School Re-Formed

by Seth Biderman
In the second presidential debate, on Oct. 16, the men who would rule our nation uttered the word "children" just once in 90 minutes—when Romney declared we're all "children of the same God." They said "job" 100 times and "tax" or "taxes" 76, but "education" was mentioned only 13 times, generally as a footnote to comments about the economy or gun control.

Like environmental protection (mentioned zero times, which is terrifying), education is not on the national radar. Which means that if we want to improve the way we do public school in Santa Fe, or anywhere else, we're going to have to do it ourselves.

One community that did just that is the Italian town of Reggio Emilia. In 1945, after the devastation of WWII, the townsfolk and a visionary teacher named Loris Malaguzzi came together to create a brilliant new approach to schooling for their city's youngest. Over the last half century, their model of early childhood education has evolved and flourished, and is now being adopted by preschools around the world.

Through my research with the Academy for the Love of Learning, I visited a "Reggio-inspired" preschool called El Nido, or "the nest," in Cali, Colombia. The leaders and coordinators of this project, Amanda Felton and Maritza González, described to me how they have entered into a "dialogue with the Reggio philosophy," through which they've adapted the model to their particular setting and culture, while honoring many of its essential principles.

One of these principles, which I believe is key to moving our schools forward, is that students must be protagonists—not subjects or consumers—of the learning process. Having suffered through Mussolini's totalitarianism, the Reggio Emilia community wanted schools that would grow a questioning and participatory citizenry, so they threw out the old model of teachers forcing passive students through a pre-determined curriculum. In its place, they developed a model in which the curriculum evolves directly from the interests of the children, and projects are co-created by teachers and learners.

At El Nido, for example, when teachers noticed that a group of 2-year-olds were fascinated by rolling wooden spools, they created a multi-week exploration of movement and gravity. Following the children's interests, they extended the study into a project on heights, culminating in the construction of a classroom-sized "mountain" of recycled materials.

A second key principle is that teachers should not be chalkboard-pointing deliverers of information, but documenters, researchers, collaborators and facilitators. To this end, the Reggio Emilia schools established the practice of having teachers work in teams of two, and built in time for the faculty to reflect upon and respond to what they observed in their daily work.

This new paradigm of teaching became clear to me when I was watching El Nido 4-year-olds explore the concept of fire. While one teacher helped the students paint tubes orange and yellow, the other took pictures and recorded their chatter. The reflective, attentive way these teachers worked together to simultaneously engage and observe the children had little to do with the harried, isolated frenzy I've always understood as teaching. And after class, when I used to scour teacher manuals or Google for more activities, these teachers reviewed the photos and conversations from the day, analyzed how the children had responded to the experience and planned how to most naturally deepen the learning.

Game-changing principles like these—child as protagonist, teacher as researcher—did not rise from presidential platforms, but from educational research, local leadership and an engaged community—a town that looked inward, thought seriously about what was important for its children and had the courage to try something new.

In the dearth of national leadership on education, we have an opportunity in Santa Fe to follow the lead of Reggio Emilia, and support our district in the creation of public schools that honor the curiosity of children and the passion of teachers. Superintendent Joel Boyd has demonstrated a willingness to listen to diverse community groups. When he begins unveiling proposals, we should treat his ideas not as mandates or solutions, but as starting points for deeper conversations about the type of human beings we would like our children to become.

A SFPS graduate and former educator, Seth Biderman works with the Academy for the Love of Learning to research different learning models and further public conversation about what "school" could someday be. He blogs at schoolreformed.wordpress.com.

Original Page: http://www.sfreporter.com/santafe/article-7046-school-re-formed.html

Four More Years

It was gratifying to see the crowds at the inaugural, all the varieties of humankind.
The President spoke of the America that most of us remember, an America that is for the people.
The next four years are important, hopefully enough of the Congress will set aside their politics long enough to support efforts to heal and repair our country.

