Answer Sheet

I am starting to really get down with The Washington Post's blog, Answer Sheet, by education writer Valerie Strauss.  I've re-posted a couple of her entries on my blog before to bring attention to the unfortunate - and, unexpected - similarities between the two seemingly disparate education systems in the western world and those of developing countries like Tanzania.  

We all know that teaching is one of the great noble yet highly under-appreciated professions, but what is it like to be a student in this day and age?  In this particular piece, a teacher in the United States finds herself on the giving end of the apple and gains a greater perspective on how kids are faring in the classroom these days.  A lot of Ms. Wiggins' "takeaways" may seem commonsensical, but I think with the amount of stress and strain that teachers face (with little pecuniary or tangible end results), it's a good article to read and revivify the métier.  We need to remind our educators in the U.S. (and those abroad as well - I think I may translate parts of this into Swahili for Vumi and the Toa Nafasi team) that just as tough as it is to be at the head of the class, it's also pretty hard out there in the back....And we all need to work together to come together in the middle!

BTW, this latest post was brought to my attention by my good friend and national political reportrix extraordinaire, Nia-Malika Henderson, and if you all haven't heard of her, well, check my girl out here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/people/nia-malika-henderson

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Teacher Spends Two Days as a Student and Is Shocked at What She Learns 

By Alexis Wiggins 

I have made a terrible mistake.

I waited 14 years to do something that I should have done my first year of teaching: shadow a student for a day.  It was so eye-opening that I wish I could go back to every class of students I ever had right now and change a minimum of ten things - the layout, the lesson plan, the checks for understanding.  Most of it!

This is the first year I am working in a school but not teaching my own classes; I am the High School Learning Coach, a new position for the school this year.  My job is to work with teachers and administrators to improve student learning outcomes.

As part of getting my feet wet, my principal suggested I "be" a student for two days: I was to shadow and complete all the work of a 10th grade student on one day and to do the same for a 12th grade student on another day.  My task was to do everything the student was supposed to do: if there was a lecture or notes on the board, I copied them as fast I could into my notebook.  If there was a Chemistry lab, I did it with my host student.  If there was a test, I took it (I passed the Spanish one, but I am certain I failed the business one). 

My class schedules for the day
(Note: we have a block schedule; not all classes meet each day):

The schedule that day for the 10th grade student:
7:45 - 9:15: Geometry
9:30 - 10:55: Spanish II
10:55 - 11:40: Lunch
11:45 - 1:10: World History
1:25 - 2:45: Integrated Science

The schedule that day for the 12th grade student:
7:45 - 9:15: Math
9:30 - 10:55: Chemistry
10:55 - 11:40: Lunch
11:45 - 1:10: English
1:25 - 2:45: Business

Key Takeaway #1: Students sit all day, and sitting is exhausting. 

I could not believe how tired I was after the first day.  I literally sat down the entire day, except for walking to and from classes.  We forget as teachers, because we are on our feet a lot - in front of the board, pacing as we speak, circling around the room to check on student work, sitting, standing, kneeling down to chat with a student as she works through a difficult problem....we move a lot.

But students move almost never.  And never is exhausting.  In every class for four long blocks, the expectation was for us to come in, take our seats, and sit down for the duration of the time.  By the end of the day, I could not stop yawning and I was desperate to move or stretch.  I couldn't believe how alert my host student was, because it took a lot of conscious effort for me not to get up and start doing jumping jacks in the middle of Science just to keep my mind and body from slipping into oblivion after so many hours of sitting passively.

I was drained, and not in a good, long, productive-day kind of way.  No, it was that icky, lethargic tired feeling.  I had planned to go back to my office and jot down some initial notes on the day, but I was so drained I couldn't do anything that involved mental effort (so instead I watched TV) and I was in bed by 8:30.

If I could go back and change my classes now, I would immediately change the following three things: 

*Add a mandatory stretch halfway through the class.

*Put a mini basketball hoop on the back of my door and encourage kids to play in the first and final minutes of class.

*Build in a hands-on, move-around activity into every single class day.  Yes, we would sacrifice some content to do this - that's fine.  I was so tired by the end of the day, I wasn't absorbing most of the content, so I am not sure my previous method of making kids sit through hour-long, sit-down discussions of the texts was all that effective.

Key Takeaway #2: High school students are sitting passively and listening during approximately 90 percent of their classes. 

Obviously I was only shadowing for two days, but in follow-up interviews with both of my host students, they assured me that the classes I experienced were fairly typical.

