Since the class is now officially over, a more natural reflection process is beginning to take the place of where I have been Mondays and Wednesdays at 10am.

The final days of class revealed several things for me: education spans far across the realm of the living. The broad horizons of the participants of this class proved that to me, of all the people I met this term, you people were the among the greatest!  I cannot fully express how impressed I am to have been part of such a group of well traveled people. The areas of the Earth we have walked have already seen our footfalls, and not to mention, oh the places we all will go. Surely, this age of humanity is destined to experience the effects of modern travel.

And after we have witnessed the world’s maganimity, there will come a time when the education of our children (maybe its now) becomes the foremost topic in our minds. The approaches to education may appear more clear to us now, how do communities take the approach? Are our children subject a school system impressed only by standardized test scores or the prospect of future economic returns on our children?

One of the greatest challenges of mine in this course was in becoming too philosophical on this subject. And while it seemed that many writers and classmates took preference to Sen’s human capability theory, it takes a level of honesty to look at the historical perspective and say “hey maybe all that human capital theory was necessary to get us where we are,” hard work pays off in the end.

If I remember correctly, and I often do, then one of our definitions of Education, was its equivalence to “empowerment.” After a few weeks of disintegration, I hope that feeling of empowerment through the forms of education we explored in INTL 399, will set in.

Good course, eh ?

Indeed, the course has offered a lot for me and a new perspective on the way education can be intertwined with an array of complex situations. through out this class we  picked up on a few major topics that have stuck with me through out the the entire term. our class had a lot of really interesting perspectives and i enjoyed listening to different students experiences.  The appreciation for education seems to be on the rise, but does the stigma of un apperciation exist in the united states ? do students really value education ? or are grades the only important facet ?

Ive been playing around with the idea of what schooling would be like with no grades. i believe the system would much different than the one we can witness today. Students might not be as concerned with getting the grade. The value has left education. the required works are the only element students invest themselves in. But do the grades keep students  focused on success.
This class has brought education into a new light for me by giving me a perspective that is on an international level. some powerful images continue to be played in my mind about children being prevented from schooling due to poverty. The compasion for the youth is high in our class and i know alot of student believe in a brighter future for the education systems around the world.

Next for most of us in the class, education has been developed as a way to increase a persons capabilities as well as empowerment. As a class we all realized that the model we are all used to in the united states may not be the best answer for every other country. culture is the true signature of the land. education system need to the figure this out,  but surely our class has.

Although heavy critiquing can take a toll on the spirits of a student, our class has learned that change be positive.  the common saying “you dont know until you go” applies in all aspects of implementing education policies. the final note i have taken away from this class is that at least our communities are making step towards progress and equity.  Education for all is a theme that many in the world would support. many would believe in the thought of education for all, but now is the time to participate through action.

Nick Lucenti

I thought that the photovoice project was fun and interesting.  My pictures did not come out exactly as I had hoped but I think that the overall experience was good.  It was cool to see everyone talk about their pictures and why they thought they related to education.  The black and white photos came out much better than the color ones in my opinion.

I don’t know if there was one specific reading that really grabbed me throughout the course.  All of this material was very new to me so I think that the later readings started to make more sense because I had a better understanding of what the authors were trying to get across, and also had a better basic knowledge of certain policies and ideologies that supported my understanding of the readings.  I still think that one of the best things we did all term was watching schooling the world.  I thought that the film really started out the class well and was a good intro into some of the areas that we would be exploring.

This was a great course that introduced me to another side of my own education that I had not yet explored.  It was a great learning process for me to learn about something that I was not familiar with.  I enjoyed class discussion, and the overall enthusiasm that was displayed by the class, that is what made the class go.  I look forward to taking what I learned from this class and using it down the road.

Expectations Met

I came into this class hoping to learn more about how education is and isn’t conducive to development around the world—whether or not it really did lead to a better life for people, or if we as the western world just decided it did. From this class, I came to understand that the Western idea that education improves lives is based on the neoliberal worldview. If every person is prepared to compete in the global market, it will expand, everyone will earn money and lives will improve. Many would disagree with this idea, as evidenced by the movie Schooling the World (among several readings done for the course) where the experts argue that education actually leads to poverty rather than alleviating it because students become, “a semi-literate for another system, to which you have no entry, because you do not belong to the right class, you do not belong to the right privilege.”[1]Being educated does not change how society functions. Education has not led to automatic employment as promised, but many people have spent all their money in order to be educated in the way the Western world says is right. This is what I suspected of the world, and it was interesting to hear other people express it.

