Engage 13 spring 2016 online

ENGAGEPrice £1.00 ISSUE THIRTEEN

TheSTEVESINNOTTFOUNDATION

Supporting Access to Learning Worldwide

“Education is not apreparation for life,

education is life itself.”American Educationalist, John Dewey

Photo by R.J. Charles

Foreword

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Issue 13 of ENGAGE tackles head on the fundamental factors thatneed addressing to enable increased access to education and bringabout the needed global shift in educational opportunities for all.

Articles from a variety of perspectives show how key is theimportance of understanding and removing the barriers created bypoverty, gender inequality, disability and political intransigence.

The Foundation will do all it can to support the campaign for globaluniversal education to be an entitlement. Governments have to beregularly strongly challenged and supported to do everythingpossible to break down these barriers. They will also need to bepressed to make new commitments that systematically address theissues that are holding back opportunities for education for all.

Over the seven years since the Foundation was established, we havesecured an ever broadening range of supporters and funding for ourprojects. But still the core of our support is of the generosity ofindividuals, of the UK National Union of Teachers and its Associationsand Divisions and of other unions nationally and internationally. TheDirectors of the Foundation are most appreciative of this vital supportas the Foundation enters and anticipates an exciting eighth year ofits existence.

Jerry GlazierChair, The Steve Sinnott Foundation

Front page: Sierra Leone Teachers and educators in London for stageone of a Foundation teacher development programme. More on theNews pages.

To comment on this article, [email protected]

This magazine could not be published without itsdesigners and printers at Paragraphics and atRuskin Press. Their expertise and patience isextraordinary. They do not just do the business forus, they are friends of the Foundation andsupporters of our work. Ongoing thanks to them.

The STEVESINNOTT FOUNDATION


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Making education accessible and ensuring that all children of schoolage access education has long been the preoccupation of governments,especially in the developing world. It was the springboard of theMillennium Development Goal targets relating particularly to educationand youth. The Rt Hon Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator, noted thatprogress made against the targets set by the MDGs using 1990 data asa base line included:

‘nine out of ten children in developing countries are nowenrolled in primary schooling (net enrolment rate), with roughlyequal numbers of boys and girls’.

But, she also noted that amidst widening inequalities in the majority ofthe world’s countries:

‘in some developing regions, children in towns and cities are upto thirty per cent more likely to complete primary school thanare those in rural areas’ (2015 Commonwealth Lecture, London)

One of the more contentious issues nations faced in pursuing theMDGs and continue to confront in setting their own sustainabledevelopment goals is that of making education accessible for childrenwho are both learners and earners rather than problematising the latter.Research I conducted in Cameroon, Nigeria and Somaliland on barriersto meeting the MDGs suggested that children as earners who were notaccessing available education were a key target of nationalgovernments. In most countries, however, policies that flow from theUN Committee on the Convention on the Rights of the Child seldomdeal with the reality of children in the labour market. Critiquing thoseapproaches, a body of academics have argued that many such policies

‘stem from fictions about the existence of a single, universaltype of childhood. Additionally, they embody an understandingof life course which delineates children’s work from their social,political, and other structural determinants, as well as the role ofwork in the lives of children and their families... As workingchildren’s groups in Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay, Burkina Faso, Indiaand elsewhere have made clear, their participation in a range ofjobs, including many of those prohibited by policy makers, isoften integral to their attempts to access education, livelihoods,and development plans as well as their socio-economic andcitizenship participation in the broadest sense’(Open letter:Abetter approach to child work – www.opendemocracy.net/open-letter-better-approach-to-child-work)

It is presumably to uphold children’s right to education and underscorethe role of education in human liberation, economic empowerment andnation building that the government of Tanzania recently declared itsintention to ‘punish parents who fail to ensure their children go toschool’ on the introduction of free basic education for all Tanzanianchildren from January 2016. According to a recent report from theThomas Reuters Foundation,

George Masaju, Tanzania’s attorney general, warned thatparents deemed to be holding back efforts to create a literatesociety by keeping children out of school would facepunishment. “Causing a child to drop from school for anyreason is a criminal offense because you offend his fundamentalright of being educated,” Masaju said late last month at agraduation ceremony at Feza School in Dar es Salaam.

My research found that teachers who were poorly and irregularly paidthemselves were often buying books and providing snacks for childrenwho would otherwise go without food throughout the school day andthen walk home hungry afterwards. In addition to parents dependingon the economic activity of children to make ends meet, many parentshad difficulty providing money for travel to and from school andcrucially, providing sanitary accessories for pubescent girls. Crucially,even though parents were fully persuaded about the role of schoolingand education in personal development, combating poverty and insocial transformation, they considered that the right to food and sheltertrumped the fundamental right to education.

Against that background, imposing fines upon parents for not ensuringthat children attend school, as Tanzania proposes, without addressingthe economic reasons for using children as earners may well compoundthe problem of poverty by making already poor families even worse off.It is surely counter intuitive to cut off a crucial source of income, i.e.,children’s contribution to earnings directly or indirectly, whilesimultaneously expecting parents and families to find money to payfines, whatever the consequences might be for not paying such fines.

Professor Gus John is an international consultant, Director of AllAfrica Advisors Limited and Associate Professor at the University CollegeLondon Institute of Education

IT’S A FINEPOINTProfessor Gus John tackles the child earner and learner dilemma and rejects compulsion and fines

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Across the world education acts as a ladder; as an escape route out ofpoverty.

Yet right now over 50 million children of primary school age have noschool to go to. They are being denied the chance to build a betterfuture for themselves.

These are some of the most marginalised, most hard to reach childrenon the planet. Getting them into school will not be easy. But what setsthe 17 new UN Global Goals apart from their predecessors is thepromise to leave no one behind, to ensure that no one is left out of ourefforts to end extreme poverty.

