Education Commons^™

Mutual Accountability, Mutual Respect: Combatting Social Exclusion With Academic Inclusion For Differently-Abled People At The Kiran Centre In Madhopur, Up, India., Audrey M. Wilson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Inclusive education, or school systems that cater to both differently abled students and their “normal” counterparts, has been heralded by the international community as a beacon of hope for improving the social mobility of disabled people. Educational institutions in India, though devoted to a fundamental human right, have excluded most people with disabilities at an astonishingly high rate. Rich qualitative research compiled about the experiences of this group of systemically disenfranchised people reveals the urgency of inclusive education as a means to change the social opinion and status quo. To illuminate the efficacy of this type of school, as well …

“The Invisible Disability:” Perceptions And Potential Of Children With Autism In Kisumu, Kenya, Talia Cohen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Awareness and prevalence of autism around the world is on the rise; however, much remains unknown about this developmental disability. This study is a survey of perceptions of individuals with autism in Kisumu and the services available to facilitate their development. Two areas of interest arose during this study. First, many children do not receive intervention services until a very late age, seriously hindering the success of the intervention. Many special schools do not accept children until they are well into vital stages of development, and the Educational Assessment and Resource Center (EARC) lacks the personal and funding to provide …

The Current Education System In Senegal: A Closer Look At The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Attending A Private Catholic Institution In Dakar, Erin Clasby

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

For my independent study project I examined the possible reasons for the current state of the education system in Senegal. Focusing on the primary school level, I explored what factors contribute to the low levels of achievement currently in the schools of Dakar. To help me do this, I observed and participated in the everyday lives of children at École Primaire Sainte Bernadette, a local private Catholic school. I studied socioeconomic status, student to teacher ratio, curriculum, the importance placed on education in the culture and communities I stayed in, and how these factors affect the quality of education children …

International Coordination And Response To The Quality Of Teaching In Refugee Camp Settings, Alexandra Box

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Refugee education has been evolving and developing since it was brought to the attention of the international community in the 1960s. Although education has become more accessible worldwide, the quality of this education has started to become a concern. Increasing the number of enrolled students in formal education systems is an achievement, but if half of these children drop out before the end of the school year what progress has really been made? Providing a quality system has long-term benefits that extend outside of the school setting, benefiting children, educators, parents and the rest of the community. In refugee camp …

La Derecha Contemporánea En Chile: Su Rol En El Movimiento Estudiantil, Alexandra Jane Bellows

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This investigation studies the political right in Chile and how they see their role within the student movement of 2011. One of the most relevant topics in current Chilean politics, the student movement has organized, over the course of the past nine months, a series of strikes, protests and demonstrations, rallying at certain times over 100,000 people. The students are demanding change to the structure of the higher education system, a system established during the 1980’s under the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and largely influenced by the neoliberal model of Milton Freidman and the “Chicago boys.” This movement has …

Bai And Bilingual: Improving Academic Achievement Through Bilingual And Multicultural Education, Priscilla Hsu

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper aims to examine minority language policy and practice in China, particularly among the Bai minority in Yunnan Province. There are large discrepancies between what law stipulates and what occurs in practice. Based on a literature review and findings from my study, minority students in rural areas are at a comparative disadvantage with minority students in urban areas who have greater access to resources and better educational facilities. Offering bilingual and multicultural education is of greater importance to rural minority students in creating a culturally relative environment to improve academic achievement.

El Rol Y El Simbolismo De Las Tomas Dentro Del Movimiento Estudiantil De 2011, Shara Guarnaccia

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Este estudio de campo investiga las tomas del movimiento estudiantil de 2011 en Chile en profundidad. Es un momento importante en la historia chilena, tal como un ejemplo ilustrativo de la relación entre la educación y el cambio social. La investigación se realiza a través de observación participativa en siete tomas en Santiago, Chile que siguen en toma después de seis meses movilizados. También, utiliza entrevistas con estudiantes en las tomas para averiguar sus opiniones acerca del movimiento y su participación en la toma. Los resultados muestran que los alumnos secundarios movilizados son un grupo extraordinario que tiene una conciencia …

