ASAP: Education in Emergencies Syllabus

Fred Mednick, EdD
ASAP: Education in Emergencies

Fall, 2013 Syllabus Instructor
Fred Mednick, Ed.D Founder, Teachers Without Borders Visiting Fellow, Johns Hopkins University School of Education 206-356-4731 fred@twb.org or fred.mednick@jhu.edu Course blogs, news, research, resources, and projects will be available also at: www.emergency-education.org
ASAP: Education in Emergencies was designed to work as an online course for the public at large, Continuing Education Units for educators, or as full-credit elective. What you see here is a version of the CEU course. Other versions have been developed. All versions are enhanced by online networks and projects.
This course was also designed as a face-to-face experience, supported by online networks and projects. Both online and face-to-face versions can be customized to work as self-contained, 6 week or 9-12 week versions. Substantially shorter and more modular versions are currently being developed.
ASAP: Introduction to Emergency Education: Syllabus
Fred Mednick, EdD
Table of Contents
Course Overview .............................................................................................................................. 2 Credits and Grading Criteria ............................................................................................................ 4 Technology and Public Blog Posting Requirements ........................................................................ 4 Essential Course Policies .................................................................................................................. 5 Readings ........................................................................................................................................... 7 Online Public Events/Webinars: Conversations with Colleagues ................................................... 7 SESSIONS .......................................................................................................................................... 8 1. Getting Organized | Getting Acquainted | Getting Oriented.................................................. 8 2. The Wrong Place at the Right Time: Introducing INEE ......................................................... 10 3. If Only: Education Emergencies and the Global Development Agenda ............................... 11 4-6: Drilling Down, Digging Out, Delivering Education: The INEE Toolkit................................. 13 7. Momaland: Case Study and Assessment Strategies .............................................................. 19 8. Support from Viewers Like You: Emergency Education Public Appeals ............................... 20 9. Girls Quake Science and Safety Initiative: TWB Project ....................................................... 22
Course Overview
Pick up any newspaper, open any computer, or turn on a phone the news of emergencies about large-scale emergencies is inescapable and familiar, by name, to us all: the movement of Syrian refugees, an ongoing genocide in Darfur, the protracted crises following the earthquake in Haiti, seasonal floods in Bangladesh, rogue states, bombs in Boston. And on the cover of Time Magazine the image of a Pakistani girl shot for daring to go to school. Emergencies are ubiquitous. Global education, too, is a commonly discussed topic. This course draws a direct line between them. We will also look for a line between international development and global aid.
The Interagency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) shall serve as our guide as we It is this instructors opinion that INEE draw those lines. We will explore a case study represents our greatest hope for designed by practitioners, global agencies, and children and the capacity for stakeholders, examine INEEs Toolkit and curricular educators to ensure their safe future. frameworks used in the field, and critique a plan to include 100,000 girls in an earthquake science and safety program designed for seismically vulnerable populations. Students will connect with colleagues from around the world those registered for this course, as well as with colleagues working in the field. Like work amidst an emergency, collaboration is
This course is devoted to and is based upon the work of the Interagency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE).
Fred Mednick, EdD essential. In that spirit, this course emphasizes learning from and with each other. Students will also be required to share their points of view in their personal, public blogs so that they can engage, learn from, and support a larger audience. This course is designed to engage a wide range of audiences: anyone who is passionate about a region, a particular kind of disaster, or seeks to know more, possibly even initiate or change ones career. It has value for the seasoned practitioner seeking new perspectives after having worked in the trenches, or the NGO looking for a framework to adapt its own course, or a donor who is in a position to be of service, yet needs to know more. I must warn you that the subject is not for those faint of heart. Most likely, this course will challenge, exasperate, anger, and raise many more questions than provide answers. For example, lets say that an earthquake has just struck a seismically vulnerable region. We know that, in under-resourced, densely populated regions, 50% of the children who die in earthquakes perish in their schools. How blurry is the line between such as this natural disaster and the national disaster of poor building codes, policy, transparency, neglect, misinformation, or lack of preparedness and planning? What next? Stand on a chair and scream, I told you so!? Has the government been bound by the structure of loans, making it impossible to reinforce buildings? For some of you, these questions raise moral dilemmas around pointing fingers. For others, no excuses are acceptable. We can all agree on this: children are victims of any emergency, vulnerable to the ravages of human trafficking, disease, and recruitment into paramilitary gangs. We hear often that states cannot maintain their schools or protect education. In emergencies, students, and schools are often unable to function or establish any semblance of normalcy. Many NGOs, well-resourced individuals, and global agencies attempt to address these gaps, but fragile states have been known to rely on foreign aid rather than on the chief responsibility of educating their people. Sometimes, establishing schools serves as a haven for children. At other times, schools are targeted for attack or serve as warehouses for stockpiles of arms. The classic approach has been this: in emergencies, human necessities must be addressed ASAP, triage style: stop the bleeding; protect, feed, clothe, and house the people; seek more aid; rinse and repeat. An assumption may be that education in emergencies is, well, less urgent. This is where the Interagency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) comes in. INEE has pioneered the notion that education is a basic necessity and cannot wait an indispensible component of prevention and planning, response, recovery, and reconstruction. INEE gathers and supports global stakeholders to build and maintain Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies. Thanks to INEE, educators are now part of first-responder teams. Education clusters coordinate activities, assess needs, accelerate normalcy, and make it possible for other emergency work to continue. In short, INEE has made it clear that education is the currency that drives communities and simply cannot be separated, sheltered, or subsumed during an emergency. Finally, a reminder: this course is an introduction to the field of education in emergencies, not a comprehensive training program. It is impossible to do justice to these issues in a single course. Youll see that within minutes. All emergencies do not look, feel, or act alike, requiring a complex interplay of culture, history, power, language, local assets, global resources, obstacles, and opportunities. Education in emergencies requires in-depth training, mentorship, and professional development impossible to achieve in the short time we have together. But you have to start somewhere, and I say we must do so ASAP.
Fred Mednick, EdD
Credits and Grading Criteria

