Recently in Education Category

By Nathan Maton

What do games have anything to do with learning? We spoke to nationally recognized researchers, teachers, game-based schools and companies that develop educational games and asked how they see games fitting into the education landscape.

IT'S ABOUT INTERACTION, NOT ISOLATION. "At the end of the day, a game is successful only if each individual gamer has an interaction with it that makes him or her want to come back for more," says Nt Etuk, CEO of Dimension U, an educational games company.  "Even the massively multi-player games [such as World of Warcaft] are successful only because they have tapped into a million individual need to interact, or to compete, or to form groups."

GAMES CAN HELP STRUGGLING STUDENTS.  "[Games] don't cause behavior problems but eliminate them," Ananth Pai says. Pai teaches students from second to fifth grade in Parkview/Center Point Elementary school in Maplewood, Minnesota. Pai took the time to develop a game-based curricula, and says he's seen the rewards of his efforts.

In his gamified classroom, students who performed below proficiency contributed the most to the double-digit growth in achievement. "These are the students that make up the whole education reform debate. Gamification helps them from falling through the ever widening achievement gap as they move forward from third grade," he said.

IT'S HIGHLY PERSONALIZED. With the best games, the player is challenged at exactly the right level and in the right way to keep the player playing. "Maybe the question we need to ask is what about games causes youth to engage that our traditional approach to education lacks," says Brian Alspach, Executive Vice President of E-Line Media, an educational games publisher well known for their game Gamestar Mechanic. "Perhaps applying games to classes is hard because they work on a different educational philosophy than our current education system. Classes are designed to get the lowest common denominator engaged, while games are an interactive, 'lean-forward' medium in which players can progress at their own pace while trying and failing in a safe environment. A well-designed game offers an intricate balance of challenges and rewards that continually pushes players to, and then beyond, the limits of their knowledge and skill."

GAMES ARE NOT ALWAYS THE MAIN POINT. Quest To Learn, a school led by renowned game designer Katie Salen that integrates games across all classes and subjects, is one of the leading examples of how games fit into schools. Yet even there, according to Rebecca Rufo-Tepper, Director of Integrated Learning, none of their teachers teach exclusively through games.  Even when they do use games, they're frequently not what you'd imagine.

"Games are very flexible and can be used in different ways," Rufo-Tepper says. "It's not like they're in the classroom playing a video game or playing cards everyday but there is this larger contextual experience that is game like. We use the word 'game-like' a lot instead of 'game.'"

She gives an example of how the school's seventh-grade literacy class, in which they read a book called Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson, about New York City during the American Revolution. Students are asked to write about the different types of power represented in the book, to give literary examples, and to write a literary essay with multiple drafts. Sounds like a typical English class, except the small twist here is that Oprah Winfrey has "visited" them in a video created by game designers and the teacher, and asked them to join her book club. "There's a fictionalized game-like experience and the kids know that it isn't really Oprah but it is all couched in this game like experience," she said.

GOOD EDUCATIONAL GAMES ARE DIFFICULT TO DEVELOP. "The fact is, many of the games out there suck," said Ralph Vacca, a doctoral student at New York University's Educational Communications and Technology Program. "They don't tackle genuine learning needs as teachers see them, they don't address practical limitations, as teachers see them, and they don't live up to the hype around them, as teachers see them." Those who design games need to recognize the "logistical, organizational, and cultural obstacles teachers have to deal with that underlie lots of perceived 'resistance' to innovations in the classroom." For busy teachers, spending days or weeks prepping to use a game in just one or two classes is not the best use of time, he said.

Even Quest To Learn, which hopes to be a leading example in implementing games in schools in game design, admits to the challenge of developing useful games. They've pulled together the best and brightest of both the teaching and game-design worlds and carefully thought through their plan. Even so, some of their games, particularly in their first year, were frequently over-designed and over-complicated.

"We'll have designed a board game where we realize that it has taken 45 minutes of class for the kids just to understand how to play it," Rebecca says.  "And we'll have said we'll take 15 minutes to explain it and then they'll play around and then we're in a classroom. Forty-five minutes have gone by and the kids are still trying to figure out how to play it." Add to that the fact that it was a Friday, by the time student return on Monday, "they've forgotten everything that you've talked about."