La Reproducción De Desigualdad De Género En Los Liceos, Rebecca R. Miller

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper looks at how gender norms and thus gender inequality is reproduced in public schools in Valparaiso, Chile. In 2009 a study conducted by the United Nations Development Program found that 62% of Chileans, both male and female, “are opposed to full equality between the sexes” (Estrada 1). While the women’s participation rate in the paid labor fore has risen to 49% it is still behind other countries in Latin America (Estrada 1). While the country currently faces a 7.1% unemployment rate and roughly 11.5% percent live below the poverty line, women have a unemployment rate of 8.6 while …

¡Edúcame! Violencia, Autoridad E Identidad En El Movimiento Studiantil Actual, Aila Ferguson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Controversy has surrounded the current student movement since it began six months ago. One of the main causes for concern is the violence that seems to be a constant at every protest and demonstration. There are various contradicting opinions on the subject of violence and what is appropriate behavior for the student protesters and for the carabineros, or police officers, who are ordered to “maintain control” of the marches. Through interviews with various participants and political actors this research aims to contribute to a better understanding of government violence as a form of social control and to the understanding of …

Alliances Et Cultures: Cap Nord, Stacey Fitzpatrick

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

En essence, Alliance et Culture est un endroit où les gens peuvent rencontre et apprennent comment de vivre ensemble. Cette association, officiellement crée en 1987, avait la mission de répondre à problèmes d'intégration sociale par des actions collectives, et le développement d’une vie social dans les quartiers. Pour réaliser cet objectif ils offrent des activités et services ouvrent à tout le monde comme l’accompagnement à la scolarité, les ateliers, les cours d’alphabétisation et de Français, et les ludothèques et plus. Il y a trois centres en Toulouse dans diffèrent lieux qui contribuent aux les gens dans les quartiers des Mirail, …

Community Empowerment Through Youth Employment: A Comparative Study Of Social Programs For Youth Job Creation, Stacey Nelson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Entrepreneurial training may be a better means to livelihoods for youth in Uganda today than vocational or traditional education models. Even those with university degrees have difficulties being selected from saturated applicant pools for professional careers; vocational training programs give their otherwise-uneducated or unskilled students the means to an occupation though positions are limited. In traditional education systems or vocational programs, supplementary education encouraging entrepreneurship can help create careers where opportunities are scarce. By mobilizing youth, communities prosper. These activities can even create direct community benefit themselves.

This research observes the processes of both a vocational training model and a …

The Escola Do Campo João Sem Terra: A Look Inside The Process Of Making Education Relevant In The Landless Worker’S Movement Settlement 25 De Maio., Owen Grooms

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper explores the process of implementing the goals of the Escola do Campo João Sem Terra within the Landless Worker‟s Movement of Brazil (MST), a social movement pushing for agrarian reform that is establishing a network of schools in its communities, of which the newest branch is the Educação do Campo concept, which involves establishing high schools based around the reality of students in the campo, or countryside. As the first of these Escolas do Campo, João sem Terra is experiencing the difficulties of this process in becoming such a different school. The school has issues with the state, …

The Challenges Of Balancing Careers And Family Life Facing College Women In Jordan, Anna Chang

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The country of Jordan serves as one of the most progressive countries in the Middle East, yet Jordan has the lowest female economic participation rates out of all the countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Quantitatively, women’s higher education attainment equals and, in some cases, even surpasses that of men. However, their economic participation barely begins to compare to that of their male counterparts. The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential causes for this large gap, using qualitative evidence from the interviews of fifteen college women at the University of Jordan and regional …

Una Desconstrucción Y Análisis De Centros Del Sename: Las Perspectivas Y Experiencias De Los Jóvenes, Gema Cardona

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Este estudio de campo investiga y analiza las perspectivas y experiencias de diez jóvenes del centro semicerrado La Cisterna del SENAME en la región metropolitana de Santiago, Chile. Específicamente, ver si existen temas comunes en las experiencias dentro de estos centros y los colegios, para ver si estos temas explican las razones por las cuales jóvenes en la región metropolitana se salen o son expulsados del colegio y terminan en la delincuencia y crimen. En los resultados de esta investigación, se encontraron temas que puedan explicar esto, los cuales fueron: las similitudes entre centros cerrados y cárceles de mayores; las …