In eight periods of high school classes, my host students rarely spoke.  Sometimes it was because the teacher was lecturing; sometimes it was because another student was presenting; sometimes it was because another student was called to the board to solve a difficult equation; and sometimes it was because the period was spent taking a test.  So, I don't mean to imply critically that only the teachers droned on while students just sat and took notes.  But still, hand-in-hand with Takeaway #1 is this idea that most of the students' day was spent passively absorbing information.

It was not just the sitting that was draining but that so much of the day was spent absorbing information but not often grappling with it.

I asked my 10th grade host, Cindy, if she felt like she made important contributions to class or if, when she was absent, the class missed out on the benefit of her knowledge or contributions, and she laughed and said no.

I was struck by this takeaway in particular because it made me realize how little autonomy students have, how little of their learning they are directing or choosing.  I felt especially bad about opportunities I had missed in the past in this regard.

If I could go back and change my classes now, I would immediately: 

*Offer brief, blitzkrieg-like mini-lessons with engaging, assessment-for-learning-type activities following directly on their heels (e.g. a 10-minute lecture on Whitman's life and poetry, followed by small-group work in which teams scour new poems of his for the very themes and notions expressed in the lecture, and then share out or perform some of them to the whole group while everyone takes notes on the findings.)

*Set an egg timer every time I get up to talk and all eyes are on me.  When the timer goes off, I am done.  End of story.  I can go on and on.  I love to hear myself talk.  I often cannot shut up.  This is not really conducive to my students' learning, however much I might enjoy it.

*Ask every class to start with students' "essential questions" or just general questions born of confusion from the previous night's reading or the previous class's discussion.  I would ask them to come in to class and write them all on the board, and then, as a group, ask them to choose which one we start with and which ones need to be addressed.  This is my biggest regret right now - not starting every class this way.  I am imagining all the misunderstandings, the engagement, the enthusiasm, the collaborative skills, and the autonomy we missed out on because I didn’t begin every class with fifteen or twenty minutes of this.

Key Takeaway #3: You feel a little bit like a nuisance all day long. 

I lost count of how many times we were told be quiet and pay attention.  It's normal to do so - teachers have a set amount of time and we need to use it wisely.  But in shadowing, throughout the day, you start to feel sorry for the students who are told over and over again to pay attention because you understand part of what they are reacting to is sitting and listening all day.  It's really hard to do, and not something we ask adults to do day in and out.  Think back to a multi-day conference or long PD day you had and remember that feeling by the end of the day - that need to just disconnect, break free, go for a run, chat with a friend, or surf the web and catch up on emails.  That is how students often feel in our classes, not because we are boring per se but because they have been sitting and listening most of the day already.  They have had enough.

In addition, there was a good deal of sarcasm and snark directed at students and I recognized, uncomfortably, how much I myself have engaged in this kind of communication.  I would become near apoplectic last year whenever a very challenging class of mine would take a test, and without fail, several students in a row would ask the same question about the test.  Each time I would stop the class and address it so everyone could hear it.  Nevertheless, a few minutes later a student who had clearly been working his way through the test and not attentive to my announcement would ask the same question again.  A few students would laugh along as I made a big show of rolling my eyes and drily stating, "OK, once again, let me explain...."

Of course it feels ridiculous to have to explain the same thing five times, but suddenly, when I was the one taking the tests, I was stressed.  I was anxious.  I had questions.  And if the person teaching answered those questions by rolling their eyes at me, I would never want to ask another question again.  I feel a great deal more empathy for students after shadowing, and I realize that sarcasm, impatience, and annoyance are a way of creating a barrier between me and them.  They do not help learning.

If I could go back and change my classes now, I would immediately: 

*Dig deep into my personal experience as a parent where I found wells of patience and love I never knew I have, and call upon them more often when dealing with students who have questions.  Questions are an invitation to know a student better and create a bond with that student.  We can open the door wider or shut if forever, and we may not even realize we have shut it.

*I would make my personal goal of "no sarcasm" public and ask the students to hold me accountable for it.  I could drop money into a jar for each slip and use it to treat the kids to pizza at the end of the year.  In this way, I have both helped create a closer bond with them and shared a very real and personal example of goal-setting for them to use a model in their own thinking about goals.

*I would structure every test or formal activity like the IB exams do - a five-minute reading period in which students can ask all their questions but no one can write until the reading period is finished.  This is a simple solution I probably should have tried years ago that would head off a lot (thought, admittedly, not all) of the frustration I felt with constant, repetitive questions.

I have a lot more respect and empathy for students after just one day of being one again.  Teachers work hard, but I now think that conscientious students work harder.  I worry about the messages we send them as they go to our classes and home to do our assigned work, and my hope is that more teachers who are able will try this shadowing and share their findings with each other and their administrations.  This could lead to better "backwards design" from the student experience so that we have more engaged, alert, and balanced students sitting (or standing) in our classes.