My Department is putting this promise into action. We are committedto ensuring all children are able to complete a full cycle of qualityeducation.

Over the last five years the UK has helped 11 million children to go toschool and trained more than 177,000 teachers in the world’s poorestcountries. Our flagship Girls’ Education Challenge will also enable asmuch as one million more of the world’s poorest girls to benefit from aneducation of sufficient quality to allow them to gain skills, find a joband transform their lives.

One area we have particularly focused on is fragile and conflict affectedstates, where we know that girls and children with disabilities are morelikely to be denied an education. The UK played an instrumental role inthe creation of the No Lost Generation Initiative (NLGI), which isproviding protection, psycho-social support and education for hundredsof thousands of children affected by the Syria crisis.

One of the biggest barriers to getting an education is disability.

Children with disabilities can be denied access to education because ofthe discriminatory attitudes of their parents, school teachers or fellowpupils, or inaccessible classrooms, sanitation facilities or a lack oflearning materials suitable for them. That is why InternationalDevelopment Secretary Justine Greening launched our DisabilityFramework in December last year.

This framework means that every single school built with funding fromthe Department for International Development is accessible for childrenwith disabilities.

It also means that the UK will work to improve data on disability. One ofthe key factors holding back our efforts to improve the lives of disabledpeople around the world is that we don’t have reliable data.

We are working hard to ensure every child has the chance to get aquality education. But we can’t do this alone. We need donors,

developing country governments, civil society and communitiesthemselves to get on board.

All children should have the opportunity to fulfil their potentialregardless of where they are born. We need to continue to buildmomentum and awareness around accessible education, disability anddevelopment. By working together I believe we can turn the GlobalGoals’ promise to leave no one behind into a reality.

International Development Minister Nick Hurd


PUTTING THE PROMISEINTO ACTION


International Development Minister, Nick Hurd sets out the UKGovernment's commitment and action for Education for All.

PAGE 5To comment on this article, email

[email protected]

The inclusion of “inclusive and equitable education” as one the 17Global Goals indicates the growing recognition that education is one ofthe best vehicles to achieve genuine, sustainable, internationaldevelopment.

If the goals are met, by 2030 all girls and boys should complete freeprimary and secondary schooling, with equal access to affordablevocational training, and in turn gender and wealth disparities should beeliminated with the aim of achieving universal access to a quality highereducation.

Just as education must be a key enabler for sustainable development,other aspects of the sustainable development agenda must be anintegral element of quality education worldwide, including the need forgender and other forms of equality in the field of education andbeyond.

The Millennium Development Goal on universal primary educationhelped ensure the progress we’ve seen since 2000. Yet even in areaswhere progress has been made, there are also disparities which can onlybe tackled by addressing the heightening global inequality crisis. Forexample, in sub-Saharan Africa, children living in the pooresthouseholds are four times more likely to be out of school than theircontemporaries from the richest households.

There are many emerging stark challenges across the world, which maybecome even greater challenges as we approach 2030. In particular,different international emergencies, whether the continued armedconflict in areas of the Middle East, Western Asia and North Africa, orthe ongoing and horrendous refugee crisis, both have seen an increasein the proportion of children out of school.

The specific effects on children of the current refugee crisis must berecognised. I recently met with European Union Commissioner forHumanitarian Aid and Crisis, Commissioner Christos Stylianides, andfully support his department’s efforts to ensure that education isprovided as a basic right in a humanitarian crisis. UNICEF reports that inLebanon, Syrian refugee children as young as 10 are victims of bondedagricultural labour, and that thousands more children no longer haveaccess to education of any kind.

These issues have also come to Europe with the refugee camps acrossthe continent, including those I have visited in Calais and Lesbos. Thenumber of children – including unaccompanied children in these camps

is quickly rising. 1,600 unaccompanied children were registered by childprotection agencies in France alone in 2015, although the true figure iscertainly greater because most unaccompanied minors avoid theauthorities.

Faced with this global situation, the Department for InternationalDevelopment in Britain must develop a holistic approach tointernational development with sustainability, including the goal ofaccessible education and a clear commitment to reducing inequality, atits core. Unfortunately, two trends in the current Government’sapproach to international development contradict this. One is aseemingly ideologically-driven preference to using the private sector todeliver what we would normally see as public services. Another is theincreasing subordination of their aid agenda and allocation to thepriorities of British foreign policy rather than the needs of the people ofthe developing world.

In contrast, a genuine international development budget wouldprioritise sustainable economic development and help to tackle thecrises that prevent it, such as the refugee crisis. It would benefit the restof the world and thereby also boost British prosperity.

A lot has been achieved in terms of accessible education in internationaldevelopment, but there’s certainly a lot more to do.

A HEIGHTENING GLOBAL CRISISUK shadow Secretary of State for International Development, Labour’sDiane Abbott challenges the UK Government’s approach to theemerging stark challenges

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I write as a disabled person and educationalist,struggling for inclusive education for the lastthirty years. Accessible education means to mea system which welcomes all children into themainstream or regular school, regardless oftheir type or degree of impairment; allteachers receive training throughout theircareers to accommodate disabled children’sneeds, include them academically and socially;sufficient additional resources go to the schooland the child to provide accessibleenvironments and curriculum.

Historically, in education systems around theworld, starting with the developed North,spreading to the developing South, the focushas been on impairment-loss of physical ormental function. This has led to a medical ordeficit approach, characterised by SpecialEducation. The problem is viewed as in thechild. As a result they are either not in school,up to 90% in the South, or segregated inspecial schools or classes where the aspirations

can be low with poor outcomes, leading tomassive disengagement. Alternatively they areaccepted into mainstream classes, but theenvironment, teaching, curriculum,assessment, attitudes and social relationshipsremain largely unchanged. This is integration,not accessible education. Most disabledchildren do not achieve their potential, dropout or fail, leading to some parents wantingspecial schools.