Departing From “Education”: Finding Autonomous Learning The Ability For Knowledge That Gives Itself, Matthew Jernigan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Initially, I set out to grasp an understanding of CIdeCI and its methods of learning, to observe these spaces in order to contrast them with those of modern western education. However, my time there has been a process of rediscovering as well as redefining the practices and routines of life; a life through struggle, through resistance, through passion and creation. Beneath the surface I found a different existence in which they pick up the world to hold it otherwise, as to see it from a new perspective, moving it further down and towards the left. So the following paper does …

“Los Esfuerzos Escolares En España Y El Papel De La Escuelita” - The Scholar Challenges In Spain And The Role Of “La Escuelita”, Adriana Barriga

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

I began volunteering in La Escuelita in March, and during my time there, I helped a class of children from La Paz with their homework and also played with them at the end of the day. After a few weeks, I developed an interest in the educational system in Spain, specifically related to children in primary education. I wanted to know more about some of the problems with the education in poor neighborhoods and how La Escuelita functions to help the children who are at a socioeconomic disadvantage to equalize their opportunity for educational success. In this paper, I address …

Employing Empowerment: Developing The Discourse For Women’S Empowerment In Uttarakhand, India, Harriet Napier

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The following research study was conducted between the dates of 12 April, 2011 and 6 May, 2011 in the district of Dehradun, Uttarakhand, and in surrounding rural villages. The investigation focuses on the empowerment of marginalized women through NGO and government programs, particularly through their employment in the field of public health within the role of Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) and related Community Health Worker models developed by NGOs. The study will consider how empowerment through employment in the health sector works to decrease gender inequities by improving the status of the woman, increase the woman’s confidence, training her …

La Educación Intercultural Bilingüe En Cusco: Un Análisis Crítico Del Discurso De Algunos Sectores Involucrados Con Su Implementación, Maggie Hutchison

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

En la segunda mitad del siglo XX en el Perú, la iniciativa de la Educación Intercultural Bilingüe, o la EIB, ha sido una manera importante de promover la revaloración de las lenguas y culturas indígenas y contribuir a un cambio social donde los espacios nacionales políticos y sociales incluyen por primera vez a las poblaciones indígenas sin la discriminación del pasado. La EIB tendrá mayor posibilidad de realizar un cambio social en el Perú si tiene el apoyo de todos los sectores involucrados con su implementación exitosa y más extendida. Cada sector tiene su propio discurso y comprensión de la …

The Afro-Brazilian University Experience: How Racial Quota Policy Beneficiaries At The Federal University Of Bahia Perceive Racial Quota Debates, Ufba Quota Policy, And Life As Quota Students, Vivian O. Ekey

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

For my project I will explore the experiences of Afro-Brazilian students enrolled in the Universidade Federal da Bahia through the University’s Resolution 01/04.[1] Through interviews with six students admitted through the quotas system at UFBA along with interviews with civic society leaders, and university advisors, I aim to identify the varying attitudes that these students may have in response to criticisms of racial quotas, the implementation of the quota system on their campus, and their own experiences as quota students. The implementation of affirmative action in Brazilian Universities has sparked serious debate and questioning of racial politics and what …

Una Investigación De La Cultura Y La Identidad Mapuche En La Escuela Municipal G-539 Chapod, Jessica A. Howard

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Durante una estadía de tres semanas en la localidad rural de Chapod se realizaron observaciones y entrevistas con alumnos, padres y profesores de la Escuela Municipal G-539 Chapod, además de entrevistas con estudiantes en práctica de la Universidad Católica de Temuco, realicé una investigación sobre la cultura e identidad Mapuche en este establecimiento educacional. Encontré que aunque los estudiantes dicen ser Mapuches, ellos no tienen una cultura ni identidad Mapuche y, por tanto, la cultura e identidad Mapuche no permanecen en la escuela de Chapod. Este establecimiento educacional está incorporando algunos elementos de la cultura Mapuche, pero a mi manera …

Mi Educacion, Mi Voz, Nuestro Futuro: Una Investigación Con El Uso Del Diálogo Para Ver Y Entender Las Conversaciones De Los Protagonistas Sobre Los Expectativas, Aspiraciones Y Participación De La Educación Secundaria, Hilary Pollan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

(From Introduction)

