LitLife Blog

Reflection for July 25

This week I sat in on several meetings, in which everything from bringing LitLife to Valhalla, RealeBooks and what teachers want in a new professional book, possibly dealing with classroom management, was discussed. One theme that stood out to me was the importance of relevance when introducing something new. Whether it’s simply the concept of reading or new assessments and teaching materials or health education from the United Nations, people will always ask the question, “How is this useful to me?” It is always frustrating putting effort into teaching someone something, asking them to practice it and to come back next week, month or year, and see no progress. I noticed this all the time when I tutored—kids lost the worksheets I made for them—and I know I my music teachers were frustrated when my scales were as messy on week six as the first week. This was brought up in the breakfast think-tank meeting when some of the consultants said they would give teachers ideas, worksheets and planning tools, just to see the materials get lost the next week.

I think this is the problem of the outsider coming into a new situation, whether or not they are very familiar with the new context, and trying to teach and impart knowledge. Programs like Teach for America and the Peace Corps, while they are important and incredibly valuable organizations, seem, to me, to send privileged people to give “gifts” to the disadvantaged. It has an element of the mentality that what is being brought is more valuable than what is already in place. Also, these programs are so short and temporary that I feel that most participants never truly being to understand the context into which they enter, although that certainly isn’t true for all. How effective will change in this manner be? Will this be able to implement long-run change? Can a few bright teachers dramatically change the way a poor school district teaches reading or math after just a two-year commitment?

This is why I think initiatives to create locally grown culture centers are so important—create literature bases and learning initiatives that are in some ways “grassroots.” Trying to teach people that literature is important and reading is relevant won’t be effective unless people see how they can use it in their daily lives, for passing down folktales and advice from elders, for example and see that it is not in opposition to their experiences but can enhance and supplement them. I see that there are still problems that need to be worked out; the RealeBooks program, for example, requires the purchase of a lot of technology and needs the Internet to get the most out of the software. How can programs like this be made more affordable to truly expand access to all those that do not have books? Also, the problem of introducing the concept of reading must come first and continues to be an obstacle.

I think locally produced books will also provide great insight into other people’s values. Mainstream America values education and monetary success, among other things, but these are very culture-specific. When students begin to write their own books, other people will be able to see what those kids worry about, what they focus on and what they value, whether it’s family, hard work or the power of imagination.

Over the past week, I have been doing research on Liberia’s education system. This has been incredibly interesting for me because, not only am I going to study abroad in Africa, probably in Botswana, I think it is both illuminating and important to learn about the struggles of another country that is not frequently in the news, but is facing an immense challenge. Civil war ravaged Liberia from the late 1980s until 2003 and the country’s relatively new government is currently trying to redevelop its infrastructure, including its education system.

The country is facing an interesting situation with regards to its education system. Less than half of all primary age students are enrolled in school and the Ministry of Education is working to implement programs that will increase this number and catch children up to where they need to be—80% of all primary school students are between ages 11 and 20, far behind in their education. However, just enrolling these students in school will not solve the education crisis. The quality of schools leaves much to be desired—most schools do not have adequate materials and few teachers are qualified to teach.

Another huge, and perhaps more daunting, problem is that much of the population, especially children, have been traumatized by the civil war that ended about five year ago. A lot of the information I read about programs to develop schools had money allotted for training teachers to deal with the inevitable psychological problems resulting from the widespread violence. I wonder how successful these programs will be and how the emotional damage from the war will negatively affect the effort to rebuild the Liberian education system.

This week I also had the opportunity to spend time in the library at Children’s Village, reorganizing the books. While there doesn’t seem to be much initial comparison between a war-torn African country and a community in Dobbs Ferry New York, I think the education work currently being undertaken in two places has more in common than I initially thought.

Working in the library, I could see the dearth of books available for the students at Children’s Village. While Books for Boys is doing so much to remedy this, just comparing my old elementary school’s library with that in the elementary school at Children’s Village, shows how much work still needs to be done. While the situation is not as dire as that in Liberia, both places face a lack of supplies that might hinder students from getting all they need out of an education. Also, both in Children’s Village and Liberia the emotional state of students needs to be addressed. Many of the students at Children’s Village have been though a lot in their short lives and, while their experiences could not be more different than those of Liberian children, both situations will require a lot of nurturing and support if they are going to advance successfully in their academics.

I wonder what types of support will be most helpful for students in these difficult situations. Criticism of the No Child Left Behind Act says that just addressing school failings will not significantly boost students’ academic achievement and that the “whole student” needs to be addressed and nurtured. Should emotional problems take precedence instead? I also wonder what role the government can play, both through foreign aid to African countries and aid at home for students who need more support.