Undesirable Elements: Secret Survivors, the latest installment from the Ping Chong and Co. theater company, is a stunning exploration of childhood sexual abuse and its lifelong effects. Written and directed by Ping Chong & Co.ʼs Associate Director, Sara Zatz, it depicts the personal experiences of five child sexual abuse survivors who share their stories in their entirety for the first time. In a question-and-answer session following a reading of this work in New York City in May, Project Coordinator and creator Amita Swadhin explained that, although sexual abuse is an epidemic problem in the US, most mass media representations of abuse deal with the issue at a safely fictional remove. Amita wanted to bring the intensity, diversity and prevalence of the problem directly to audiences while creating a space for other survivors to share their stories.

Secret Survivors, then, is a theatrical performance about sexual abuse told by the survivors themselves. A childrenʼs song sets the stage, transporting the audience back to their own playground years. As childhood permeates this adult theater, the long talons of abuse are slowly revealed. Like a quilt, the monologue fragments are stitched together across the stage, cuttings of personal history sewn together by the chorus and the poignant music of one of the survivors.

A woman tells about the romance of her parents, both immigrants from India, in Ohio, hoping to build upon their dreams with their two daughters. At age four, the father would become her abuser. Her mother dismissed her story. The little girl blocked the abuse by creating her own world outside her home. Though she has struggled through it all, she excelled in her education. She shares, "I carry with me only one physical scar. Here on my lip, where he once bit me."

Another shares, "I will never have any children." Her well-to-do parents loved her, but their careers always demanded their full attention. Not until her childcare provider was arrested did they recognize the behavioral changes that accompanied her enrollment in the town daycare. Years of therapy could not unleash her deep-seated memories.

One man explains how he devoted his life to social justice issues because of his loving familyʼs influence. Later in life he realized that he was losing jobs and friends because of his promiscuity with women. Exerting his masculinity, the way society showed him, was his own form of resistance. This is how he responded to the abuse he endured from a friend of the older son of his babysitter. He kept this a secret until a friend told him about her rape by an older boyfriend.

Next, a survivor shares how she found acceptance of her adopted family in Queens by making everyone laugh. Her older adopted brother abused her almost immediately upon her arrival to her new home. She found a voice in her music and poetry. Her life changed after being asked to become a part of an artistsʼ collective. This is how she finally healed. Midway through the performance, she sings a song to her adoptive mother, who had refused to confront the abuse by her birth son. The experience is gut-wrenching for the audience.

It is hard to describe the cumulative power of these stories. They thread through the surrounding contexts of structural violence, economic strata, racial tensions, sexual orientation and the intersections of the storytellersʼ numerous identities. In fact, it inevitably speaks to the audienceʼs numerous identities. Specific moments awake a different part of oneself - the instincts of a mother, a sister, a member of a family, the duty of a public servant, the experiences of a woman or person of color, the vulnerability and resilience of a child, the role of a friend, a teacher, a social worker. One will find themselves in deep reflection about broken systems and structures just as much as remember oneʼs own closeness to sexual abuse or its prospects.

The stories serve as a reminder that child abuse can happen to anyone. One will walk away feeling like taking action so that it does NOT happen to another child. Yet one is struck, as the narratives pass, by an overwhelming truth. Despite the early trauma, despite the long and bitter influence these episodes of abuse can inflict on its victims, these survivors who are sharing before you have survived, have mastered the forces of destruction that might have overcome them, are, in the very moment of the performance, embodying hope, asserting with each utterance their liberation from the experiences that might have chained them.

Many artistic attempts to scale the cliffs of abuse, like other social justice motivated work, can feel like the art has taken a back seat to the message. This is not the case in Secret Survivors, partly because it falls under the Undesirable Elements umbrella of projects, which has since 1992 put on productions that deal with a wide range of oral histories. Secret Survivors has taken full advantage of the template developed in the Undesirable Elements series. Each survivor tells his or her own story in a series of linked monologues, and is bolstered in his or her telling by the choral participation of fellow actors. The choral element, a throwback to the Greek dramas, is particularly effective in at once highlighting these moments of high trauma even as it reveals the community of support these survivors have later carved out for themselves.

The power of an open conversation about such a taboo topic can often feel like a blow to the stomach. But, this unique performance has many layers. Though at times it leaves you hopeless, each narrative evokes a variety of feelings and emotions, for these survivors are real. They candidly share their multiple identities by voicing small vignettes of their lifetime journeys. "What is justice?" they ask -- each one gives their definition. The audience is left to ponder on this question too; days, even months after experiencing the performance.
Secret Survivors is a wake-up call about an issue that is too often kept hidden, a cancerous monster that needs to be addressed. It is a remarkable work that must be experienced by everyone, because 1 in 4 female-bodied and 1 in 6 male-bodied people are currently victimized. It is an epidemic problem that survivor Amita Swadhin is committed to solving. The performance is only the beginning of what has turned into her life-long journey.

