tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66765808379451977992024-02-20T12:15:25.898-08:00Educating for Global Citizenship by Fernando ReimersFernando M. Reimershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05213470627624286486noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676580837945197799.post-27603277796187097252015-11-08T16:11:00.001-08:002015-11-09T13:32:31.386-08:00Soraya Salti: Empowering youth against all odds. When education entrepreneurs create eternity.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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To say ‘A teacher touches eternity’ conveys that those who
devote their lives to cultivate the talents of the young help them make sense
of the future. On occasion, educators empower their students to not just make
sense of the future, but to create it. When they do this, they do more than touch
eternity, they participate in creating it. Soraya Salti was an education
entrepreneur who cared deeply about the transformative power of education. She
devoted her life to creating entrepreneurship education programs that empowered
thousands of youth in the Middle East.
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I met Soraya Salti when she participated in a leadership
development program as a young global leader of the World Economic Forum about
a decade ago. I was leading a session on the urgency to transform the global
education architecture, the thousands of schools built over the last seven
decades as part of the Global Education Movement to Educate all Children, from their
focus on just providing access to gaining basic literacies to institutions that
actually helped the young gain the skills to become self-authoring individuals
and agents of development of their communities. Soraya was one of the most
outspoken participants in that group of about hundred young global leaders. She
challenged me and I challenged her back. I loved the exchange which went on for
a few rounds. It was the kind of dialogue I treasure as a teacher. No pleasantries
or political correctness, just hard honest conversation in search of truth. Some
of the participants observed the exchange in silence. One of them came to
Soraya’s defense asking ‘why are you challenging my colleague?’. “Because I
respect her intelligence too much to not engage seriously with her thinking”, I
replied. At the end of the session Soraya came to see me to continue the
conversation. I realized then that Soraya was not deterred by challenge, she
embrace them just as she valued honest discussion as a way to get closer to the
truth.</div>
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That afternoon, Soraya and I spent two hours in my office
discussing her work as the leader of Injaz-Al-Arab, and organization she had
created to bring entrepreneurship education programs to all countries in the
Middle East. Soraya talked to me about how she had been transformed when she
first discovered in Jordan the program <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Junior
Achievement</i>, a program that provided teenagers opportunities to work with
mentors in learning to create a business. She explained that, relative to the
schools she had seen in Jordan, Junior Achievement excited her because she
thought it could help students develop imagination, a sense of possibility
about the future, confidence in themselves, the skills to collaborate with
others, deep respect for others and enough trust in each other to learn to
collaborate in creating businesses and other institutions that would advance
well being throughout the region. This realization had caused her to want to
bring this program to every country in the Middle East, in hopes it would
eventually help to transform education, so it could truly empower all youth. I understood
at that moment that Soraya was a woman of big dreams, and with the courage to
put her life in service of goals much bigger than herself.</div>
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Over the years I knew her, my respect and admiration for
Soraya grew. I increasingly understood the urgency of helping young people in
the region she so deeply loved gain a sense of hope and possibility about the
future, how educational innovation and serious transformation was essential so
that youth would develop the skills and the dispositions to engage in building
businesses and other organizations to advance social progress throughout the
region. I admire the resolve with which Soraya built public private partnership
in 13 countries in the Middle East to create national chapters of
Injaz-Al-Arab, and how she grew the portfolio of programs to provide youth such
opportunities to dozens of different programs in each country. Soraya was at
heart a social innovator, someone always seeking new and more effective ways to
serve more students, always asking questions, open to evidence, to learning,
always seeking truth. She was deeply interested in producing significant
educational change at scale. She once invited me to do an evaluation of the
impact of some of the programs of Injaz in six countries in the Middle East.
