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The Vital Role of Education in Authoritarian Times

By. Henry A. Giroux

For decades, I have challenged the notion that schools are simply black boxes mired in structures of domination. While the early leftist criticism of schooling was correct in challenging the idea that schools were agencies of meritocracy and equal opportunity removed from larger structures of capitalist domination, it lacked, with few exceptions (such as Paul Willis’s Learning to Labour), any sense of resistance, and as such lacked any notion of hope. Resistance and hope, coupled with a comprehensive understanding of theory, politics and education, have played a crucial role in my later work, particularly in my later analysis of the war on youth, the centrality of pedagogy to cultural studies, neoliberalism’s assault on higher education and other related issues.

In July 2017, I was fortunate to participate in an interview that attempted to look at the totality of my work on education, cultural studies, pedagogy, youth studies and a range of other topics. The interview, captured here in a just-released film debuting on Truthout, begins with an analysis of the historical conditions that produced one of my most important books, Theory and Resistance in Education, and that had a formative influence it had on much of my of my later work.

The interview also deals with the challenges of resistance today, given the power of modes of pedagogy that exist outside of schools, particularly under the toxic regime of neoliberalism. Not only have the sites or modes of pedagogy expanded in a range of cultural apparatuses extending from digital and print culture to screen culture, but the very spaces for sustained and critical thought have been shrinking.

At the same time, new spaces of resistance have opened up in light of the emergence of new technologies, the increasing radicalization of young people and the search for a new understanding of politics, one that makes sense of the relationship between local politics and global power formations. The interview explores these new sites of hope. It also explores how both public schools and higher education have come under assault by a range of ideological, cultural and economic forces tied to a variety of right-wing and conservative ideologies and fundamentalisms — religious, market-based, military-oriented, racist and sexist. Due to all of these forces, there is an urgent need to retheorize matters of education, power and politics itself.

Capitalism no longer simply exploits as its main engine of domination; it now renders increasing numbers of people disposable.

One of the central elements of discussion in the interview is the issue of border crossing and the politics of disposability. This politics points to not only new forms of domination, but also suggests rethinking politics beyond simply questions of exploitation. In other words, capitalism no longer simply exploits as its main engine of domination; it now renders increasing numbers of people disposable — whether we are talking about Muslims, workers, youth of color, poor Black communities such as Flint, Michigan, or an increasing number of other groups. Disposability is the register of a new politics of oppression central to the emergence of financial capital, and it must be addressed as part of a new mode of politics and global resistance. Disposability points to distinct economic, political and cultural contexts in which new forms of exclusion are entangled with emerging modes of authoritarianism that are reshaping matters of ideology, knowledge and power. The logic of disposability has become the driving force of a powerful machinery of social death.

Also vital to address in these oppressive times is a narrow notion of dystopia, which is now attached to almost any form of criticism. Rather than opening a window to the need for real struggles, this notion of dystopia collapses into the discourse of cynicism. In the interview, I reject this view by making clear that criticism is the precondition for not only changing consciousness, but also making visible new forms of domination and power that have to be confronted if people are going to be able to understand the oppressive conditions in which they find themselves. Rather than insert criticism, dialogue and the social imagination within the toxic charge of a distorted and reactionary notion dystopia, the interview addresses criticism and the existing conditions of oppression as a starting point for individual and collective forms of struggle. The engagement with dystopia in this case is a precondition for developing a discourse of both critique and hope, not despair.

It is crucial for us to address this question head on: What is the role of public and higher education, especially in a time of tyranny? What does critical pedagogy look like and how is it put into play so as to make a viable and lasting connection between learning and critical thought, engaged agency and social responsibility, learning and social change? Central to this interview is the point that education is crucial to politics itself, and that any viable sense of theory, politics and resistance will have to address this issue.

Source:

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/42217-the-vital-role-of-education-in-a-time-of-tyranny

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Indian government to announce new education policy in December: Union minister

Indian/October 24, 2017/Source: Times of Oman

A new education policy to «correct» the education system, which follows a «colonial» mindset, will be brought out in December, Union minister Satya Pal Singh said on Monday.

