CIE Activities On Campus - Spring 2003

CIE Graduates a Bumper Crop!
New Dissertations - Spring 2003
New Master's Projects - Spring 2003
CARE Reunion on occasion of visit of Jane Benbow
Earth Action International - How you can make a difference
Why Do Poor Countries Stay Poor? Professor Rao
Russian Rectors at CIE for Workshop

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CIE Graduates - May 2003

place cursor on face for names & links to titles of thesis

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Master's Projects - Spring 2003

	Irina Anjelova Civic Education in Armenia: Possibility and Challenges in Implementation
	Mukul Acharya Microfinance with non-formal education: An approach for effectiveness and scaling up outreach
	Andrew Habana Hafner Supporting the language agenda in teacher development: Preparing teachers for culturally and linguistically diverse students
	M. Majid Khan Privatization of Higher Education in Pakistan: Analysis and Critique of the National Policy
	Saida Nabiyeva Towards Innovation in Higher Education: Educational Reforms in Azerbaijan
	Stephanie Pirroni An Approach to Transformative Learning for Social Capital Building

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CARE Staff Reunion at CIE

Jane Benbow (Ed.D. 1994) visited CIE during the last week of semester. As part of her visit she and three current degree candidates held a CARE reunion. Jane is currently the Director of Girls' and Basic Education in CARE's home office in Atlanta. Due in large part to Jane's efforts there are three former CARE employees: Sam Oduro-Sarpong from Ghana, Monica Gomes from Bangladesh, and Fulgence Swai from Tanzania. CIE is currently working with CARE on education projects in both Afghanistan and in Southern Sudan. We look forward to many more years of collaboration.

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Lois Barber, a founder of 20/20 Vision and Co-Director and Co-Founder of Earth Action International spoke on a recent Tuesday to an enthusiastic center community. Lois outlined some of the principles that have informed her approach to encouraging public involvement in issues of concern and that grew out of her work at 20/20 Vision (http://www.2020vision.org/). First, she said that they did not directly try to change people's opinions, rather preferring to work with those who basically agreed but were passive and inactive in supporting their beliefs. The challenge was to mobilize those supporters in an effective and timely way. Other principles involved providing brief summaries (in the form of postcards) that people could understand quickly (20 minutes a month and $20 contribution per year were the basis of the 20/20 mission) and clear, simple instructions about how to influence law makers and policy leaders.

She then turned to a discussion of Earth Action International - a global network of over 2000 partner organizations in 160 countries around the globe. Earth Action's mission is to inform groups through providing materials or "tools" as Lois stated, for the group to enlighten its members on how to take action. Issues such as peace, environmental protection, education for children, human rights and the like are at the forefront of the action alerts that Earth Action provides. The tools include action postcards, letters, a poster and media materials.

The lively discussion focused on a recent campaign undertaken by Earth Action to help implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child: Education for All, abolishing the conscription of Child Soldiers, controlling Child Labor, and helping Street Children. Lois discussed the methods of collaboration Earth Action uses in reaching out to and partnering with local NGO's and other organizations. The discussion was rich and informative. Lois also suggested that Earth Action would be a good site for CIE students to do an internship and or practicum. For more information and to see the partnering organizations around the globe please visit the website: http://www.earthaction.org

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Why do poor countries stay poor?
reported by Frank McNerney

On Tuesday, 11 March, Professor Mohan Rao, from the Economics Dept. at UMass, presented stimulating talk that ranged widely around the topic of how countries can develop and escape poverty.

In Rao's view, the most policy makers incorrectly apply the neo-liberal notion that free trade, with its one size fits all policy, to every developing country's situation, without regard to endowments, political development or internal integrity. Free trade policy has been the reigning economic doctrine propounded by global organizations such as the IMF and World Bank for the past 15 years, yet this policy may be detrimental to the improvement of the economic life in the least developed countries. Rao shares the view of Nobel laureate Joseph Stieglitz that countries starting on the road to industrialization--the only way to become more prosperous, since no agrarian based countries are "rich"--must protect targeted domestic industries by using trade-based subsidies such as tariffs. A completely open trading policy for developing countries may result in an absolute rather than just a relative decline in terms of prosperity.