IASE, IASE, Baby

At a time when there's lots of icky, hot-button acronyms being bandied about in the news and media (ISIS, ISIL, NIH, CDC, FOMO, STBY, DILLIGAS, the list goes on - or, TLGO), I thought it would be a good time to post a quick shout-out to the IASE or International Association of Special Education, four little letters that rep The Toa Nafasi Project in a super-good way.

I first hooked up with the IASE back in 2009 when I sought out the advice of Mary Gale Budzisz, past president of the organization.  I had just started thinking about the Project and MG (another great two letters!!) was more than happy to pass along her words of wisdom.  Since then, we've kept in touch and visited each other often (see my blog post, "Southern Comfort," from November 2012), most recently this past July in Moshi when MG and current IASE president, Iris Drower, visited The Toa Nafasi Project at Msaranga Primary School.  Traveling with them was educational and behavioral consultant, Meghan Gallagher, who had first visited Tanzania a few years back.  She volunteer-taught, coincidentally, at the Irente Rainbow School in Lushoto, the old stomping grounds and dissertation research site of our very own Angi Stone-MacDonald!  IASWAA!!

IASE's vision statement is "to improve the quality of life and service delivery for all individuals with special needs."  Additionally, they have established a Volunteer Service Committee "to facilitate the identification of special educational needs in nations with developing economies, and to connect a volunteer resource person who is an IASE member."  You can find out more about IASE on their website, http://www.iase.org/, and if you look under Volunteer Service Projects in Tanzania, you'll see Toa Nafasi listed as a service site!

Finally, the 14th Biennial IASE Conference will be held in Wroclaw, Poland in June 2015 and, while I'm not sure whether I'll be able to attend, I am fairly certain Angi has submitted a proposal on behalf of the Project.  More on this to come....

Also, I can't remember whether I announced this on the blog previously or not, but NHD (no harm done) in doing it again:

I am very pleased to announce that The Toa Nafasi Project consultant Angi Stone-Macdonald will be repping the program this Spring at the annual convention and expo for the Council for Exceptional Children with a presentation titled "Assessment and Curriculum Supports for 1st Grade Students With Mild Disabilities in Tanzania."  Hongera sana, Angi!! 

TTYL, everybody!!

Malala

Okay, I'm gonna be predictable and jump on this bandwagon, but it is a worthy bandwagon and one that speaks to some of the core values of The Toa Nafasi Project.

There was a lot of reportage on Malala Yousafzai this past week, but I am choosing to reprint John D. Sutter's CNN Opinion piece because rather than lionizing this young heroine, I feel it "every-girls" her and gives a sense that we can all be a lil' Malala if we choose to be.

 

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You have to love Malala.

The 17-year-old Pakistani advocate for girls' education who, on Friday, became the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize told "The Daily Show's" Jon Stewart last year what she would do if she were confronted again by a member of the Taliban.

"I'll tell him how important education is and that I even want education for your children as well," she said. "I'll tell him, 'That's what I want to tell you; now do what you want.' "

This from a girl who was shot in the head by the Taliban.

For exercising her right to go to school.

Malala Yousafzai was only 14 years old at the time -- and just 11 when she started blogging anonymously for the BBC about the struggles of life in Pakistan's Swat Valley.

Stewart's response was priceless as well: "I know your father is backstage and he's very proud of you, but would he be mad if I adopted you?"

It's not just him.  The world has adopted Malala.

She reminds us of the transformative power of education, especially for the 31 million primary-school-age girls, according to UNICEF, who aren't in school worldwide.

And, as important, she is a beacon of hope -- a reminder that the human spirit holds in it immense possibility, warmth, humility and forgiveness.

 

Malala is the world's new symbol of hope.

Her crusade for education rights only seems to be getting stronger as the years pass.  And in the world of ISIS and Boko Haram, the Nigerian group that kidnaps young girls and attacks their schools, she's needed now more than ever.

That she shares the prize with Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian children's rights activist, makes this moment all the more significant.

"The Nobel Committee regards it as an important point for a Hindu and a Muslim, an Indian and a Pakistani, to join in a common struggle for education and against extremism," the committee said in a statement.  The Nobel Committee praised Satyarthi as carrying on Gandhi's tradition of nonviolent resistance.  And it called Malala's struggle "heroic."

It's not hard to see why.

"Dear friends, on the 9th of October 2012, the Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead.  They shot my friends, too," Malala said at the United Nations in July 2013.