He said threadbare discussions were held on the new education policy, which is in its final stages. «The NDA government’s new education policy is in its final stages and the same will be out in December. The policy envisages correcting the education system that has followed a colonial mindset,» the minister of state for human resources said.

After Independence, most academicians unfortunately followed the footsteps of British and western scholars and «deliberately» denigrated Indian culture, he said.

The minister said the biggest challenge facing the education system and government was how to «decolonise» the Indian mind, and added that the nation has to keep pace with the world in this field. Some issues to be addressed are — improving the quality of education at the primary level, making higher education affordable and ensuring more people have access to education, he said after inaugurating the National Academic meet here.

Skill development was a major area to which the government has given thrust. But more has to be done on this, Singh said. To prevent exodus of students abroad for education,he said higher education institutions matching the standards of centres of international excellence should be developed.

The MoS said accessibility to higher education in India was only 25.6 per cent while it was 86 per cent in USA, 80 per cent in Germany and 60 per cent in China.

«The aim is to improve the higher education system in the country to make it available to more,» he said. Singh said the challenge before the government was to remove social and regional disparities in students having access to higher education and to make it affordable to all.

«In some places access to higher education is as low as nine per cent, but in others it is 60 per cent…higher education is very expensive and has to be made more affordable to all sections of the society,» he said.

Singh pointed out that 50 per cent of the teachers posts were lying vacant in universities. «In Delhi University, there are 4,000 vacancies,» he said. Singh said though India produces 30,000 to 40,000 PhD holders every year, the nation’s contribution to the world economy was only 0.2 per cent and added that a lot of improvement has to be brought about in research and development in the country. He said changes are necessary in the Right to Education Act as the act «lacked teeth».

«The Act provides the right to compulsory primary education. But what is the remedy if parents do not send their children to school? So many things have to be done to improve primary education in the country,» he added.

The meet was organised by Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram as part of the navathi celebration of P. Parameswarn, Sangh Parivar ideologue and director of the BVK.

Source:

http://education.einnews.com/article/411328283/kmri2asCGk8J4fKb?lcf=eG8zt30RHq4WcGF5PkFdHg%3D%3D

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New school offers education ‘salvation’ for Syrian girls in Lebanon

Lebanon/October 24, 2017/By: Dahlia Nehme/Source: http://uk.reuters.com

A new girls’ school for Syrian refugees in Lebanon’s poor Bekaa region is aiming to give girls from conservative backgrounds the chance at a formal education.

Gaining access to education in general is difficult for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, but for girls from socially conservative families who disapprove of mixed schools, it is even harder.

Zahra al-Ayed, 14, and her sister Batoul, 17, were from a village in Syria’s northern Idlib province where women were expected to marry young.

 But the experience of fleeing war and living in harsh poverty woke her parents to the life-changing importance of education, the girls’ mother Mirdiyeh al-Ayed said.

“My eldest daughter tells me that she will not marry until after she finishes her education. She even wants to travel abroad and learn,” she said.

Human Rights Watch organisation said in its latest report in April that more than half a million refugee children are out of school in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.

In Lebanon, international donors paid for 200,000 public school spaces for Syrian children in 2015-2016, according to the HRW report, but only 149,000 children actually enrolled.

Lebanese and international non-governmental organisations have been striving to fill the gap, and to eliminate the legal, financial and language barriers preventing refugee children from getting their education.

For the al-Ayed family, used to Syria’s system of gender segregation after the age of 12, one big barrier to enrolling the girls was the lack of single-sex schools in Lebanon that accept refugees.

SYRIAN REFUGEES

The new school that Zahra will attend is in Bar Elias in the Bekaa valley and was opened on Thursday by the Kayany Foundation, a Lebanese charity. It educates 160 Syrian girls aged from 14-18 who have missed school for several years.

Those who manage to pass the Lebanese system’s eighth grade exams – usually taken at the age of 14 or 15 – can join the local Lebanese public school in Bar Elias, which Batoul al-Ayed has done.

The Kayany Foundation school teaches the official Lebanese curriculum, which includes science, mathematics, Arabic and English, in addition to vocational skills.

The school, built from colourful pre-fabricated classrooms, is its seventh in the Bekaa valley, where the majority of the Syrian refugee communities are located in Lebanon.