She was interested in and respectful of evidence, she had great expectations and
hope in the power of human reason, and of science, to guide human action and
social development. She hoped the programs she was working so hard to bring to
thousands of youth in the Middle East would help them gain the necessary
respect for reason, for science, for evidence, and the skills to work with
others so they could collaborate in improving the world.</div>
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Soraya was also a generous spirit. I invited her several
times to be a guest speaker in my graduate classes at Harvard. She always
obliged, often joining us via video-conference when it was late for her in the
evening, often on holidays, so my students could see her on a Friday morning at
Harvard. She consistenly inspired them, and she inspired me too. It was obvious
to all of us that in seeking to transform education in the Middle East this
young woman was taking on powerful interests, forces clinging to a past that
depends on youth that accept authority without questioning. Soraya was always
questioning, she wanted others to learn to question, she lived by Bernard
Shaw’s idea thata ‘Some people see things as they are and ask why. I dream
things that never were, and ask why not?’. </div>
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Soraya did more than ask hard questions, she built things
that would not have been without her leadership. She was a remarkable force for
change and for good in the Middle East. With her intelligence, determination,
charisma, and her consistent optimism and bright smile, she made it possible
for hundreds of thousands of young people to gain the skills to understand that
a better future is possible, and that it is theirs to build.</div>
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I last saw Soraya about a year ago. She was attending an
entrepreneurship education conference in Boston, and gave me an impromptu call
at the end of the conference. I invited her to join us for dinner with friends
who were visiting from Singapore. She came home, her suitcase ready to go
straight to the airport. She looked tired that day. She told us it was tiring
to keep working with governments to persuade them to sustain their efforts to
empower young people. She was tired of having to start and restart negotiations
as government turnover threatened lack of continuity and support for the
programs she had worked so hard to build. Her concern was not for her, but for
the youth she believed it was her duty to serve. Her parents were<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>aging, she explained, and they had helped with her daughter as she travelled extensively throughout the region, but it
was going to be harder for them now to provide that support, as they themselves
would need more help. She mentioned she was considering creating another
organization to focus on teaching math and science in Jordan so she could spend
more time with them. As CEO of Injaz she was always on the road and this was
hard on her personal life and family. But she would not do this until she could
find appropriate succession for the leadership of Injaz, an organization she
had given so much of herself to.</div>
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I just learned that Soraya passed away in Jordan with her
sister Jumana, in circumstances that are not yet clear. I do not know what demons
would cut short the life of such a light for the world. I do know, however,
than in the 44 years she lived, Soraya Salti made it possible for many youth in
her beloved Middle East to become the architects of their own lives. In the
process, she taught them, and so many of us who knew her, that an educator can
not only touch eternity, she can create it. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rest in Peace, Soraya. I am so glad to have challenged you
in that our first discussion, and deeply and forever grateful that you too took
me seriously enough to teach me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Cambridge, Massachusetts. November 8, 2015.</div>
</div>
Fernando M. Reimershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05213470627624286486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676580837945197799.post-18875080392424882022014-12-16T13:13:00.000-08:002014-12-17T06:10:50.143-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Teaching in Pakistan as
an Act of Love and Courage</span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fernando M. Reimers</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I awoke this
morning to the painful news that seven cowards had entered a school in
Peshawar, in Northern Pakistan, where they had murdered 132 students and 9
teachers and staff. My heart goes out to the families and friends of those teachers and students murdered and injured. I share the
pain of those in disbelief who struggle to understand that anyone would intentionally target
civilians not engaged in combat, in a school, with the deliberate intent of
killing them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Pakistani Taliban has
claimed responsibility for the attacks, as a retaliation for military actions of the Pakistan military. Only the Taliban, in a world of delusion, think
there is a justification for this gruesome act. No one else in the world shares
their view of reality, not in Peshawar, not in Pakistan, not in the world. The
assassins who conceived that it was fair game to assassinate hundreds of
teenagers and their teachers to achieve some goal are alone in their thinking,
they lack reason and soul. I can only imagine the grief of their mothers, of
their spouses, of their families, in realizing how far the deep end of reason and
reality these thugs have fallen. How their cowardice has robbed them of any
sense of identification with country, with religion, with tribe and family, with fellow human beings. These
