"Knowledge is that which liberates."

The last thing I saw before I slept was that the Penn IEDP facebook page had done a blast on my blog. Yikes...so despite my 10:30pm bedtime, I ended up spending AT LEAST half an hour tossing and turning as I contemplated cool post topics. (I don't think people want to hear about the smell of the stacks, although I personally would....)

I've decided to discuss some alternative schools I have been researching casually. Another fellow IEDPer, Ruju (she tweets for IEDP), and I were discussing her school after class one day. She went to the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education in Pondicherry, India. She said that as she got into middle school and high school, she would essentially request certain subjects or topics to her teacher and the teacher would research it, create a framework for the topic, and conduct the class independently to her. Under the school's approach, it says on their website: 

"Life has a divine purpose and one of the most important tasks of education is to lead the student to discover for himself the aim of life and the specific role that he himself has to play in it...Knowledge is not something that it seeks to impart to the student; rather opportunities and carefully selected material are presented to him in such a way as to stimulate him to an inner activity by which real knowledge can be evoked from within."

I also came across this other school, Ashram Paryavaran Vidyalaya, that centers their learning on the philosophy:

“Work is that which does not bind; knowledge is that which liberates.”

I've been struggling a little with being back in a competitive school environment and realizing that the formal education system as is seen in the Western world (and has been disseminated to many other areas of the world) doesn't fit my nature very much. It wasn't until I read this quotation on the APV website that I could kind of pin-point "the rub": 

"The present education system we find globally – a system rooted in competition, fear, and violence – has failed to bring about any peace, harmony, happiness or sustainable, compassionate living in the world.  This pathetic, useless, and helpless style of education most of us have suffered through cultivates not love, intelligence, or wisdom, but only anxiety, clever thinking, selfishness, jealousy, and a whole host of other negative habits and tendencies.  It is centered in industrial economy, with the hope of producing obedient conformity, consumerism, and materialism.  This is not education, and we here at APV are trying to experiment with ourselves and our students to bring forth an experiential education that is not confined to textbooks, test scores, and professionalization, but is rooted in mindfulness, creativity, and love."

 While I wouldn't exactly claim the education system is "pathetic, useless and helpless," I would agree that the education system caters to a certain type of individual, encouraging some traits rather than others, instilling values like 'success' via high income and positions. Being abroad and out of this climate for so long has been refreshing, but my perspectives and values have become clearer and I find it difficult to be in this culture again.

In my own classrooms, I always tried to get creative with the kids and to talk about issues that were coming up, but I felt so confined by the subjects I had to cover in a certain time. Even the kids would complain if we weren't using one of the books, because they didn't want to waste their parents money. But the school picks the books, the parents get the books and so the teacher gets stuck teaching the books that are not ideal.

During the Basic Education in Developing Countries class on Monday, we talked about colonialism, development and Tickly's view of education as the new form of imperialism (Tickly, L. (2004). Education and the New Imperialism. Comparative Education, 40(2), pp. 173-198). On p. 188, he says that "education is the colonization of the mind." Granted, he's a very extreme post-colonial thinker, but it does make you totally reevaluate your views of education and the educational system, considering the history of education during colonialism.

So, after a bit of a reevaluation, it gives me some hope that there are some schools that are providing alternative ways of educating. Plus, I skyped with one of my first graders (well, now second grade, but they will always be first graders for me!) tonight and seriously---the highpoint of my week so far! I really miss Santa Rosa (Honduras) and the craziness of the classroom. So many good memories. During my literacy curriculum readings, I just kept remembering this moment in Guatemala City when my coworker and I were reading to the prepas (kindergarteners) and Daniel started to EAT Yaiza's hair during the story. My coworker and I had to hide behind the book we were laughing so hard! 

It is always good to revisit the past sometimes, so perhaps some photos of my past students. They are the very real reason I'm here, even though they are all part of those statistics we read in class.

Alfa y Omega Bilingual School
First Grade
June 2014

Post-recess cool-down...

Guatemala City
UPAVIM Reforzamiento Program
Andrea and Escarlet
Sept 2013
Guatemalan Independence Day Parade

 I think I had more fun than the kids...too much walking for their little legs!








WonKwang University Language Center
Iksan, South Korea
June 2012

UPAVIM Reforzamiento, K-6th, Guatemala City, 2013

Who can resist the wonderful smell of the stacks? NOT ME!

Because all my classes are in the afternoon, I have been going to campus everyday in the mornings (I aim for 9am) so I can do reading at the library until my classes at 2pm/4:30pm. When I pull open the door and the smell of the stacks and the feel of the AC hits me...it's almost like coming home...My little niche has been the 5th floor computer lab in Van Pelt Library. There are four desks pushed together to form five clusters of computers. Sounds perfect right? 

Not quite...

There is a sound issue. I thought I had it figured out when I found ONE computer whose sound worked. It made sense that maybe just that cluster had sound because when I tired another computer from the same cluster, there was also sound! Today, my frustration reached a new level. Off I go to my cluster with a friend and she takes a "sound" computer and I take another one in that cluster that I hadn't tried before. I excitedly plug in my green headphones to see if my theory is correct...and NO SOUND. "This is it! I can't continue a whole year like this, always giving jealous glances at the ones sitting at the 'sound computers.'" 

