Momentum (and schedule) building! Laurier Haiti 2013 - Pignon and Cap-Haitien

We are now three weeks away from the Laurier group leaving for Haiti. The momentum for the trip has really taken off in the past week. Part of this is due to a news release Laurier sent out late last week which has resulted in multiple interviews and contacts. Over the next two weeks there will be media spotlights on our trip and the growth of the Digital Mentoring Project in both television and print. I have had contacts from the Ontario Ministry of Education, telecommunications companies, and others engaged in development work interested in what we are doing. Stay tuned!

Our schedule is as complete as it can be (of course, based on past experiences, it will change about a dozen times once we are in Haiti!) but here is the general outline:

May 9 - arrive in Port au Prince, visit a school in Mireballais (L'Ecole De Choix), and travel to Pignon (click here for a Wikipedia overview of Pignon)
May 10-11 - participate in 20th anniversary celebrations of College de la Grace in Pignon (Caleb Lucien's school)
May 12 - travel to Cap-Haitien (click here for a Wikipedia overview of Cap-Haitien)
May 12-17 - teach English in the Public University of the North at Cap-Haitien and in local schools, volunteer at an early childhood and nutrition centre

May 18 Visit the citadel, a World Heritage Site just outside of Cap

May 19 Return to Port au Prince and then Canada

Haiti school leadership and the Ontario Ministry of Education

Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting with two colleagues from the Ontario Ministry of Education. Amy and I met when we both presented Ted Talks in Oakville in the winter. She is a math specialist at the OME. You can find her Ted Talk here:

Amy Lin Sixteen Mile TEDx Talk

She introduced me to Jhonel who is in the French unit at the OME and who grew up in Haiti. We had a great dinner meeting and I invited them to consider coming on our Laurier May trip to learn more about what Laurier is doing in Cap-Haitien and to provide leadership workshops for Haiti Ministry of National Education personnel and local teachers.

I am excited that all of the details have worked out and both will be joining us! Jhonel will be with the team for its entirety and Amy will join us for our time in Cap-Haitien. These are two highly qualified, passionate educators who will make a huge contribution to our group. I am working with our partners in Pignon and Cap-Haitien to arrange blocks of time for them to engage in partnership-building and leadership capacity-building. Their participation will significantly increase our profile in these areas.

Jhonel participated with a group of OME and Ontario French teachers in a Haiti teacher training trip last August and I am hoping that his knowledge of the language and culture will be a huge asset to our team. Perhaps this trip will also lead to an Ontario consortium of educators involved in educational leadership in Haiti. Stay tuned for more details!

Laurier in Haiti - May 2013 Education Trip Announcement

I am excited to announce that our May 2013 trip with Laurier students and Waterloo teachers to Haiti is now confirmed! We will be in Haiti from May 9-19, spending three days in Pignon (central Haiti) and a week in Cap-Haitien (northern Haiti).

The focus of the trip is to establish person-to-person relationships with teachers in Haiti and to strengthen the partnerships that Laurier has with the Ministry of National Education and the Public University of the North at Cap-Haitien.

We will be leading English as a Foreign Language classes and activities at the university as well as with high school students.

The Laurier group consists of four students who are completing their Bachelor of Education, two teachers (one retired, one completing a Master of Education at Laurier), as well as myself and one of my daughters.

There is great excitement building amongst our partners in Haiti and I think the Laurier group is pretty excited too!  Follow this blog for more details. We will also be sending real-time updates via twitter (follow @drstevesider and #laurierhaiti2013).

Daughters of Single Fathers: Lessons for Teachers

I recently co-authored a paper in the Canadian Journal of Family and Youth examining the experiences of daughters of single fathers and how teachers can support them. Here is the link to the paper:

Daughters of Single Fathers - Canadian Journal of Family and Youth

As educators, we have an incredible opportunity to make a difference in the lives of all children. One of the reasons that I'm committed to supporting education in Haiti is that I see the potential teachers have to be part of the development of social capital there. Whether we are providing support to daughters of single fathers in Canada or Haiti, or engaged with children and their parents/caregivers in any other kind of context, teachers have a great responsibility to ensure we are doing the best we can with whatever tools are at our disposal. With our heads (intellect), our heart (compassion), and our hands (action), teachers have an incredible opportunity to support the needs of all children in our schools.

Article on autism and social skills

I recently collaborated with two colleagues at other Ontario post-secondary institutions to write this article on supporting the development of social skills with children on the Autism Spectrum:

Education Canada - Autism

Although we have seen a dramatic increase in the prevalence of autism in North America, it's interesting to consider whether this is a "local" phenomenon or is it something being witnessed globally?  There is very limited diagnostic evidence examining autism in the developing world.

One very interesting study looked at Somali children and the rise of autism rates when they live in North America. The study considered the "gut factor", that is, how a change in diet may contribute to autism. Check out this documentary from CBC that was broadcast in 2012:

The Autism Engima - Nature of Things

From space to my backyard: Connecting the global and local

Over the past few months I've been following Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield as he regularly tweets from the International Space Station (ISS). Click here for more info on the ISS: International Space Station

It has been remarkable to see the photos he has taken of well-known (and not so famous) places on earth. One of my favourites was a night shot of the community in which I live, the Waterloo Region.

Seeing the photos from space has reminded me that my backyard (in this case, the Waterloo Region) is closely connected to the global community in which we live. The ISS orbits the earth about 15 times a day. What a great perspective to recognize that the world is really not that big! We see distances within our own communities, never mind between countries, as sometimes insurmountable. But when seen from space, these distances are really just tiny and insignificant. In fact, a night picture from space eliminates geo-political-social-economic boundaries. For example, we don't see the low income housing down the street or the gated community around the corner.

When I get caught up thinking that conflict in Syria or cholera in Haiti is too distant to have any impact on me, I need to take a 10,000 foot view (or in the case of the ISS, the 354 km view!) and see how closely connected the world really is.

Re-imagining education in Haiti: TEDx Talk on Haiti Digital Mentoring Project

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of speaking on the Digital Mentoring Project in Haiti at the TEDx Talk in Oakville (Sixteen Mile Creek). Here's the 13 minute video for those interested:

Click on:
TEDx Talk: Re-imagining education in Haiti

Or cut and paste into your browser:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Fa9JSaVQus

An amazing example of the power of social media: The video was posted last night and this morning I had an email from the former CEO of Blackboard (one of the pioneers of on-line course management systems for universities). He is now doing work in Haiti and has similar interests. We  had a long chat via Skype about how we may be able to collaborate in Haiti. Pretty exciting developments!