for positive ways of dealing with conflict and differences.

The model for ages 5-13 includes the following:

Professional Development for Teachers - A twenty-four hour introductory course and ongoing support for implementation of the RCCP curriculum through on-site classrooms visit.

Classroom Instruction - Features curricula developed in close collaboration with participating teachers.

Peer Mediation - Trains carefully selected groups of students to serve their schools as peer mediators.

Administrator Training - Introduces administrators to the concepts and skills of conflict resolution and bias awareness and explores how their leadership can enhance effective implementation of the program.

Parent Training - Helps parents develop better ways of dealing with conflict and prejudice at home, and become more effective leaders in their children's schools.

Support Staff Training - Offers an orientation to the skills and concepts of conflict resolution to build awareness and communication skills among secretaries, cafeteria staff, bus drivers, and other school support staff.

Training of Trainers - Builds school district capacity to independently implement all program components and to integrate and institutionalize the program into school district curriculum frameworks.

For Older Students

The model for ages 14-18 includes:

Planning and Needs Assessment - Builds collaborative partnerships among the different constituencies in high schools (student, staff, parents, and community members).

Professional Development for Teachers - Includes a twenty-four hour introductory course in creating and managing peaceable classroom environments. Prepares teachers to implement "best practices" that help strengthen social and emotional competencies, build a cooperative learning environment, and develop more effective communication and problem-solving skills. This is followed by ongoing coaching, consulting, and team building.

Classroom Instruction - Fosters skill instruction in conflict mediation, anger management, and intergroup relations.

Student Leadership Training and Youth Development - Provides young people with the skills and conviction to participate fully in creating peaceful classrooms, schools, and communities.

(Adapted from www.esrnational.org/about-rccp.html)

Suggested Reading: Resolving Conflict Creatively Program

Resources

The following resources are provided to deepen your understanding of Conflict Mediation:

Creating Safe Classrooms

Focuses on the anatomy of conflicts, and how to respond through communication.

Safe Classrooms

A 12-Step Conflict Mediation Program (PDF files below)

Win Win

Creative Response

Empathy

Assertiveness

Cooperative Power

Managing Emotions

Willingness to Resolve

Mapping the Conflict

Designing Options

Negotiation

Mediation

Broadening Perspectives

Conflict Resolution Network

12 skills to learn including win-win, empathy, creative response, mapping the conflict, cooperative power.

Compassionate Listening Project (Online only) Empowers individuals to heal polarization and build bridges between people, communities, and nations in conflict.

Playback Theater (Online only) A form of improvisational theater effective in cultivating empathy and compassion. Playback to Youth is designed to be a service learning curriculum project. The performers literally "play back" what they hear, recreating the events on stage.

M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence (Online only) Teaches the philosophy and practice of nonviolence to help reduce the violence that consumes our hearts, our homes, and our societies.

Helping Children Outgrow War discussses conditions for constructive learning in the wake of social violence. Topics include: instructional activities in a war-ravaged context; peace education projects in refugee camps; children soldiers beginning anew; human rights training, and more. Click on the Word icon below to access it:

Helping Children Outgrow War

More Resources

Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution (Online only) Promotes sharing and practicing ways of peacemaking that reflect the diversity of the world. Provides a forum where individuals working on and researching conflict resolution can gather to exchange ideas.

Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies (Online only) Conducts research, education, and outreach programs on the causes of violence and the conditions for sustainable peace. Focuses on the religious and ethnic dimensions of conflict and peacebuilding.

National Multicultural Institute (Online only) Extensive experience working with educational institutions, government agencies and non-profit organizations in the areas of workforce diversity, human resource management, multicultural education and cross-cultural conflict resolution.

Teaching Peace is about helping students find their voices - to listen to themselves, and to each other. It promotes an interconnected vision of the world and gives students tangible skills in conflict resolution and managing everyday problems they encounter. Click on the Word icon below to access it:

Teaching Peace

BBC World News (Online only) An online source for news from around the world.

Peace Curriculum (Online only) Resources, activities, and suggestions regarding peace pledges, building communication, and an atmosphere of listening.

Teaching Tolerance (Online only) Activity that enables students to explore the lives of immigrant teens and learn about the social boundaries in their own school along the way.