In the last forty years, parents, disabledpeople and their rights’ based organisations(NGOs and DPOs) have fought for fullinclusion. Various international treaties haveadopted these views. In this Social Model/human rights’ approach it is the barriers ofenvironment, attitudes and organisation whichprevent those with long term impairmentsfrom achieving their potential. This paradigmshift from a Medical to a Social Model ofdisability is at the heart of the UN Conventionon the Rights of Persons with Disabilities(UNCRPD), now ratified by 161 countries.Article 24 and the draft interpretivedeclaration from the CRPD Committee makeclear this means having an inclusive educationsystem, schools and classes. It makes clear

separate schools, units or classes for disabledchildren are not inclusive education.

This transformation is not easy but a continualprocess of addressing barriers and developingpractice. In the North, only the State of NewBrunswick in Canada and Italy have all disabledchildren in mainstream schools. New Brunswickhas made it the responsibility of all mainstreamteachers. In Italy they provide additionalspecialist support teachers, 1 for every 2children. Such resource intensive approachesare beyond the reach of most countries. ManySouth countries are now developing a moreinclusive approach for children with disabilities.Brazil has developed resource rooms in morethan 40,000 schools, with Braille, signlanguage, curriculum resources and facilities toaccess the curriculum for those with learningdifficulties. In Montenegro a 5 year effectiveadvertising and action campaign has changedpublic attitudes about inclusion, from 30%wanting disabled children in their child’s class to79%. In India, Sarv Sikhsha Abhiyan has led tothe acceptance of physical access guidance forall schools with training for in service teachersacross the country, though children with moresignificant impairments are still home educated.In Tanzania, ADD with the government hasbeen running a highly successful inclusionprogramme in over 400 schools to be broughtto scale in the next few years.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)2015-2030, include children with disabilities,unlike their predecessors the MillenniumDevelopment Goals.

Too often governments rely on NGOs to runsmall inclusion projects. These have proved itcan be successfully done. Now governmentshave to take responsibility for implementinginclusive education in every school. All childrenhave the right to learn and play together, notseparated by difference.

Richard Rieser is the Managing Director of disability in education consultancy World of Inclusion Limited(www.worldofinclusion.com)


INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IS THE ONLY WAY


Disability equality rights campaigner RichardRieser makes the case for inclusion as the onlyway to ensure accessible education for allchildren with disabilities


[email protected]

We pride ourselves on our ability to deliverinclusive and accessible education.

Our National Teacher Standards require us todemonstrate “value and promote social andcultural diversity, equality of opportunity andinclusion.” Educators like myself areresponsible for implementing this throughquality teaching, differentiated resources andactivities. Our line managers and (sometimes)the Office for Standards in Education,Children’s Services and Skills (OFSTED) review it.

So is the education we offer in the UKinclusive? And what do we me mean byinclusive education, anyway?

A quick Google UK search for ‘inclusiveeducation’ refers mainly to children withspecial educational or additional needs. Add‘government’ to the search criteria and termslike ‘statutory guidance’ and SEN frameworkspop up. This suggests that in realitymainstream education and Governmentconsider inclusive education solely a specialneeds issue and not doing all it can do to‘promote social and cultural diversity andequality of opportunity’.

Key objectives of the United NationsMillennium Development Goals (2000)included “halving the proportion who sufferfrom hunger”, “promoting gender equalityand empowering women”, as well as“achieving universal primary education” by2015. Statistics produced by Organization forEconomic Co-operation and Development(OECD) suggests that developed countries likethe United Kingdom have achieved much ofthis, consistently improving the quality ofeducation by following Global EducationReform Movement (GERM). Yet, it is well

reported in the United Kingdom media thatwith the increased need for food banks andcharitable assistance more and more studentsare going to school hungry.

So what do we really mean by inclusion?

In 1989, Kimberle Crenshaw, an African-American academic, coined the term“intersectionality”. Originally used to describeAfrican-American women, Crenshawdescribes intersectionality as “an analyticsensibility, a way of thinking about identityand its relationship to power.” Intersectionalitytakes into account the many factors that makeup a person’s environment – economic, socio-political, religious, sexual, racial, gender andlocation – and how these might increasediscrimination. This theory is increasingly beingapplied to a wider cross section of society byacademics, educators, political commentatorsand bloggers, the Black Lives Matters socialmedia campaign a recent example. I describemyself as working specifically with youngpeople who through the intersectionality ofdisadvantage find themselves excluded fromconventional education settings. I suggest thatif we place intersectionality at the centre of“the inclusion question” we cut to the heartof the matter viewing disadvantage in relationto identity and power. We can then begin totackle many of the barriers of inclusion.

In the UK our government is responsible formaking education accessible and beneficial forall children. It is paramount that inclusionpolicies and systems administered bygovernment become more than a soundbite,making a real difference to the lives of theyoung people they aim to include withaccurate and measurable outcomes.

While waiting for this to happen, how can we

begin to improve outcomes for our studentsby being more inclusive? Begin a discussiongroup asking young people for their views oninclusion. If our young people arrive to schoolhungry, we must start a breakfast club to feedthem. If they arrive without the properequipment, don’t sanction them further – givethem a pen. Send a tweet, write an article,join a union, begin campaigning on inclusionreform.

Malcolm Richards is a senior leader withinmainstream and community education, with aparticular focus on inclusion and additionaleducational needs education.

Malcolm Richards dissects the concepts of ‘inclusion’ and ‘accessibility’ for their real meaning,the difference they make and the duty of governments.

WE ‘DO’ INCLUSIVEEDUCATION, DON’T WE?