For more information on Secret Survivors, visit www.secretsurvivors.org.

 By Ale Carvalho

^{Social Entrepreneurship and Non-Linear Dynamics: Chaos Theory in Service of Social Change}

^{(and while at it, let's borrow Heisenberg's Principle of Uncertainty too)}

Main thesis -   Powerful ideas implemented in the simplest form and in the smallest contexts possible have the potential to produce butterfly effects either by themselves or with the aid of a minimum set of enablers.

Today I was at the United Nations Development Programme talking amenities to Charles, a senior staff member from the Environment and Energy Group. Very cool guy. The topic of my upcoming Haiti trip came about, and we started discussing innovative approaches to care after a harsh disaster. Our conversation revolved around the care for the soul, care for the heart, and care for the spirit - not only the body as mainstream efforts so narrowly focus on. Music popped up as a venue, and we exchanged ideas for at least 20 minutes.

Charles then mentioned a small grassroots group in Kenya that started a soccer league and was using soccer as a way to bring self-esteem and life guidance to underprivileged kids. And he went on to say that they eventually became something big, with recognition and reach outside of the borders of Kenya.

That thought amazed me. How can such a tiny little effort, in such a tiny little place in Kenya, somehow reached the voices of two people at the United Nations in New York? and suddenly their work was being cherished and discussed by two people miles and miles away?

Eureka. That's the Butterfly Effect through a lens of Social Change. When powerful ideas with sufficient key enablers grow and reach the Tipping Point of Social Breakthrough (TPSB), oh my! they spread like wildfire around the community, city and sometimes world, changing mindsets and influencing new initiatives that will further positive impact.

Good ideas are highly contagious, resilient, and only perish when one stops believing on them, either because they weren't successful in producing the desired measurable effects or simply because the brain that generated the thought stop believing in it. And quit honestly, inventors of new things - be them prototypes or new ideas - are well known for being very stubborn to accept that the numbers were fair and clean when assessing their inventions and tend to continue spending time and even money on a condemned project. So in the end, as Plato would love to hear, ideas - like gods or deities - only die if you stop believing them.

So we should have a beautiful incubator of butterflies. Released around the globe with the minimum necessary, in the form of proof-of-concepts that may eventually become full-fledged projects or organizations, and who knows? Wingflaps in Cambodia, Kenya, Chad, Rio de Janeiro, Cuba, Mexico, Prague, Australia, and many other places in the world - and so sorry conventional wisdom: we have a big hurricane of change coming from all sides and been picked up by many different entrepreneurs that will advance, refine, and make the thought more elegant by adding new lessons learned.

 How many of them ideas will generate hurricanes? How many of them will die? Impossible to know beforehand. Heisenberg's Principle of Uncertainty. But do we have any choice but to have faith and launch?... see what happens? That's the thrill of Social Entrepreneurship. Ultimately a Leap of Faith into the unknown.  That's the thrill of life. That's something worth living for.

 

 

By Ralph Vacca

I'm no Jerry Maguire but I had you at "fellowship" didn't I? Understandably so... fellowships seem to be everywhere with new ones popping up as fast as those Facebook groups, 1 million people for [fill in the blank] (my favorite is the one to bring back Frankenberry cereal).

But in all seriousness there does seem to be a dramatic increase in fellowship opportunities. Specifically the fellowships I'm talking about are the ones around social entrepreneurship, social innovation, social change or whatever term you ascribe to that entails solving social problems. Even more specifically when I say fellowships, I mean finite developmental opportunities that provide practical experience in getting involved in the social change movement (think Teach for America).

So what's the deal with these social change fellowships? Rather than argue what is meant by social change, or label the fellowship explosion as a "fad" or "innovative", or even compare them with internships and volunteer opportunities, I'd like to plainly and simply ask two questions I've recently found myself thinking about as I try not to think about the cold slushy NYC weather.

First is the idea of how do fellowships serve as a catalyst to change an entire sector? Secondly, what are the implications for fellowships in recruiting locally or outside the local community?

