Author Archives: Daryn Cambridge

Voices [Education Project]

POSTED ON BEHALF OF EDEN MESGHENNA

The mission of Voices is to share unbiased accounts of war by those who have experienced war first hand in order to “heal the wounds and lay the ground work for peaceful world”.

In addition to the stories told by soldiers and civilians, the site provided a wealth of resources for educators such as books, curricula, education packets, and instructional activities that assist with the critical exploration and dialogue of peace education. In addition to the personal narratives, the visual media that is made available through this site provides for a rich background for facilitators.

Stories of Arrival: Youth Voices, a component of the project, allow students who have recently immigrated from countries that are experiencing the hardships of war, to share their experiences using poetry. These stories are heartbreaking but powerful in that they produce a direct connection to young students that have never experienced the reality of war. To listen and share Youth Voices go to: http://www.jackstraw.org/programs/ed/youth/foster.shtml

For information go explore at:

http://www.voiceseducation.org

Dance4Peace

POSTED ON BEHALF OF EDEN MESGHENNA

All teachers can appreciate that learning takes place through multiple intelligence and movement is fundamental source of expression for, most if not all, young students. Unfortunately, most curriculums do not incorporate physical motion as a means to the learning process. So when I came upon this site, I was excited to witness the interconnected themes of community building, cultural exploration, and self-discipline through focused energetic movement.

From the Dance4Peace website:

“Dance 4 Peace is a conflict resolution, civic education program that promotes empathy, understanding, mediation skills, anger management, emotional and civic engagement through dance in youth around the world. Through exercises and activities utilizing our bodies, music, emotions, experiences, and thoughts, we build emotional and social competencies for peace. “

Dance 4 Peace facilitators create curriculums that are specific to the grade and community by utilizing four key principles of social, emotional and civic competences in youth.

Dance 4 Emotional awareness

Dance 4 Active communication and dialogue

Dance 4 Diversity, cooperation and empathy

Dance 4 Anger management and mediation

“Dance 4 Peace began as Danza para la Convivencia en Bogotá, Colombia as part of Sara Potler’s Fulbright Scholarship project in 2007. In conjunction with Aulas en Paz (Peaceable Classrooms), a multi-component pedagogical project designed to promote social and civic competencies and conflict resolution among primary-school students, Dance 4 Peace was designed, implemented, and evaluated in public schools in the outskirts of Bogotá.”

Here is a sample of a project in Columbia:

“Today, the program is being implemented in Washington, D.C.; New York City; Baltimore; Colombia; the Philippines; and Nepal. We work through grassroots, local community and international-scale academic, public, and private partnerships to bring Dance 4 Peace programming to varying cultural contexts.”

Check out there work at Malcolm X public school in Washington DC:

For more info go to www.dance4peace.org

Teaching for Change: Tellin Stories

POSTED ON BEHALF OF EDEN MESGHENNA

Teaching for Change is a non-profit organization that supplies parents, teachers, and students with tools and resources that mobilize school reform by building literacy skills. Located in the Washington DC area Teaching for Change works with local schools by offering professional development, parent support connections and publication recourses for all ages that focus on building critical thought and reflection of the world inside and outside of the classroom.

Check them out at: www.teachingforchange.org

Tellin Stories is a project that aims at building parent involvement in the schools. The focus of the project is to create opportunities for parents to connect with schools by encouraging parents to come into the classroom and share their stories.  Allowing parents to share their experiences within the classroom begins a process that bridges a cultural and socioeconomic gap between schools and community. In the Telling Stories project parents have opportunities to read to students or tell personal stories about who they are in the classroom. Parents then join together with other parents to build a story quilt that binds pieces of who they are together.

I found the idea of story telling to be a very natural way of beginning the process of strengthening parent involvement in the school and was encouraged by the high level of response parents from different cultural backgrounds had towards investing in there new community.  Included is a link to a short video on the Tellin Stories project:

IndyKids

POSTED ON BEHALF OF MONICA SHAH

IndyKids is a progressive kid’s newspaper produced by volunteers including parents, students, teachers, journalists and community activists. Formed in 2005, IndyKids’ creators believe that everything is political and that no media source comes without bias; thus, they openly label their newspaper as progressive. IndyKids aims to present an alternative perspective that is typically not found in mainstream media or other kids’ news journals such as Time for Kids or Junior Scholastic because they are backed by corporate sponsors. IndyKids provides space for issues of marginalized people including kids, people of color, poor people, and immigrants whose voices may not generally be heard in conventional news and school textbooks. The organization does not believe in “talking down” to kids or restricting certain issues from being presented. Therefore, their stories range anywhere from youth activism, labor and immigrant rights and global warming, to war, the financial crisis and same-sex marriage. Aside from news, the paper also includes entertainment, recipes and puzzles.