Perhaps even more important, however, than any economic or political policy are the human values that inform the actions of the players in any market. The competing principles of justice and "rent-seeking" (the ability to generate unearned income) are part of our basic human nature. Until our institutions, can build into their value systems a notion of justice, we will continue to use mechanistic and impersonal models such as free trade to govern the interactions of the world. This is the challenge that faces educators, economists and all of us: How do we protect the least capable and most disadvantaged in our societies? If we reduce the whole argument to "carrots and sticks" - market driven impersonal incentives and punishments, then this is unfair to our own humanity.

For a expanded version of his ideas see his recent paper: http://ideas.repec.org/p/uma/periwp/wp1.html Professor Rao's current research focuses on issues of globalization and liberalization policies, particularly in low-income countries. He is presently working on the possibility of 'pro-poor' or egalitarian growth with applications to Indonesia.

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CIE Welcomes Rectors from Russian Universities

Rectors from six universities in Russia spent a week at CIE and UMass in early February studying various ideas in the reform of higher education. The first part of their program was spent at Harvard University. The program is sponsored by the National Training foundation in Moscow (http://www.ntf.ru) with funds provided by the World Bank. The trip is part of a larger effort to bring innovations to higher education in Russia. The rectors direct such institutions as Kuban State University, Tomsk State University, Kemerovo State University, Barnaul State Pedagogical University and South-Russian University of Economics and Services.

The training program at UMass covered topics such as curricular reform, faculty development, information technology, university governance, strategic higher education planning, educational networking, science education, and distance learning. During their visit they met with leaders ranging from Chancellor Lombardy, to the Dean of the School of Education, Andy Effrat, and Stan Rosenberg, our state senator. The rectors made a presentationat a Tuesday morning CIE meeting and at the end of the visit presented a summary of their reactions to reform ideas they had seen on their visit and their plans for using some of them upon their return to Russia.In addition to attending graduate level classes and learning about United States culture, the rectors also met with selected administrators and staff from the five colleges. The visit concluded with a gala dinner, complete with numerous Russian-style toasts, at a local Chinese restaurant where they were presented with diplomas attesting to their participation in the program at UMass.

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CIE Activities On Campus - Fall 2002

New Doctoral Dissertations - Fall 2002
New Masters Projects - Fall 2002
Karen Campbell-Nelson on Timor
Ron Israel from EDC visits CIE
Dr. Helen Caldicott Speaks - Organized by CIE
Helping Children Outgrow War - New Publication
Ann Dykstra speaks on "Conflict and Education"
Marylen Serna Salinas - speaks on Colombia's Plan de Vida
The annual Fall Reception - at the Hartwells

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On Tuesday October 28, Ron Israel, head of Education Development Center's Global Learning Group, entertained and enlightened the CIE community with songs, stories and an invitation. EDC was established forty years ago as an innovative center for curriculum development, teacher training and school reform. EDC (http://www2.edc.org/) is currently is engaged in some 350 projects, carried out by 15 professional centers with 600 staff. The Global Learning Group promotes the more effective use of knowledge and information to support human development needs in countries around the world. GLG believes that we are living on the cusp of a global community of nations, where no one country can afford to overlook the experience of others.

Ron described EDC's establishment of the Bedford Global Learning CharterSchool. Located in downtown New Bedford, MA, this Horace Mann Charter School opened in the fallof 2002 with an initial enrollment of 250 students in grades 6-8. The school offers a curriculum focused on preparing students for the economic, social, and civic challenges of the 21st Century with integrated cross-cutting themes in career awareness, global citizenship, technology literacy, and life skills. EDC plays an important role in the school's startup, management, and technical assistance. EDC is interested in having members of the CIE community becoming involved with the Bedford Global Learning Charter School. George Urch, Professor Emeritus and founder of CIE's Global Horizon's Project has volunteered to organize this activity starting in 2003.