It was meant to address the Syrian parents’ concerns about sending their teenage daughters to schools for both girls and boys. All its teachers are women and it provides transportation for students between home and school.

 “Education is salvation for the refugee girls,” said Nora Jumblatt, head of the Kayany Foundation, at the opening ceremony.

Funding for the school was secured for this year from international charity Save the Children and the United Nations Women For Peace Association, according to Kayany officials.

“I have a dream to become a pharmacist,” Rama, 19, who is preparing to apply for the eight grade exams at Kayany school said. In normal times, Rama would already have been applying for university at that age.

“I still want to go back to Syria and fulfill my dream there, in Damascus University,” she added.

Source:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-lebanon-education/new-school-offers-education-salvation-for-syrian-girls-in-lebanon-idUKKBN1CS2C8

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Muzoon Almellehan returns to Jordan to meet Syrian refugees striving to get an education

18 de octubre de 2017 / Fuente: https://www.unicef.org

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Muzoon Almellehan travelled to Jordan to meet children who, like her, fled the Syria conflict and are now determined to go to school despite extremely challenging circumstances. It was the first time Muzoon had returned to the country – where she spent three years in refugee camps, before being resettled in the United Kingdom with her family in 2015.

“Returning to Jordan to meet children whose hope has been restored through education has compelled me to raise my voice even louder for the 27 million children who remain out of school because of conflict. I recommit myself to represent all of the children whose voices have been silenced for too long – and whose chance to learn, and of hope for a better future have been destroyed by war,» said Muzoon.

Around 2.4 million Syrian children are missing out on education, including 1.7 million inside Syria and more than 730,000 Syrian refugee children in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Some Syrian children have never been inside a classroom, while others have lost five or six years of their education.

During her visit, Muzoon met children attending a UNICEF-supported Makani Centre in Amman including 14-year-old Sedra, who fled the conflict in Syria with her family when she was just 10 years old. She missed two years of school and now is getting the support she needs to catch up on her learning and join a public school soon. She dreams of becoming a legal advisor one day.

Makani Centres provide vulnerable children in Jordan – including Syrian refugees – with informal learning programmes, critical psychosocial support and life skills training. The centres also help children enroll into public schools.

«Hearing about Sedra’s experiences took me back to when my family and I fled the war. I was so sad and scared to leave my home and school behind – the only hope I held on to was to continue my education,” said Muzoon.

When Muzoon was forced to flee violence in Syria more than four years ago, her school books were the only belongings she took with her. She spent nearly three years in Jordan, including 18 months in Za’atari refugee camp, where she made it her personal mission to get more girls into education. She went from tent to tent talking to parents to encourage them to get their children into school and learning. Her commitment as an education activist led to her appointment as UNICEF’s youngest ever Goodwill Ambassador in June 2017.

“Education equips girls and boys with the knowledge and skills to fully realize their potential. Schools also provide stability and a sense of normalcy that help Syrian children overcome the challenges of life as a refugee,” said UNICEF Jordan Representative Robert Jenkins. “Jordan has made an incredible commitment to enable Syrian children to access education, but urgent support is required from the global community to further build on progress achieved to date.”

Since the conflict began, UNICEF has worked with partners to increase access to formal and informal education for children affected by the Syria crisis, including through the creation of double-shifting systems in nearly 500 schools in Jordan and Lebanon, ‘back-to-learning’ campaigns, and rehabilitation of some 1,000 classrooms across refugee host countries. However, a devastating funding gap is preventing the organization from reaching more children. UNICEF has received only half of the funding needed to provide education for children affected by the Syria conflict.

Fuente noticia: https://www.unicef.org/media/media_101054.html

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Malaysia: 50pct of about 1,000 Islamic education institutions do not comply with fire safety requirements

 Malaysia/October 17, 2017/By Shahrinnahar Latib/ Source: https://www.nst.com.my

Fifty per cent of 956 Islamic education institutions including tahfiz schools nationwide do not comply with fire safety requirements and required further improvements.

Fire and Rescue Department director-general Datuk Wan Mohd Nor Ibrahim said since firemen began inspecting the premises last month, the department has issued 389 written reminders to premises which failed to comply with the safety guidelines.