CREDITS: This is non-credit course professional development course is available for Continuing Education Units (CEUs). In selected cases, students can solicit a letter of recommendation: a valuable asset in a teachers portfolio. The degree to which you commit to the course content (and each other) determines the quality of that letter.
To receive CEU credit, all assignments must be completed in the form of a portfolio (described below). The professor may require that students make edits before determining the completion of any assignment. . In addition to the written assignments, students are required to respond to the readings and to each other throughout each week by posing or responding to issues or the comments of each other. This cannot be saved up until the end. Should there be any issue about making deadlines, the professor must be contacted in advance. Attendance is determined by student engagement with the classroom content and tools, with other students, and with the instructor.
GRADING: Were going to be using a point system. Youll get feedback on discussions and assignments.
Please know that your work will NOT be judged based upon the style or grammar of your writing, especially because a significant number of colleagues will not be writing in your first language. That would not be fair. Students submissions for assignments shall be evaluated based upon the following criteria:
[6]: Exemplary: Clear incorporation of research, an extra effort to learn more, proper
acknowledgment of material other than your own, creativity, and clarity. All of this would be worthy of sharing to educators around the world and makes a contribution to our knowledge of teaching and learning. Mentor status.
[4-5]: Meets Requirements: Satisfies the expectations of the assignment with professional
use of sources. Core competency
[3]: Needs Work: Basic treatment of the ideas, but needs to dig deeper in order to show
core competence. To get credit, I would be asking for a revision
[0-2]: No Credit: (a) Student uses others ideas as her/his own without attribution, and/or
(b) does not address or respect the assignment.
Technology and Public Blog Posting Requirements

You will need to get technologically organized so that you can know where to go for information and what to do to access required technologies. Once I receive your email address from the registration office at Johns Hopkins University School of Education, I will send more information about these required technologies, including invitations to various sites youll need to access (or form accounts on) so that you can meet course requirements. Course Platform (ELC): http://olms.cte.jhu.edu/olms2/login/. This is where you will go to access course content, get assignments, hold discussions, and receive comments/grades on papers. We are also working on another course site, but dont worry about that now.
Fred Mednick, EdD Blog (Required). All students are required to have a blog so that your writing can be made available and accessible publicly. You can use any blog service that you like: WordPress. Blogger, Tumblr are all good examples. If youre new to blogging, there are plenty of great tutorials and great advice to help you get started. Click on Technology for this Course FAQs to learn about our rationale for going in this direction. o Each assignment description will clarify whether to post it also to your blog o Try to remember to tag your blog Twitter (Strongly Recommended): I strongly encourage you to regularly use Twitter for this class. This is a great way for having real-time or near real-time conversations with your colleagues. o Simply tweet questions, comments, and other class-relevant content with the you complete a new blog entry, post a link on Twitter with #JHUemergencyed o If you already have a Twitter account, use that one, as long as your posts include #JHUemergencyed. Otherwise, creating an account is easy! Here are some tutorials (if youre a pro or not) on the basic language of Twitter and how to tweet
Technology FAQs
Why so many different technology sites?
First, you should own the work you produce, rather than evaporate when the course ends. By creating accounts on a system outside of our course platform, the artifacts you create can be stored for your use anytime. Second, we chose those tools you can use in your work. Well also introduce more. Social networks, embedded widgets, new apps, RSS feeds, and micro-blogging can enhance interaction, emphasize collaboration, and engage your students. We admit that these technologies are not ends unto themselves, but they are a powerful means to get there.
I am not great at technology. Can I get some help with this? For every required technology, tutorials are available. If need be, we can assign a technology partner if you need help or offer webinars. Besides, you have a host of new colleagues you can ask. Dont be afraid.
Essential Course Policies

Policies on Sharing Intellectual Property
The Internet represents a new, intellectual social contract. Today, learning requires the sharing of ideas, but it must be done honorably. You might write something that someone, somewhere needs. Post it and share it.1 You might also find the perfect article to address an issue you wish to
1
The majority of our policies about the creation, use, and reuse of content are adapted from the work of our colleague, David Wiley, PhD of Brigham Young University a pioneer in the field of Open Educational Resources (OER). To learn more about the transformative power of OER, please look up: www.davidwiley.org and, in particular, his course: Introduction to Openness in Education. ASAP: Introduction to Emergency Education: Syllabus
Fred Mednick, EdD explore for an assignment. Go ahead, post it, but you must cite it and give credit to the author direct us to the URL so that we can all benefit. The assignments are not roadblocks to conquer, but opportunities for growth. An article you may have just found is a means, not an end, to a point you want to make. Use it to reinforce your point, not in place of your point. Plagiarism (copying and pasting the work of others without appropriate attribution or credit to the author) is theft, plain and simple.
Plagiarism: Your Reputation is at Stake

On occasion, I will spot-check for plagiarism, but I dont want to chase after you. Thats not learning its policing. At the same time, your blog posts will be public. If you copy and paste others work without proper attribution, someone will notice. Your reputation, even your job, could be at stake. As U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously observed, sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.2 Your reputation should be the driving motivator for doing ones best in this course.
Official Language from Johns Hopkins University on Academic Integrity

Violations of academic integrity and ethical conduct include, but are not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, unapproved multiple submissions, knowingly furnishing false or incomplete information to any agent of the University for inclusion in academic records For full policy and misconduct proceedings, see the Academic Policy section of School of Education.
Late Work Policy

Educators are some of the busiest people in the world. I understand how the tyranny of the urgent can play havoc with deadlines. At the same time, many assignments require collaboration, and group work entails obligations to each other. Whether it is an individual assignment or a collaborative project, please be reasonable, and I will be as well. Whatever the circumstance, please inform me (and/or your group) so that no one is caught off guard. Excessive lateness could result in notification of no-credit for the assignment and/or the course.
Religious Observance Accommodation Policy