FREE, RELEVANT AND EMPOWERING

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Education is an enabling right insofar as exercising the right toeducation makes it possible for individuals to understand more aboutother rights: how to exercise them, as well as how to advocate for theirfulfilment and protection. Consequently, ensuring the right to educationfor all is a pre-requisite to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) by 2030.

For many people, securing the right to education is synonymous withensuring education is accessible to all. But what is ‘accessibleeducation’? I would say it is an education which is free, relevant andempowering. It is not just about making sure that every child canphysically get into a school; it is about what happens when they getthere. It must be an education of quality.

For the last two years, Education International (EI) has been leading theUnite for Quality Education Campaign. It is a campaign that calls ongovernments, policy makers, educators, activists, students and parentsto unite and collectively advocate for quality teaching, quality teachingand learning tools, and quality teaching and learning environments. Weconsider these to be the central tenets of quality education. And in mymind, accessible education is all of those things individually, andcollectively.

Every student must have the necessary tools and materials with whichto learn. They need quality learning materials which challengestereotypes of all kinds (such as those based on gender, class, race,ethnicity or any other marker of differentiation), and they should havematerials which , as much as possible, reflect the diverse backgroundsand life experiences of the learners who use them.

Evidence shows that second only to the efforts of students themselves,educators are the most important factor in ensuring positive learningoutcomes. So, accessible education implies the provision of qualityteachers: who must receive high standard initial education and training,have access to continuous professional development, and be well-supported with fair and equitable working conditions, includingremuneration that is commensurate with the status and importance ofthe work that they do. Teachers do no less than prepare the leaders ofthe future; the caretakers of this planet we call home. No matter thestudent, or the profession in which they eventually excel, it all startswith a good teacher.

Finally, it goes without saying that for education to be universallyaccessible, teaching and learning must occur in quality environments

which are safe, healthy and promote learning. This also means thatstudents, educators and schools must be free from attack: they must besafe from intentional threats or use of force that is carried out forpolitical, military, ideological, ethnic, religious or criminal reasons. Everyeffort must be made to eradicate the different types of violence thatoccur all too frequently in and around educational settings.

I come from Norway, and it may seem, that my reflections here areaimed at countries in the global south. This is far from the case: I cansay without hesitation that we are all in this together: no country hasyet managed to make education truly accessible to all in the terms Ihave mentioned here. Recently, The Truth and ReconciliationCommission’s Report in Canada reminded us of the shortcomings inproviding accessible education to indigenous children, and at themoment many countries are struggling with the task of ensuringaccessible education for refugee children. We all need to step-up to thechallenges.

The adoption of the new sustainable development agenda provides uswith a new opportunity: for our governments and policy-makers at alllevels to take the leap from political rhetoric to action backed bypolitical will and commitment, and for us to increase our efforts asactivists. It is going to take the global village to make sure that the rightto education is fulfilled for each and every human being by 2030…andbeyond.


For Education International Deputy General Secretary Haldis Holst,these are the essentials of accessible education and, she says, we are allin this together because no country has yet managed to make educationtruly accessible to all.


[email protected]

Is accessible education a measure of meritocracy seen as being valuedon the basis of what you have done? Indeed, if I were to critique theUS working ethic; ‘Hard work – equals success’, would I be separatingthe deserving and the non-deserving? I wish to challenge aneoliberalist paradigm and set my sights beyond the structuralinequalities that are presented in my everyday life. Through the lens ofPierre Bourdieu’s notion of cultural capital, my access to UK educationhas grappled with and between who I know, what I know and what Ihave. There are many widely accepted factors that prevent educationfrom being meritocratic, be it schools’ resources, the ability to attractquality teachers, or support from parents, and particularly in relation tolow-income families like mine. Today, I continue to challenge thesomewhat fatalistic negativity of accessible education.

1979Play time, painting and teachers telling me what to do are my memoriesof primary education. In retrospect, my primary school education builtthe foundations for my future educational capital, but how is it that Iwasn’t aware of the importance of these years; that my educationwould be the dominant, measurable and recognisable component thatwould influence whether I went on to further education, whatprofession I entered, how much I was paid – the very future of mysuccess.

1986On reflection, my educational path was controlled by others; be it myparents; the instructional practices in the classroom that led to myperformance, or the hard-wired UK educational system. At age 11,making the decision about what secondary school I attended was likeblowing out candles on my birthday – a fleeting wish that I could notcontrol. The third daughter of Indian immigrants who spoke littleEnglish, we lived on a council estate and suffered the burden of highlevels of economic and social deprivation. My family’s transculturalcapital bore me to the same inner city comprehensive school my siblingsattended just a short walk away. They knew no-one who could assist inan alternative choice, knew nothing of the educational system and hadno means to purchase an alternative education. I felt powerless – fatehad the upper hand in my education through a myriad ofuncontrollable intricacies, from location, age, and the linguistic ability ofmy parents, to political party politics and educational policy. In my view,secondary education was following the footsteps of my siblings, myindividuality, and my merit, blurred by the continuous lack of access toknowledge, which obstructed what I knew and what I did not know.

1994A ‘proper’ or ‘accepted’ level of educational success consisted ofGCSEs, A Levels and university degrees. At a time when highereducation in the UK consisted of newly amalgamated polytechnics intouniversities, the number of people achieving degrees was growing andeducation was becoming accessible for socio-economicallydisadvantaged students through educational policies designed to widenhigher education participation. Nevertheless, leaving school with limitedexam grades did not meet the expected levels of educationalattainment to enter an undergraduate degree. Was this a meritocracy –did I fail to achieve because I wasn’t clever, because I didn’t try hardenough, or I didn’t apply myself? No. Fatalistically, ‘life’ got in the way.