Algeria Hostage Death Toll: Standoff Dead Climbs Past 80 In Siege In The Sahara

by Ryan Craggs, ALGIERS, Algeria —
The death toll from the terrorist siege at a natural gas plant in the Sahara climbed past 80 on Sunday as Algerian forces searching the refinery for explosives found dozens more bodies, many so badly disfigured it was unclear whether they were hostages or militants, a security official said.

Algerian special forces stormed the plant on Saturday to end the four-day siege, moving in to thwart what government officials said was a plot by the Islamic extremists to blow up the complex and kill all their captives with mines sown throughout the site.

In a statement, the Masked Brigade, the group that claimed to have masterminded the takeover, warned of more such attacks against any country backing France's military intervention in neighboring Mali, where the French are trying to stop an advance by Islamic extremists.

"We stress to our Muslim brothers the necessity to stay away from all the Western companies and complexes for their own safety, and especially the French ones," the statement said.

Algeria said after Saturday's assault by government forces that at least 32 extremists and 23 hostages were killed. On Sunday, Algerian bomb squads sent in to blow up or defuse the explosives found 25 more bodies, said the security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

"These bodies are difficult to identify. They could be the bodies of foreign hostages or Algerians or terrorists," the official said.

In addition, a wounded Romanian who had been evacuated died, raising the overall death toll to at least 81.

"Now, of course, people will ask questions about the Algerian response to these events, but I would just say that the responsibility for these deaths lies squarely with the terrorists who launched a vicious and cowardly attack," British Prime Minister David Cameron said. Three Britons were killed and another three were feared dead.

The dead hostages were also known to include at least one American as well as Filipino and French workers. Nearly two dozen foreigners by some estimates were unaccounted for.

It was unclear whether anyone was rescued in the final assault on the complex, which is run by the Algerian state oil company along with BP and Norway's Statoil.

Two private Algerian TV stations and an online news site said security forces scouring the plant found five militants hiding out and learned that three others had fled. That information could not be immediately confirmed by security officials.

Authorities said the bloody takeover was carried out Wednesday by 32 men from six countries, under the command from afar of the one-eyed Algerian bandit Moktar Belmoktar, founder of the Masked Brigade, based in Mali. The attacking force called itself "Those Who Sign in Blood."

The Masked Brigade said Sunday the attack was payback against Algeria for allowing over-flights of French aircraft headed to Mali and for closing its long border with Mali. In an earlier communication, the Brigade claimed to have carried out the attack in the name of al-Qaida.

Armed with heavy machine guns, rocket launchers, missiles and grenades, the militants singled out foreign workers at the plant, killing some of them on the spot and attaching explosive belts to others.

Algeria's tough and uncompromising response to the crisis was typical of its take-no-prisoners approach in confronting terrorists, favoring military action over negotiation. Algerian military forces, backed by attack helicopters, launched two assaults on the plant, the first one on Thursday.

The militants had "decided to succeed in the operation as planned, to blow up the gas complex and kill all the hostages," Algerian Communications Minister Mohamed Said told state radio.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said the terrorists had tried to blow up the plant on Saturday but managed only to start a small fire. "That's when they started to execute hostages, and the special forces intervened," Eide said. Norway's Statoil said five Norwegians were still missing.

An audio recording of Algerian security forces speaking with the head of the kidnappers, Abdel Rahman al-Nigiri, on the second day of the drama indicated the hostage-takers were trying to organize a prisoner swap.

"You see our demands are so easy, so easy if you want to negotiate with us," al-Nigiri said in the recording broadcast by Algerian television. "We want the prisoners you have, the comrades who were arrested and imprisoned 15 years ago. We want 100 of them."

In another phone call, al-Nigiri said that half the militants had been killed by the Algerian army on Thursday and that he was ready to blow up the remaining hostages if security forces attacked again. An organization that monitors videos from radicals posted one showing al-Nigiri with what appeared to be an explosive belt around his waist.

The Algerians' use of forced raised an international outcry from some countries worried about their citizens.