So what got me thinking about fellowships? And no I won't make a Lord of the Rings joke here. What did it was my recent trip to Hubli, India this past January. Most probably have never heard of Hubli, but a friend described it best when she said it's like Ithaca, very lovely but not sure why you would visit. Anyway, I was there as part of an NYU course in International Social Impact Strategies, and I had the pleasure to learn more about an interesting fellowship called the Deshpande Fellows Program (DFP) housed at the Deshpande Center for Social Entrepreneurship (see image of cool building below).

In Hubli, in addition to permanently raising my tolerance for spicy food and watching Avatar in Hindi, I was inspired by the fellows in the DFP that were creating enterprises ranging from milk collection/distribution initiatives to security force services. Truly some very cool initiatives.

So... quick overview of DFP? Sure! DFP is a six-month program that trains and empowers locals (mostly those in the Karnataka region) to become social entrepreneurs and tackle mounting national social problems such as poverty, hunger and education. Through intense experiential learning the cohort of learners engage in projects that develop their entrepreneurial and leadership skills including how to use social media, devise business plans, and develop grassroots initiatives, etc.

So on to the first question I posed earlier. How do these fellowships serve as a catalyst to change an entire sector? Something that kept coming up was the challenge in getting the development sector in India to be more risk-friendly promoting innovation and new entrepreneurial ways of working. So in answering this we started to ask ourselves, should fellowships focus on preparing leaders to enter existing organization to bring about change from within or prepare entrepreneurs that will start new organizations that foster social entrepreneurship culture and innovation from the onset?

I likened the question to a romantic relationship where one asks themselves if they should work on changing a semi-functional relationship or start anew with someone else, this time knowing what works and what doesn't. Maybe not the best analogy but nonetheless relevant because what you face in trying to change organizations are people and a series of relationships that shape the organization's problem-solving approach. So therein lies the challenge for fellowship programs in that there seems to be a difference in preparing intrapreneurs with organizational change skills versus entrepreneurs that have enterprise birthing skills.

In line with thinking about the focus of the fellowship is also our second question, about the fellows themselves. What are the implications of fellowships recruiting locally versus outside the local community?

In learning about the DFP, it was inspiring to see the power of recruiting locals to address local issues. From being able to leverage the existing social capital they have within the communities being served, to inspiring a new generation of changemakers in children that see themselves in these leaders, the DFP made me wonder what would happen if Teach for America focused on cultivating local talent to work in schools being served? As we look to change pockets of the social sector through human capital development efforts (such as fellowships), how important is it that we focus on local talent that are not just passionate about social change, but often resonate with the issues on a personal level because they lived it, they understand it, and they are product of it.

So regardless of what answers you come to in pondering these questions on fellowships and social change, I'm sure we can all agree that having more change agents running around trying to make the world a better place can't be a bad thing. So to the social sector.... show me the fellowship!

More Information
Deshpande Fellows Program: http://www.deshpandefoundation.org/deshpande-fellowship-program.html
Ralph Vacca: http://www.nyu.edu/reynolds/grad/09_html/vacca.html

This post is by Yul-san Liem (am posting Alexandre's email re witnessing police harassment and my response to it together since he said he was having trouble posting to the blog.  His original email is below.)

 

This is my response, which I feel compelled to write, because I have been doing anti-police violence work for a little while now (really since 07), though folks I work with are far more knowledgeable ...  

 

That said, the first thing I will post are a few websites in case folks want more info about police accountability and anti-pv work that's going on in the city these days:

Peoplesjustice.org

 

Thejusticecommittee.org

 

http://mxgm.org/web/ (particularly see the know your rights info and the peoples self-defense campaign under Programs and Initiatives.)

 

http://ccrjustice.org/issues (see the Criminal Justice and Mass Incarceration section, esp the Stop and Frisk report.)

 

This list is by no means exhaustive, and doesn't deal with the incarceration side of the coin (with the exception of CCR).  It's just what comes quickly out of by head based on who I work with.

Secondly, as those of us who live in NYC know, what Alexandre witnesses is an upsetting, but not unusual scene.  Young, low-income folks of color are often targeted by the NYPD for very minor crimes (jumping turnstiles, riding bikes on the side walk, even spitting.)  More and more, cops are making arrests rather than giving young folks violations (tickets.)  While its is my understanding that there is no official quota system, cops are assessed for promotion based on the number of arrests they make, among other factors.  As a side note, young folks get handcuffed all the time (recently a 6 year-old was cuffed in a public school for throwing a tantrum.)  Additionally, partially in response of racial profiling, the recent years, the NYPD has made a concerted effort to recruit young people of color into their ranks.  You'll notice very few of the higher-ups are people of color (surprise surprise.)  Cops and anti-pv organizers alike often say that, first and foremost, the race of officers is blue - referring to the training and loyalty that makes cops ally with each other rather than their community members, and often cover up each other's abusive actions.