2014Following twenty years in the world of ‘hard work’ where I had aprofessional career, the notion of a degree education still held strong inthe eyes of ‘others’ as a measure of ability, judgement and mentalagility. I had a successful career, however I needed to go back toeducation and be a success. This time around it is different; I am incontrol. At age 41 I am accessing and opening doors to re-positionmyself in this notion of cultural capital. My biggest concern is thefinancial accessibility of my education. I feel financial fear daily and theaffordability of my education will always be a ubiquitous anxiety. I entera different scenario; education comes at a cost and something to beinvested in.

To end, accessible education is not always homogenous in one’s life, theparadoxical landscape brings virtuous moments and unreachablechances. However today, I recognise accessible education as anoccurrence which shapes, shifts and transforms experiences ofknowledge and learning. So for me, in agreement with the words ofJohn Dewey, ‘[accessible] education is not a preparation for life,education is life itself’.

EDUCATION IS LIFE ITSELFGoldsmiths, University of London student Chira Patel tells herpersonal story of accessing education and all that it means to her now

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As a teacher in London, and also aninternational inclusive education trainer, mywork focuses on supporting children’sinclusion to education, especially those whoare marginalised and excluded due to theircircumstances and discrimination. I encourageeducation practitioners and stakeholders touse creative and innovative inclusiveapproaches to ensure that all children are:

• present in school

• participate in academic and social activities

• achieve to the best of their ability.

‘The medium is the message’The successful development of inclusiveeducation requires substantial rethinking andreorientation of teacher education in mostcountries. Too often teachers are told to beinclusive, whilst being trained throughfundamentally non-inclusive, non-participatorymethods! Yet teacher education and ongoingdevelopment is most effective when thetraining reflects the practice expected ofteachers in the classroom. Thus, when trainingI provide trainees with direct experience ofinteractive learning (group-work, pair-work,carousel reporting back, etc). This helpsencourage a deeper understanding of learner-friendly, participatory inclusive practices, sothat the trainees are experiencing the kind ofinclusive education they should create in theirown schools and classrooms. In manycountries, teachers are offered no practical

experience of inclusive teaching and learningmethodologies during either their pre-servicetraining or subsequent in-service training.‘Chalk and talk’, the lecture approach whichallows for only one type of learning style,dominates both teacher training andclassroom practice in many countries, resultingin large numbers of children not fullyaccessing, participating in, or benefiting fromeducation.

Hands-on supportEENET offers consultancy support to NGOsand UN agencies globally. Services cover arange of activities from research and baselinestudies (including inclusive education policyanalysis), through to project, policy andstrategy design, evaluations and also trainingdesign and delivery. Presently I’m working inZanzibar with the Ministry of Education andVocational Training’s (MoEVT) InclusiveEducation and Life Skills (IELS) Unit. I’msupporting their work to strengthen inclusiveeducation on the islands. I have been usinglearning from this work to develop and deliverinclusive education teacher training in threedistricts in south-west Zambia, which will thenbe piloted in local schools.

On Pemba and Unguja Islands of Zanzibar,education trainers, including resourceteachers, training centre co-ordinators andMoEVT representatives, attended a training-of-trainers workshop introducing them toinclusive education approaches. They exploredbarriers to children’s presence, participationand achievement in education, and identifiedpossible solutions to these barriers.

Throughout the process I have encouragedparticipants to train their trainees using andadapting the participatory methodologies thatthey have experienced during the workshops.My aim is to ensure that teachers ‘learnthrough doing’, and thus gain a clearerunderstanding of the learner-friendly,participatory approaches that will ensure more

children, with a variety of learning styles, canparticipate and achieve in their lessons.

Critical thinking about inclusionAt EENET we encourage educationstakeholders and practitioners to documentand share their experiences and ideas relatingto inclusion. But more than that, we supportthem to think and act critically about howthey implement inclusive, quality education forall, including those from marginalised groups(for example, learners with disabilities and/orspecial educational needs (SEN), street andworking children, learners from ethnicminorities and those whose mother-tongue isnot the language of instruction). The kind ofinnovations we need within teacher educationand classroom practice, to make inclusiveeducation a reality, will only happen if teachersand other education stakeholders have theskills and confidence to reflect critically onwhat works, what doesn’t and what changesthey could all make.

Over the years there has been a huge increasein the amount of information about inclusiveeducation, and an increasing demand for helpfrom practitioners with understanding how topractically implement regular education that isaccessible and high quality for all learners.EENET offers free information via our website,www.eenet.org.uk and through email andSkype sessions. We ‘repackage’ or ‘distil’ awealth of information through booklets,posters and EENET’s annual EnablingEducation Review, to make informationaccessible to all interested parties, includingour grassroots target audiences.

Duncan can be contacted at:[email protected]

For more information about EENET visit:www.eenet.org.uk

Duncan Little is a director and seniorconsultant of EENET – the Enabling EducationNetwork.

BRINGING DOWN THE BARRIERS

Duncan Little describes his work helping teachers to gain a clearer understanding of learner-friendly, participatory approaches to make education more accessible.


[email protected]


The rule of law is often mentioned as a vital partner to democracy andgood governance, but its content is not often well understood, evenamong lawyers. It has been identified by UNESCO as an importantlearning theme within global citizenship education at both primary andsecondary level, and it is a value to be promoted as part of spiritual,moral, social and cultural development (SMSC), compulsory in all UKstate schools.

What is the rule of law?A justice system that respects the rule of law is one that upholdsequality and fairness and has regard for individual liberties. It serves allin society regardless of personal attributes and does not exclude thosewho have fewer resources or are disadvantaged in any other way. Thismeans having laws that provide for equal enjoyment of rights, as wellas a justice system that enforces those rights fairly and equitably.