"They thought that the bullets would silence us.  But they failed.

"And then, out of that silence came, thousands of voices.  The terrorists thought that they would change our aims and stop our ambitions, but nothing changed in my life except this: Weakness, fear and hopelessness died.  Strength, power and courage was born."

It's telling that, according to ABC News, Malala was planning to be in school Friday [the day she won the Prize].

That's true determination.

It's the kind that hopefully will give more girls around the world the right to do the same.

"Justice, Justice Shall You Pursue"

The subject of this blog entry is taken from Deuteronomy 16:20, the fifth book of the Torah, or Hebrew Bible.  Though I am not a deeply religious person (for those who don't know, I am mixed-race/mixed-religion, but brought up Jewish from my dad's side, the Rosenbloominators), this concept resonated with me the past couple weeks as Jews worldwide commemorated the High Holidays of Rosh Hashannah (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement).

Perhaps I have been more given to contemplation this year as we are gaining ground with The Toa Nafasi Project, going into Year Three of the program with a view to expansion; or maybe it's because I'm turning the big 4-0 this coming April (and my mother, who is my best friend, just hit 70....though she looks 45); or possibly, it's just that I served my first jury duty in Manhattan County Court in about ten years.  Who knows?  At any rate, weighty issues are on the brain, among them this pursuit of justice, and the related notion of tikkun olam, or "repairing the world," a more personal rendering of pursuing justice which my dad likes to reference when talking about my development work.

I did not attend services this new year; my longtime idol Derek Jeter's last few baseball games before retirement -- another milestone, "another turning point, a fork stuck in the road" -- precluded this and, as I said, I am not hugely devout....plus, there's no baseball in Tanz, so I was owed.  But I did find time for reading and reflection, and I stumbled across this interesting blog entry by Ron Kronish, Director of the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel, from The Huffington Post.  Though it ran in July of last year, I found it to still be relevant and I thought I would share a few of Mr. Kronish's ruminations on the pursuit of justice and the reparation of the world:

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One of the most central tenets of Judaism is to pursue justice.  We are reminded of this over and over again in the Bible, especially in the book of Deuteronomy, which we Jews began reading in our synagogues in Israel and around the world in recent weeks, and in the prophetic readings from Isaiah, which we read as supplementary to our Torah text for the next seven weeks, and on the morning of Yom Kippur.  Indeed, ours is a religion which emphasizes social justice, both in our foundational texts and in our liturgy.

What is justice?  Is the law always just?  Is the law always moral?  What happens when our morality dictates to our conscience to be civilly disobedient to an unjust law, as in the famous examples of Reverend Martin Luther King and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel and Mahatma Gandhi -- some of the great religious leaders of the twentieth century, who were motivated by deeply held religious views of justice, based on their sacred texts and moral world-view?

And, what about economic justice?  About the cruel inequalities between rich and poor in so many Western liberal democracies?  Why should the top one percent of American or Israeli society live in such affluence and abundance when there are so many disfranchised poor people in these societies?  What should be done to tax the rich more fairly so that distributive justice becomes a reality and not just a philosophical idea?

Pursuing justice is a complicated and difficult process, involving many and varied philosophies, institutions, and personalities.  This is evident in many American Supreme Court cases, in which the personal proclivities of the judges are sometimes as important as their liberal or conservative political/legal philosophies.  An innate sense of justice often prevails over all the theoretical trappings.

When it comes to the issue of human rights -- especially via a vis immigrants or asylum seekers, narrow definitions of "national interests" often prevail over basic concepts of justice, fairness or equality.  Often human rights simply get in the way or are forgotten or trampled upon.  Despite the inspiring language of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, so many Western liberal democracies, including the one I live in, fall drastically short in the implementation of these ideals in the daily lives which affect human beings so negatively in so many places around the world.  Indeed, I am often shocked by the sheer hypocrisy of so many so-called Western democracies which are in fact entirely hypocritical when it comes to human rights, except for those of the prevailing elites. 

Indeed, developing and maintaining a just society is an ideal goal towards which we should aspire.  But doing so systematically and sensitively is far from easy.  And the Rule of Law, while it keeps order in society, does not always lead to equal justice for all of its citizens.

So what is to be done?

The Biblical verse reminds us: "Justice, justice you shall pursue!"  According to Rabbi Harold Kushner, "This implies more than merely respecting or following justice; we must actively pursue it."  Kushner learns this from Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, one of the great preachers and practitioners of social justice among American rabbis in the last century.  I would add that the repetition of the word "justice" in this verse emphasizes the centrality of this value in our religious consciousness and behavior, both traditionally and today.

