Many faculty members in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction explore ways
to integrate our research and teaching agendas with community well-being and
flourishing, both within a local and global context. We seek to educate for
human rights, social justice, and peace. One could say that we hope to imbue our
lives and work with the quality of "Ubuntu," an African sensibility, which
Desmond Tuto describes in No Future Without Forgiveness (1999) as "the very
essence of being human."
Here are some of the initial activities that we will describe on our
collaborating site:
1. Creation of an Education and Labor Collaborative interested in conducting
qualitative research examining what young people are taught (or more typically
NOT taught) about class and labor issues in schools, socializing institutions,
and the popular media. We take an activist approach to this inquiry and aim to
organize educators, communities, and unionists to work together for alternative
ways of educating young people.
2. Peace and Human Rights Education--This year we will be organizing our fourth
annual Teaching for Peace and Human Rights Conference that brings together
educators from around the globe to collaborate on teaching strategies and ideas
on human rights advocacy. (This conference is co-sponsored by Adelphi University
and the United Nations.)
3. Shinnecock Nation Cultural Center and Museum Partnership to address
"Anti-Indianism" in the general K-12 curriculum. We work together to provide
workshops and resource materials to help local teachers gain cultural competency
to the authentic history and contemporary interests of Long Island's Indigenous
community.
4. Service learning and Community-Based learning initiatives involving, among
other projects, the creation in 2004 of the Caroline Wambui Mungai Foundation,
which currently provides a caring home and schooling for 43 children, ages 3-10
in Wangige, Kenya.
We look forward to adding more initiatives to our site in the coming year and
welcome the comments, suggestions and collaboration of our Leigh
Benin, Assistant Professor of Social Studies Education
Diane Caracciolo, Assistant Professor of Curriculum & Instruction
Rob Linne, Associate Professor of English Education
Anne Mungai, Associate Professor and Chair of Curriculum & Instruction
Department and Director of Special Education Programs
Rita Verma, Assistant Professor of Adolescence Education.
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