Perspectives Heard

I appreciated getting to hear so many different perspectives on this issue. For a couple weeks, it seemed like the only opinion out there was that education is not actually conducive to development. Having Najla come and talk about her personal story about how education made such a difference for her and was now changing her country was like a complete 180 from what we had been hearing and discussing before. She talked about how education not only improved her life and helped her get a good job with the World Bank, but how she was working with other educated Afghanis to improve their country. If development aid is going to be given, it needs to be allocated by those who understand the country’s culture and needs, and who knows better than those who are from there?

Freire Read

I also enjoyed reading Freire’s thoughts on education because I have been frustrated by the same issues for years. I went through the banking model; to an extent, I am still going through the banking model, though less exclusively in university than before. I went through all of elementary school and parts of high school putting in minimal effort and getting almost all A’s, because all I had to do was memorize stuff and spit it out on the test, and occasionally color a map or give a short presentation. I was never expected to actually work to understand what we were learning or figure anything out for myself (with a few exceptions like the one time we had a science fair in seventh grade). We were never taught to form our own opinions, only to accept everything we were taught as absolute truth.

Challenges Faced

This class was challenging for me because I was supposed to deeply understand the readings and develop critiques on them. Even when I did feel I understood and had thoughts on what we were discussing, I had trouble articulating my thoughts, and often just ended up sounding like an idiot. A few times, someone else would follow up with my fumbling words and say exactly what I thought what I had been saying, and everyone would agree with that person, whereas they had just looked at me like I was turning into a llama when I tried to say it. I was only trying to ensure my participation points by talking in class, but I think I may have just ended up reducing them instead. I learned that I participate better as a listener, and appreciated that Jessica recognized that as valid.

Course Vanquished

I really will feel as though I have vanquished a foe if I pass this class. It was interesting material, but perhaps not my strongest subject. I loved that we took off our shoes and sat on the floor together. It made for a much more comfortable learning environment. Thanks for taking on this challenge, Jessica!!

Before this class I had never heard about photovoice and the idea of it seemed fun, and fairly easy. Answering the question “what is education?” with pictures taken on a disposable camera proved to be more difficult than I thought it would be. Here are some of the pictures I took in my attempt to define education.

This image captures my stereotypical view of what education is: studying, reading, writing and researching. Though it is all of those things, it is also a lot more and can look a lot differently. I have become aware of this Western idea of education and how Western societies often attempt to force their ways upon others. I hadn’t thought of this much before, but this class has made me aware of my bias to Western education. Realizing that my view of education is highly shaped by my experiences in the Western education system has allowed me to be careful when thinking about other’s education systems; it has widened my perspective.

This is my roommate’s naked cat, also known as “Chicken.” People’s first reaction to him is usually, “Eww” or, “What is that thing, it is SO ugly!” On the outside he looks different, but when it comes down to it he’s just like any other cat. He is happy cat, but because he looks different people hardly see him as a cat. People often stop outside of our house and take pictures if he’s sitting in the window, and I think in the same way this is how we look at education systems that are different from ours. People love to scrutinize and pinpoint all the things that are wrong with things that are different. I think we often forget to stop to think that maybe they like the system they have or maybe it works for them.

I got this idea after watching the documentary “Schooling The World.” I’m glad we watched this film because it made me realize that education can be different, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing. As one of the elders in the film pointed out, her grandchildren that go to the university know nothing; this is because to her education looks like knowing how to grow your own food, make your own clothes, and know your own cultural practices [1].

This photo was my attempt at showing education as empowerment, one of the first words that comes to my mind when I try and define education. Here is a quote that I think captures what I mean by this fairly well:

“Education is described as an empowerment right with a multiplying effect in the sense that the enjoyment of a number of other rights, such as freedom of information and the right to vote, depends on a minimum level of education. […] Education is of cardinal importance for meaningful human existence; it enables a person to fully participate and function in society. It allows individuals to develop to whole and mature personalities, and it empowers them to fulfill a role in the community that is enriching for themselves and is beneficial for their community”[2].

Education is also collaboration; we learn from others, with others and are able to share opinions and experiences. Learning with other people is crucial.

At the same time, I think education happens on an individual level. When we are alone and think, we are reflecting. We can learn things from our own experiences and make judgements based on our own thoughts.

This photo was my attempt to show that education can be a waste of resources. Sometimes I feel like I might as well be throwing money into the trash because I am paying so much money and the classes aren’t always worth it. We pour so much money into the system, but where does its actually go?!

So that I don’t end this post on a negative note, I think education is also a key part of life. We learn every day and it helps shape us into the individuals that we are and how we live our life.

Overall this has been a great class (and project) that had made me question my own bias and think more critically about what education is.

