Judith Johannes        jjohanne@educ.umass.edu

During the last four years I have been working at the Representation of the European Union in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) where I was responsible for a portfolio, which included Education, Research and Youth.  Education is highly valued in the Palestinian society, which does not dispose of any other resources than the knowledge and knowhow of their people. Education soon became the focus area of my work and we funded development programmes and projects to improve the management capacities of the higher education institutions and the quality of their programmes, to assist the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in the implementation of the Teacher Education Reform, as well as to enhance regional university cooperation and to offer scholarships to Palestinian students, who desire to study at European universities.

After 10 years of professional experience in public administration I consider it as a great privilege to be given the opportunity to re-immerge myself into the academic world. I came to CIE to deepen my knowledge in educational policy, planning and management and see CIE as a platform for inspiration and innovative ideas for my future work. 

I started my marathon as a secondary school teacher in 1991. I worked very stressful in school which had acute shortage of teachers, teaching and learning facilities and overcrowded classrooms. The situation was probably worsened by uncoordinated implementation of universal primary education policy of 1975 which mainly focused on expansion of enrollment without putting much emphasis on other issues like training, recruitment and retention of teachers, construction of classrooms, provision of textbooks and other school infrastructures which are corner stones for quality education delivery.

What were reasons for all this mess? Was it weak polices, uncoordinated plans, poor management, small budgets or unstructured monitoring and evaluation schemes? In 2001 I was transferred to The Ministry of Education headquarters to work in the statistics section which later was changed to Education Management Information System (EMIS). Our main role was to produce education data and information which can be used as evidence in policy formulation, development of strategic plans, budgets preparation and monitoring and evaluation of education sector performance.

We need well focused polices, strategic plans, implementation frameworks, management skills and monitoring and evaluation schemes. Who is ready to tackle those challenges, who are ready to provide support? who is ready to slake the thirst for knowledge of our delighted learners?
Is it not CIE through their intellectual and academic capabilities while sharing their experiences with people from all over the world!

I am happy to be a member of a wonderful CIE community where I can fetch knowledge and skills from gifted and talented professors and other intellectuals, sharing different experiences and go back home after two years well equipped with confidence and necessary tools ready work in the technological challenging environment.

I am proudly a Nigerian and happy to be at CIE. I believe that coming to CIE will facilitate the experiences that help examine policy formation and implementation in regard to education in developing countries. I graduated from University of Ibadan in 1989 with honors in Adult Education and a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from University of Ilorin in 1995 both in Nigeria respectively. I have worked for over 20years armed with varied teaching experiences both in the formal and non-formal settings. I worked with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Nigeria for twelve years rising to the Management level. My work experience and position as an adult education practitioner gave me hands-on experience in community education programs as part of the organization’s community development service (CDS) program and by this I was exposed to implementing programs related to women particularly in adult literacy. Through this work, I realized how women are endowed with different skills that can complement each other at different stages of their development.

To further advance my skills in ways to better effect changes in the lives of women I opted for a Master of Arts degree in Sustainable Development with a concentration in Community Development and Social Action from the School for International Training (SIT) Graduate Institute Brattleboro Vermont USA.

Among many reasons I chose CIE so that I can build my leadership skills in research practices and policy formulation and implementation. I am particularly interested in bridging the gap between the educated and non-educated women through the use non-formal education. This choice is rooted in my strong belief that, the successes and failures of educational policies with respect to women education particularly in developing countries can be deepened and broadened through policy studies.

As a policy researcher and expert with a focus in International Education, I want to be well versed in the meaning, purposes, scope and limits of education through generation of research that emphasizes international perspective and emerging areas of investigation. In a globalized world of today, there is need for educational policies that will meet the needs of the world, the people and at the same time encouraging the required change for sustainable development especially for women, who for decades were left behind the development agenda. 

My professional goal is to engage with women both young and old as they expand their horizon and become more involved in family and community decision making.  I plan to continue to work with the Nigerian Government and policy makers to review our educational system especially in non-formal and vocational system of education in Nigeria. I am a happily married woman blessed with five lovely children.

I come from Zanzibar, Tanzania and believe that being educated is an asset for the family, community and a nation as a whole. On top of that I decided to develop my career path in the education sector by working directly in the community in order to encourage my people to involve themselves in the provision of education for their children as well as helping learners to work hard in their learning.  

My experience of being a teacher for ten years (1992 to 2002), allowed me to have great interaction with communities at the grassroots level. This increased my capacity to understand socio-cultural and socio-economic factors affecting the development of the education system and students’ performance, particularly in science subjects and mainly for girls. As a result of these experiences I began my BA program in Public Administration in 2002.

Upon completion of my degree I was assigned to be an HIV and AIDS Focal Person of the Ministry. I had a great time not only to apply my knowledge, skills and experience as a coordinator between community (students, parents, local community leaders, NGOs, Ministry’s staff) and Management of the Ministry (decision maker) but also to work for  attaining educational goals.

From September 2007 to May 08, I attending a fruitful course in International Diploma on Educational Planning and Management for developing countries at International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP), it increased my performance capacity by understanding major issues to be considered in the planning process and better management in education sectors. I then returned to my country and began contributing to improving access to education in parity and quality for all regardless of gender, cultural perspective or level of income. One thing that I was pleased about was helping to develop a Manual for School Management Committees, which explained their roles and responsibilities in school management, and helped them learn how to use it to guide them in their daily performance.

I am excited by the opportunity of being a CIE family member and to join with other experienced educators. I am pleased to have the chance to gain advanced skills through sharing constructive ideas in the CIE community.

My first international and teaching experience came about during a study abroad program in Ecuador where I taught ESL to my own high school class of 50 students because the teacher they had hired never showed up that year. Having survived that experience, the language later led me to a position here in Western Mass teaching elementary school Spanish and working as a library media specialist. I strove to integrate global education into the k-6 language program, where many students had never ventured beyond the boundaries of their own county and needed tools to make their learning less abstract.  To refresh my Spanish and satisfy my desire to somehow participate in international development, I spent my summers traveling and volunteering in Bolivia, Mexico, Peru and Ecuador. I offered short-term relief for mothers at a pre-school for vulnerable rural children, taught a community English class, gardened with school children and continued to return to my job each September. In an effort to include my students in global/community-based learning, I brought a group of sixth graders to Costa Rica for a service-learning trip in 2004.

In 2005, I left teaching to join the U.S. Peace Corps in The Gambia, West Africa. I worked on a nationwide teacher training initiative for alternative certification of rural untrained teachers.  I wrote curriculum materials and taught at The Gambia College, the primary teacher-training institute in the country. I used my library background to develop library centers in 3 local schools, and continually worked with various international organizations on in-service programs for teachers. After 3 years I came back to the U.S., only to return to The Gambia to teach at the Banjul American Embassy School where my students came from all over the world and often had little exposure to the local culture and community. Suddenly, the “hidden” curriculum seemed to have shifted from bringing the world into the classroom, towards guiding students toward an acceptance of their own surroundings.

I come to CIE with a background in formal education, but having had my philosophy and teaching practice shaped in non-traditional ways.  I am interested in the ways that a teacher’s own training can so greatly influence the outcome of education and ultimately of society. I see CIE as a resource and community in which learning can be combined with participation in education development, which seems an ideal fit.