Comparative and International Education Conference - Puerto Rico

This week I have had the opportunity to be at the CIES conference in Puerto Rico. I am presenting a paper on measuring global citizenship dispositions within teacher education candidates. You can find a copy of my PowerPoint on my Wilfrid Laurier University website research page (click here).

Canadian perspectives on global citizenship

Today I'm presenting a paper at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) meeting in Vancouver. The paper provides an overview of a variety of Canadian university programs for global citizenship education as well as some of the recent Canadian literature on the topic. The second part of the paper considers the transformationalist (McGew, 2000; Shultz, 2007) approach we've taken at WLU with our Glocal initiative.

A copy of my PowerPoint from today's presentation is available on my WLU web-site (click here):
Steve Sider's WLU Research Home-page

Sorry for the goose-chase but I couldn't attach the PowerPoint in my blog!

Networking to improve student learning in Haiti (Pt 1 #5)

5. Liaise with MENFP, Haitian universities, and other partners to further develop the educational system in Haiti.

One of the challenges of working to improve student learning in Haiti is the lack of coordination and cooperation between the many different groups involved with education. A national principals' organization could serve as the conduit (and catalyst) to change this.

Working with the Ministry of Education (MENFP), Haitian universities, and other interested groups (external universities, NGOs, IGOs), a national organization of principals would serve as a hub for networking. Without a particular charitable, political, or financial purpose, but with the mission of improving student learning through enhanced educational leadership, the organization would be logically situated to bring the different groups together around this goal.

The organization could partner with MENFP to recognize and credential the principal qualification program (described earlier). It could work with academics within the various ecole normale superieure (university faculties of education) and external universities to provide professional development opportunities (courses, workshops, journals, newsletters, etc) as well as research support. By being a non-partisan organization, it would be able to communicate with the disparate private school systems throughout the country and not be viewed as infringing on a particular mission, charity or business.

When we (re)imagine a new educational possibility for Haiti, it begins with leadership. A national principals' organization would provide the contextual capacity for such leadership, whether by developing a certification process, initiating and supporting research projects, providing professional development resources, and/or networking with the various stakeholders.