Each of us can contribute in our own way to striving for justice, whether as lawyers or judges, or rabbis or ministers, or educators, or just as citizens of the state.  Even if our system of justice often seems to be incomplete, or sometimes even unfair, each of us must do our part to bring the ideal closer to reality.

Methodologically, when discussion of serious complicated and controversial issues is done in a carefully facilitated way which engenders genuine trust and deep mutual respect and admiration for the other, an intellectual experience can become a deeply spiritual one which can have lasting effects on those participating in the process.

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I think I'll close here by noting that 2014 marks the first time in 33 years that major holidays for both Jews and Muslims were marked on the same weekend.  The Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur is when devout Jews ask God to forgive them for their transgressions and refrain from eating and drinking, attending intense prayer services in synagogues.  The Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha commemorates the willingness of the prophet Ibrahim -- or Abraham as he is known in the Bible -- to sacrifice his son in accordance with God's will (though in the end God provides him a sheep to sacrifice instead), and Muslims slaughter sheep, cattle and other livestock, and give part of the meat to the poor.  I hope everyone celebrated in the spirits of peace and love, amani na upendo, with which these holidays were meant to be passed.

Saving Arts Ed

In today's edition of The Answer Sheet blog on the Washington Post's website, Valerie Strauss highlights the importance of arts education by featuring a piece by New York Times Magazine writer, Michael Sokolove.

His expose about the "emergency-room approach" to education in the poor inner-cities of the United States made me reflect sadly on the majority of schools in Tanzania.  Particularly the paragraphs about children living in relatively close proximity to paragons of the arts (or in my students' case, sites of natural beauty), but not having the opportunity to experience them.  How many of my Msarangans have seen lions in the Serengeti, swam in the ocean off the coast of Zanzibar, or climbed the heights of Mt. Kilimanjaro?  As Sokolove says, "Children already living in a narrowed world need more access to the arts, not less."

But I was able to buck up kidogo, envisioning Vumi and our little team of teachers leading the weekly Furahi-days at Msaranga Primary with paper-bag puppets, duckpin bowling, and of course, the Macarena....  I guess I can be proud that I've helped resuscitate arts ed in at least one public primary school in Kilimanjaro....

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Though the benefits of arts education are very real, it is one of the big, unfortunate casualties of the high-stakes testing era, with its laser focus on math and English Language Arts - especially in schools with big populations of students who live in poverty.  Just how effective a good arts program can be was shown by Michael Sokolove, a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, in his book titled "Drama High: The Incredible True Story of a Brilliant Teacher, a Struggling Town, and the Magic of Theater," about an elite high school theater program in a blue-collar Pennsylvania town.  The book will be issued in paperback on October 7th.  Here's a piece by Sokolove on saving arts education.

Arts instruction in America's schools is something that almost everyone agrees is a great idea.  Just, apparently, not for all children.

Let's say that you are thinking about enrolling your child in an exclusive private school and you visit several before making a choice.  At each one, you're likely to tour the music room, the visual arts studio, the well-appointed theater decorated with posters from previous years' musicals.  It's a good bet someone will tell you, with great earnestness, that these facilities exist because the school cares deeply about educating "the whole child," which can't happen without teaching the arts.  Which, of course, is true.

But it is also true that as America has cleaved apart into haves and have nots over the last couple of decades, serious arts education - taught by certified, in-school instructors - has receded in many communities or even disappeared entirely.  We've got some whole children that need nurturing, and then some half-children.

Students in private schools and comfortable suburban districts still get the whole robust menu - staples like foreign languages and social studies along with an opportunity, to learn to play the French horn or win a part in "The Crucible" or "Beauty and the Beast."  Less fortunate children have been on the receiving end of what I'd call an emergency-room approach to education - one that addresses only the parts of a child thought to be in most dire need of attention.  Their curriculum may consist solely of reading, writing, and mathematics - the subjects tested on high-stakes exams.

The shame of this is we know it's wrong, and we do it anyway.  Longitudinal studies have shown that students who receive sustained in-school arts instruction have better attendance, better grades, and higher graduation rates.  Neurological research suggests that immersion in the arts can cause an actual change in the structure of neurons and make the brain more receptive to other kinds of learning.

The anecdotal evidence of how arts education benefits children is every bit as powerful as the stories of how participation in scholastic sports "saves" certain kids.  When I was researching a book on an elite high school theater program in the blue-collar town of Levittown, Pennsylvania, I met a student who was taking special education courses - remedial math and English, life skills - because high doses of chemotherapy she received to treat childhood leukemia were thought to have damaged her ability to retain and sort large batches of information.  But she was able to memorize long scripts - and win statewide awards for her acting - because the narrative through line of plays came clear to her.  Theater animated her as nothing else ever had.

