Re-thinking "global south" and "global north": Hans Rosling stirs the imagination

Hans Rosling is a Swedish doctor and academic who "mobilizes" statistics! In other words, he makes meaning of statistics for broad audiences and helps data tell a story. More information on his software can be found at: http://www.gapminder.org/

Here is an amazing TED Talk he did that can really help us understand some of the ways in which the global north and the global south are changing in relationship to development. The talk also challenges how we conceive and categorize terms such as global south, global north, less developed, etc:

Click here to watch the TED Talk: Hans Rosling

After watching the TED Talk, do you think there are any significant differences between the more developed north and the less developed south? Do you think we need to abandon broad constructs such as "global south" and "global north"? Are there aspects of economic and social progress that Rosling does not address?

Education outside of the classroom: India's free lunch (another look at the educational divide)

Teachers often think of what they do in the classrooms as "education." There is certainly truth to that: instructional blocks that include activities and supports for literacy, numeracy, science, the arts, etc. are necessary to support children's knowledge and skill development.

Certainly there is valuable education that occurs outside of the classroom including what occurs in the home and community environment. The home and school partnership is key to a child's success.

As well, there are supports that occur in schools that support the education which happens in the classroom.

Take breakfast and lunch programs as an example. Many schools in Canada provide these programs to support students who may not have the benefit of complete meals provided from home. A basic premise of these programs is that we cannot meet a child's learning needs unless we meet their basic physical needs.

Similar supports have been provided globally by the World Food Progamme. The WFP is an agency of the United Nations and aims to provide food in emergency situations and following emergencies. It provides food to approximately 80 million people in 75 countries each year. As part of this work, the WFP supports meal programs for children in schools. To read more about the WFP's support of school meals, click here.

Other local and international groups also support meal programs in schools. These can include religious groups, aid agencies, community organizations, and charitable organizations.

So just what does this look like "on the ground"? How are meals provided when millions of children are involved? To provide some insight click on the link below which describes a fascinating meal support program that provides meals to millions of children in India as part of the government's policy to provide free mid-day meals to primary-aged children in India.

India's Free Lunch

It's important to realize that the various divides that exist in the world are often formed and influenced by issues that are outside of the educational system. For example, teachers don't have control over a family's financial ability to provide food for themselves. However, if  schools and governments aren't involved in addressing and rectifying these issues, then the "educational divide" can become enlarged. For example, the gap between the "haves" and "have nots" can become wider: children who can't attend schools because they have to work so as to provide meals for their families become increasingly disadvantaged.

Encouragingly, however, education can also serve as a bridge by which these divides are addressed and even closed. When children can be assured that they will receive a meal at school, they are in a position to attend school, engage in the classroom instruction, and learn.

The Educational Divide: Lessons from Paulo Freire

The course that I'm designing on "the educational divide" introduces students to a number of key theorists and activists. One of these is Paulo Freire.

Freire was a Brazilian scholar and practitioner who is probably best known for his book Pedagogy of the Oppressed which has become a seminal text in the study of critical pedagogy.

In this book, and his other work, Freire argues that education needs to be part of a transformation of society. He argues that education can either perpetuate economic, political, and social systems or work to change them.

How so? Let's consider an example of two students who grow up in the same community. "Steve" leaves school at 15 because he is not engaged in learning, perhaps because he is told (literally or through the actions of his teachers) that he doesn't have the same capacity as some of his classmates. Steve's early departure likely limits his career options and earning opportunities. Meanwhile, "Karen" is encouraged by her school experience and eventually enters a post-secondary program in which she studies science. A few years later she completes the program and begins work for a large pharmaceutical as a research scientist. Although a simple example, and with very limited consideration for lots of variables, it does illustrate how education can help, or hinder, a person's access to economic means.

On a deeper level, schooling is also a place where children and young people learn the various norms of society. It can be a "place" that reinforces cultural expectations. This is not necessarily a bad thing! For example, teachers can model fair and just assessment of student work. This is a cultural expectation we have: All things being equal, if I complete my work in a satisfactory way, I will be appropriately rewarded. However, schools can also perpetuate stereotypes that are outdated and/or unjust. For example, a children's book that only has images of people who are white in positions of authority is perpetuating a cultural stereotype that those who are Caucasian have an inherent right to positions of privilege.

Paulo Freire said it well:

“Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world."

So, education certainly has the potential to inform, illuminate, and change unjust systems. Critical pedagogy is a stance that educators can take in which they deeply question the various practices and norms that exist AND actively work to change those that are unjust.

“For apart from inquiry, apart from the praxis, individuals cannot be truly human. Knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention, through the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry human beings pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other.”

So we have a great responsibility as teachers. We can address the divides that exist in our classrooms, schools, and communities ... or we can perpetuate them.

For  a great video, one of the last recorded, of Paulo Freire discussing some of these issues, please consider watching this: Freire talks about social justice

The Educational Divide: Lessons from Malala in Bridging the Gender Divide

I'm posting a series of activities in this blog that I hope to incorporate in my new EM202 The Educational Divide course.

One of the things I want to do is to look at large-scale efforts to address global educational issues. An example of such are the Millenium Development Goals. One of the MDGs is promoting gender equality and empowering women.You can read more by clicking here.

Although it's important to consider these large-scale efforts, I think it's hard for many of us to connect with them. In other words, what does striving for gender equality and empowering women look like "on the ground"?

I think the story of Malala Yousafzai, the co-recipient of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, provides a powerful example.

Here is a great background documentary from the NY Times on Malala:

The Making of Malala

After watching the video (you can also find a lot of resources on this website: http://www.malala.org; I also highly recommend her book I am Malala), reflect on how Malala is trying to support the ability of girls to attend school. What do you see as the key challenges in accomplishing this mission?

What is "The Educational Divide"?

I'm developing a new undergraduate course, a required course in Laurier's Minor in Education, that is entitled "The Educational Divide." The course will be offered completely on-line starting this coming summer.

Working on the course has really made me question what exactly is the educational divide? I originally envisioned that I would examine various global aspects of the divide from the perspective of the developing world - school enrollment, literacy, facilities, poverty, etc. As I developed the syllabus and started working on the lessons I realized that I had to address local aspects of the educational divide - e.g. full access to education for English language learners, for students with exceptionalities, for our First Nations, Metis, and Inuit students, for students living in poverty, etc.

Thus, a glocal approach is developing. One in which we will look at education in the Global South AND in the Global North. One in which we will see commonalities (and differences) between and within these social constructs. Thus, the course will be comparative and international.

Over the next few days, I will address some of the issues that the course will examine and will post some of the resources and activities that I envision using. I am going to post these - 1 or 2 a day- between now and February 11 and I encourage feedback!