Religious holidays are valid reasons to be excused from time-bound events like webinars. Students who must miss a class or examination because of a religious holiday must inform me as early in the term as possible in order to ensure that there is adequate time to make up and respond to the work
Participation
Participation and discussions are included in student grading and evaluation. The instructor will clearly communicate expectations and grading policy in the course syllabus. Students who are unable to participate in the online sessions for personal, professional, religious, or other reasons are encouraged to contact me to discuss alternatives.
Louis D. Brandeis, cited on the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, University of Louisville website, in Other Peoples Money Chapter V: http://bit.ly/9vfrYh
Fred Mednick, EdD
Statement of Academic Continuity

For any of us, things happen. In the event of issues (serious personal matters, no access to the internet, or other extraordinary circumstances) preventing active participation in, and/or the delivery of this online course, well do our best to make accommodations. If it happens to your course instructors or the School of Educations platform goes down, for example, we may have to change the normal academic schedule and/or make appropriate changes to course structure, format, and delivery.
Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

If you are a student with a documented disability who requires an academic adjustment, auxiliary aid or other similar accommodations, please contact Jennifer Eddinger in the Disability Services Office at 410-516-9734 or via email at soe.disabilityservices@jhu.edu.
Statement of Diversity and Inclusion

Johns Hopkins University is a community committed to sharing values of diversity and inclusion in order to achieve and sustain excellence. We believe excellence is best promoted by being a diverse group of students, faculty, and staff who are committed to creating a climate of mutual respect that is supportive of one anothers success. Through its curricula and clinical experiences, the School of Education purposefully supports the Universitys goal of diversity, and, in particular, works toward an ultimate outcome of best serving the needs of all students in K-12 schools and/or the community. Faculty and candidates are expected to demonstrate a commitment to diversity as it relates to planning, instruction, management, and assessment.
Readings
No textbooks, no extra fees, no additional obstacles. All readings have been selected from available sources freely available on the Internet and are listed here in the syllabus.
Online Public Events/Webinars: Conversations with Colleagues

My courses are often comprised of students who come from around the globe. We all share a passion for the subject, but we rarely share the same time zone. Therefore, my courses stay away from bandwidth-heavy, real-time teaching and focus. Instead, they focus on individual scholarship, local action, and group collaboration. I still do miss live discussions, so were going to attempt some here and do our best to offer them during reasonable hours. We will record these webinar-like conversations, of course, should you not be able to participate. We will provide you with all the technology youll need to participate. While I work on the schedule and topics, here is what I would like to cover, with you as panelists and, I hope, invited guests: experts on the topic and practitioners in the field.
Public Conversation/Webinar 1: (Dates TBD) Global Tragedies: Local and Global Solutions A short presentation by Sharon Ravitch, PhD, a professor at the School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania and the Senior Advisor to the Minister of Education of Haiti. Sharon will address the challenges and opportunities of working in Port- au-Prince following the 2010 Earthquake, along with her particular contributions in community assessment and countrywide
Fred Mednick, EdD educational capacity building. There will be plenty of time for questions and conversation.
Public Conversation/Webinar 2: Humanitarianism Without Humanitarians? (Dates TBD)

The title of this webinar was coined in this weeks reading by digital activist, Patrick Meier, PhD., a pioneer in the role technology plays in emergency relief, global transparency, and mapping in crises. His blog is worth reading: http://irevolution.net/. I will do my best to attract Patrick to participate in this weeks session and webinar. We have gathered colleagues who represent diverse points of view on the subject of the impact of individual efforts and the technologyenabled wisdom of crowds in disaster relief.
Public Conversation/Webinar 3: (Dates TBD): Earthquakes, Floods, and Education: A Conversation with Colleagues in Pakistan and Tajikistan Short presentation by: (1) Sameena Nazir, Founder of PODA (Potohar Organization of Development Assistance), an NGO devoted to the education of girls, crafts, and human rights in Pakistan, and (2) Solmaz Mohadjer, Founder of PARSQUAKE (an organization devoted to earthquake education in the Persian-speaking community). Well follow this by time for your questions and comments.
COURSE SESSIONS 1. Getting Organized | Getting Acquainted | Getting Oriented

SESSION 1: (Date) Getting Organized
For me, syllabi are not limited to outlines of course topics. Because my courses are taught mostly online, they need to self-explanatory, portable, and understood as mini courses. I say all this so that you will consider the syllabus as part of your course readings. Besides, there are important policies within. Put another way, dont think of this syllabus as a piece of software to download; 99.9% of us click the little box indicating weve read and agreed with the policies. Not so here. As for the technology itself, dont worry. We have provided tutorials, along with optional, live webinar(s) and support sessions. The technology section is here. Heres a checklist: o Know where to see the course material: Hopkins Course Platform - ELC o Get a blog and fill out the Google Doc so that your instructors and mentors know where to fetch it o Twitter (recommended) and reminder to use #JHUemergencyed in your post
Please also read our technology relates to respect for intellectual property. Click here.
Getting Acquainted Discussion: (required)

Most online courses begin by asking students to introduce themselves. Fair enough. I often take a less direct approach by asking a provocative question like: What do you see outside your
Fred Mednick, EdD window, and how does this shape your view of education today? Sometimes I ask for a personal response to an image, or a short video. This time, its a poem by Nobel Prize winner, Wisawa Szymborska, entitled: Psalm: http://www.stanford.edu/~weiler/Szymborska.pdf. I have chosen this poem for its obvious allusions to borders. Very often, we hear about emergencies taking place in regions we may never visit, affecting people we may never meet. Yet, somehow, you have chosen to take a course on education in emergencies. What lines speak (or do not speak) to you? When you read this, what does your heart or your head bring forth? Its best to let the poem percolate by sitting quietly after you read it, rather than rushing to the keyboard. Please post a response to the introduction and poem, below, and comment on at least two other colleagues posts. If possible (and this is optional), I encourage you to upload an image, video, or drawing if it can show
Due: Getting Oriented: Education in Emergencies Central Questions and Readings

