Every week seems to speed by at this point. However, the stress is getting a bit much for most of us, even though IEDPers know how to keep their cool. Students have reported trouble sleeping, headaches, and emotional eating (I feel like I should put a reference here--clearly, grad school has me conditioned to cite everything!). But, spring break is just around the corner. Don't be fooled though---it is not a break. Our Policy Briefs (5000 words total) are due early April and almost everyone in the cohort is going to the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) Conference in Washington DC over the break, with maybe half the cohort presenting a paper or poster. Many are working on things for the conference and also there are quite a few things due next week (I have four assignments due, thankfully, none of them are TOO taxing!).
But, the highlights of this week:
IEDP hosts speakers from various organizations and backgrounds to come have lunch with students and then present a lecture. This week it was Shirin Lutfeali, a senior specialist for basic education and literacy at Save the Children and I got to have lunch with her at the University Club at the Inn at Penn with five other students and Dr. GK. We each get a chance to have lunch with one of the speakers and it was so great to hear about her experiences and she was very interested in IEDP. Of course, the Flashmob came up during conversation and she seemed rather impressed. She spoke about the different climates of organizations and how much she loves working for Save the Children, partly because of the leadership and other colleagues. She also said that having solid field experience is something that will always be with you and you can offer a different perspective even if you are in an office in DC. We also talked about the hot topic of language of instruction in schools where there are many minority language speakers, and how policy is being made that does not take into consideration what would be best for young learners. Although the food at the University Club was a little disappointing, the conversation and company was fantastic and we all walked back to GSE to hear more about Numeracy Boost and the findings for the pilots in Pakistan and Bangladesh. You can follow the IEDP twitter if you want to hear some of what was said and I believe the video of her lecture will be up soon also.
Second topic of conversation this week: the technical proposal draft. For our "International
Fieldwork" class with our cohort members, Dr. GK is trying to prepare us the best she can with things like how to do a needs assessment, logframes, concept notes, monitoring and evaluation, and...a technical proposal. We got into groups based on geographical interests back at the end of January. I chose South Asia because I was interested in learning more about Nepal or Bangladesh. We ended up picking Nepal and then had to write a concept note in response to a "Request For Proposals" (RFP) to increase reading scores through innovative technology. I have a fantastic group to begin with so this assignment has not been that stressful, although it has been a VERY educational experience. The idea of a concept note and technical proposal is very different than actually writing one. The draft is due today (we submitted ours on Wednesday night after a very efficient 1.5 hour google hangout) and we were all rather impressed with ourselves considering it was just a draft. Dr. GK will give us feedback but we are hoping not until after Spring Break because we all need to work on our policy briefs.
Speaking of Policy Briefs, the wonderful social Graduate Assistants for IEDP have reserved space in GSE three times a week so we can all come to work on our policy briefs or other work. I have yet to go, but it sometimes it helpful to be around a lot of industrious people...but it can also easily lead to chatting too much about classes, internships, flashmobs, etc.
There are a few IEDPers who are interviewing with organizations at CIES and also on skype, particularly with UNESCO and RTI. Dr. GK handles the internships with our input when she thinks she has found a "match." It is kind of like blind dating, but you get to see the Terms of Reference before you decide to settle down. Personally, I just don't know where to go! There are some great positions in Costa Rica with the Omar Dengo Foundtation and others in Central/South America with UNICEF, but I think many of us, myself included, want to try to diversify our geographical experience, so I'm hoping for India or South/Southeastern Asia. We will see what happens...There is so much else to do that internships are not really at the forefront of most of our minds!
Lastly---CONGRATULATIONS to those accepted to IEDP for next year. If you haven't heard back, don't fear. We are still processing applications and you'll hear soon. Feel free to email me if you have questions (rdisbrow@gse.upenn.edu). When I was accepted (late March), I was full of questions and it really helped to speak to a current student to first assure me that the program CAN be done in one year and also to be sure it was the right decision for me. Also...there will be another google hangout with current students (I should be able to make it) on Tuesday, March 3, from 11am-12pm. Click HERE for the hangout link and HERE for info about setting up google hangouts.