Seeds of Peace (Online only) International camp dedicated to preparing teenagers from areas of conflict with the leadership skills required to promote coexistence and peace. While the organization focuses primarily on the Middle East, its programs have expanded to include other regions of conflict. As of 2003, participants come from the Middle East, the Balkans, South Asia, and Cyprus.

Assignment 2: Active Reading

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Assignment 2: Active Reading

Assignment 3: Connecting Learning to a Need

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Assignment 3: Connecting Learning to a Need

From the reading, your own knowledge, and possibly interviewing others in your local community, please answer the following questions:

When you're done with this assignment and your mentor says you're "Ready," continue onto Part Three of this course: Designing and Implementing Your Service Project.

Overview

Schools are more than places where a body of knowledge is transferred from teachers to students. Students come from families, live in communities, and carry a social history with them. As we develop the skills to reach all students, we need also to identify the "specialness" of these needs and create classrooms that can allow young people to achieve.

This module examines some of the myths concerning special needs and offers suggestions for creating inclusive classrooms.

To frame this study, read the TWB Journal (below), A Little less Ignorant. In this account two, disabled-adult communities halfway around the world connect with each other in a powerful way.

Required Reading:

A Little Less Ignorant

Suggested Reading:

Special Education Services in Taiwan

Special Education Myths

MYTH #1 - "Not all children can learn. The ones that cannot learn in the traditional classroom are simply not capable, and they need to be pulled out of the classroom and occupied."

Response to Myth #1: Traditional classrooms may not reach all children, but that does not mean they are stupid or unqualified. Special education students need more and better instruction, rather than separation and stigma. Skills to reach all children (the use of multiple intelligence, for example) have proven remarkably well in reaching students who would otherwise not learn.

MYTH #2 - "Special education instruction should be assigned to special education teachers. They know how to get through to children who are not learning."

Response to Myth #2: First, such a statement is often an excuse for not varying instruction. Second, not many schools around the world have special education teachers. Third, the roles of teachers are changing, and they are facing children with special needs more and more. To ignore these children is a tragedy.

MYTH #3 - "Children who exhibit behavior problems in school are incapable of making good choices. Once they learn how to make good choices, things will be better. Their parents may be at fault, or they just may be too 'slow' to understand the difference between right and wrong."

Response to Myth #3: Some children have not been taught coping skills effectively. Once the teacher expresses an interest in the child and forms a partnership with parents, such coping skills can, indeed, be taught. Children often live up to the expectations of parents and teachers. If s/he is told that s/he is "bad" or "stupid," s/he will act that way. The breaking down of pride, at an early age, is instrumental in destroying a child's belief in her/himself. It is the teacher's job to work with parents to ensure that children are validated for what they can do, for how they are improving, for how they have shown progress. Just as public humiliation is one of the worst experiences in a child's life; public acknowledgment is one of the best. Never underestimate the difference you can make in the lives and hopes of children.

How Teachers Can Help

There are 3 ways:

Identifying Categories of Special Education

Autism means a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, and it is generally evident before age 3. Other characteristics often associated with autism are engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements; resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines; and unusual responses to sensory experiences.

Deaf-Blindness includes hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness.

Deafness means a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification.

Emotional Disturbance (includes schizophrenia but does not apply to children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they have an emotional disturbance) means a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child's educational performance:

More Categories

Hearing Impairments means an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child's educational performance, but that is not included under the definition of deafness.

Mental Retardation means significantly sub-average general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior.

Multiple Disabilities means concomitant impairments (such as mental retardation-blindness, mental retardation-orthopedic impairment, etc.), the combination of which causes such severe educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of the impairments.

Orthopedic Impairment means a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes impairments caused by congenital anomaly (e.g., clubfoot, absence of some member, etc.), impairments caused by disease (e.g., Poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis, etc.), and impairments from other causes ( e.g., cerebral palsy, amputations, and fractures or burns that cause contractures).

Other Health Impairment means having limited strength, vitality or alertness, including a heightened sensitivity to environmental stimuli, that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment that is due to chronic or acute health problems such as asthma, attention deficit disorder, or attention hyperactivity disorder, diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, hemophilia, lead poisoning, leukemia, nephritis, rheumatic fever, or sickle cell anemia.

Specific Learning Disorders means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations, including such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. (The term does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic differences.)

Categories - Continued

Speech or Language Impairment means a communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice impairment, that adversely affects a child's educational performance.