Lets start with some central questions to keep in mind. Theyll come up again and again: What types of interventions are included in education in emergencies? Why has education been left out of standard humanitarian response for so long? When did education interventions first start to appear in humanitarian responses? What are the international legal foundations that underpin education in emergencies? How might the growing awareness surrounding the needs of children in emergencies (establishing normalcy, child protection, and psychosocial well-being) affect the strategy of humanitarian response? What role might culture, religion, and class play in emergency education? Who and what are the key players, structures and institutions for education in emergencies and how do they work together? What are the reliable methods for evaluating the impact of education in emergencies?
Readings
Education Under Attack UNESCO: (required) Schools as Battlegrounds (Human Rights Watch): (recommended)
Discussion Post (Required a paragraph or two)

When you consider the questions, readings, and your own response to the discussion prompt (Outside My Window), what does your gut say? Have you experienced this before, and if so, you might want to describe what you experienced. If its too early to open upor the issue is too raw, please do not feel compelled to do so.
Fred Mednick, EdD
Also Required: Please also comment on at least two responses to your colleagues as well. Due: (TBD)
2. The Wrong Place at the Right Time: Introducing INEE

SESSION 2: (Date) Overview
The Interagency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) is a global network of individual and organizational members (as of June 2006) who are working together within a humanitarian and development framework to ensure the right to education in emergencies and post-crisis reconstruction. INEE works to improve communication and coordination by cultivating and facilitating collaboration and constructive relationships among its members and partners. The INEE Steering Group provides overall leadership and direction for the network; current Steering Group members include CARE, Christian Childrens Fund, the International Rescue Committee, the International Save the Children Alliance, the Norwegian Refugee Council, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNICEF and the World Bank. INEEs Working Group on Minimum Standards facilitates the global implementation of the INEE Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, Chronic Crises and Early Reconstruction.
Objectives
To explore issues faced by those working in the Education in Emergencies field To recognize and articulate the structure of INEE and apply principles to case studies and further activities/exercises To enable students to demonstrate how educational systems prepare for and react to various sorts of emergencies, from the general sense that educational systems themselves are in crisis to natural disasters such as earthquakes to manmade disasters such as wars.
Readings: Required and Recommended

INEE: Minimum Standards: Preparedness, Response, Recovery (required) Protecting Education: (recommended media clips) The UN Declaration of Human Rights The Sphere Project The Humanitarian Charter (recommended)
Discussion Post: You choose the topic. Please respond to other students, not just to their
response on your post
Due: (TBD)
10
Fred Mednick, EdD
Public Conversation/Webinar 1: (Dates TBD) Global Tragedies: Local and Global Solutions A short presentation by Sharon Ravitch, PhD, a professor at the School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania and the Senior Advisor to the Minister of Education of Haiti. Sharon will address the challenges and opportunities of working in Port- au-Prince following the 2010 Earthquake, along with her particular contributions in community assessment and countrywide educational capacity building. There will be plenty of time for questions and conversation.
3. If Only: Education Emergencies and the Global Development Agenda

We began this course by diving right in and looking at the gravity of education in emergencies. Id like to pull back the lens a bit so that you may view how the field may fit into the overall global development agenda, if at all. All of this is intended to illustrate the connections, if any, between development and global aid, with a particular emphasis on how INEE seeks to bridge the gap. According to the United Nations, the eight Millennium Development Goals form a blueprint agreed to by all the worlds countries and all the worlds leading development institutions. They have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the worlds poorest. Access to highquality education is widely recognized as a universal human right. MDGs focus on national selfreliance, sound policy, sustainability, educational access, and global transparency. Its an optimistic vision and proponents do make a compelling case more children than ever are attending school; MOOCs (massive open online courses) are not only free, but inclusive, watchdog agencies are exposing abuses. While global diseases have become more difficult to identify and treat, public health successes in areas such as hygiene and immunization campaigns have benefited from public-private partnerships and individual philanthropy (Bono, Gates). The picture of development through education is not altogether rosy. In many poor countries, a quality basic education is hardly universal. And the voice of those critical of development and aid are growing louder. The firestorm of criticism directed toward the development world is particularly scorching. If, as H.G. Wells once said, "education is a race between civilization and catastrophe," then many claim catastrophe is winning. More sub-Saharan Africans have cellphones than access to clean drinking water. Poverty pornographers descended upon Haiti after the earthquake in order to raise money, yet today, three years later, there is enough rubble in the streets of Port-au-Prince streets to build a four-lane highway to Los Angeles and back again. Bookshelves are filled with this topic, and their titles speak volumes: The Road to Hell: Ravaging Effects of Foreign Aid and International Charity; The Lords of Poverty: The Power, Prestige, and Corruption of the International Aid Business; White Mans Burden: Why the Wests Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done so Much Ill and so Little Good; Famine Crimes: Politics and the Disaster Relief Industry in Africa; Condemned to Repeat?: The Paradox of Humanitarian Action; The Crisis Caravan: Whats Wrong with International Aid? Depressing, indeed.
11
Fred Mednick, EdD Palagunmi Sainaths Everybody Loves a Good Drought; Stories from Indias Poorest Districts paints a nightmarish, development-is-its-own-disaster picture of do-gooders: Development is the strategy of evasion. When you cant give people land reform, give them hybrid cows. When you cant send children to school, try non-formal education. When you cant provide basic health to people, talk of health insurance. Cant give them jobs? Not to worry, just redefine the words employment opportunities." Dont want to do away with using children as a form of slave labor? Never mind. Talk of improving the conditions of child labor! It sounds good. You can even make money out of it.[i] The key takeaway is for you to decide. In the meantime, many would agree that we must bridge the gap between international development strategies and the world of global aid following a disaster. Its akin to the adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound a cure. If only, many say. This course is about effusing this kind of sensibility in the global work we do, whether in our own backyard or around the world. One organization seems to be getting it right, particularly because of their central role in mobilizing networks of high-quality development and humanitarian organizations and agencies: The Interagency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE).
Readings and Review