Elsewhere, the children most in need of arts instruction have been the least likely to have access to it.  Anyone who has spent time in America's poorest inner-city neighborhoods knows that they are virtual islands, with no bridge to the mainland.  A child deep in Brooklyn or Queens may never have set foot in Manhattan, let alone inside a Broadway theater.  A child in Los Angeles might live three miles from the beach but has never felt the sand on her bare feet or dipped a toe in the Pacific.  One in Washington D.C. may have never been inside one of the Smithsonian's free museums.

Arts transport.  It's often said they are an an essential part of what makes us human - and an element of that is the ability to imagine another reality, apart from the one we are living, a skill essential to resilience and ambition.  Children already living in a narrowed world need more access to the arts, not less.  But that has not been the trend.

The reason is no great mystery: the accountability movement in education - from President George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind initiative up through President Obama's Race to the Top - has resulted in a zero-sum equation in America's schools.  Time spent on anything other than the essential mission of elevating test scores is too often perceived as time wasted.

Thoughtful educators know that practicing for upcoming tests - at the expense of lighting up children's mind and imaginations - is destructive.  But they have been incentivized, to use a favorite active verb of corporate America, to act against their better judgment because their salaries and career prospects have been set by how students score on tests.  In extreme cases, schools can be shuttered as a penalty for bad scores, and who wants that on their resume?

A report issued last spring by Scott Stringer, New York City's comptroller, found that 28% of the city's schools did not have a single full-time arts teacher - and 42% were without one in lower income neighborhoods.  Some principals who received "supplemental arts funding" used it for non-arts purposes, including test preparation.

Not just the arts - but arts spaces within schools - were being disrespected and often used for other purposes.  Suzy Myers Jackson, executive director of the nonprofit Opening Act, which brings after-school theater to some of the city's lowest performing schools, told me of discovering "this amazing theater" at a high school in Queens.  "It was almost like a black box but when we got there you could hardly see the stage.  It was used for storage.  Our kids cleaned it up."

We are at a juncture right now, with a possibility to set a new course.  In July, New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio announced that the city would spend an additional $23 million for arts education, some of which would go to hiring 120 new arts teachers in underserved schools.  Chicago and Los Angeles also have recently announced plans to bolster arts education in their public schools.

But will these initiatives take hold and will they last?  Some arts advocates are encouraged because David Coleman, the architect of the Common Core and now president of the College Board, has spoken eloquently about the centrality of arts education.

But the Common Core is an idea more than a program (with details to be filled in by the states), and it does not change the incentives for educators.  Its focus is on mathematics and what it calls English Language Arts.  "To me, the Common Core is a wolf in sheep's clothing," says James Catterall, a professor emeritus at UCLA and founder of the Centers for Research on Creativity at the California Institute of the Arts.  "If you look at it closely, the tests that flow out of it and will be high stakes will be basically in language arts and math.  The arts will not be tested."

So let's test the arts, without ruining them, instead of abandoning them once pre-kindergarten teachers assure that every student can identify their colors.  And let's study, support, and expand these fledgling initiatives to put arts teachers back into public schools.

Perhaps that can be a bridge to a true national consensus that arts education is not just for privileged kids.  It's not an extra or a frill, no matter how desperately some students may struggle to grasp the basics of reading and math.  For some of those very children, it's a lifeline, and the pathway to mastering those other subjects.

Climate for the People....?

In the last week, two things relating to climate change (and, subsequently, education) caught my eye.

The first was the occasion of largest and most diverse climate march ever, in which more than 400,000 people jammed the streets of New York City prior to the United Nations climate summit.  Amongst the marchers were U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, former Vice President Al Gore, and actor Leonardo DiCaprio.  These celebrities were joined by students, veterans, unionists, and farmers of whose presence Rolling Stone magazine said, "This confirms that the climate battle is no longer the burden only of environmentalists and older activists familiar with the barricades, but of everyone.  The devastating effects of climate change are being felt around the world....and the real fight for the planet is just beginning."
 

The second was this piece that ran the same day in The Guardian and addresses the issue of developing nations' budgets for climate change programming and how these funds are straining those allocated for health and education.  In Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda in particular, a new study exposes the funding gaps between plans to address climate change and what is actually available.
 

Read on....

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Poor countries have had to divert large chunks of their budgets to adapt to climate change and now run the risk of crowding out spending on health and education, a new report suggests.