The Bingham Centre’s rule of law in schools projectSince 2014, the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law has run ‘The Ruleof Law for Citizenship Education’, an innovative project that providesresources and support to schools to teach the rule of law. It is notsimply a fact-based method of teaching law and justice. Rather, itequips students with the skills to analyse and evaluate the justice systemand to understand the fundamental principles underpinning a goodjustice system. It engages students with democracy, justice, and rightswhere they arise in real-life scenarios relating to topical issues such asimmigration, rights to a fair trial, equality before the law, the abuse ofpower, and human rights. Through case studies and examples studentscritically examine political, social and legal issues and consider valuesimportant to modern society.

The project also helps develop key skills that will serve students acrosstheir schooling and into later life. It stretches students to think beyondtheir own experiences, promotes debate and analysis, building theconfidence to form and articulate independent opinions and to drawreasoned conclusions, while having the ability to be sensitive to otherpoints of view.

The first phase of the project has been run in schools across England.Many have high free school meal eligibility rates and low attainmentlevels. The resources received outstanding feedback and were awarded

the Quality Mark of the Association for Citizenship Teaching, thenational citizenship teaching subject association.

Rights and justice are for everyoneAn independent evaluation of the project pilot found that it succeededin engaging children who are not usually high-achieving or the mostconfident in their peer groups, as it challenges pre-conceived ideas andthe notion of a simple ‘right answer’. By teaching that rights and justiceare for all, rule of law education promotes a positive outlook, showingthat everyone can achieve change in society through accessinginformation and pursuing the right channels.

Beyond making learning itself more accessible, the project’s longer-termaims are to instil in students the idea that they should all play a full andactive part in society, and to prepare students with the knowledge, skillsand understanding to do so by equipping them to analyse critically theauthorities and system that make and administer important decisionsaffecting their lives.

Join the projectThe Bingham Centre welcomes schools and teachers interested in theproject. Samples of resources are available on the Centre’s web site. Toreceive a pack of free resources, please sign up on the project webpage: http://www.biicl.org/bingham-centre/schools

The Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law, named after the late seniorjudge Lord (Tom) Bingham, works to promote and enhance of the ruleof law worldwide and is in discussion with the Steve Sinnott Foundationon project partnership.

Xiao Hui Eng, Research Fellow at the Bingham Centre for the Rule ofLaw explains how a fair rights and justice system creates the conditionsto make education accessible

RIGHTS AND JUSTICE FOR ALL

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On the shelf above Bridget’s bed is a blue box.In it she keeps an exercise book for homeworkand her tin pencil case. Apart from a fewclothes, it’s all she has in the world.

But these are her treasures – because school isher hope of a better future.

The fact that Bridget is still in school at 14 issomething of a miracle.

Uganda has one of the highest primary schooldrop-out rates in the world: only one in threeUgandan children completes primaryeducation. And Bridget lives in one of thepoorest parts of this poor country, Rukungiridistrict in the south-west.

Bridget’s parents are banana farmers – despitethe banana blight that has decimated cropsfor years. They can only just afford to eat.

The pressure on young girls to provide fortheir family is intense: until recently, 20 girlswould drop out of Bridget’s school, NdagoPrimary, every year.

And there’s another barrier in their way. Fewschools have adequate toilets so boys and girlsregularly fall sick and miss class. And whengirls reach puberty and start their periods, theymiss school more often. Many drop outaltogether.

Toilet Twinning raises funds to provide propertoilets, clean water and hygiene education insome of the poorest communities in theworld.

It works like this. You ‘twin’ your toilet with alatrine overseas – and help families and entirecommunities take those first crucial steps outof generational poverty.

Recently, we funded a new girls’ toilet block atBridget’s school. These basic pit latrines havealready had a dramatic effect on drop-outrates. Within three months, more than 65 girlshad re-enrolled in class.

Bridget’s primary school now has 100 girlsaged 14 or older. New teachers have cometoo, attracted partly by the new facilities.

‘Our old latrines were disgusting, especially inthe rainy season,’ says Bridget. ‘You’d feel sickand people would be retching, because theywere so smelly.’ Her face lights up. ‘We nowhave a very new pit latrine, which iscomfortable to use.’

The new toilet block for older pupils, installedby our local partner, also has a separatechanging room, giving girls somewhere

private to wash or change their clothes duringtheir period. In poor, rural communities likethese, families cannot afford sanitary towels.

‘Most of the girls wouldn’t come to school atall during their period – so they would miss aweek of school per month,’ says headteacherKenneth Mushoborozi. ‘This affected theirgrades.’

The old toilets for younger children have alsobeen much improved and a new water buttfor handwashing installed.

Toilet Twinning’s local partner has also linkedthe school to a gravity flow pipeline with anew tapstand, providing the children withfresh drinking water for the first time.

Before, the children had to skip class and trek1km to collect water from a stream – watercontaminated by animal and human waste.The children burst into spontaneous andsustained applause when their tap was turnedon for the first time.

This vital combination – toilets, taps andtraining in handwashing – will encouragechildren to enrol in school and stay in school.

We’ve made strong progress on increasingschool enrolment in recent years. But keepingchildren – especially girls – in school is adifferent challenge. Something as simple as apit latrine can have a dramatic impact ondrop-out rates. It can rewrite a child’s future.

Bridget puts it far better than I ever can.‘When I finish school I want to become anurse. And to achieve this, I need to stayhealthy.’

www.toilettwinning.org


CREDIBLE CLEARWATER REVIVALLack of decent sanitary facilities is one of the biggest obstacles to school attendance. The organisation Toilet Twinning came up with a brilliantly creative answer. Their CEO LorraineKingsley explains how it works.

PAGE 13


Dr. Kishore Singh is an International Law Expert and also the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right toEducation.