1. Black, Carol. Schooling the World:The White Man’s Last Burden. 2010. Film

2. Akinbola, Bukola R. “The Right to Inclusive Education in Nigeria : Meeting the Needs and Challenges of Children with Disabilities.” African Human Rights Law Journal. 10.2 (2010). Print. p. 471

Disclaimer: Just a Dose of Daily Cheese(It’s about to get cheesy)

Every new registration period, students fish for a class that pushes one to think, to question and to change perspectives that have been held for too long. When I registered for Fall classes in the Spring, I had an entirely different outlook on what I had wanted out of my future education. It was prior to my first study abroad trip and still in the deep throes of planning my second study abroad cruise I wanted to take around the world. Looking back, I have no idea what compelled me to register for the International 399 Education and Development class, as it was only loosely connected to what I had wanted to do, but today, I could not be happier that I did. The moments that this class created for myself was an experience unlike any other. Twenty classes, forty hours and sixteen minds created fruitful discussions, viewpoints and research that I have not yet experienced in any other classroom setting.

1.The documentary Schooling the World: The White Man’s Last Burden, by Director Carol Black, introduced me to my first moment of finding education in a class about education. It was an inception of my schooling experience, everything I thought I had known had only been a presumption. I watched along with my classmates in a critical critiquing style and listened objectively as my American mindset of “helping” the world was stripped from myself and displayed before me, a crucifixion of everything I’d hoped to do in the world. This moment was one of relief and set me up to have an open mind for the rest of the term, constantly searching for any benefits and necessities of International Development and globalized ideas.

2.The next moment was subtler, it may not have even been distinguishable as a single moment in time but more a final moment of realization. Midway through the course, I realized that we had learned about different reasons for development, different theories that pushed that development and how that tied into education. We had class on the floor, ridding ourselves of the traditional chair, table, central teacher, westernized mentality and opened discourse for a new method of listening, discussing and learning. Never had this happened in a class of mine before. We had been taking pictures for an accompanying photo project during this time. I was asked “What is education?” and all of my answers kept changing, each day, with each class. When I drank tea provided to me as I sat on Indian blankets, I had my second moment where I actively questioned, what is education? My perspective was changing.

3. This class required a large research project and presentation, chosen by your own personal interest, guaranteeing hours of interesting researching and a final presentation that could be full of personal interest and even passion. I chose to study education in a country I would soon study abroad in, while others chose to focus on areas they had once visited or dreamed they will visit soon. Watching my peers, I saw international problems in an educated light, with occasional first hand experience. My peers were actively teaching me, and with the bonds we had been creating throughout the year, my interest in their words was at an outstandingly high level.

4. The final moment of key success in this class, that reassured me that I had not wasted four credits, was my final presentation and policy memo write-up. I had never been asked to create something from such extensive research and then given the time to present it in a manner that ensured that my words mattered. They were not skimmed over by a professor with 300 other papers, they were heard by fifteen or so other sets of ears.

And then, we had our final brunch on our final day. We shared our photographs and our ranging epiphanies. I’m left to study for a final that is personalized to my interests and am reviewing the extensive readings that expanded my views and interests. It’s been fabulous, and I can only hope that every student with any intrigue in the world will one day also stumble upon this class.

“It is the child who makes the man, and no man exists who was not made by the child he once was.”—Maria Montessori, founder of the Montessori Education System.

“The Treachery of Images” by René Magritte

We have spent the entire INTL 399 course discussing education policy, the need for governments to educate better, and the benefits thereof. Let me argue that all of this, all of these “better education policies” and “rights to education” that people “have”, is completely separate from “reality”.

The Right to Education project extolls the work of multiple international and non-governmental organizations that work towards furthering education policies because education is “a right in itself”[1]. “Hurrah!” they say as their belief gains international prominence and becomes normal in the minds of any “educated, pluralist fellow”.

Those scare quotes challenge the assumption that because the majority of people believe something, it must be true.

I personally buy into the scheme of globalized education, and as I am writing now from a position of privilege in a university setting, I have an obvious bias towards education and academia over working in a sweatshop. Yet I became educated because that is what my culture and worldview told me to do. My worldview tells me that education is the key to personal and economic success, and as such education is just as basic of a right as the right to breath. Denying someone’s intellectual freedom and development is akin to denying someone’s physical freedom and subjectivity.

But Western culture informs my view of the world and argues for the fundamentality of formalized education to personal development.

Attempting to abstract human rights out from under the oppression of our own cultures, what can we really say about them? In order for there to be rights, it must be assumed that someone is giving people these rights, for one can only have rights if there is something granting these rights and someone who does not have them. If you believe in God, there you go: big, bearded man going around creating life and endowing everyone with “the right to a primary school education and a Christmas holiday”. Fine. Yet for those who do not ascribe to a divine, who is granting us these rights?