The aim of my research, then, is to see and understand how the protagonists of education, high school students participate in dialogue, why do we participate in the dialogue? and what they want resulting from a dialogue?. To accomplish this purpose, I applied a methodology of Paulo Freire for "the investigation of generative themes" of dialogue, so would not only be studying how and why we participate in dialogue, but also practicing it in my research. I made a day of dialogue, which involved seven students from different schools and public high schools, private subsidized and private pay. …

Early Care And Education For At-Risk Children In Rural And Urban Slums In Kenya, Giselle Emilia Navarro Casillas

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

With the rise of changing family structures as well as an increase in the demands of an early preparation for children to enter primary school, Early Care and Education (ECE) has become extremely important in Kenya. In particular an increase of ECE centers for at risk children is important because research has shown that at risk children benefit more from a high quality early care and education program (Calman, L.J., & Tarr-Whelan, L., 2005). Observations were conducted in fifteen ECE centers located in urban slums and rural villages throughout Kenya where poverty is high and sanitation conditions are poor. This …

Amor Revolucionario: La Educación En Las Escuelas De Reingreso En Buenos Aires, Argentina., Cara Tratner

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

¿Cómo cambia la educación cuando la cultura institucional está basada en el amor? Pregúntalo a un alumno de una escuela de reingreso en Buenos Aires y vas a encontrar que el resulto es mas que un cambio teórico: es una revolución. Este documental muestra la realidad sombría de los procesos de exclusión social que impiden garantizar el derecho a la educación para todos los jóvenes, y la introducción de una nueva estrategia de política educativa en las ocho escuelas de reingreso que se crearon en 2004 para reincorporar a los jóvenes afuera del sistema escolar. Para responder al fracaso de …

Ending Generational Poverty: A Contemporary Application Of The Work Of Paulo Freire In Nicaragua, Los Angeles And Uganda, Nicole Broom

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Para disminuir el nivel de pobreza generacional en poblaciones marginalizadas, hay que explorar formas educativas alternativas porque los esfuerzos existentes no han mostrado una habilidad para reducir ese fenómeno. A pesar de las diferencias en geografía y el estatus socioeconómico de los países de origen de esas organizaciones, las siguientes instituciones comparten ciertos fundamentos filosóficos, muchos de los cuales corresponden a las teorías de Paulo Freire en Pedagogy of the Oppressed, que sirven como prácticas efectivas para servir a poblaciones marginalizadas: Pearl Lagoon’s Academy of Excellence en Laguna de Perlas, Nicaragua; Camino Nuevo Charter Academy en Los Ángeles, California; …

Análisis De “Proyecto Mirlo”: Aprendiendo A Acoger Al “Desconocido”, Abigail Bissette

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

During the fall and early winter of this year, I volunteered with a program called, “Proyecto Mirlo,” which is a small part of a larger organization, “Caritas,” whose focus is providing support to marginalized groups of people in Spanish society. Proyecto Mirlo is a subsection that provides free language classes for immigrants, as well as food and, in extreme cases, financial help. In my volunteer work, I taught basic Spanish classes to an eighteen-year-old immigrant from Senegal. As my student grew in his language proficiency, I grew in my teaching proficiency, especially on the discovery of teaching resources that I …

Roma Education In Serbia: The Implications Of Prejudice And Ethnic Conflict And The Potential For Change, Shane Branon

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Cultural, religious and ethnic divisions are nothing new to the Slavic people of the southwest Balkans. The region once known as Yugoslavia has experienced periods of assimilation and peaceful coexistence as well as ethnic hatred and aggression. In recent years, the majority of this has been concentrated inside Serbia, the nucleus of the former Yugoslavia. While it may appear that Serbia has overcome the ethnic hatred that has plagued its social and political culture, there continues to be ethnic discrimination in both the social sphere and government institutions. This prejudice is most evident in the relationship between the Serbian majority …

From Quilombo To Bairro: The Maintenance Of A Permanent Afro-Brazilian Underclass, Calisha Myers

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Inequalities in access to education, as a result of institutionalized racism and social exclusion, are contributing to the maintenance of a permanent Afro-Brazilian underclass. Beiru, a community that sits on the periphery of Salvador, Bahia is an example of what the results of this physical and social marginalization is doing to Afro-Brazilian communities all over the Northeast. In my research, I sought to gain an understanding of what the young Afro-Brazilians that attend secondary school at the Escola Estadual de Zumbi dos Palmares and youth in the community are getting from these schools (in terms of what they are learning, …