In addition to learning about the issues themselves, IndyKids can be used in classrooms to teach media literacy. Teachers can give students articles on similar topics from various sources and ask them to compare the views of the publications. By doing this, students can pick out biases, form their own opinions based on facts or perspectives given, and most importantly, learn and practice being critical interpreters of information, instead of being passive recipients. This is a good exercise for teachers who may receive criticism for presenting progressive viewpoints, or generally for any teacher who aims to be objective and wants their students to be critical thinkers.

While the website states that the newspaper is aimed to engage kids in grades 4 to 7, I believe that the newspaper could be used from grades 3 to 8, and may be integrated best in an English/Language Arts or Social Studies class setting. What is also unique about this paper is that kids are encouraged to submit their own articles. Teachers or parents who use this newspaper in their classroom or home can make researching and submitting articles as part of a class project. On the IndyKids’ website, there are helpful resources and guides for teachers. For example, check out the November/December 2011 Issue and Teacher’s Guide – Issue 32.

IndyKids not only helps students to simply learn about current national and international events, but it can help students develop empathy, curiosity and passion, and may lead them to becoming selfless and conscientious. Another way teachers can promote peace and social justice in their classroom, school, and community, and further develop students’ research, writing, and analytical skills, is to assign students to produce their own community-based version of IndyKids focusing on local issues. After writing the articles and publishing a class newspaper, students can take an additional step and create an action plan to bring attention to a particular local issue and/or to fight a local injustice.

IndyKids supports the community building and skill building pillars of peace education. With the newspaper, students will learn about various issues, cultures and perspectives, and are encouraged to embrace the differences and similarities they may have with the people they read about. By allowing kids to write and submit their own articles, they are able to take ownership of their learning experience and see their work being acknowledged and read by a wider audience. With regard to skill building, students are empowered to actively participate in the larger peace and social justice movement locally and globally. Through reflection based activities, students’ interpersonal and intrapersonal skills will be strengthened. Furthermore, students’ analytical skills will be enhanced through media literacy lessons. Students will also learn organizing skills as they take action and show solidarity with a particular campaign, movement or group of people.

Nonviolent Campaigns: Who, What, Where, When, How and Why

POSTED ON BEHALF OF MONICA SHAH

So you’ve heard a lot about the powers and successes of nonviolent action but are ready to move beyond teaching about Gandhi and Dr. King. Thanks to a project lead by George Lakey at Swarthmore College, there is now a Global Nonviolent Action Database that provides free access to the hundreds of cases of nonviolent campaigns around the world! The intention of this database is, “to assist researchers and activists to better understand the special features of nonviolent struggle that make it different from both violent and institutional politics.”

Lakey, the Director of Training for Change and 2010 Peace Educator of the Year, explains that “nonviolent action” is also commonly known as:

  • People Power
  • Civil Resistance
  • Satyagraha
  • Nonviolent Resistance
  • Direct Action
  • Pacifica Militancia
  • Positive Action

The database includes cases that are identified as “campaigns”, not “movements” because they consider movements to typically consist of a number of campaigns aimed at achieving large goals. Also, the campaigns researched are ones that have reached their point of completion. Each “case” is presented as a database file and narrative that describes the issues behind the campaign.