Rights as such, while I support them fully, are just as relative as whether or not you think a bird feeder is either at rest or hurtling through space. The bird feeder is doing both of these contradictory things, and the answer one gives depends on their frame of reference[2].

The conception of the universality of rights comes from a specific worldview that purports their existence.

Thus projects like the Right to Education are troublesome because they claim to have a sort of divine knowledge into the workings of the world when they are really just the beliefs of one worldview asserting their ideas upon everyone else.

Human rights are relative to their cultural context, and the concept of education is not above and beyond culturally-informed paradigms of what a person is and what rights they do and do not have.

Previous to joining this class on international development and educational issues, I had preconceived ideas on education that were developed by the western society I lived in. I believed that children world-wide deserved the right to an education, but I felt that the best type of education was a western-style education. I knew that developing countries had challenges in providing educational services, but I did not know that many marginalized groups such as females in certain countries and the disabled, have difficulty receiving any educational services at all.  Throughout the class, through our assignments, readings, projects, blogs and discussions, my initial ideals on education were challenged and I achieved a more open-minded approach to international educational issues.

One of our assignments was the photovoice project. Initially I was skeptical as to what we would actually be doing and what we would be learning from the project.  We were instructed to take pictures in order to answer the question, “what is education?”  At the beginning of the term, I would have answered with a generic, “school.” However, because of this class, I have come to realize that education is all around us; in our heritage, culture and traditions.  For example, in the documentary, “Schooling the World,” we saw how children in a small village in India are losing important cultural traditions by being instructed in a purely westernized educational system. Education needs to include cultural customs in order to be complete.

Learning about the challenges that developing countries face in establishing their educational policies was eye-opening.  We discovered that they are still trying to figure out how their educational system will look as they become more economically successful. In one case study we learned that in a small town in Mexico, a representative group of citizens were on a school committee that helped employ teachers and develop the curriculum.  We studied many interesting examples of developing countries decisions on the kind of educational system they wanted and those that they did not want to implement.

Reading through the international educational policy blogs was extremely thought provoking. It is inspiring that there are many organizations that are making global education for all a priority. I was impressed that many organizations, like UNICEF and the Global Partnership for Education are able to work with and influence governments to implement educational policies that benefit the children of their countries.

In researching my policy memo for the Country Issue Project, I was able to learn about a specific educational issue in great depth. I chose to investigate the policy of providing an inclusive education to children with disabilities in Vietnam. This issue was close to my heart because I had volunteered at a school for the deaf in Vietnam in 2012. I communicated with the children by signing and their smiles and enthusiasm stole my heart. However, in researching my policy memo, I discovered that these kind of specialized schools are few and far between and that over half of Vietnamese disabled children receive no educational instruction at all. Their best chance of an education is if the government implements a policy of inclusive education so that they can receive an education in their local community school. I plan on returning to Vietnam someday and I believe that I will see disabled children more fully integrated into their local communities.

As a global citizen of the world, I believe that we all need to keep informed of international issues and do what we can to improve the world we live in. I have learned in this class that international education is of paramount importance. As countries are able to implement strong educational policies, their economies will flourish and the quality of life will improve for all of their citizens.

What did I expect from the class INTL 399?

Well, I just came home, or back I guess, from a ten week stay in Uganda and spent a few days at my real home in Switzerland. I only had one more class to choose one day before registration started. I looked through many classes and came across INTL 399 Education and Development taught by Jessica Cavas. Huh, I thought that could be really interesting, especially after spending my summer in a school setting which opened many new questions to me, some of which I can’t find an answer until this day. Registering for the class was a good choice. I have to put forward that the material that we studied in class has been very helpful to sort out and understand some of the inquiries I had.   

Learning in a different classroom setting has been inspiring and helpful to comprehend material, which I might have pondered about for myself, but could not pigeonhole into useful categories. For me, the class has taken me on a journey, on which I was able to combine aspects of education, learning, and development to form a better conception of how to look and feel about various issues.    

First day in class, we had to say what education means to us, mmh interesting question. I said LIFE because for me life is a never ending learning process and I am very curious.

On the second day of class, I believe it was, we received the disposable cameras for the photovoice project, of which I have never heard before but like it a lot. How does education look like or what is the shape of education? These two questions I had in mind when my turn came. The pictures didn’t turn out all that great, but the task helped me to think about the lingering question of what education means to me. The images that I tried to capture with the first camera can be summed up in short as follows.

1. Education Is Understanding Nature

   The young fern grows with the assistance of the sun and water.  