He said some of the education institutions and tahfiz schools did not have sufficient firefighting equipment including fire extinguishers and the emergency exit in the building was not safe to be used.

«Checks revealed 291 education institutions do not have enough firefighting equipment and some do not have fire exits at their premises. The operators will be given time to improve the firefighting facilities to fully comply with the department’s specifications and building safety aspects.

«The premises owner has to rectify and overcome weaknesses that need immediate attention. Failure to adhere to the rules within the given time will force us to bring them to court,» he told reporters after opening the 2017 Fire, Safety campaign and Innovation exhibition here today.

He said to date, Selangor has recorded the highest number of Islamic education institutions and tahfiz schools which did not comply with fire safety specifications, followed by Johor and Kedah.

«The department is expected to complete inspecting all 1,117 Islamic education institutions and tahfiz schools in the country by Oct 22. Our inspection also covers premises that are not registered with the authorities and a detailed report will be presented during the cabinet meeting.

«The department often stresses for premises to have enough ladders to allow occupants to leave the building in case of a fire and install smoke detectors. Such measures will help avoid a similar tragedy like the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah tahfiz school fire on Sept 14,» he said.

Source:

https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2017/10/291376/50pct-about-1000-islamic-education-institutions-do-not-comply-fire-safety

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EEUU: AU gets grant to study STEM education

EEUU/October 17, 2017/Source: http://www.galioninquirer.com

Ashland University has received a $225,032 grant from the National Science Foundation for a project titled “Promoting STEM Education at Two-Year Colleges.” The grant runs through June 30, 2019.

The project, which is under the direction of AU Provost Dr. Eun-Woo Chang and Kathleen A. Alfano, professor emeritus, College of the Canyons, calls for Ashland University to hold a National Science Foundation (NSF) proposal writing workshop to help faculty at two-year colleges successfully obtain NSF funding majorly focused on Advanced Technological Education (ATE) and Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) programs.

“The key outcome of this project will be an increase in the number of competitive ATE and S-STEM proposals submitted by faculty at two-year colleges,” said Chang. “The project design addresses the barriers to participation in ATE and S-STEM competitions faced by faculty at two-year colleges and will address the low number of two-year college applicants and awards made from these programs.”

According to Dr. Chang, the project proposal writing component and two-year mentoring by experienced principal investigators will increase the knowledge and skills of the two-year college STEM faculty at institutions that currently have minimal grant activity, thereby strengthening the personal and institutional ability to pursue other proposal based projects.

“The large number of recruited institutions for the one workshop and two-year mentoring by experienced principal investigators — a total of 50 participating two-year college faculty — will have a positive impact on the quality of STEM education for a great number of students at awarded at two-year colleges,” Chang said.

“The project will lead to an increase in the collaboration between two-year and four-year colleges, benefiting faculty and students at both types of institutions through improved student transfer success, aid in developing articulation agreements, and increased sharing of resources between institutions,” Dr. Chang added.

Source:

AU gets grant to study STEM education

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China to train specialists on organ donation

China/October 17, 2017/By Yuan Quan and Gao Bei/ Source: http://www.shanghaidaily.com

“ I do.” The words brought Liu Yuan, 38, a father of two boys, on the verge of tears. But it wasn’t a wedding vow. It was from the relative of an organ donor.

In China, every after-death organ donation must get permission from family members. Since 2013, Liu has been a coordinator of organ donation at Beijing You’an Hospital, dealing with family approaches, organ donation and procurement, as well as funeral services.

From November, along with 21 other medical specialists from Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Kunming, Wuhan and Nanchang, he will train postgraduate students in organ donation and transplants.

Liu and his colleagues think the course is a key step for China to adopt a more professional approach to organ donation in line with international practice.

Liu, a liver transplant surgeon, had never been trained in organ donation before 2013.

He was reluctant to take the job at first and mistakenly thought the work of a coordinator was nothing more than “persuading people to donate.” He bought books and took courses on sociability, in the hope of communicating better with the families of patients.