Ron not only spoke to these issues, he also entertained us with songs that he has composed and recorded on two CDs, compositions such as Don't Neglect Nobody and Beauty of the World. Ron didn't just 'walk the talk' he sang it as well. We look forward to this collaboration. top of page

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Helen Caldicott, recognized world wide as one of the most articulate and passionate advocates for citizen action to remedy the nuclear and environmental crises of the nuclear age, spoke to an appreciative audience of over 300 people at Sage Hall, Smith College on November 12th. After the talk she signed copies of her book, talked with members of the audience, and participated in one of the caucuses that took place after refreshments were served.

Her talk drew heavily on material from her most recent book, The New Nuclear Danger: George W. Bush's Military-Industrial Complex. The theme was to raise awareness of the current generation about the dangers of the nuclear age at a time when we have become too complacent about the dangers of nuclear war. The following two paragraphs are taken from a review published by Booklist.

Her harrowing descriptions make it abundantly clear that to flirt with the terrible power of uranium and plutonium (which was named after the god of hell for good reason) is to risk the very "death of life". And yet the powers that be, an amalgam of arms dealers and politicians, proceed, unchallenged by a distracted and docile citizenry, according to Caldicott. She dexterously exposes the enormous influence that weapons corporations such as Lockheed Martin have on George W. Bush's administration, then illuminates myriad facets of our hubristic and potentially apocalyptic corporate-driven nuclear scheme, from the dogged pursuit of worthless missile defense systems to the real work of the cynically named Stockpile Stewardship and Management Program - the wildly irresponsible creation of new, treaty-breaking nuclear weapons.

The Doomsday Clock, the symbol of nuclear danger, has just been set two minutes closer to midnight, so the time to take Caldicott's measured and wise words to heart is now.

Dr. Caldicott is the current Founder and President of the Nuclear Policy Research Institute (www.nuclearpolicy.org). She is also the co-founder of the Nobel Prize winning Physicians for Social Responsibility was herself a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize. She has honorary degrees from several universities and both the Smithsonian Institute and the Ladies Home Journal named her one of the most Influential Women of the Twentieth Century. Currently, she is the Founder and President of the Nuclear Policy Research Institute.

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Growing out of an experimental seminar that was offered at CIE in the Fall of 2001, this guidebook was published in June of 2002 by USAID. Assembled by Vachel Miller and Fritz Affolter, current doctoral candidates at CIE, with assistance from a variety of others including Ash Hartwell. The book is now being used as a text in the course Education in Post-Conflict Settings being offered in Fall 2002 at CIE by Ash Hartwell and Yvonne Shanahan.

The following description is taken from a summary on the Ginie web site. This new guidebook from USAID’s Improving Educational Quality Project focuses on the challenges of children’s learning in post-conflict educational reconstruction. It is primarily concerned with creating constructive learning in the wake of social violence. It reviews eight cases related to the problems of educational stunting created by war: (1) Teacher Emergency Packages; Child Soldiers [Africa]; (3) the Butterfly Garden [Sri Lanka]; (4) Children’s Participation [Sri Lanka]; (5) Peace Education [Kenya]; (6) Project Diacom [Balkans]; (7) Community Leadership [Azerbaijan]; and (8) Human rights Training [Peru].

A must read for both program administrators and practitioners interested in the issues of social violence and learning. The case studies are practical in their design, sharing both experiences and instruments.

To read or download a copy in PDF see the following site: http://www.ginie.org/children

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Anne Dykstra, Ph.D., USAID Senior Technical Adviser for Girls' and Women's Education visited CIE for several days in October to make presentations in the Education in Post-Conflict Settings class as well as at the Tuesday Center meeting.