Over four years from 2008-11, Ethiopia committed 14% of its national budget to climate change, or nearly half of the national spending on primary education.  Meanwhile, Tanzania spent 5%, which is almost two-thirds of its health spending, according to the report by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI).

Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda, the three countries featured in the report, are heavily dependent on rain-fed agriculture and have all experienced higher temperatures and reductions of water sources consistent with climate change.  All have invested heavily to adapt their farming and cities in the absence of promised international aid, said Neil Bird, a climate researcher at ODI who wrote the report.

The study exposes large funding gaps between each country's proposals to address climate change and what is actually available.  Ethiopia's climate change strategy calls for annual spending of $7.5 billion, but the country is estimated to be able to afford only around $440 million per year.  Tanzania needs around $650 million a year to address current climate risks and enhance its resilience but can only spend $383 million.  And Uganda's climate change policy is estimated to cost $258 million per year compared to current public spending in the region of $25 million.

The report, released on the eve of the New York climate summit where world leaders will seek to catalyze action on climate change, highlights how poor countries are overwhelmingly having to finance adaptation to climate change themselves: "There is an existing international commitment to provide $100 billion a year from 2020, but ODI's research shows that the current estimates of global adaptation finance amount to a tiny fraction of that sum."

"In the whole of sub-Saharan Africa, international support to assist countries adapt to climate change has averaged only $130 million annually, far less than the $1.1 billion that the UK alone spent on the floods three years ago, in what Archbishop Desmond Tutu calls 'adaptation apartheid,'" said Bird.

In contrast to the minimal help offered to countries that have played no role in man-made climate change, rich countries are already investing heavily in adaptation through strengthened flood-defense systems, coastal protection, and other measures.  The UK spent approximately £700 million on flood defenses between 2010 and 2011.  Poorer countries and their citizens have to address the adaptation challenge with far fewer resources, says the report.

"While richer countries invest heavily in flood-defense systems, coastal protection, and other projects, poorer countries have no choice but to divert scarce resources, potentially reversing the progress made in tackling poverty," said Kevin Watkins, executive director of ODI.

In Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda, climate change is seen as an economic development issue rather than solely an environmental concern.  This is reflected in the spending ministries such as agriculture, water, and energy.  Relevant government programs include irrigation projects, dry-land management initiatives, and development projects designed to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The ODI urges greater transparency to increase confidence in the effectiveness of climate finance and proposes a new approach to supporting national action on climate change.  This suggests that public climate finance from the international community should match the level of domestic public spending relevant to climate change in those countries acknowledged to be the most vulnerable.

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Sighhhh....  So, clearly a bunch of different issues at play here, and I'm sure a great debate could ensue, but in the interest of time management, a rundown of the major points IMO below:

*I could almost forego pointing out the massive difference in the effects of climate change upon the masses and their reactions to it in developed countries vis-a-vis developing ones.... almost....  I suppose the photos say enough....

*So, in a new twist on the "sink or swim" idiom, it appears that in this case, developing countries must "sink or be eaten alive by sharks"....  How else can you describe having to choose between funding environmental programming or health and education?

*This is particularly messed-up when you take into account that these countries rely heavily on agriculture for their economies.  The issue of climate change is therefore not just a passing fancy that they can march for one Saturday in September; it is the backbone of their financial systems!

*Meanwhile, wealthy Western countries are not only able to invest in programming that addresses existing climate change dilemmas, they can also shore up their resources to protect them against future crises.  (And they can organize marches....)

*I could spin out into a long-winded criticism of the U.N. here, but I won't.  Let's see what happens....

*And, finally, allow me a moment of unapologetic smarm in reporting that Gore was seen making his exit from the People's Climate March in a Chevrolet Suburban SUV, just after giving reporters a sound bite about renewable energy....  Guess it would have been "inconvenient" to walk....

It's Fun to Stay at the K.C.M.C.

This post isn't particularly timely, but I finally have a moment to write it, so here goes....

I have mentioned several times that one important aspect of The Toa Nafasi Project involves a "referral" phase in which we try to assist students who are under-performing in the classroom due to reasons other than a learning difficulty.  We usually start referral appointments after the first assessment is completed and then follow up as need be over the course of the year, but of course, if a student presents immediately with a medical or psychosocial issue, we'll address it straight off the bat.  Still, it is more likely that Vumi or I will notice a child maybe squinting at the chalkboard or leaning close to his notebook when writing which would indicate poor eyesight; or that, in talking to one of the parents, we find out something in the child's history that would lead us to want to have him or her looked over by a doctor, such as a missed milestone (not crying at birth) or maladaptive behavior (bed-wetting).