Millennium Development Goals: (United Nations) MDG Monitor: Tracking the MDGs: (Global Governance Watch) One: powerful infographics about the Millennium Development Goals Education in Emergencies - Critical Factor in Achieving the MDGs: (International Rescue Committee)
Discussion Post
Required: 1 page maximum, plus please comment on at least 2 other colleagues posts. Also required: please post your response to your blog and tag it with JHUemergencyed. Due:
As someone unfamiliar with the MDGs, as a well-seasoned practitioner in the trenches, as a head of an NGO, or as a donor, what would you do to affect one of the MDGs? Why? How? Would you work in the policy area for maternal-child health? Associate yourself with a particular NGO in a region you know about or you know is suffering? Although it may be hard to contain yourself, do not focus on what has been done poorly by others, but what you can see yourself doing. NOTE: Well form working groups to connect a particular MDG with a particular emergency and a toolkit used in the field
12
Fred Mednick, EdD
4-6: Drilling Down, Digging Out, Delivering Education: The INEE Toolkit
SESSIONS 4-6: (Dates) Objective: Purpose, Groups, and Project
These next three sessions are meaty and complex. I have provided a great deal of detail for each step of the way, so reading this syllabus carefully is absolutely essential. These sessions involve lots of communication in a global collaboration within groups formed around each of the Millennium Development Goals (2) The production a 1.5 page briefing paper and group slide show, available to the public, to connect the MDG you have chosen with an emergency in a particular region. We will: Dig deeper into the MDGs and work with a group based upon one you choose Collaborate on a project within your MDG group Review research and activities that address your MDG in a particular country Choose an acute or protracted emergency taking place in that country Identify and interview practitioners working on that emergency Make connections between Millennium Development Goals and INEE thematic areas Create the briefing paper and assemble the public, online slide presentation based upon what you have learned
Meaty and complex, right? Even more, it takes place in the middle of the class, rather than as a culminating assignment. I know this all sounds a bit crazy, but there is a method to the madness. If you train yourself to think big picture, even amidst acute or protracted emergency, youll be better off. In the world of development, if one digs in the trenches only, one cannot see where its going. If one flies overhead, one cannot even recognize the trench. This is about leadership and about the complex relationship between compass and map, development and aid. Besides, this work always requires that one bite off more than one can chew. Patience required. Hopefully, three weeks will be enough time to accomplish it all. Progress toward the goal will look something like this: Read/Choose MDG Group > Pick an Emergency & Research > Interviews > Reports & Sharing
Overview
A high-ranking United Nations section leader once gave me a working definition of a teacher. From my experience in the field, a teacher is anyone with valuable information to share. It is interesting to note that, whether you are a student envisioning your future, a seasoned professional, or a donor, youre an educator. Even more, relief agencies have made the mistake of not conducting an assessment of community assets, alongside of their characteristic deficit assessments. Should that be standard practice (again, part of INEE protocols), services not only can be enhanced, but also sustained. Doctors and community health workers can be refugees, too, with many of the same intellectual resources and more credibility than those flown in.
13
Fred Mednick, EdD This session is designed to introduce you to well-crafted handbooks developed by INEE and partners, in very close communication with community leaders. It is now time to start drawing threads together: your passion, the MDGs, and now the INEE Toolkit, by choosing a thematic area you would like to discuss further, in groups. Focus on the INEE Toolkit Thematic Issues. Keep in mind your passion for a particular issue the earlier readings (INEE, Education Under Attack, the Millennium Development Goals), and our class discussions. All of this will lead to joining ONE MDG group, discussing your views there, and preparing a project presentation that will connect MDGs and INEE Toolkit Thematic Areas. Think of it this way: One Column is an MDG; another column is an INEE Thematic Theme. Your job is to draw vital connections between them.
STEP 1: Required Readings

INEE Toolkit Key Thematic Issues/Resource Packs (required: centerpiece for what follows) INEE Standards Integrated Toolkit: Integrated Humanitarian Response (support document)
Recommended Readings
Education in Emergencies: Toolkit - Prevention Web (worth scanning) Disaster Risk Reduction: UNICEF South Asia (for your reference) Millennium Development Goals (Refresher) Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger Achieving universal primary education Promoting gender equality and empowering women Reducing child mortality rates Improving maternal health Combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases Ensuring environmental sustainability Developing a global partnership for development
So far, youre at this point in the project: Read/Choose MDG Group > Pick an Emergency & Research > Interviews > Reports & Sharing
STEP 2: Join and Work in a Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Group

After youve done some reading, join a group that reflects your interest. Choose wisely, as this will be a working group for the next three weeks. Instructions for Joining an MDG Group: (to be provided)
2a: Post to the Discussion Space in your MDG Group

Post a reflection to the discussion (personally or professionally) about why you have chosen this group. Describe the thematic area you have chosen as well. Is it something you are simply curious about or that strikes you as entirely new? Is it a personal or professional
14
Fred Mednick, EdD
experience that drives you to learn more or to express yourself? Are you suspicious about, or inspired by, current efforts in this area?
2b: Inside Your Group: Get Organized

Here is where the moving parts start kicking in, so being organized really matters. The group space on the Hopkins courseware site includes these components: Updates, News/Blog, Discussion, Chat, Resources, and a Calendar. Make certain you use the Resource tab for listing your organizations and contacts used in your research. (Well download everyones resources at the end of the course and make certain that all have a copy). This should be enough to keep you organized. If not, you can communicate via email, Google Groups, or whatever the organizers amongst you feel is best. Your group will depend upon each persons effort in order to accomplish the following: To learn more about your chosen MDG To choose an acute or protracted emergency and learn more about it To discover the players working on your chosen MDG and chosen emergency To share interviews with those players To investigate how the INEE Toolkit is being used (or can be used) there To create a briefing paper (1.5 pages) and public slide presentation
ADVICE ABOUT GROUPS: Groups can be really frustrating because of lack of communication or clarity. After you have introduced yourselves, talk frankly about protocols. Ill post more links to guidelines for group-work to help you along the way. In the meantime, heres what I have learned over the years: in groups, some colleagues emerge as leaders, while others like to play a supporting role. Some wish to focus on numbers; others on stories. Many groups take on these roles: Organizers: People valued for their ability to manage Creators: People who create content (numbers, stories, and pictures) Distillers: People who transform complex ideas into forms we can all understand Presenters: People who put it all together for public presentation Technologists: People who get technology and can solve problems for everyone
Back to the task at hand. So far, youre at this point in the project: Read/Choose MDG Group > Pick an Emergency & Research> Interviews > Reports & Sharing
STEP 3: Group Decision: A Particular Emergency and Research