Speech-Language Pathology Services encompass such activities as:

Traumatic Brain Injury means an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term applies to open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas, such as cognition; language; memory; attention; reasoning; abstract thinking; judgment; problem-solving; sensory, perceptual, and motor abilities; psychosocial behavior; psychosocial functions; information processing; and speech. The term does not apply to brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative or to brain injuries induced by birth trauma.

Visual Impairment means an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness.

Recommended Reading:

Learning Disabilities Online: LDOnline provides the essentials on learning disabilities, along with a bulletin board so that teachers may contact each other and exchange ideas. Particularly strong is the section called: "The ABCs of Learning Disabilities."

Council for Exceptional Children : CEC is the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving educational outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities, students with disabilities, and/or the gifted. The site also includes an excellent discussion forum.

National Center on Learning Disabilities: This site provides resources, information, and fact sheets.

Assignment 1: Reflecting

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Assignment 1: Reflecting

Gifted Children Also Have Special Needs

"Gifted" children demonstate unusually strong competence in the following areas:

It is interesting to note how closely such "gifted" characteristics correlate with Howard Gardner's research on multiple intelligences.

Studies show that gifted and talented children need the same level of school accommodations to be successful as students who apparently lack essential skills. In fact, studies often show that gifted and talented students often disguise their discomfort in school through misbehaviors. They are placed in special classes for less successful students. It may very well be that those students who do not demonstrate success are bored. With appropriate teaching, such students can shine.

Studies have often shown that gifted and talented students drop out of school as much - and in some cases more - than students who struggle and are unable to demonstrate adequate academic performance.

Characteristics of Gifted Children

Gifted children...

Myths About Gifted Children

Habits Gifted Children Need To Develop

The Essential Role of Parents

Techniques for Working with Parents

Classroom Management

Student energy needs to be channeled in appropriate directions. Children often misbehave because:

Traditional management techniques may not work as well for students with special needs. It is important, therefore, to make distinctions between what you see as behaviors that you will not tolerate or negotiate, and those behaviors you can tolerate or negotiate.

Level 1: These are behaviors that you will not negotiate. They usually involve issues surrounding safety of the student and others in the classroom. In these cases, the student must respond to your direction. Clearly outline in advance what the behaviors are that you expect.

Level 2: These are behaviors that you are willing to negotiate. You can counsel the student about such behaviors privately and work with him/her to see that fewer incidents arise.

Level 3: These are behaviors that, in the scheme of things, are not that important. Certainly they do not endanger the safety of others.

Your Attitude

Never use sarcasm. It cuts deeply into children

Never use shame. Shame is an emotion one uses as a personal measure to determine whether one's actions have been appropriate. It is not an emotion to be used as a weapon.

Assignment 2: Behavior

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Assignment 2: Behavior

Assignment 3: Connecting Learning to a Need

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Assignment 3: Connecting Learning to a Need

When you're done with this assignment and your mentor says you're "Ready," continue onto Part Three of this course: Designing and Implementing Your Service Project.

Overview

The heart of any village, town, or city is the center where learning takes place. A place where people from the community can come together to talk, to meet, to discuss, to learn, to connect with each other, and - in the case of computer availability - to connect with the world.

Teachers Without Borders supports the development and growth of Community Teaching and Learning Centers (CTLC) around the world. In this module, you will be introduced to some of the basic elements of a Teachers Without Borders CTLC with an eye towards possibly starting one in your own community.

What are CTLCs?

Teachers Without Borders Community Teaching and Learning Centers (CTLCs) are local, practical education centers. CTLCs are designed to be embraced by and emerge from the community itself. A typical CTLC has both on-line (with computers) and/or off-line (without computers) rooms. Locals staff them and support the machinery. Training comes from the community, in coordination with NGOs and appropriate technology, including distance learning. The most successful CTLCs connect with others nearby and to the spokes of a larger wheel of information services.

CTLCs use existing facilities and are often outfitted with libraries (including dictionaries, reference and educational materials of general interest); computers; face-to-face classrooms; and break-out spaces, used primarily to serve other essential functions for community sustainability.

CTLCs are hybrids between traditional cyber-cafes and other community functions. Some communities want to focus on a local gathering-place for teaching and learning, others more specifically on e-services and training.

CTLCs are based upon the 3 pillars of Teachers Without Borders:

Two Crucial Questions Arise

Looking at the First Question...