    

2. Education Is a Journey — of a Lifetime       —-                                                               Walk the World, Meet, Exchange, Store, Reflect, Learn, and Share again  
3. Education Is Different All Around the World – accept different opinions, perspectives, outlooks, angles, standpoints, beliefs worldviews. Tolerance can be learned.       
4. Education Can Take You Anywhere –                                                                                 The Sky is the Limit, and nothing can stop you if you believe in yourself                                                           
5. Education is not linear  —                                                                                                       Each of us hears, sees, smells, tastes and feels differently.  
6. Education is Unique  —-  Acknowledge differences as beautiful.  
7. Education broadens our horizon         
8. Education opens doors.

Our teacher, Jessica, has definitely been different from all teachers and professors I have had so far at the University. I appreciate the alternative style of teaching. At the beginning of class I was impressed about the thorough method she uses to address all topics and matters without leaving anything open. I changed my mind a bit after a while by understanding that there were things that weren’t a hundred percent clear, which she admitted herself too. However, I really like the comprehensive way of her writing and the options she offers to each student, although it can be confusing at times. The midterm exam is a good example of her alternative thoroughness because it shows that she gave us options in order to be comfortable with answering the questions as well as ask the questions to the point by clearly spelling out the multiple points that needed to be answered. Moreover, for me it has been encouraging to hearing her talk candidly about herself, her future plans and fears. I thought it is very human to talk about it and to be honest about it. Thanks for sharing this with us Jessica.      

Throughout the term, I experienced a different classroom each Monday and Wednesday morning. I appreciate and like it. The seating was shifting in all directions, towards the blackboard, towards the whiteboard, down on the floor in the corner, moving to the floor in the middle. The assigned readings shifted as well, especially towards the end of the term. However, I liked them a lot and was every week curious to hear what other people thought about them. I thought the discussion basis was very open in this class. I believe it was nicely set up at the beginning of class when we talked about discourse and it seemed everyone felt quite comfortable with the setting of the somewhat different classroom.

The presentations from all the students were extremely interesting. It was nice to see the different approaches people took and the wide range of issues that were covered. Thanks!

Time is flying when you are having fun. Right?

One last thing I have to mention is the room temperature. Well on many occasions people like to point out to me when I am freezing that I am from Switzerland, so that I should be used to cold temperatures. This is a myth of course.  However, every time at the beginning of class I thought it would not be as cold, but every time by the second half of the class, I have been really cold. At times I felt the only thing I can focus on is to stay warm. Well, I made it, thus it can’t have been that bad and after all the tendency of the room being too cold is probably still better than too warm and everyone falls asleep. 

My Experience with Education and Development:

1. Structure: Overall the structure of the class included a paper, three blog posts, a presentation, two tests, and a photo voice project. The paper allowed us to focus in on a particular issue of interest of us and present what we found to the class. I think that this project was the most valuable aspect of the class because it made us learn about a new issue and reflect on that issue critically. The blog posts were a great idea because they made sure that we stayed on top of the readings, a little more structure to the requirements for the blogs would have been helpful. Maybe one option to consider would be having the blogs be just in response to readings and everyone is assigned a different reading since the course is reading heavy. As for the tests, I think that there should only be a midterm and the final should have been our country issue project. The photo voice project was a good idea, but maybe starting it earlier and having the pictures incorporated into reading responses would be clearer.

2. Content: The Shields book chosen for the class was good and complimented the lectures well; however, Verger was a little more lengthy and without in depth conversation in class it was hard to prioritize the readings assigned. As for lectures, I like the discussion based style. More guided questions and clearer class topics would improve the course.

3. Atmosphere: Jessica made the class an inviting space to share ideas and think critically about the issues we were discussing. I would not change the teaching style at all, just the organization of the material.

4. Conclusion: Overall I would recommend this course to other students. The discussion based classroom style made the course a lot more engaging than a traditional lecture based class. The reading’s could have been incorporated more and the structure of assignments and the course needs improvement; however, the class in whole is a great experience.

This class at the University of Oregon has been one of my favorite classes at the University. I’ve been trying to put my finger on why this has been for most of the term. I couldn’t tell if it was because finally all the concepts I have learned throughout my time at the University were finally applied to something I am passionate about or if it was the new subject matter. I haven’t been in school for the past year and have been learning through my experiences. When I came back this term, I felt as though I had outgrown school. I wasn’t ready to sit in a classroom and analyze some reading that has nothing to do with me.

With the overarching theme and question “what is education,” I became a little wary of answering this within a class, in a university. I did not feel as though it was right to prescribe a definition to something that every person experiences differently. Yet, through this class I am beginning to learn what education means to me.

I had felt pigeonholed into this version of education, something that I knew was important and necessary toward my future career but I had outgrown this model of traditional western education. Now I feel as though learning through my experiences is more important, these are the things that are going to shape me.