 

Third:  Some basic things you can do if you witness an instance of police violence:

 

1.   Stop and observe.  It's legal.  It may not deter an unlawful or unjust arrest, but it's possible that it will deter an escalated level of verbal, physical or sexual abuse.  (Of course, it also may not, thinking about Oscar Grant, where there were tons of folks watching.)

2.   If you have a camera on your phone or with you, document.  Police don't like this, but it's legal.  If the police tell you you're obstructing, tell them you will step back, but continue filming. Tell them you are observing your legal right to document police activity.

3.   If the person being targeted appears hurt or distraught, ask them about their condition.  If they feel comfortable talking to you, ask them if they want you to make a phone call for them and get the number.

4.   Write down the badge/car number of the cops involved and any other iding info.

5.   File a CCRB complaint (as Alexandre did.)  The more info you have about the event, the more likely it is that it will stick.  But it's still pretty unlikely (I think I have stats somewhere, if folks want.)

6.   If you actually want to do something more organized, get involved with a local Cop Watch team.  Some orgs. which do Cop Watch include the Justice Committee, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and Make the Road New York, but there are more. (You can get in touch with me for more info.)

 

Finally:  I have lot's of resourses/analysis about the who, what, why, when and where of police violence.  So if folks are interested, let me know.

 

Sorry about the long post. 

 

P.S. Peoples' Justice (a city-wide coalition) recently commissioned Know Your Rights murals in Bushwick and Washington Heights and posted anti-pv billboards in those neighborhoods and Bed-Stuy.  If you're in those neighborhoods, look out for them. 

 

On a Thursday Night... I Failed a 13 Year Old Boy 

 

By Alexandre Carvalho  

 

"First of all, I'd like to say to everyone that I am sorry. Sorry for me being so infuriated and to some extent radical today. Usually I have strong positions, but normally express them in a kind and calm way; always looking to ground them on good arguments and evidence. But my heart was inflamed for something that I saw at the subway, while rushing to be on time for class. Me and two other colleagues were coming back from Peter Singer's lecture about the "Moral Obligation to End Poverty". We escaped in the middle of it so to arrive precisely at the right time for our first class. We were 5 minutes late. When the train stopped at W 4th st., we stormed out of the train and saw this rather strange scene.

 

A thirteen year old African-American was being arrested by this rough Latino policeman' the cause we couldn't figure out why  and everyone just kept starring. I looked around and some were indifferent, some were angry (don't know if towards the police officer or the kid) and many, the majority, didn't hesitate for a second and just went on minding their business. I wanted to stop and do something, but I was simply paralyzed. Not literally, because I kept going towards the exit, but in terms of will and ethical reasoning. To make matters worse, the kid looked 9 and the officer said the following words: "You think that only because you are 13, you won't be handcuffed?" and handcuffs him then in front of everybody, while the kid bursts into tears. "You should be ashamed of yourself!". And by this time, we reach the stairs and lose sight of the story. 

 

But something was terribly wrong in all that, couldn't stop thinking about it. I wanted to go back and stand for the kid, to say to the policeman 'What did he do that is so serious that you need to harass him and humiliate him ' and worse, cause an irreversible damage on his psyche, by handcuffing him? You should be ashamed of yourself. I don't know what he did, but I certainly know that this is unnecessary. He might have failed to abide by the law, but we as a society have failed HIM too.' 

 

And by this time, I arrived to class. But even though John's a great professor (could notice it already!), GHPM a great subject to study, and even though I read all the articles and was ready to contribute a lot, I simply couldn't stop thinking on how wrong was I in not standing out for him against the police officer. 

 

And then I had to leave class to think this through. And so I did. The first thoughts that crossed my mind were an attempt to identify the reasons that made me such an indifferent person. Ha. I was afraid. Afraid to get into trouble with the NYPD and lose my F-1 Status, and thus my dream to acquire a MPH in NYC/NYU. Were I willing to risk my skin in order to do what is right? Apparently not. And this realization stung me. I felt terrible. So, all this education that I have, all the Foucault's, all the Pedagogy of the Oppressed, means nothing, because I can't make the connection of all that towards a clearly absurd situation. Of course the law would be on my side. But I was weak and not fast enough. 