Your MDG group needs to choose either a (1) recent or acute emergency this or last year, like ethnic cleansing in Burma, or (2) an ongoing emergency, like the protracted reconstruction efforts in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake. So, at this point, youve gathered as an MDG group and now youre deciding on WHAT emergency and WHERE. Explore BOTH the MDG and the emergency in that country. Keep in mind that your group presentation will focus on the questions raised at the beginning of this course. What types of interventions are happening to address the emergency? Who are the key players, structures and institutions? How do they work together?
15
Fred Mednick, EdD How has the INEE Toolkit (and others like it) been used to address the issue? What are the challenges? (Examples: government obstruction, lack of resources, corruption) How might the growing awareness surrounding the needs of this emergency affect the strategy of humanitarian response? What role might culture, religion, and class play in this emergency? What methods are being used to evaluate the impact of education in this emergency?
Look at research, data sets, media reports, voices from the field, blogs, images, video, and watchdog networks. In short, what is going on? Think about this from the development perspective (MDGs) and the emergency perspective (INEE: relief and aid). So, heres where you are so far: Read/Choose MDG Group > Pick an Emergency & Research > Interviews > Reports & Sharing On the next page, please find a chart that can give you a more visual sense of what I would like you to do.
16
Fred Mednick, EdD
CHART: Matching the MDG with the INEE Thematic Area/Toolkit At a Glance
MDGs INEE Toolkit
MDG 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty & Hunger MDG 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education Conflict Mitigation Disaster Risk Reduction Early Childhood Gender HIV-AIDS
Human Rights
Inclusive Education
Protection
Psychosocial Support
Youth
MDG 3: Gender Equality, Empowerment

MDG 4: Reduce Child Mortality Rates MDG 5: Improve Maternal Health MDG 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria MDG 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability MDG 8: Develop Global Partnerships for Dev.
Lets say that you have chosen MDG 3: Gender Equality, Empowerment. Now you have a group devoted to the issue. Next, your group debates the various INEE Toolkits and decides to focus on Human Rights. Next, someone suggests places to go for research. Another person learns that there is an extraordinary NGO, Potohar Organization for Development Advocacy (PODA), in Rawalpindi, Pakistan that focuses on gender equality and empowerment through training in education and human rights. They have been working on this issue for quite some time, and have become increasingly vocal about Pakistans status on scales measuring progress toward the MDGs. Youd clearly place them on the development, versus aid and relief side. They educate girls, gain support from men for womens empowerment, teach crafts, and every room displays a poster of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. Lately, however, they have stepped up their efforts to identify the issue as an emergency, especially in light of the news about how a girl, Malala Yousafzai, was shot for promoting education for girls. The head of that organization, Sameena Nazir, is available for a Skype or email interview. Others choose to interview field workers at international agencies or NGOs. At this point, youre in great shape: Youve chosen an MDG, an INEE Thematic Area, and a region where an ongoing emergency is taking place. Next, interviews.
17
Fred Mednick, EdD
STEP 4: Individual Interviews

EACH member of the group needs to: (1) identify an organization working in the field, and (2) interview someone there who has had direct experience with the emergency. (2 pages, maximum). Your best sources will come from INEE and other websites youve come across thus far. Find someone there to interview for a maximum of 45 minutes to gain the perspective of someone working in the field. Interview Approach/Tone: Introduce yourself and this course. Reassure the interviewee that youre not collecting evaluative data, but rather simply gathering insights; the tone of the interview should be informational and appreciative. Thats why I decided not to script the questions for you; what matters most is your interaction and experience of learning from and with those in the field. You might ask about her/his motivations for tackling this issue (whether or not s/he associates it with a particular MDG). You might follow that up with questions about activities and programs, challenges, successes, setbacks, and surprises. Your conversation may lead to issues about funding, leadership, coordination, community outreach, or their experience with evaluation. If possible, ask her/him to tell you a story. For instance, you might ask: Ten years from now, what image or experience do you think will stand ou t for you? Although somewhat clinical, heres a UN questionnaire conducted by the Special Reapporteur of the U.N., addressed to NGOs, regarding human rights
4a. Post your full interview on your blog. Please include the name of the
organization and its website
4b. Write a one-paragraph summary for your group discussion space. Your group
will be consulting these in order to highlight three for the online, public presentation At this point, we should be here: So, heres where you are so far: Read/Choose MDG Group > Pick an Emergency > Research > Interviews > Reports & Sharing
STEP 5: Create a Group 2-page Briefing Report. The audience for such a report is a
high-ranking UN official. Add a list of references (websites), substantiating your claims, to the 1.5-page Briefing Report. Heres what you need to do: Title Page: Include the name of the MDG and a descriptive subtitle, such as Advancing MDG 3: Gender Equality and Empowerment Employing the INEE Toolkit in Pakistan. List each team member, along with a few words about each persons contribution. Youll see how the online public presentation (coming up) will reflect these categories. One Page: Describe the nature of the emergency as objectively as possible. Establish your credibility with the facts. If news reports conflict, note that. Though it will be hard to do, avoid making recommendations. Just make your case for the emergency itself. Second Page: Hardly comprehensive, make a concise case for taking one specific action, such as launching an official United Nations public campaign; initiating a resolution or policy discussion. This is where your earlier research on MDGs and actors in the emergency youve chosen can be distilled and made available to
18
Fred Mednick, EdD
STEP 6: Create an online slideshow about your work. I have created an online Google
Presentation template (which you can copy to customize for your own group) 1. Heres a link to a template for your slideshow: http://bit.ly/12nN7Ev. It is a Google Presentation application, so someone in the group needs to have a Google account. 2. Rename the Google Presentation with the same title as your Briefing Paper. Example: MDG 3: Gender Equality and Empowerment Employing the INEE Toolkit in Pakistan. If you all have a Google account, then youre in business. If only some of you do, I suggest that one member of your group should make it available to other by downloading the renamed version to PowerPoint or PDF and share it. Somehow, as it goes through revisions within your group, youll need to stay in touch about the latest versions. Youre almost done! Heres where you are so far: Read/Choose MDG Group > Pick an Emergency > Research > Interviews > Reports & Sharing
JUST ONE LAST STEP! Super Important Requirement: Sharing