This class’s openness to choose what we are interested in, to apply different concepts to these topics made this so interesting. And it wasn’t just me because each person’s passions and interests in their topic and their own experiences with education added to the excitement of the class. By creating our own course schedule and allowing there to be a dialogue about what we felt was important to our own education. We have all come to the point in our lives where we know how we learn best and we were able to create this environment in this class. “Learning is the process of ‘unknowing’ what one thinks one knows” [1].  In this class we did this, now I can examine and understand the mistakes and successes of global and local education as well as my own education experiences. I will always be learning and always be questioning what and how I have learned.

[1]] Shields, Robin. Globalization and International Education. 2013.

International Studies majors who are at their max of course requirements but need a good filler have endless options. But here’s an INTL course can easily recommend and happily say I’m glad I took.
Here’s why:

1. A Whole New Perspective
Before this class, I was sure that education was only a positive force in the world. Was I the only one? I’m not sure. But I remember being totally blind sided with all of the things we covered in class.

It started with a movie: Schooling the World.
Watch it. If it doesn’t completely blow your mind about your own preconceived ideas of education, I don’t know what will. Though the film takes a very harsh one-sided view of education, it does a great job of pointing out what we lose when education is imposed on a society.
“When we put children from traditional rural areas into school, what we’re doing is transitioning them from a non-cash agricultural economy where nobody gets rich but nobody starves into a hierarchical system of success and failure in which some lives may get “better,” but others will get much, much worse” [1.]

Then it was reinforced with Shields and Verger.
Shields covered topics from Education for All to Globalization of Higher Education. Shields very simply explained how education is a force, both positive and negative, that is facilitated and changed by globalization. He explained, “In terms of both culture and economics, education is co-constitutive of this process of economic and cultural globalization: it facilitates the transmission of world culture vales and integration of individuals and societies into the economic system, and in turn, educational policy and practice are continually reformed and redefined by these trends” [2.]
And Verger? Well.. not really. That was a tough read.
But I will credit Verger with good methodology. The book explained certain education policies, critiques them, then offers alternatives. The policies were explained usually through case studies that made them much more interesting and accessible.

And it ended with the country issue presentations.
Everyone in the class picked a country and an educational issue that was interesting to them. From racial discrimination in the Netherlands, to affirmative action in Brazil, to deaf schools in Vietnam; my ideas of education had morphed from positive promotion to dismal dismay.

2. Make Your Own Class
-This is one of the few classes on the UO campus that actually lets you design the course. You are responsible to speak up and decide what topics are important, what materials you want to read, and what you want to be tested on. You’ll be much more involved in a class that you personally help plan.

3. Appreciation
What I got from this class, more than anything, was a sense of appreciation. With any of the international studies courses I have taken, I get a rude awakening of how much I take for granted…
-A university education with professors who love what they do and have traveled the world and incorporated their knowledge into their courses.
-Access to unlimited resources from the library to the internet
-A lifestyle that allows me to be completely selfish and invest in only my individuality (at the moment).
-A warm classroom with a roof and seats. Or tapestries on the floor
-Knowing I have food, a bed, and friends to come home to everyday

And it’s not just an appreciation of what I already have and my own opportunities, but also an appreciation for other cultures. Western style of education has the unfortunate ability to wipe out non-Western culture and instill one Western consumer mega-culture.

“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.”
― Mark Twain

[1.] Black, Carol. “Three Cups of Fiction”. Schooling the World Blog. 2011. Web

[2.] Shields, Robin. Globalization and International Education. 2013. Print.

Reflecting on my own experience within this class is somewhat difficult. Each term begins and I quickly become enveloped in the madness and pace of a ten-week term. Over the years, I have found that the classes I take overlap and supplement one another. The ideas and concepts learned in my INTL courses translate seamlessly into other subjects. I have come to welcome this reality because I feel like I am receiving a more holistic education. When I can no longer delineate the lessons and values from one class to another, and instead see the education I am receiving as one big picture I feel more fulfilled by my University experience.

I think this viewpoint lends itself well to some of the topics we have grappled with this term. There has been this overarching question of “What is Education?” that finds its way into every reading, discussion, and class presentation. I am not going to even begin to try and find an answer to this question. Rather, admit that there cannot be any simple answer. For me, an education is what you make it, and I think this class has been a great example of that very idea. We came together, a group of students from diversified backgrounds, led by a teacher with little to no experience. These realities never hindered our ability to learn. As an individual and as a group I believe we have turned this class into a space where we can posit tough questions, receive constructive criticism and leave with more questions that we came in with. All of these factors elucidate the kind of effort that makes for a great education. As the Right to Education reading says, “the learning experience should be not simply a means to achieve certain outcomes but also an end in itself, which has intrinsic worth.”