OUR OPINIONMoney is not the only currencyIn a museum in the coastal town of Swakopmund in Namibia is a displayabout the country’s Himba people. It is headed with a quotation, “Welose our children by sending them to school”.

It is alarming. It seems to challenge every assumption upon which thegreat effort for Education for All has been founded. At the Steve SinnottFoundation we repeatedly proclaim education as a fundamental right ofevery child. But what if it is a right that parents and their children andtheir children’s children choose not to exercise, a choice made becausetheir lives, though tough in our terms, are happy and full of joy underAfrican skies or in the beautiful remote lands of South Asia and SouthAmerica? Is our effort to secure Education for All in part perhaps a newbenevolent imperialism of the wealthy “west” or, even more darkly, anall too cynical investment in a future pool of cheap skilled labour ?

They’re questions that almost cannot be asked. So much, it seems,depends on avoiding them.

At the Steve Sinnott Foundation we do not fear the answers, becausethey are the answers that teachers the world over articulate every day inthe work they do and in the commitments they make. That is why theSteve Sinnott Foundation was established to make a special contributionto Education for All.

On the next display in the museum at Swakopmund, the alarmingquotation is explained a little more and it takes on a different tone.“Modern Himba children go to school where they are taught accordingto Western knowledge systems, with little respect for or attention toindigenous knowledge and values”. The complaint is not that parents donot want education for their children, it is rather that what they aretaught and the way they are taught cuts them off from their history andtheir culture.

It does not have to be, nor should it be. We in the so-called developedworld must stop assuming the authority to dominate. The Steve SinnottFoundation advocates the use of a different currency, one that does notuse material wealth as the means of exchange. We can use instead theriches of the best features of history and culture respecting and valuingall equally.

We must also stop misrepresenting countries in the developing worldjust as places where children sit forlorn, doe-eyed and tearful, tugging atour heartstrings and our pockets against a background of soft music.Steve himself would tell stories of children so eager for education thatthey could not comprehend the idea of truancy. His experiences wereproof that there is in these countries an eagerness for knowledge andunderstanding that we have a duty to satisfy. It is not a duty of charityand compassion. It is anobligation to share – andwe are guaranteed a richreturn. That we believe isthe right way to secureeducational development –as Steve said “Workingtogether, winningtogether”.

Isle of Wight Joint Fundraising Challenge

Friday 13th to Sunday 15th May 2016

There are hundreds of miles of interesting walkingroutes across the Isle of Wight which immerse youin some of the most beautiful landscapes; ruggedcoastal walks and enchanting forest trails take you

to discover the Isle of Wight’s many hiddentreasures; striking chalk geology and great views

out to sea.

If you would be interested in taking part please email

[email protected]

To find out more about our work visit

www.stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk

Teachers andfriends – everyoneis welcome

NEWS BITSWe’re moving – but not far. As from 1 April our address will beArnold House, 15 Clarendon Road, Watford, WD17 1JR. Check outour website for the new telephone number.

We’re very excited to be talking with EducatorsInternational and PhonicsGhana about the use ofaffordable technology supporting teachers in remote areas.

Our first successful venture into crowdfunding has raised over£9000 to make three short animated films about the differenceeducation makes. Watch out for June 2016 release of “My LifeChanged”.

Looking forward to talking again with Baroness Scotlandand with Alison Bellwood at World’s Largest Lesson, ProjectEveryone.

Cotton bags and pens. Show off your support for the Foundationand help us raise our profile. They’ll be available at the UK NUT andATL Conferences Easter 2016 or contact us to ask for more.

PAGE 14



WHAT’S GOING ON?News and updates from the Foundation

The Foundation was delighted to be working work with 12 teachers andeducators in London this February, in a partnership programme withEducAid Sierra Leone and the Sierra Leone Ministry of Education. Wewere particularly pleased that three female teachers attended this repeatof a project begun with a different Sierra Leonean teacher group in2011. As well as a packed CPD programme led by the Foundation’sEducation Team, the teachers attended a range of cultural activities –West Africa Word Symbol and Song and a Creative Writing Workshop atthe British Library, Martial Arts and Self Belief with the Dojo Project,

Choir Singing with the Denham Divas and a visit to the University ofLondon Goldsmiths College.

This Facebook message was posted by one of the teachers, CobraMohamed Bangura, reflecting on his visit to England. It fairly represents thisthoughtful, inspirational and resilient group of educators who understoodand grasped the potential for education in Sierra Leone.

“They say England is cold, yet I survived it; they say the food is difficultto adapt to, but I enjoyed it; they say it’s a ‘land of all man mind youbusiness’. Indeed that’s true but you will always have people that willgive a helping hand.I’m very thankful andgrateful to all whohave made it possiblefor me to visitEngland, a countryeveryone is dying tovisit to learn new andeffective pedagogies.But most importantly,to go back to myhomeland to pass onthe knowledge and tocreate a positiveimpact on the lives ofmany Sierra leoneans.Salone here I come.”

Education for All (EFA) is a global commitmentto help secure access to quality education for the millions of primary age children around the world still without schooling and the millions more without secondaryeducation.

The Steve Sinnott Foundation’s Education forAll Awareness days see young people in UKschools taking part in a range of activitiesacross the curriculum and raising awarenessand understanding in their local communities.

The day raises awareness and engagespartners, stimulates discussion and debate, thesharing of ideas and learning and allowseveryone to get involved in big or small waysby hosting events, fundraising or simplycommitting to using the EFA resource pack. Bypromoting and campaigning for their peersoverseas, young people are able to takeownership of their global citizenship. Theprogramme then encourages EFA relatedactivities to happen throughout the schoolyear.

EFA day in your school can be any day youchoose but the Foundation selects one day in

each year to showcase the project. Ourshowcase day for 2016 is Thursday 30 June.This will be a day of raising awareness andengagement across all of the Foundation’sglobal partners. We have lots of excitingevents planned on the day.