The database can be searched by country, issue, or method used. The campaigns are grouped by the following categories: democracy, economic justice, environment, human rights (religious and women’s rights), national/ethnic identity (and anti-colonial struggles), and peace. You can learn about nonviolent action that took place everywhere from Afghanistan to Norway to Zimbabwe. You can even find campaigns that occurred as early as Before A.D. in Italy to present-day in Egypt. If you are interested in learning about the larger movements, you can search under “Waves of Campaigns” to find information about:

  • African Democracy Campaigns
  • Arab Awakening
  • Asian Democracy Campaigns
  • Colour Revolutions
  • Soviet Bloc Independence Campaigns
  • U.S. Civil Rights Movement

Here is an example:  “Egyptians campaign to oust President Mubarak, 2011”

On this page you will find the time period, the description of the location, the goals, methods and classification of the case. You can also find information about the campaign’s influences, leaders, partners, allies and opponents, order of social groups and the success outcome. Lastly, everyone also has access to the sources used to compile the information to learn even more about the study!

This resource supports three Pillars of Peace Education: 1) Exploring Approaches to Peace; 2) Reframing History; and 3) Transforming Conflict Nonviolently. Students can learn how people around the world aim to achieve peace. Furthermore, they can look at history through the lens of nonviolent actions – narratives that are often left out in schools’ historical texts. Lastly, the database acknowledges that conflicts do exist, and it provides examples of a variety of methods that people use to approach conflict alternatively—nonviolently.

With regard to the uses of the database, the team included this wonderful message: “Strategists, activist organizers, scholars, and teachers will find many uses for the database, as well as citizens wanting to expand their horizons. Even before release to the public, for example, a teacher who knew the database team was using our cases to assist middle school pupils to develop plays. Any school that teaches about the environment, civil rights, or other issues may find the curriculum enlivened by sending students to the database. History students might enjoy doing the detective work of finding the hidden stories in their local area that could be developed into cases. The database also offers an invitation to geographical learning.”

I would recommend this database to be used by students starting in middle school. Though I believe that educators can incorporate this across the curriculum, it may be most welcome in a Social Studies department. The information provided can truly open students’ eyes and deepen their understanding of nonviolence, people power, and the struggle for justice, peace, democracy or human rights around the world. It may also help students to better grasp the tactics and motivations of the ongoing “Occupy” movements across the nation. The database can be utilized in formal or community education settings. It can also be beneficial for organizers of future movements to scan through this database to examine the advantages or limitations of strategies of previous campaigns.

Radical Math

POSTED ON BEHALF OF MONICA SHAH

It is a myth that peace and social justice issues can only be taught in a peace studies course. It is an even greater myth that there is no place for peace and social justice in mathematics, science, engineering or technology curricula. This post aims to bring attention to a resource for math and economics teachers of all levels who want their students to study issues of social and economic justice.  Radical Math is a site that contains more than 700 lesson plans, articles, books, charts, graphs, data sets, maps, and websites that will help lead students to not only understand issues of social, political and economic injustices through a mathematical framework, but also to learn how to develop just, realistic and mathematically-sound solutions.

Far too often students have complained about their required math courses and asked, “When will I ever use this?” Fusing social justice and math education allows students to be able to do more than memorize formulas and solve equations; they can use math as a tool to understand and change their society. Social Justice Math has two main purposes: 1) to use mathematics to teach and learn about social and economic justice and 2) to develop mathematical literacy and learn math through the study of social justice issues.  Radical Math resources can be utilized in upper elementary, middle, high school, and college classes. Such curriculum can also be integrated in community programs and classes geared to teach math, financial or computer literacy to citizens, immigrants or ESOL students.

Check out this guide created by Jonathan Osler:

A Guide for Integrating Issues of Social and Economic Justice in Mathematics Curriculum

http://www.radicalmath.org/docs/SJMathGuide.pdf

One relevant (and very current) topic that can be introduced and discussed in a math or economics classroom is the Occupy Wall Street and other “occupy” demonstrations around the nation protesting economic and social inequalities, corporate greed and injustices, and corruption. For example, students can learn about the Gini coefficient and how that is calculated, evaluate the disparities in income and wealth distribution, and calculate corporate taxes and profits.

On the site, students and teachers can search by math topic, social justice issue or resource type. Below are all of the searchable topics and themes:

By Math Topic: Algebra,  Annual Percent Rate (APR), Area, Averages, Bar Graph, Basic Math Concepts, Budgeting Money, Budgets, Cartesian, Chance, Charts, Compound Interest, Correlation, Currency Conversion, Data, Data Analysis, Equivalent Fractions, Extrapolation, Geometry, Graphs, Graphing, Fractals, Fractions, Histograms, Interest, Least Common Denominators, Line Graphs, Mapping, Maps, Mean-Median-Mode, Measurement, Net Worth, Patterns, Percent Growth, Percents, Polar, Polls, Probability, Proportions, Rates, Ratios, Real Dollars, Numbers, Sampling, Scatter plots, Statistics, Survey, Symmetry, Tessellations.