Considering this, I have appreciated what this class has offered. First, it has certainly been a learning experience, not solely a class. The environment has felt raw, not pretentious or filled with high-stakes, just real. This kind of atmosphere has created a learning environment that stifles the need to achieve specific outcomes and instead encourages being mindful of what it means to have this opportunity to learn. Moreover, this class has inspired me to continue striving to become a freethinking individual, to ask tough questions, and say what is on my mind, to look at things from a number of perspectives, and always dig deeper. I think it is this kind of inspiration, and these kinds of experiences that allow us to achieve freedom. The freedom necessary to understand who we are as individuals and accept ourselves as we are, the freedom to admit when we are wrong, and the freedom to always ask more questions and settle for less answers. These freedoms are all a component of education. These freedoms are necessary for any learning experience like Paulo Freire says in the Pedagogy of the Oppressed, “Freedom is acquired by conquest, not by gift. It must be pursued constantly and responsibly. Freedom is not an ideal located outside of man; nor is it an idea which becomes myth. It is rather the indispensable condition for the quest for human completion.” Ultimately, it is important to indentify what kinds of experiences foster these feelings of freedom and not take them for granted. Therefore, we can be sure to find ourselves in more situations that compel us to grow, learn, and continue searching for freedom.

Does education really lead to employment? Is entrepreneurship the hope for a better tomorrow? Are people unemployed because they are not qualified for jobs?

The answer to all of these questions is “No.”

In his blog entry, “Business, As Usual, Distorts Education”, Professor Steven Klees argues that education does not, in fact, produce employment (http://educationincrisis.net/blog/item/1002-business-as-usual-distorts-education-part-i, http://educationincrisis.net/blog/item/1003-business-as-usual-distorts-education-part-ii). People all around the world in every type of situation- from the elite and middle class to those living in the slums or even refugee camps – believe that they must receive a Western-style education in order to be successful in life. What many of them are finding is that they invest in an education, and end up either unemployed or getting a job at the same level they would have worked had they not gone to school. People are working hard to compete academically so they might have a competitive edge in the workforce. Meanwhile, companies- from large corporations to small businesses are working hard to minimize their expenses, meaning they are avoiding taxes, hiring as few people as possible, paying their employees as little as possible, and giving them as few benefits as they legally (and at times, not so legally) can.

Neoliberalism is not leading to economic growth either on a personal or national level. It is only leading to the economic advancement of large corporations that are not interested in anything but their personal gain. Many people would say this is a failure of the capitalist system. On the contrary, “Poverty is not a failure of our economic system; inequality and poverty are the result of the successful functioning of our economic system” (Klees, “Business as Usual Part 2”, para 6). Capitalism is not set up to share gains with the general population.

Capitalism undermines the authority of a government, instead putting all the responsibility on the market to take care of a country. In the current system, businesses are expected to not only support a country economically, but also hold up education and other public goods through investment and through the hiring of educated citizens. Klees argues that what is needed instead of our current system is, “a large, vibrant public sector that puts limits on the market, that promotes and creates decent employment, that provides for the production of public goods, that develops an adequate and fair system of taxation, that redistributes wealth, not just income, and that is run as a very participatory democracy” (Klees, “Business as Usual Part 2”, para 11). Basically, he is calling for what the United States and UN claim they stand for: equal power and money in the hands of citizens, not just a small group of elites.

Creating such an environment would require a complete transformation of the way the entire world works. This may seem like an impossible task, but the entire world has already changed before when it transformed into the capitalist society we know today. Who’s to say it is not possible to transform it again? In the transformation to what we now know, businesses took the power from governments around the world. The task before us according to Klees is to take that power back and give it to governments in which citizens have a great deal of say.

Such a task is not an easy one. Businesses have succeeded in their goal: to make money and grow in power. How we are meant to take that power away from them is a topic for another time. The first steps are for us to realize that the market system is not improving our lives, and education is not contributing to the market. Then, we need to consider how we can change this system, and who will be actors in this transformation. Leaving behind neoliberalism as the driving force of society is the only way we will see employment and equality in our world.

As 2015 is fast approaching, it is clear that the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals will not be completely met. In order to keep progressing, the global community must look past 2015 to envision the education goals that should be targeted. In the blog entry, “In Indonesia, Tackling Education Inequality Through Better Governance”, unequal distribution and lack of quality resources are the root problem behind education inequality. In Indonesia, the World Bank published a survey of education governance quality for 50 Indonesian districts that highlights the need for “strengthening the capacity of local governments to deliver quality education services to all children”. Somewhere in the process of carrying out schooling at the local level there is a glitch in the system, so to speak.