To address such concerns, we have developed a network of healthcare professionals on whom we can call when we see some of these other non-LD type issues.  I've written recently and often about the services Toa Nafasi receives for Msaranga Primary School students from the Gabriella Center, and a few times about those provided by Comprehensive Community-Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania or CCBRT (mostly for maternal and newborn health or severe mental and/or physical disability).  But many other of the docs we work with are located right in the main hospital in Moshi, a facility called Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center, which is known to be the best in the region but which would probably shock the average Western patient right out of his or her hospital gown.  Nevertheless, we have to work with what's available and - knock on wood - so far so good.

This year, we took probably over twenty different children to various clinics at KCMC, but they almost always have to start at "Casualty" which is (strangely) where we check in.  (The word mapokezi means "reception" in Kiswahili which is, decidedly, less strange.)
 

Oops, I forgot to say that Vumi will have already explained to the parents that Toa Nafasi will cover the costs of the exam and any follow-up or meds necessary as long as the parent can a.) prepare the child for the visit and get to the hospital ON TIME and on the DAY SCHEDULED, b.) pay their own transport fees to and from KCMC, and c.) join the child or arrange for another family member to be there to hear any diagnosis given and treatment recommended.  Toa Nafasi is here to help but WE ARE NOT FOSTER CARE, people!!

So far, this system has worked out pretty well though I have been suckered into paying for snacks and things when the day runs long which it almost inevitably does.  Waiting at KCMC is about as interesting as watching paint dry and as time-consuming as well, and it's not like anyone besides me will think to bring a book or a bottle of water, so the kids can get kinda feisty and cranky.... and the parents are hardly any better....  I think for next year, Vumi and I should remember to tell them to pack their own snacks/lunches and that we should bring some coloring books or small games that can be played in the hallways during these down periods to keep cantankerous kidlets occupied.

Case in point: Namani below, who even the ever-patient "Angi of the Morning" found to be on the extreme end of the bad behavior spectrum.  (Truth be told, he could probably benefit from some kind of ADHD med, but there's NO WAY I'm going down that road with these kids.  The responsibility I would undertake in terms of long-term care and cost, and all the possible side effects of the meds notwithstanding, simply getting him or her to adhere to the dosage and scheduling would be harder than summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro.)
 

Anyhoo, after checking in at Casualty, we start the waiting process at whichever clinic we're at that day, most often Eye, Ortho, or Neuro.

Poor eyesight is a common reason other than a learning difficulty why a child might be doing poorly in school.  And, unlike in Western schools where the teacher might call in the parent to say, "Little Sarah can't see the board," there is not too much communication between teachers and parents in Tanzania.  (Though Toa Nafasi is working on changing that!)

Sometimes, there are complications for the mother at the time of birth and the infant might have to be yanked out abruptly which results in mild bone deformities.  Though these injuries wouldn't necessarily cause a child to do badly academically, if they are concurrently failing in school, then we want to make sure they have good and proper use of all their limbs, in case down the line they will become fundis or day laborers, so Ortho will address these kinds of issues.

And finally, and quite unfortunately, what we see A LOT OF is problems with the mama related to either her pregnancy period or the time of labor that have resulted in shida or "trouble" for the kid.  These run the gamut from lifestyle and environmental health causes (malnutrition, drinking while pregnant) to infections (malaria) to autoimmune disorders (HIV/AIDS).  And they can result in neuropsychiatric illnesses for the child ranging from hyperactivity to autism to epilepsy to many things in between.  There is a very good Dutchwoman doctor on-staff at KCMC to whom I always bring my kids for Neuro consults.

This year, we had the opportunity to go to the Ear, Nose, and Throat clinic for the first time so that a student could have his adenoids removed.  According to mama, Francis was having trouble breathing which obviously gave way to myriad other troubles - inability to sleep, lack of concentration, poor quality of life in general - so we admitted him for surgery and after a couple days, he was back in school and doing much better.  He was a real champ getting his bloodwork done prior to surgery, but when he first woke up post-op, he clearly didn't know what was going on and had a real tough time of it, poor lil' guy....

Anyhoo, all of this is to say that simply because The Toa Nafasi Project works with slow and struggling learners within the primary school classroom, we aren't ones to ignore horses of other colors!

If a student is performing poorly academically, there could be various issues at play and it is up to us, once we've assessed the pupils, to address each individually and to provide as much of a solution as we possibly can.  Such is the "referral" phase....

Now, my next goal?  To edit the signage at KCMC....  I spotted this medical fridge in the Peds ward and just had to take a pic!  I wonder then if a Tanzanian defibrillator is a defiblirator??