We have teamed up with Spark London toshowcase the Art of Storytelling and we will beasking everyone to tell and share stories about education at a venue in London in theevening. So start sending us your stories now –on paper, in Braille, as drawings, recordings,short films or be ready to act out or mime yourstory on 30 June. Save the date.

Education for All Days

How to get in touchVisit our website www.stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk for more information and regular updates. To find out how youcan get involved in EFA Day or other activities contact Ann Beatty on [email protected]

Project Sierra Leone

FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S DESK


[email protected]

Last year, money received from a “bucketcollection” at the UK National Union ofTeachers annual conference was used directlyto finance the scoping of a Learning ResourceCentre in Haiti. This project is now funded andin development.

We have been working over the past year withteachers on the ground to find out the best

way of supporting teachers to develop theirown sustainable solutions to the challengesthey face. We developed a model to kickstarta stimulation of ideas and discussion. Weneeded to translate the initial concept intosolid plans for the development of the centresto make them sustainable, manageable and fitfor purpose.

Teachers themselves will develop theseresource centres locally. They will providefacilities that are well managed and

sustainable. They will allow teachers toconnect with each other and to providementoring and support, the sharing of ideas,development of teaching methods – andsolidarity. They will assist capacity building andteacher training relevant to local circumstancesand conditions.

The first learning resource centre in Haiti isscheduled to start on site this year. There arefurther learning Resource Centres planned inSierra Leone, Nepal and Uganda.

Learning Resource Centres

The Steve Sinnott Foundation is growing, growing inprofile, in impact, and in the range of our projects nowfocused on developing Learning Resource Centres aroundthe world. Reflecting this growth, the Foundation Directorshave changed Ann Beatty’s title to Chief Executive. HereAnn looks forward to the next 12 months.

I feel truly blessed to have been given the exciting opportunity towork as Chief Executive for the Steve Sinnott Foundation and to betaking part in the global movement to provide Education for All.

It’s been an eventful few months, learning all about the wonderful,challenging but positive world of education both in the UK andinternationally.

What we aim for is United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4:Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelonglearning. This goal is a huge challenge for the world. I think it is theone that will have the greatest effect on the achievement of all theother Sustainable Development Goals. Without access to educationfor all across the globe, progress to achieve those goals will not bemade by the target date of 2030.

The Steve Sinnott Foundation is part of a global Education for Allmovement and we believe that the challenge to achieve SDG 4 isonly going to be met if involved organisations develop solutions bycollaboration. We take time to meet teachers and educators on theground to find out about the challenges to achieving a qualityeducation accessible to all. We work to promote opportunities toconnect and share solutions.

I have found it a humbling experience to meet teachers doing themost wonderful work in extraordinary circumstances. Just to mentiona few, in Watford England, where we are based, I’ve spent time withteachers working with pupils at Chessbrook Education SupportCentre. I’ve been awed by the teaching assistants at Belmont PrimarySchool, where the TA’s taught themselves braille so that the blindstudents there could become independent learners.

In Sierra Leone I’ve been privileged to meet teachers working with100 students of all ages and abilities in one classroom. I’ve beenamazed by the teachers who work with Restavak girls in Haiti. I havewitnessed accessible education in action where there are greatobstacles. I’ve seen that there is so much that teachers can sharewith each other around the world to develop sustainable solutionsto their own challenges in their own context.

“We do not want aid, we just want to be able to access other

teachers. I want to be able to look outside of my village and outsideof Uganda. I know what problems I have to solve, be they teachingor social issues. I know how to research the solutions. I just needaccess.” This is what I was told by a Ugandan teacher working in aschool that, so far, has only one computer and that’s for the headteacher’s use.

The Foundation is now working to support teachers’ needs throughthe provision of Learning Resource Centres. These will be centresthrough which teachers can connect and support each other. At theUK NUT Conference in 2015, delegates donated in a “bucketcollection” to allow us to scope out the potential for a centre inHaiti. We’ve made great progress. We now have a fully fundedbudget to establish this centre and we’re working to make itsustainable in the long term. We’re also now planning similarcentres in Nepal, Sierra Leone and Uganda and we’re in excitingdiscussions with other organisations about how these centres canbe used – including the use of affordable education technology.

Back in the UK, we have developed our Education for All (EFA)project working with teachers to develop resources across all areasof the curriculum, and we’re linking it with a project to share storieswith children in connected schools around the world. We haveteamed up with Spark London to host a storytelling event on our UKawareness day 2016 on Thursday 30th June.

So please wherever you are in the UK, save the date.

In the next 12 months we aim to continue to have as much impactas possible in supporting access to learning worldwide. We’ll besupporting teachers and educators to access training, developmentand resources. The accessibility and sustainability of public educationwhich is the theme of this issue of ENGAGE will be one of the mainfocuses of our work.

So, thank you to all our friends and partners for joining us on thisjourney so far. We will welcome many more. We are very proud to bepart of the Education for All global community and pleased ourselvesto be learning as we work. UK NUT General Secretary and FoundationDirector, Christine Blower said at our recentGetting Involved event “The Steve SinnottFoundation is a small foundation with a bigheart”.

I couldn’t agree more. I am looking forward tothe next lesson. I never thought I would hearmyself say that…

QUALITY EDUCATION FOR EVERY CHILD EVERYWHERE

www.stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk

Be a friend to 57 million primary aged children and to the many millions of olderchildren who have been denied the opportunity and access to education. By becoming a friend and giving as little as £3 a month you can and

will make a difference.

Please visit www.stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk/become-a-friendto find out more and sign-up.

Supporting Access to Learning Worldwide

Documents

Engage 13 spring 2016 online