A functioning CTLC has the following elements:

What's Involved

Management - Coordinator needs to be competent technologically, personally, publicly, and capable of handling fundraising and recruitment, as well as public relations. Coordinators also need to be culturally competent, aware of the diversity of people in one's community and able to support their needs.

Technological support - A plan for repair and preventive maintenance, plus, funding for this. Volunteers rarely work in this regard. This must be a paid position, wherever possible. The position must be connected to accountability.

Volunteers - Volunteers are crucial in many other ways and accountable through word of mouth.

Programming - Training is a higher priority than access - instruction and classes are favored over open access as the preferred use of space. Digital technology is a tool that works best with specific skill development.

Flexibility - Instruction must fit users' needs (classes that run for extended periods of time, or at special times, or for special populations.)

Focus on meaningful content - People need to be engaged. Create instruction and classes that meet the needs of the people in your community.

Resource Development - Certain elements are crucial to success:

Fundraising

Elements of fund solicitation include:

What We Mean by Sustainability

Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Our Values

We focus on development, not growth. Development means creating flexibility and responsiveness, resilience to stress, ability to achieve equitable, productive, and participatory output or service delivery.

Our Models

Pure Enterprise Model - Individual, Teachers Without Borders CTLCs that sustain themselves through user fees for access, training services (including Certificate of Teaching Mastery), use of space by third parties, and other revenue generating services (internet café, office functions for a fee, e-government, e-health, childcare).

Pure Service Model - Individual, Teachers Without Borders CTLCs that sustain themselves through fundraising efforts (annual funds or special fund-raising events) in order to provide 100% subsidy of costs for access and training.

"Affinity Group" Model - Small clusters of 3-6 Teachers Without Borders CTLCs (clusters can be based on local geography or similar-service populations). This creates a brand, of sorts, that would reduce fixed costs and duplications of efforts. The individual centers in an "affinity group" deliver services, do some outreach on their own, but rely on a central (umbrella-organizing) effort for major fundraising, purchasing, volunteer recruitment, technical assistance, and public education.

"Association" Model - Many, Teachers Without Borders CTLCs through a given region. Assistance is centralized: training, volunteers, record-keeping, purchasing. Corporate sponsors are essential here, as they receive benefits from being associated with a large number of users.

Assignment 1: Reflecting

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Assignment 1: Reflecting

Effective Evaluations

Evaluation measures for CTLCs allow leaders to improve services and seek funding. It is quite important, therefore, that leaders take these measures seriously.

It is not enough to count the number of participants in a workshop or a class offered for a discount rate. It is the learning that needs to be measured. So, evaluation measures need to be BOTH qualitative (anecdotes, impressions) and quantitative (hard numbers). The two constitute a credible evaluation process.

There are several evaluation measurement rubrics available. They need to work closely with your context, your community, your culture.

Suggested Reading:

Teachers Without Borders' research team strongly suggests that NGOs or other civil society groups adapt a suitable evaluation design to their existing needs and to take seriously the elements of such a design in their own training materials. We recommend highly the frameworks established by ALNAP - The Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action ALNAP is an international, inter-agency forum working to improve learning, accountability, and quality across the humanitarian sector. Read more here .

Resources

There are several ways in which Teachers Without Borders CTLCs can spawn businesses. Some were already discussed in the "Sustainability" section. Here are some websites to generate more ideas:

Online Resources:

World Corps

This organization focuses on issues of sustainability in developing nations by empowering and training young adults worldwide to become effective business entrepreneurs, community leaders, and global citizens.

Digital Partners

Digital Partners taps the power of the digital economy to develop market-based solutions that benefit the world's poor. Please make certain you read about their case studies, which are enlightening models of what can occur in your own community.

E-commerce for Arts and Crafts

Locally made products, including handicrafts and traditional foods, are sold nationwide and around the world through e-commerce. Sri Lanka and Kuala Lumpur are poised to follow Thailand's lead.

Assignment 2: Reflective Reading

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Assignment 2: Reflective Reading

Assignment 3: Connecting Learning to a Need

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Assignment 3: Assessing Your Community

From the reading, your own knowledge, and possibly interviewing others in your local community, please answer the following questions:

When you're done with this assignment and your mentor says you're "Ready," continue onto Part Three of this course: Designing and Implementing Your Service Project.