I Hate When Teachers Are Right

As an American, I have been told from a very early age that education is the key to success as an individual.  I was told millions of times by teachers that reading is fundamental, education is power, the key to your success is through education, blah blah blah.  I, as a skeptic, didn’t really believe this.  Hard work, I said, was the key to success.  As I got older I found that the answer to being a successful adult is…well, it’s both.

One funny thing I have learned on this planet for my short time:  Entire nations usually have the characteristics of their people.  If you think about this fact, you’ll see that every nation takes on the personality of the people that reside within the borders.  Now, this is likely an overblown and broad generalization, of course.  But, it makes sense…just think about it.

So, as I was thinking about literacy the other day, I was curious about how well people read around the world.  Why was I pondering this, you ask?  I do not know.  Curiosity, I suppose.  Boredom, most likely. But, I digress.  When I have a question that keeps nagging at the back of my brain, I do one thing…I consult the Internet.  I decided that I wanted to see for myself if there was a connection of how well we read to the relative success of our nation.  While looking at the statistics, from various sources, it appears that there is a severe correlation between overall literacy rates for citizens and the economic status of a country. Overall, if the people of a particular nation read fairly well then that nation will have a better chance to achieve world prominence…or at least relevance.

For example, there are a number of nations with literacy rates of less than thirty percent.  Keep in mind, literacy rates are often defined as a person aged 15 or older that can read or write.  Just telling you that for clarity.  Anyway, Niger (29%), South Sudan (27%), Afghanistan (28%), and Burkina Faso (21%) are all nations that fall into the category of, what I like to call, life-threatening literacy poverty.  As we know, or can easily find out, each of these nations has little political power, resources have been dwindled to nearly nothing, and each has very little wealth, either personal or political. These countries are poor.  Well, these countries are beyond poor.  They passed poor ten bus stops ago.  These nations are into territory of poverty that your average American cannot fathom.

Basically folks, if your people can’t read then your nation will suffer economically and politically.

So, what can we do?  Get people to read!  Yeah I know, it’s easier said than done in most cases.  Also, there are often cultural norms that prevent a lone proselytizer of literacy (like myself) from walking into Riyadh and saying “I will teach anyone to read if you want to learn”.  The powers that be may not want that to happen.  In many nations, even if higher literacy rates are a good thing, overall, a higher percentage of citizens who read well may prove problematic to incumbent power bases.  So, in many instances getting the people of the world to read can be an uphill battle.

But, this is a battle worth fighting.

I always hated when my teachers were right.  Reading is fundamental.  Education is power.  And, dang it, the key to success IS through education. 

*For an excellent example of what can be done to change world literacy rates, check out the work that the organization, Room To Read is doing in some of the poorest nations around the world.  Just amazing work, these people do.   

Author: Josh Mincey (Pangea Proxima International Consultant- Distance Learning Specialist)

Rethinking Development: Empowerment of the Community

The other day, I was having a conversation with someone about the goals of Pangea Proxima and, more generally, about development work.  This person suggested to me that I consider introducing clinical trials to impoverished rural areas of the countries that I may work in.  The rationale was that clinical trials were a method of supplying people with medical assessments and medications that they would not have access to otherwise.  As well-intentioned as this perspective may be, I couldn’t help but be surprised that the larger implications regarding ethical practices and sustainability weren’t immediately understood as well. 

Children of Butajira, Ethiopia

I joined Pangea Proxima as a consultant because I believe in work that is thoughtful in its development as well as respectful of human dignity regardless of location or socioeconomic status of the people benefiting from the project.  The goal is always to develop projects that have staying power, that community members have ownership over, that elicit pride.  A clinical trial, while potentially providing healthcare to the selected participants, is time-limited and for a select few.  Sustainable projects should ideally have a long-lasting impact and be available to all.  In addition, I don’t believe that using a person’s inability to access healthcare as an avenue to test medical practices or medications is morally acceptable.  So this leads me to my question of... why?  Why would someone who I believe to be generally ethical suggest a project idea that I believe is a great departure from the direction that development work should be heading?

Mural in Hawassa, Ethiopia

I think the answer to this question lies in the distance that people can place between those living in wealthy countries as opposed to people living in low-income, and therefore low-resource, countries.  There is a tendency to try to fix the problem of poverty by throwing solutions at it, in the form of money or donations, when these may not ultimately be a solution at all.  Feeding a person for a day may mean that their stomach is full today, but empty again tomorrow; the underlying issue that caused the hunger remains.  I believe that educating and empowering an individual or a community is 100 times more effective in promoting development than donating food or clothing is.  Increasing skills in sustainable farming or building practices not only provides lasting food and shelter, it maintains the dignity of the project participants. 