Off I march downstairs to ask the info people about the situation, and of course, he looks at me like I'm speaking another language. I point out that I'm rather computer literate and that I had tried everything, but NO sound. He said he would email the computer fairies to check it out. I went back to my soundless computer and just listened to my regular ole MP3 music. However, it seems that another student has discovered the sound computer too, because he's always there, at the same computer. But tomorrow's another day to grab one of the good computers...

I've also successfully gotten ALL my books for classes (there aren't many) through the library system, except my Intro to Stats, but it was only $8 on Amazon. BOOYA. I pride myself on never buying books. A word from the wise: know how to work the library system. It helped that I worked at my undergrad library for three years, year round. ;)

It really is always sunny in Philadelphia...

I raced home after class at 4:30pm-ish, because I thought it was going to downpour--and then the sun came out an hour after I got back! Every day, there has been sun, even if just for 5 minutes. (I've never actually watched that TV show, P.S.)

This week will be the first full, regular schedule week for us at Penn. Everyone seems to have decided on courses for the semester and it's really interesting to hear what everyone is taking. While I was rather disappointed to hear that some courses I was looking forward to won't be offered in the Spring, I hope there will be others that will pop up and fit well with my focuses. 

The program requires two half-course-unit classes that are just for IEDP students--the Proseminar (mostly focusing on lecturers and preparing for the Policy Brief that is like the Master's Thesis for the program), and the Fieldwork seminar (helping to prepare for the skills we'll need for the internship next summer). We also must take EDUC 514, which is "Basic Education in Developing Countries" and usually one research methods course. Because I'm trying to complete the program in one year (the recommended length is 1.5 years), I will be taking five course units meaning SIX classes. (If you take four classes, the fifth one is "free." Who would turn down such a deal??)

It's really refreshing to take classes with non-IEDP students. Most of them are in other GSE programs, but bring a different perspective to bring to the discussions and also just a different energy to the class. Also for me, I love to be around other educators! My "Forming/Reforming the Reading/Writing/Literacy Curriculum" course is in the Reading/Writing/Literacy program, and everyone is a teacher, has taught, or plans to teach. It's such a different environment than the other courses focused on development. Today I had (finally!) the Basic Education in Developing Countries class with Dr. Ameena Ghaffar-Kucher and about half the class is from other programs. Plus it was in the collaborative classroom in the Van Pelt library meaning super high-tech and many fun walls to write on! Dr. GK is very involved with students and even has a "draft exchange" option where you can send her something you're working on and she'll send you some of her work to edit and give constructive criticism. I always depended on getting feedback from peers and professors when I was at Smith and it is great to have someone here that also values giving and receiving feedback. 

Besides the required classes, the literacy curriculum class, and an Intro to Stats class, I also am taking Early Childhood Development in International Contexts, taught by Dr. Michelle Neuman. For me, reading for the class is something I look forward to! I did the reading today when I don't have the class until Friday! And I didn't even pay attention to the page numbers. However, it does make me super nostalgic for my students in Guatemala and Honduras, and also worried about their futures. One "Indicator" of how students will succeed in school is how many books they have in their homes. Children with books at home are likely to get three more years of schooling than kids without any books. (UNICEF. (2012). Inequalities in early childhood development: What the data say. Evidence from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys. New York, NY: UNICEF.) I can't help but think about my 5 and 6 year olds in Guatemala City and the total lack of books. Juan Pablo was one of my star students and when his mother invited us for lunch, he proudly showed off his falling apart/second-hand/colored on books. Besides him, I don't remember seeing any other books in other students' homes, besides school books. 

Whew, see what Early Childhood Development does to me? It's so nice to be excited for a class. It makes it difficult though, because I don't want to miss even a minute of some classes (which could lead to some bad bladder situations). 

I'll leave with a picture of the group work/discussion we had during the last Fieldwork seminar as we got into the nitty-gritty of development work.

And a picture from the picnic we had at Rittenhouse Park on Saturday morning. There are some talented cooks in our group (alas, I am not one of them!).

IEDPers really do have more fun (or at least, some fun)

While classes are still getting started, it seems many people are trying to take advantage of the light course load to actually have a weekend NOT reading for classes. Some people went to see friends or significant others, some explored the city, and some spent Friday night in Center City partaking in drink specials...like me. It was really just an excuse to get out of University City! Since I live 15 minutes walking to Penn campus, I find myself already wearing down a path between my house, to the library, to the GSE building and back to my house. Plus, there's a Penn Bus that goes to Center City (for "free") and they even waited for us as we ran down 40th street to catch it! How nice of them.

Everyone, except for Wendy on the right, is in IEDP. Wendy is a doctoral candidate with the Higher Education Program, and lives near Rittenhouse Square aka Center City, so we met at her place before. Let me just say that everyone in the program has such an interesting background and perspective to add to conversations. The diversity of the program is really a big draw for many people interested in this area. Ruju (with the pink purse) also helps to run the twitter account.

Besides the night out on Friday, I just ended up doing reading for class at the very cold library, although it was rather welcomed because of the ridiculous humidity right now. Andrea (on the left of the photo) and I did a 9pm-when-the-Trader-Joes-closes-at-10pm race to get food, reinforcing how RIDICULOUS Philly is when it comes to one-way streets. 

So, moral of the post--grad students DO have a life...when they can.