Posts in Category Global Education

A conference that will matter after it is over

Justo Méndez Arámburu has had a very clear message about IDEC 2012 over the last two months.  

“The most important day of IDEC 2012 is April 1st.”  

That date is remarkable because it is the day after the conference is over.

In total, the conference will bring together over 750 young people, educators, community leaders, organizers, academics, and advocates from around the world and across Puerto Rico.  But, the most profound accomplishment of conference organizers has happened even before the conference begins.  Unlike so many other conferences, IDEC 2012 has been organized to have maximum impact in the lives of young people and communities in Puerto Rico after the international...

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Posted on Mar 22, 2012 - 06:58 AM by Scott Nine

A World Tour… My experience with IDEC

When I was twenty years old I contemplated dropping out of college to travel the world an find interesting education projects to work on. In the end I decided that I wasn’t quite ready to do that. I wanted to get some experience working in education and creating locally before going out to see what the rest of the world was working on. So I finished college, went to grad school and became one of the founding teachers of the Community School for Social Justice, a small public high school in the Bronx.

In 2006 my good friend Becky Raik and I quit our teaching jobs and started Camp Kadia. It was the most fulfilling thing I had ever done in my life. Years of thinking, planning, and...

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Posted on Oct 31, 2011 - 12:54 PM by Jonah Canner

Another major language

Spanish, like every other major language, is indeed a crazy quilt of various dialects as there are
countries, regions, and cities where Spanish is spoken. If so, why do we still have all of the academic research in education, and its literature, referring Spanish to us as a “minority language”?

As many agree, education research findings, and the American population at large, should begin
interacting more to further necessary critical awareness if we are to make it out of
the dualistic grip of “reformers” versus “those-who-oppose-this-reform” talking heads (cf. Dana
Bennis' “The Education Policy Debate”), who add more confusion instead of resolution to our dire public schools, and...

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Posted on Jun 16, 2010 - 02:53 PM by Luis Moreno

Why Do Finland’s Schools Get the Best Results?

The Finnish philosophy with education is that everyone has something to contribute and those who struggle in certain subjects should not be left behind.

A tactic used in virtually every lesson is the provision of an additional teacher who helps those who struggle in a particular subject. But the pupils are all kept in the same classroom, regardless of their ability in that particular subject.

Finland’s Education Minister, Henna Virkkunen is proud of her country’s record but her next goal is to target the brightest pupils.

‘‘The Finnish system supports very much those pupils who have learning difficulties but we have to pay more attention also to those pupils who are very talented. Now we have started a pilot project about how to support those pupils who are very gifted in certain areas.’’

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Posted on May 04, 2010 - 01:57 AM by Sara Schmidt

Education Between Nations

One of the things that really made me want to make sure my daughter's education was different from my own was the view of another nation's school system I had a chance to experience during college. During my sophomore year, I was able to participate in a teaching internship in Spain for at-risk children; I consider it one of the best learning experiences of my life yet.

I am hesitant to discuss actual school policies, rules, curricula, etc. since I only speak moderate Spanish and did not get to take part in every classroom or the full lowdown on the school's policies; in fact, I only spent a few days within regular classrooms. Some of this appalled me--particularly the disdain I...

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Posted on Mar 17, 2010 - 03:50 PM by Sara Schmidt

Remembering Hope & Joy

I am currently on vacation in Nicaragua, and while I have been doing a lot of thinking, I have not been doing very much writing, as is wont to happen from time to time. And with thinking inevitably comes questioning. So what better place to explore some of those questions than here?

I'll begin with a story. I spent the last four days on a small hostel/ranch/community center/aspiring eco-destination called Rancho Esperanza in the isolated fishing village of Jiquilillo. The owner of the ranch, Nato (Nate), was born in Maine and has been involved with the village for eleven years, living there full time for the last eight.

Six years ago Nate began an after school program for the youth of...

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Posted on Dec 27, 2009 - 11:41 AM by Jonah Canner