There is a movement in the international development world that is shifting away from the previous paradigm of wealthy countries donating money and an agenda for poor countries to implement.  The shift is toward the empowerment of people in low-income countries to find and implement solutions for their own countries because they are, quite obviously, the people who know their land best.  I believe that the most successful and ethical projects that require outside funding or support are the ones that truly harness and empower the voices of the target population.  Pangea Proxima is attempting to do just this by building local capacity, employing local people in projects, getting ideas from local people and consulting with the community every step of the way.  I believe that this is the direction that development work needs to head in in order to maintain integrity, and for this reason I am very proud to join the Pangea Proxima team.

Author: Marina Marcus (Pangea Proxima International Consultant- Global Health Specialist)

The Benevolent Octopus: Using Distance Learning To Reach All Students

For the first hundred thousand years of human existence, the schooling of children was completed in ways that were practical to the function of the society.  Meaning, kids learned from elders who learned from their elders and so on.  The skills acquired were entirely practical: how to sow and harvest a crop, which seasons were best for planting, and how to accurately track an animal, kill it, then skin the sucker.  Learning was for real-life events and situations and would often be done with individual instruction between expert and student.

Of course, modern society has seen a shift in both subject matter taught to children (relevant information, just not as practical) and the delivery method of teaching.  Where learning used to be individualized, modern teachers are tasked with the education of, very often, hundreds of young minds throughout a day of schooling.  The one-to-one instruction of ancient times is a pipe dream in the minds of today’s teachers.  Also, technology has been running through education like wildfire, causing policymakers to take notice and evaluate how the use of technology could help advance the future of education. These technological methods are the future of our world’s education, as evidenced by the use of internet-based class formats by a majority of American universities and many others, worldwide. 

I think we need to ask ourselves: Why should we utilize Internet based education in our schools, anyway?  That answer should be fairly obvious.  To gain access to experts in certain fields (subject matter experts, or SME’s) one may have to expand their method of learning and look outside of their classroom at their school.  This is normally due to the distance from the expert to the student.  Not everyone is lucky enough to have a teacher who is proficient in the language of Swahili, for example.  But, with internet-based teaching modalities that teacher of Swahili can spread their knowledge to learners over the entire globe.  No longer are students limited to the SME’s that are available locally.  Experts around the world can be utilized to improve the lives of people thousands of miles from their home. 

Children of Atlanta, Georgia, USA

So, modern education has evolved into what I like to call a “benevolent octopus”.  Education in this century and beyond will involve instructors of various nationalities and cultures spreading what they know to students worldwide.  It is conceivable that a student could, through the magic of the Internet and computer technology, have a Calculus instructor based in Pakistan, and English instructor located in Canada, a Biology instructor located in Honduras, and an Art instructor based in New York City.  Students of the world today could have the best possible instructors in every field right at their fingertips and on the screens of their televisions, computers, and smart phones.  The goal of education is to better the lives of the learner and to impart knowledge from the best possible sources.  The benevolent octopus could do deliver the overall goal of education.

The benevolent octopus of online collaboration and learning is one that would allow students to reach out with many different “arms” to the information that they need to improve their lives.  There would still be a place for on-site teachers, of course.  The instructors on-site, or physically with their classes, would be critical in the functioning of schooling through the virtual world.  The on-site teachers would act as tutors, problem solvers, assistants, as well as teaching a few classes of their own, face-to-face.  However, an added benefit would be that on-site teachers would no longer have to be “generalists”.  They too, could be experts in their field. 

Of course, there is a question of the costs of outfitting schools, communities, and individual homes with the equipment needed to take part in such cutting edge educational experiences.  Yes, there is an up-front cost.  There’s just no way around that fact.  But, once the cost-prohibitive factors of equipment and infrastructure are in place, the cost per child of internet-based education is very reasonable.  In a later blog post, I will tackle the issue of cost, so stay-tuned.

Internet based education can benefit our children in ways unknown in past generation.  The access that today’s students have to teachers in distance lands, peers with cultures very unlike their own, and resources from around the world is astounding.  We just need to figure out a way to get each child their own benevolent octopus so they can reach out to the world and get the education that they need.

That, for us, is the challenge.

Author: Josh Mincey (Pangea Proxima International Consultant- Distance Learning Specialist)