But French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Sunday on French television: "The terrorists ... they're the ones to blame."

David Plouffe, a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, said that al-Qaida and al-Qaida-affiliated groups remain a threat in North Africa and other parts of the world, and that the U.S. is determined to help other countries destroy those networks.

Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Plouffe said the tragedy in Algeria shows once again "that all across the globe countries are threatened by terrorists who will use civilians to try and advance their twisted and sick agenda."

___

Ganley reported from Paris. Associated Press writers Paul Schemm in Rabat, Morocco, and Lori Hinnant in Paris also contributed to this report.

Original Page: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2013/01/20/algeria-hostage-death-toll_n_2517087.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

Shared from Pocket

Women in Politics in Saudi Arabia

On Friday, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah made history when he named thirty women to the kingdom's Shura Council, an appointed advisory body that cannot enact legislation but is still the closest institution to a parliament in that country. He also amended the Shura Council's law to ensure that women would make up no less than 20 percent of the 150-person council going forward.

Friday's announcement did not occur in a vacuum. Before now, some women served in an advisory capacity, but not as full members, on the committee. In 2011, King Abdullah, known for relatively moderate views on women's roles in society, announced that women would be appointed to the Shura Council and that women would be able to run and vote in the country's 2015 municipal elections.

Nevertheless, Friday's follow-through is a sign of King Abdullah's seriousness about incrementally increasing women's participation. In a 2011 speech, King Abdullah introduced the decision as a vital step for keeping up with the times, saying, "Balanced modernization in line with our Islamic values, which preserve rights, is an important requirement in an era with no room for the weak and undecided people." He also explained that the decision to appoint women to the Shura Council and to allow them to vote and run in elections was made after consulting with religious scholars.

Much as when women from conservative Muslim countries including Qatar and Saudi Arabia competed in the Olympics for the first time this past summer, a considerable amount of attention is being paid to the logistics of women's participation in the Shura Council. The amendments allowing women to join the council specifically prescribe gender-segregating measures, ranging from separate office spaces to council chamber entrances to seating areas. As journalist and Saudi Arabia expert Thomas Lippman explains, "Even when [King Abdullah] moves boldly, he moves cautiously, in increments that the conservatives can be persuaded or forced to accept." Indeed, this gender segregation is an absolute prerequisite to women's participation in Saudi Arabia.

Reaction to the Shura Council is mixed. On Twitter, the hashtag "The new Shura Council does not represent me" materialized, a reminder that the Shura Council is unelected. Manal al-Sharif—a female activist who has shown great courage in advocating for Saudi women's right to drive—wrote on Twitter that "The amendments ignored Saudis' demands of electing the members and increasing the Council powers! It still cannot pass or enforce laws" (via POMED). Essam Alzamel, a tech entrepreneur with a significant Twitter following, wrote, "There are two types of parliaments: the kind that represents the people and the kind that represents the people but is not of the people." Just today, around fifty clerics opposed to the Shura Council decision turned up at the Royal Court to request a meeting with the king and one of his advisers, which they were not granted. This protest was notable, particularly given that Saudi Arabia's primary religious authorities have approved of the king's decision.

Despite the limitations of the Shura Council, the appointed women have their work cut out for them. As my friend, women's rights advocate and new Shura Council member Thuraya Arrayed said to Al Arabiya News, "I expect this decision to open doors for qualified women to take part in all fields and not just in politics but in all areas." Fellow new Shura Council member Thuraya Obaid, whose impressive career includes time as executive director of the UN Population Fund, told the newspaper Asharq Alawsat, "…as for those who do not accept this, this is a huge challenge for women to prove that their presence is an addition to, not lessening of, Saudi society." With female council members like these, this mixed-gender Shura Council may well pave the way to greater opportunities for Saudi women, however incrementally.

Thanks to my research associate, Thalia Beaty, for providing the Arabic translations.

http://blogs.cfr.org/coleman/2013/01/15/women-in-politics-in-saudi-arabia/