Once you have completed your Briefing Paper and Google Presentation, all you need to do is share it with the world. Heres how: Everyone should POST A COPY of the Briefing Paper to your individual blogs. After all, you collaborated on this and you are all authors ADD THE WEBSITE OF YOUR GOOGLE PRESENTATION to the bottom of your briefing paper TAG THE BLOG POST post with JHUEmergencyed
You did it! This was a huge undertaking. Congratulations! Read/Choose MDG Group > Pick an Emergency > Research > Interviews > Reports & Sharing NOTE: Depending upon the size and vitality of the groups, this is where well decide whether to create new groups (for discussions) or reconvene for discussions with all colleagues taking this course
7. Momaland: Case Study and Assessment Strategies

Thanks to INEE and its network, there are excellent and actionable models for assessment: technical briefs; disaster-specific summary sheets, checklists, and best practices; quick impact analyses; instructions for determining needs for child-friendly spaces; qualitative and quantitative research techniques; mobile phone data-gathering applications; how-to videos; joint and coordinated assessment matrices; and much more. Between INEEs Monitoring and
19
Fred Mednick, EdD Evaluation manuals and those of The Assessment Capabilities Project (ACAPS), youll have all the invaluable resources one would need. One of the best ways to understand these assessment resources is to dive into a fictional, yet realistic, case study. Momaland: Education Following an Emergency was developed by UNICEF, INEE, and Save the Children (with a great deal of input from field workers) to support concentrated or extended trainings that provide a likely scenario requiring attention to the multiple, intersecting components and complexities of education in emergencies. Momaland can help us learn more about the various components of assessment and evaluation for education in emergencies. The readings include a slide-deck offered in trainings, along with a comprehensive Facilitators Guide (worth reviewing) that incorporates much o f what weve studied, thus far. Both are included in the readings. The Facilitators Guide, even just the Momaland session, can compris an entire course. Even so, just a cursory reading will reveal how the INEE Minimum Standards and other protocols play themselves out, and how essential they are.
Reading
Momaland: Slides Education in Emergencies Training: Facilitators Guide (INEE, UNICEF, Save the Children). Pay close attention to Session 6.
Additional Reference Material (For Your Files)

More INEE Case Studies: Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia, and Liberia, as well as a Synthesis Report Real Time Evaluation of Humanitarian Action (Bibliography) Assessment and Evaluation: documents curated by Teachers Without Borders
Discussions (Suggestions below)

What stands out? What do you wish this course had addressed? How might such a training program affect your career path, knowing that you might face a scenario very much like this one? Conduct an additional search to determine who has used the program and how. I am asking you to think about your original motivation for taking the course and what youve learned so far, mixed in with a picture of what things might look like for you.
8. Support from Viewers Like You: Emergency Education Public Appeals

Girl Rising, a new film highlighting the extraordinary stories of 9 girls and 9 issues they face, worldwide, has drawn much-needed attention to the subject of girls education. Films like Girl
20
Fred Mednick, EdD Rising and the Internet put the world of images, data, and compelling news in our pockets. Movie stars, billionaires, and citizen journalists have entered the picture, too. Tweets from Tahir Square flash across our screens, along with YouTube postings direct from Homs, Syria. Appeal apps enable micro-donations via text. Unfortunately, the ubiquity of disaster du jour appeals can lead to donor fatigue. Tragically, despite a dramatic increase in the visibility of appeals for assistance for emergencies, funding by governments remains stagnant. According to INEE, only 2% of funds in humanitarian aid goes to education. Here, too, INEE and partners have also developed extensive communication protocols and best practices for successful appeals. The appeal process involves a complicated supply chain of transparency, communication, impact analysis, and accountability. This course does not all us the time to give the appeal process the attention it deserves. Again, the INEE sites resources are specific, clear, and essential for anyone in the position to coordinate this process. I have listed several INEE resources in this syllabus. For now, I am asking only that you familiarize yourselves with these protocols in order to post a discussion topic and to participate in an upcoming Online Public Conversation /Webinar.
Discussion (Required)
A couple of choices here (a few paragraphs, plus please comment on others posts) 1. Point to a specific disaster (within the last three years) for which a successful appeal was made. What made it so? A concise paragraph with a list of your references is all thats needed 2. Please identify a failed public appeal for support following a disaster (within the last three years) due to the following: Not enough money or resources could be raised to make a difference So much money and resources were raised, that they could not be deployed There was no capacity for receiving, distributing, or securing relief, resulting in a coordination disaster Coordination was mishandled or missing entirely
Heres some advice for those who wish to discuss the second option: there is a growing genre of books about failed development projects. Try to avoid these, especially after just having explored so many tragic issues. Just focus on the mechanics or the missing elements of the appeal process. An earthquake has taken place or a civil disturbance has broken out. Clearly, communities have been devastated or are in danger. What happenedor didnt happen?
Reading to Prepare for Public Conversation/Webinar

Does the Humanitarian Industry Have a Future in The Digital Age?: (required) Ushahidi: plus crowdmapping tool available for public use: www.crowdmap.com Education Firsts Education Cant Wait INEE: Promotion and Advocacy
21
Fred Mednick, EdD
Online Public Conversation/Webinar 2: Humanitarianism Without Humanitarians? (Date TBD)