murderers, and anyone else who enabled their crime, have no soul, they are not recognizable as members of the human
species.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In their
madness, these seven criminals targeted students and teachers in a school, a
place where together they worked to advance understanding, to gain the
knowledge and the dispositions to better understand the world and to improve
it. This crime was committed in a house of light and of love.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It was in
response to the atrocities committed by other murderers during World War II
that those who crafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights included
education as one of the basic rights we should, together, work to provide every
person on the planet. The hope was simple, in educating all we would create the
conditions for sustainable peace in the world. The hope was grounded in the understanding
that education can cultivate the capacities that help a person understand
another, and help us bridge divides, find ways to work together to improve the
world. This is the reason governments and ordinary citizens have collaborated
over the last seventy years producing one of the most dramatic transformations
in the history of humanity. A transformation that has provided most children in
the world the opportunity to go to school. This work is unfinished, the
Secretary General of the UN Ban Ki-moon, has proposed even bolder aspirations
for this global movement, the education of global citizens, of people who can understand
the world in which they leave, our shared global challenges, our
interdependence, an education that can prepare us to collaborate with others in
eliminating poverty, reverting climate change, resolving conflicts.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The seven
criminals who killed students and teachers did not have the soul to understand
how their own humanity binds them to the humanity of others. They could not comprehend
how they could make common cause with other humans in addressing the challenges
of the world. They were alone in the most desperate of solitudes, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of those who have lost all ties to other
members of the human race. Whatever schooling these thugs had received, it had
failed them. They feared education, teachers, and the empowerment that it produces for students.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">With their
horrific acts, however, these cowards have shed a light on the importance of
the ongoing work of teachers and of those who support them, they have made evident
that teachers who endeavor to educate in places where thugs like these fear
them, engage in an act of love and courage. This cowardly act underscores the
importance, indeed the urgency, of the cause of education for all which
activists like Malala Yousafzai advance, the courage of her father who created
a school so her daughter and others could gain an education that liberated them
from the shackles of prejudice and intolerance, it underscores the importance
of the work of teachers all over Pakistan, or public servants who advance the
work of schools, of ordinary citizens who support their work, of international
development and charitable organizations who advance the universal right of
education. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Today, as I
grieve the 141 who lost their lives, I salute them in their dedication to teaching and
learning, I salute them in their love and in their courage, and appreciate even
more all others who continue to advance the goal of providing all children an
education that helps them become fully human, as they recognize the ties that
bind them together with the rest of humanity, above all differences. I invite
you to join me in supporting, in whatever way is within your means, those who
do this work of love and courage.</span></div>
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Fernando M. Reimershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05213470627624286486noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676580837945197799.post-77791146233224794882014-05-01T11:45:00.000-07:002014-05-01T11:45:09.889-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Should we bring global education to the core of the liberal arts undergraduate curriculum? In this article I explain why we should. What are your thoughts?<br />
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http://www.aacu.org/diversitydemocracy/vol17no2/reimers.cfm</div>
Fernando M. Reimershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05213470627624286486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676580837945197799.post-28211732628487257672014-04-24T05:38:00.002-07:002014-04-24T05:38:31.370-07:00What do we need to do to foster 21st Century Education?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I am convening today a three day Think Tank to discuss what do schools need to teach in the 21st century, and how do we support teachers and schools in that endeavor. You can follow the opening panel of the Think Tank today Thursday, April 24, at 4pm live here<br />
http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news-impact/2014/04/educational-challenges-of-the-21st-century/<br />
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You can also contribute to the discussion on Twitter at #Askwith or #HGSEGlobal, or @FernandoReimers. I invite you to post your thoughts on this blog.</div>