You can also contact Lauren, the IEDP program assistant at sclauren@gse.upenn.edu to RSVP or ask any questions you have.
But, the highlights of this week:
IEDP hosts speakers from various organizations and backgrounds to come have lunch with students and then present a lecture. This week it was Shirin Lutfeali, a senior specialist for basic education and literacy at Save the Children and I got to have lunch with her at the University Club at the Inn at Penn with five other students and Dr. GK. We each get a chance to have lunch with one of the speakers and it was so great to hear about her experiences and she was very interested in IEDP. Of course, the Flashmob came up during conversation and she seemed rather impressed. She spoke about the different climates of organizations and how much she loves working for Save the Children, partly because of the leadership and other colleagues. She also said that having solid field experience is something that will always be with you and you can offer a different perspective even if you are in an office in DC. We also talked about the hot topic of language of instruction in schools where there are many minority language speakers, and how policy is being made that does not take into consideration what would be best for young learners. Although the food at the University Club was a little disappointing, the conversation and company was fantastic and we all walked back to GSE to hear more about Numeracy Boost and the findings for the pilots in Pakistan and Bangladesh. You can follow the IEDP twitter if you want to hear some of what was said and I believe the video of her lecture will be up soon also.  | |
| Christian at home in NJ with the rest of our Nepal group in the library. |
Fieldwork" class with our cohort members, Dr. GK is trying to prepare us the best she can with things like how to do a needs assessment, logframes, concept notes, monitoring and evaluation, and...a technical proposal. We got into groups based on geographical interests back at the end of January. I chose South Asia because I was interested in learning more about Nepal or Bangladesh. We ended up picking Nepal and then had to write a concept note in response to a "Request For Proposals" (RFP) to increase reading scores through innovative technology. I have a fantastic group to begin with so this assignment has not been that stressful, although it has been a VERY educational experience. The idea of a concept note and technical proposal is very different than actually writing one. The draft is due today (we submitted ours on Wednesday night after a very efficient 1.5 hour google hangout) and we were all rather impressed with ourselves considering it was just a draft. Dr. GK will give us feedback but we are hoping not until after Spring Break because we all need to work on our policy briefs.
Speaking of Policy Briefs, the wonderful social Graduate Assistants for IEDP have reserved space in GSE three times a week so we can all come to work on our policy briefs or other work. I have yet to go, but it sometimes it helpful to be around a lot of industrious people...but it can also easily lead to chatting too much about classes, internships, flashmobs, etc.
There are a few IEDPers who are interviewing with organizations at CIES and also on skype, particularly with UNESCO and RTI. Dr. GK handles the internships with our input when she thinks she has found a "match." It is kind of like blind dating, but you get to see the Terms of Reference before you decide to settle down. Personally, I just don't know where to go! There are some great positions in Costa Rica with the Omar Dengo Foundtation and others in Central/South America with UNICEF, but I think many of us, myself included, want to try to diversify our geographical experience, so I'm hoping for India or South/Southeastern Asia. We will see what happens...There is so much else to do that internships are not really at the forefront of most of our minds!
Lastly---CONGRATULATIONS to those accepted to IEDP for next year. If you haven't heard back, don't fear. We are still processing applications and you'll hear soon. Feel free to email me if you have questions (rdisbrow@gse.upenn.edu). When I was accepted (late March), I was full of questions and it really helped to speak to a current student to first assure me that the program CAN be done in one year and also to be sure it was the right decision for me. Also...there will be another google hangout with current students (I should be able to make it) on Tuesday, March 3, from 11am-12pm. Click HERE for the hangout link and HERE for info about setting up google hangouts.
You can also contact Lauren, the IEDP program assistant at sclauren@gse.upenn.edu to RSVP or ask any questions you have.
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