The title of this public conversation/webinar was coined in this weeks reading by digital activist, Patrick Meier, PhD., a pioneer in the role technology plays in emergency relief, global transparency, and mapping in crises. His blog is worth reading: http://irevolution.net/. I will do my best to attract Patrick to participate in this weeks session and webinar. We hope to discuss diverse points of view on the subject of the impact of individual efforts and the technology-enabled wisdom of crowds in disaster relief.
9. Girls Quake Science and Safety Initiative (TWB Project)

This session is devoted to an open critique of an emerging project designed by Teachers Without Borders, the United States Geological Survey, and partners. The goal: to include 100,000 girls (and their teachers) in a program of earthquake science and safety. The United States Geological Survey, Interagency Network for Education in Emergencies, PreventionWeb, and the White House have endorsed the concept. Much work remains
Background: Teachers Without Borders and Education in Emergencies

In 2000, Teachers Without Borders (TWB) was launched in order to connect teachers to information and each other in order to help local leaders make a difference in their local communitieson a global scale. At 59 million, teachers represent the largest professionallytrained group in the worldthe catalysts of change and the glue that holds society together. They know who is sick, missing, or orphaned by AIDS. Yet teacher professional development is often irrelevant, spotty, or missing entirelycompounded by ill conceived or poorly implemented policies, a precarious world economy, and both national and natural disasters. Teachers Without Borders did not enter the field of teacher professional development with the idea that we would be involved in Education in Emergencies, butupon reflectionEiE has been what weve been about all along. Our first project took place in a Bedouin village within the Occupied Territories. Subsequent projects gathered teachers from regions in conflict (Rwanda, Nigeria, Pakistan, Afghanistan) to discuss teaching and learning, despite the obstacles of civil unrest and we assisted with relief efforts for the earthquake in Pakistan (2005). We werent thinking about earthquakes when we were working in China, having focused our efforts on the teaching of science inquiry methods in Sichuan. The May 12th, 2008 Sichuan earthquake hit at 2:28 pm. Its epicenter was a few miles away from Dujiangyan, China. We lost teachers. We lost students. We lost schools. But we didnt lose hope. Rather, we focused on earthquake science and safety learning from below the ground and up. We also learned that some buildings sway and others sink, that not all earthquakes act in the same way, and that prevention and planning can save lives.
22
Fred Mednick, EdD Today our Earthquake Science and Safety program teaches students and teachers about the science of earthquakes. Solmaz Mohadjer, a Teachers Without Borders member and geologist from Iran, saw from her work in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan that there is little the way of accurate science and safety content for teachers. Emergencies happen, but they dont have to be disasters. We launched our program in China immediately following the Sichuan earthquake, with an eye toward scientific validity for adaptation to particular regions, and cultural portability. Form there, it has been implemented in China, Haiti, Mexico, and back to Central Asia. It has also been translated into 6 languages.
Short Videos (required)

TWBs Solmaz Mohadjer, Director of Teachers Without Borders Emergency Education program on the power of earthquake science education to save lives Defeating Earthquakes. Ross Stein, PhD geologist with the United States Geological Survey (and TWB partner): TEDx talk about earthquake science and safety
Required Reading (required)

Girls Quake Science and Safety Initiative: Teachers Without Borders and USGS Proposal to reach 100,000 girls A Framework for Evaluating the Effect of Earthquake Science Education: Graduatestudent project at George Washington University based upon the TWB Proposal Brochure about Girls Quake Science and Safety Initiative: TWB and USGS effort to attract attention, awareness, and funding for the project
Online Public Conversation/Webinar 3: Earthquakes, Floods, and Education: A

Conversation with Colleagues in Pakistan and Tajikistan Short presentation by: (1) Sameena Nazir, Founder of PODA (Potohar Organization of Development Assistance), an NGO devoted to the education of girls, crafts, and human rights in Pakistan, and (2) Solmaz Mohadjer, Founder of PARSQUAKE (an organization devoted to earthquake education in the Persian-speaking community). Well follow this by time for your questions and comments.
Discussion
Critique this proposal in light of what you now know about education in emergencies. Look at the INEE Toolkit, as well as other resources youve come across. Do not spare our egos; we want your opinion. If you look back at this courses sessions, you wi ll see how the components of education in emergency apply here. Is the premise faulty? Is our methodology lacking something? Are there roadblocks along the way we have not predicted? Are we putting girls in greater danger by empowering them with knowledge about their school buildings? If so, how might we work through that issue? Are we missing something along the lines of the INEE Minimum Standards? Is it aligned with best practices I assessment? Crosscutting elements? Coordination? Is our approach to teaching and learning lacking a crucial element? Do we need more about supervision? The budget? Management? Reporting of impacts? Transparency?
23
Fred Mednick, EdD Dig in. Ask hard questions. After all, were a team!
ONE LAST THING: THANK YOU!

This course was not easy. The reading was intense, the subject matter traumatic. You studied the world of development, the world of aid, and the gap between. Youve worked collaboratively, virtually, and globally on issues that continue to stump the best of us. Youve engaged with curriculum (INEE Thematic Area Toolkits), a case study on assessment, the appeals process, and an emerging project. Anyone with the nerve and will to dive into this subject is worthy of my deepest gratitude. Please join me, too, in collective applause for the Interagency Network for Education in Emergencies. Because of INEE, the world is a safer place. After all weve experienced and learned together, I am truly optimistic.
24
Fred Mednick, EdD
Links (and Videos) to Share with Colleagues

Links
Education Under Attack Schools as Battlegrounds: Human Rights Watch The Sphere Project Interagency Network for Education in Emergencies INEE: Minimum Standards English INEE Toolkit UNICEF: Education in Emergencies: A Resource Toolkit Emergency Education for Children Education and Conflict Mitigation Education Protection
Videos
Schools as Battlegrounds: Human Rights Watch TWBs Solmaz Mohadjer: Teachers Without Borders Defeating Earthquakes: United States Geological Survey
25

ASAP: Education in Emergencies Syllabus

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

ASAP: Education in Emergencies Syllabus

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Fred Mednick, EdD