Fernando M. Reimershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05213470627624286486noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676580837945197799.post-1843459652876506032014-02-01T17:17:00.003-08:002014-02-01T17:17:48.898-08:00Can Parents Help Their Children become entrepreneurs? http://www.poder360.com/article_detail.php?id_article=7739<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Fernando M. Reimershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05213470627624286486noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676580837945197799.post-36493738782468789912014-01-31T13:27:00.003-08:002014-01-31T13:27:51.660-08:00Educational Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Social Activism<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We live at extraordinary times to advance educational opportunity. Skills and knowledge are recognized as important by most people, and there is support for the idea that all persons deserve the opportunity to develop their talent. We also have an infrastructure, based on the efforts of the last decades, that provides all children and youth the opportunity to be schooled. We also face challenges, the challenge of translating such access into meaningful learning. What role can entrepreneurs play in helping to accelerate the pace of innovation in addressing this challenge? Should the ability to produce changes at scale in the 'education space' be a requirement to consider someone an entrepeneur? What is the distinction between an entrepeneurial individual in education and a social activist? These are the topics of discussion in this class<br />
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http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k101911&tabgroupid=icb.tabgroup179084<br />
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What are your thoughts about these topics?</div>
Fernando M. Reimershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05213470627624286486noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676580837945197799.post-51316964319535191292014-01-26T05:51:00.001-08:002014-01-27T14:19:59.319-08:00Educational Innovation, Entrepreneurship and the Role of Universities.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
There is an excellent article in the Boston Globe Today on the efforts MIT is advancing to foster innovation. Well done President Reif!<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"> http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/01/26/mit-reboots-approach-innovation/TExxXWxI02WOR4NZKIHAFP/story.html</a><br />
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Why are these efforts exceptional? Why isn't it the norm for Universities to lead in creating an ecosystem that translates research based knowledge into innovative designs to address important problems? What do you think are the barriers that need to be overcome? Should universities more intentionally play this role? <br />
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Here are a couple of short articles on the role of universities in promoting innovation<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">http://blogs.hbr.org/2011/03/educational-innovation-technol/</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">http://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline/fall-2012/innovating-universities</a><br />
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Fernando M. Reimershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05213470627624286486noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6676580837945197799.post-47843144708955899182013-12-06T14:30:00.000-08:002013-12-07T17:07:54.585-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Remembering Madiba,<br />
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We have lost a remarkable leader. A man of peace, capable of rising above his own suffering to lead a nation towards reconciliation and unity. Mandela understood one's freedom is achieved only as we help others gain theirs, an awareness that he extended even to those who took away his own freedom for so long... His long journey, and the evolution of the events that led to the remarkable democratization of South Africa, leave many lessons for us all, some of which we will discern slowly, as years go by, with the benefit of distance and time.<br />
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To those of you who are graduates of the International Education Policy Program, you share a commitment to advancing educational opportunity around the world. Your work advances the long arc of justice towards the freedom that Mandela's light shone for all, near and afar. I invite you to reflect on Mandela's legacy and to think about how it impacted your life and your commitments, and to share in this blog, for other IEP graduates, some of those reflections to remind us that we follow in Mandela's footsteps on the path towards greater justice, in each others company.<br />
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To those of you who are friends, I invite you also to share your thoughts as we honor, together, the memory of a great man.<br />
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Here is a video of Mandela's speech at Harvard, as he received an honorary degree in a special convocation<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Zh8otC-c3s">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Zh8otC-c3s</a><br />
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and this was a report of the Harvard Gazette<br />
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<a href="http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/1998/09.24/MandelaThrillsT.html">http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/1998/09.24/MandelaThrillsT.html</a><br />
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and here is a poem by Maya Angelou on Mandela's departure from this earth.....<br />
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<a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/12/07/249439677/watch-maya-angelous-poem-for-nelson-mandela">http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/12/07/249439677/watch-maya-angelous-poem-for-nelson-mandela</a><br />
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Fernando</div>
Fernando M. Reimershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05213470627624286486noreply@blogger.com19