By Social Justice Issue: Achievement Gaps, African Americans, Banking, Criminal Justice System, Death Penalty, Defense Budgets,  Economic Development, Ethnomathematics, Environment (pollution, hunger, food and water resources), Financial Literacy/Education (saving, managing debt, paying for college, credit cards, loans, taxes), Gentrification, Globalization, GLTBQ, Health Care, Higher Education, Homeownership, Housing, Hurricane Katrina, Immigration, Juvenile Justice, Latino/Hispanic, Minimum/Living Wage, Lottery, Military Recruitment, New York, Poverty, Poverty Line, Predatory Lending, Prisons, Public Education, Public Health, Racial Profiling, Racism, Single Mothers, Standardized Testing, Sweatshops, Taxes, Teaching, Unemployment, Voting, Wars, Wealth, Welfare, Women

By Resource Type: Article, Book, Chart, Curriculum, Film, Graph, Map, Syllabus, Table, Website

If you have any ideas or have created a lesson plan or projects on a math topic related to a social justice issue that you would like to share with others, you can e-mail info@radicalmath.org.

Peace Week 2011

Peace Week 2011 is a free global telesummit that involves “an extraordinary week of presentations, forums, music, art and reflection on the prospects of creating a sustainable culture of peace.”  There are 52 peacebuilders who will be speaking throughout the week.  I learned about this event from one of the people I follow on Twitter.  Upon opening up the website and learning more about the program, I immediately signed up to participate.

I find this to be a great peace education resource to bring into classrooms because its an opportunity to expose students to a global network of peacebuilders working in a variety of fields.  I think its most appropriate for high school, under grad, or graduate students, as I assume from the topics being covered, that the different sessions are somewhat advanced and would require some background in peace studies to fully appreciate or grasp the subject matter.  Given the large amount of presentations and the week-long schedule, I think this program could be incorporated into either formal or nonformal educational settings.

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The Happy Planet Index

What a great presentation by Nic Marks of the Happy Planet Index.  There is so much learning to be gleaned from this work.

First, the presentation does a great job taking statistical rankings and measurements that have guided so many economic, social, and development initiatives for the past 70 years and challenging their most basic assumptions – that being, economic growth and levels of production are appropriate ways to measure a country’s well-being.  In so doing, this challenge forces humans to recognize what it is that we might actually measure that will allow us to set goals that actually lead to healthier, happier lives and a healthier, happier planet.

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World Humanitarian Day

Ever wonder who ventures into areas so rife with conflict that basic services and protection have completely broken down?  Where events have been so catastrophic that heroic acts are required for people to survive?  Well, those who work in the field of humanitarian aid and relief are just those people and today is World Humanitarian Day – honoring those whose work saves lives every single day.

As educators, we often talk about acts of heroism that have occurred throughout history.  Those acts of heroism are often granted to those who have engaged in some type of violent conflict.  But there are many heroes, as this video shows above, whose work to save and protect lives, reduce conflict and suffering, and who mission is not for an ideology, economic gain, or control, but rather honoring and cherishing human life.

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Peace Tech in the Middle East

 

The Tech Change Blog featured a story on a new hand held teaching device created by Stanford PhD student, Elizabeth Buckner.  The device is designed to teach students in Israel and Palestine about what life is like “on the other side.”  See her talk about it in the video above.

Sure, there is sometimes an over emphasis on how much technology can actually do in breaking down barriers between groups in conflict, or even educating about real life situations, but I think its better than nothing.  That’s the way I feel about a lot of technology…I rarely see it as the silver bullet in addressing an issue, but certain technological tools are just that…tools.  And the more we have in our box the better equipped we will be in meeting certain needs, especially when we need to adapt to different learning environments and different learning styles.

I am curious what technological tools other peace educators are using in their classrooms.  How can computers and internet services like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube and others be used to aid in the peacemaking process or in teaching about peace?