The blog uses a fancy chart that demonstrates the effectiveness of education as local governments are empowered:

Higher quality local education governance is associated with better education performance

The need for local empowerment is there. Without strong community ties to local schools, it is almost impossible to develop the capacity of the next generations. Different districts have such varying rates of education quality and time that it drastically impacts their development and future: “Children who fail to master basic skills are more likely to end up in an insecure, low-paid job, as compared to children who leave school equipped with the skills needed in current labor markets”. This use of schooling for economic purposes relates to our class reading of the human capital theory discussed by Robeyns. As Sen argues, education must be intrinsically valued for the purpose of the knowledge it offers and the opportunities that are opened up. Schooling to fulfill economic goals has a hidden agenda and places limited value on students; they are worth only as much as they can offer the economy and job market.

In the case of Indonesia, the UN survey has exposed the need for honest, transparent information and assessment on the country’s education system. The survey highlights how increased funding for education is essentially useless when compared to the disparities in the quality of education and the way the money is being used. The rate of return is not connecting the amount of money being invested. It would be a more effective use of time and money to focus on the local levels of schooling, because it is there where the disconnect is happening and failing to deliver to children.

I agree with the World Bank’s approach toward capacity building at the local level. These efforts must be custom fit to each community because the problems with the education vastly differ across districts. The problems occur within carrying out regulated procedures like planning and proper financing. “The big message is that strengthening the management and governance of district education systems can help narrow inequality”. To truly ensure that no child is left behind and fulfill the goals of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, measures must be made to not only increase funding because this has been identified as a symptom not the root cause of education inequality, but continue conducting surveys on the quality of education governance and focus resources on empowering the local governments. This can include but is not limited to training local government officials and teachers in local schools, and creating a dialogue between the local government and school system to connect and communicate on the problems within each community.

http://blogs.worldbank.org/education/indonesia-tackling-education-inequality-through-better-governance

There are countless numbers of organizations, projects, and policies aimed to improve educational quality. In my opinion, there are so many generalities in the content of these projects/organizations/policies. If you’re like me, you need something more straightforward and concrete to understand not only solutions to education issues but also the issues themselves. I needed something more specific than terms like “gender parity” and “decentralization” to help me grasp onto what is working in educational development. So here’s my attempt to explain to you a strategy that made sense to me. The effort to start teaching in native languages is a successful and understandable strategy to improve education quality.
Check out this blog to follow along with a strategy that I found useful and inspiring:

First off, we need to acknowledge that most of the world’s countries are multilingual, even though some languages like English are becoming dominant through globalization. Mother tongue language involvement is a bottom-up approach to education development that is showing some positive results. By bottom-up, I mean creating a strategy at the a local level to find a solution on a national level. Vietnam is experiencing this right now by involving local (or minority) languages in their schools [1].

The Ways Local Languages Are Being Involved:

–Bilingual teacher assistants instruct in the local language alongside the teacher, to increase material comprehension. The teacher then sets up the dominant language (in this case Vietnamese) as a second language learning [1].

—Teachers also benefit from the training they receive for the project by increasing their skills through information exchange with other teachers as well as experience with creating their own learning materials for the classroom [1].

–Children work with the teachers to make their own books which keeps the educational content relevant and interesting to them. With more interest in reading, comes higher reading skills and then eventually the ability to read in Vietnamese [1].

—Parents become more involved in the school through making school supplies and coming up with other tools for the classroom [1].

–The local or minority culture is recognized and celebrated in the classroom. Children are encouraged to display traditional clothing, cultural artifacts and instruments, as well as a place to talk about their cultural history [1].

Why all of this is important:

— There are studies that show that simultaneous bilinguals, those who are learning one language at home and one at school, suffer from learning disabilities [2]. Usually these “disabilities” are just a misinterpretation of their pace in school environment because they lag behind when they are trying to learn material and a new language at the same time. [2]. Introduction of the local language into the school system would eradicate this problem. In addition, numerous studies have been made about the benefits of bilingualism. These include improved cognitive skills, tolerant attitudes, creativity, problem solving skills, and metalinguistic awareness [2]. After hearing this, who wouldn’t want to be bilingual?

— Teaching kids in their home languages makes them want to go to school.  Education development is completely pointless if there isn’t desire from the children to attend or focus in school. Because of local language involvement, “student enrollment, retention and transitions have all improved” [1]. The question is now, how do we get the world to recognize this powerful change local language has on education?

To consider the powerful words of Nelson Mandela, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart” [3]. We need to educate children in their own language if we really want education to work.
¹

²

³