 

I had to redeem myself somehow. I ran back to the subway station. When I reached the platform where the incident happened, the police and the kid weren't there. They took him. The subway surveillance office, where I went to ask for help, didn't know anything about it. So I went up the stairs and started to go back to Bobst' and got completely lost in the way. Know the region well enough by now, but for 20 minutes I kept going back and fourth in the streets without knowing the right way. Maybe me losing myself completely was an expression of how I was inside. Lost. With no directions." 

 

P.S.: I placed a complaint in 311 and they will investigate, and try to set up a personal appointment; will it work? Don't know. Have to hope for the best. 

 

By Nathan Maton 

I recently interviewed Nathaniel Loewentheil (NL, pictured left) about the Roosevelt Institute, a student run policy organization he founded that now has over 7,000 students on 70 campuses. I think it represents a unique kind of social entrepreneurship, a type of which we have not heard much about in the NYU Reynolds Program-policy entrepreneurship. The Roosevelt Institute started as a national student-run think tank to inject young people's voices into the national policy debate and brought it to DC, where they have earned a place at the table on many progressive issues. I hope you enjoy the interview.

 

A reflection on Greg Mortenson, Three Cups of Tea, and CAI.

by Lizzie Hetzer

With a meek, modest, humble nature, Greg Mortenson radiates with a passion for education that bubbles just below the surface. Perhaps it's this mild and humble manner that allows Mortenson to so gently observe and respect the communities with which he has worked.

Mortenson's Central Asia Institute has the unique posture of working with communities to build ideal schools where much of the educational philosophy can be imagined, rather than fitted within an existing bureaucratic structure. While Mortenson could have taken any approach to education, CAI appears to have done the opposite of what is happening in the U.S. As hyper-standardization and rigid structure appear to be at the forefront of "education reform" in the States, Mortenson's organization builds community-owned schools in which communities have actual decision-making power, where spending is transparent. There is a contract with communities in which they decide how the schools will be governed.

Mortenson knows about the importance of listening. Asking: What are your community's priorities? Acknowledging the lived expertise of community members. While we privilege certain types of education and expression--for example written expression--these don't define education, knowledge, or intelligence. The ability to "read the world" can be just as powerful. Community members are experts in their lived experiences and can contribute to prioritizing and planning.

Educational theorist Paulo Freire pushes towards a theory of "dialogical action" when working with communities. He warns against falling prey to "cultural invasion" in which development workers and professionals come to solve all problems and develop solutions on their own. In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, he argues that often times, "professional" or "educated" individuals "do not listen to the people, but instead plan to teach them how to 'cast off the laziness which creates underdevelopment.' To these professionals, it seems absurd to consider the necessity of respecting the 'view of the world' held by the people." In order to be with communities rather than over or inside, we must recognize the importance of dialogue (sharing and listening) and appreciating the expertise of all participants in the process.

Mortenson made it clear that he believes communities are capability of running schools (tell this to the NYC Department of Ed!)

CAI schools are formed with community input that includes a focus on storytelling, culture, and languages. Storytelling can be a major stronghold within a community--in sharing and shaping history. In Local Acts, Jan Cohen Cruz, an Associate Professor at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and community-based artist, comments, "storytelling as a traditional form of education passes on values, practices, experience, and knowledge that affirm the collective identity of the group." Education and schooling have the potential to distance students and participants from their communities or allow them to form connections with the community, explore the community's history, and recognize the beauty and struggle that lies within. Often, schooling drives students to leave the community if we place a negative focus on the community. The only desirable possibility is to escape. It's important to recognize education's potential to build up communities and preserve and share their important histories.

Mortenson describes education as an act of engagement and experience. He references the need to smell, taste, touch, and feel. Theater of the Oppressed author, practitioner and theorist Augusto Boal translated Freire's popular education theories into participatory and theatrical games and exercises. Through participatory techniques, Boal challenges us to truly listen to what we hear, feel what we touch, and see what we are looking at. With the development of these senses, we can pursue Freire's concept of literacy, not only learning to read words, but to read the world through sensory experience and emotion. And finally, by reading and recognizing the world, we are called to challenge, transform and re-name it.

When we hear Greg Mortenson's story, his quest to build schools to promote peace, we are touched. Why can't education be like this in the States? Do we think we are too advanced for an education that promotes community and peace? How can we re-imagine education?