The first organ donation he completed was over a drink. A 13-year-old girl with a brain tumor was declared brain dead, kept alive only by machine. But her family was reluctant to agree to donations. Liu invited her father for a drink and the two men formed a bond. Liu recalls how they cried all night, not only for the sufferings of the family, but also for a father’s regrets. His companionship and understanding worked. The next day, the father agreed to donate his daughter’s liver, kidneys and corneas, helping at least three people.

In the past four years, Liu has completed more than 30 organ donations. But the failures “would be more than five times that number.”

Liu thought the main impediment to donation was that many conservative folks still firmly believed in the Chinese tradition of burying the dead intact. Liu says even his own parents did not support organ donation. He was even suspected of being involved in organ trafficking.

China banned the use of organs from executed prisoners in 2015 and made voluntary donation the only legitimate source. With the system more fair and transparent, the number of organ donors is growing and public awareness is rising.

Around 10,000 people have donated 28,000 vital organs after death to date. A total of 4,080 people donated their organs in 2016, while in 2010 the number was only 34. Almost 300,000 Chinese have expressed a wish to donate their organs.

The country has also sped up the training of doctors to overcome the skills shortage.

Liu has seen many medical staff fail to maintain the organ functions of potential donors, which led to organ failure and affected the quality of donations. This was due to lack of expertise, he believes.

Seven Chinese universities will offer postgraduate courses in organ donation and transplants, under the KeTLOD project (Knowledge Transfer and Leadership in Organ Donation from Europe to China). Co-founded by the European Commission and Chinese universities, it is expecting to enroll 140 postgraduate students.

Filling a gap

Liver transplant specialist Xue Feng will teach the course at Shanghai Jiaotong University. It will fill a gap in China’s medical education, he says. “We have lagged behind Western countries for nearly three decades. We have to work harder.”

Liu joined a special online course in February with another 21 Chinese doctors. They were questioned by organ donation specialists from Spain, Italy and France, who offered expertise and experience in clinical approaches, management and dissemination strategies in organ donation, in accordance with European guidelines.

The three-month online course was conducted through a discussion group on a social network app that enabled students to read lecture notes on their smartphones. Surgical operations were presented in pictures and videos; and online translation tool helped communication in English.

The doctors then went to the University of Barcelona in May for a weeklong course.

Marti Manyalich, president of Spain’s Donation and Transplantation Institute, said at the launch that training is not just about sharing knowledge, but about transferring the course to China, adapted to local needs.

“Seven universities are not enough. We must train more Chinese professionals in the next decades,” said Marti.

Spain has the highest organ donation rate in the world. In 2016, it had 43.4 donations per million people, while China had 2.98, although that was up from 0.03 in 2010. One reason behind Spain’s success is pioneering professionalization. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, the University of Barcelona began to offer graduate courses in organ donation, which were recognized and followed by other European countries.

Since then, Spain has taken the lead in establishing international training and exchanges, training more than 10,000 professionals around the world.

China joined the project in 2013. Wang Lu, an organ donation coordinator in Beijing You’an Hospital, is one of the “seed doctors.” She was impressed by the extensive open discussions, scenario teaching and the Socratic questioning method, which are rare in Chinese training.

Liu learned that keeping silent during family approaches is better than talking sometimes.

Humility wins trust, says Zhang Lize, a neurologist who took part in the training.

Many internal medicine specialists or grassroots doctors who still question the benefits of organ transplants are unwilling to help find potential donors among their patients. Some probably lack knowledge, but some prefer to avoid potential tensions with patients.

Chen Xiaosong, coordinator of Shanghai Renji Hospital, worries about finding doctors who want to teach and students interested in studying the subject. Textbooks have not yet been translated into Chinese.

Hou Fengzhong, vice director of China Organ Donation Administrative Center, says despite remarkable achievements in the past 10 years, China’s organ donations are still in the primary stage, requiring the whole of society to work together. He advocates closer cooperation in legal, economic, political and medical sectors.

Liver transplant specialist Li Wenlei, head of the course in Capital Medical University, thinks education is “the best prescription” for China’s organ donation.

“If organ donation is a river, then medical staff work downstream, dealing with individual cases,” Li says. “But when organ donation becomes a part of education, they move upstream and can influence a whole generation.”

Source:

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/feature/China-to-train-specialists-on-organ-donation/shdaily.shtml

 

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