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EDUCATING GIRLS

Syllabus
INSPIRED BY

United Nations International Day of the Girl Child: October 11th


The extraordinary film: Girl Rising and Girl Rising Curriculum produced by the Pearson Foundation

Instructor
Dr. Fred Mednick Founder, Teachers Without Borders Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins University School of Education fred.mednick@jhu.edu and fred@twb.org | 206-356-4731

with mentors womens science and university networks, agencies, and NGOs

EDUCATING GIRLS | TABLE OF CONTENTS


Educating Girls | Introduction and Course Description ............................................................... 3 Four Course Themes .................................................................................................................... 4 Reading List .................................................................................................................................. 4 Course Navigation and Technology .............................................................................................. 4 Course Policies and Community Obligations ................................................................................. 5 Grading Criteria............................................................................................................................. 5 This is the Beginning | Access to Education (Part 1) ................................................................... 6 What if a Girls Life Could be More? | Access to Education (Part 1I) ........................................... 7 I Will Come Back Every Day | Girls Education in Emergencies (Part 1) ................................... 10 Between Bulls and Mosquitoes | Education in Emergencies (Part I1) ....................................... 13 Do You See it Now? I am Change | Girls Education and Public Health (Part 1) ...................... 14 He was Strong, but I was Stronger | Girls Education and Public Health (Part 1I)...................... 17 Education and Empowerment ..................................................................................................... 18 Appendix I: Girls Education and Public Health: My Community Template Presentation ........ 22 Appendix II: Johns Hopkins University School of Education Policies .......................................... 23

EDUCATING GIRLS | Johns Hopkins University School of Education with Teachers Without Borders

Educating Girls | Introduction and Course Description


Before we begin this course, I wish to encourage you to see the film, Girl Rising, an extraordinary film about the indisputable impact of educating girls. Please see the Girl Rising Curriculum produced by the Pearson Foundation This course honors that film as partial source material for coursework designed to enhance awareness, for teachers, about the pressing issues facing girls education today. According to major research studies, educated girls are 50% more likely to immunize their children in the future. With an extra year of education, a girl can earn up to 20% more as an adult. A child born to a literate mother is 50% more likely to survive past the age of 5.1 In order for girls education to gain momentum, the power of educating girl requires a catalyst teachers: the largest professionally trained group in the world. If educating girls is critical to development, then supporting teachers is the multiplying factor of change. While the education of girls propels all development efforts, no single solution works. Immunizing children, installing water filtration systems, and distributing mosquito nets have had remarkable results; more children survive and more attend school. However, public health often hinges on hygiene education campaigns, community participation, investment, ongoing support, and measurement. It takes a world to educate a girl and her teachers.
Community

Educating Girls revolves around four themes: access, public health, emergencies, and empowerment by examining sectors and stakeholders, teaching and learning, top-down policy and bottom-up movements. Well only touch the surface. It is said that the humanities teach a little about a lot and the sciences teach a lot about a little. Perhaps. It will be up to the student to go deep or wide, local or global. One fact is certain: this course is a call to action.

Students

Teachers

Online courses dont have the intimate feeling that can come from gathering face-to-face, but they can be far more inclusive. "Educating Girls encourages both the intimacy of colleagues who gather around issues that matter and the inclusion of new friends making a difference. You may not be able to eat together or shake each

Center for Global Development, 10x10act.org, UNICEF, Girls Education International, Fem 2.0, Girl Effect.

EDUCATING GIRLS | Johns Hopkins University School of Education with Teachers Without Borders

other's hand, but youll feel close to people you may not ever physically meet and who live in regions of the world you may never visit. Informed learning + Teacher Multipliers Time = Educated Girls. Its a complicated equation, but think of it this waywe dont have a moment to lose. Lets do the math and science. Lets teach each other. And, better yet, lets teach it to girls.

Four Course Themes


This course explores four major THEMES in the education of girls: ACCESS to EDUCATION: enrollment, retention, school fees, school uniforms, public policy EDUCATION in EMERGENCIES preparedness and planning; intervention for acute or chronic crises; reconstruction EDUCATION and PUBLIC HEALTH: hygiene, public safety, water, policy EDUCATION and EMPOWERMENT: human rights, participation, freedom The themes rest on three Rs: (a) Research: the data around the education of girls, as well as analyses, images, and stories (b) Relationship: how new learning relates to our practice, and how new relationships make impacts possible (c) Results: the capacity to make a measurable difference in and for our classrooms, our communities, and the world. We shall be adding more themes each time the course is taught. In future versions of this course, all themes will serve as independent modules enabling students to take one or more, depending upon their calendars and interests.

Reading List
All readings are available online and at no cost. The complete reading list is included in this syllabus week-by-week, and all articles are also available on SCRIBD, an online repository. Click on the link to see the list of articles. Well also provide a place for your bookmarks and research so that the course gets better the more people take it.

Course Navigation and Technology


In addition to the course platform, where youll see the course assignments and the Grade Book, there are other technological requirements: 1. Youll be required to be an author on a public blog I shall establish. This site also includes a social network you can use during and beyond this course 2. Twitter is recommended. #JHUglobalgirls will be the tag

EDUCATING GIRLS | Johns Hopkins University School of Education with Teachers Without Borders

3. Knowledge of social networks (like Facebook), Google Docs, and applications like wikis 4. Well also introduce you to online applications like mapping and timelines Technology is powerful. Please post to the blog because your work is yours. Too much in the world is at stake to let your scholarship evaporate. Well provide tutorials and help with technology issues.

Course Policies and Community Obligations


It is each students responsibility to become familiar with Johns Hopkins Universitys School of Education policies, as well as those of this particular course. JHU Policies can be found in Appendix 1: JHU-SOE Policies. PLAGIARISM: Apologies for stating the obvious, but plagiarism (copying and pasting the work of others without appropriate attribution or credit to the author) is theft, plain and simple, and we must acknowledge the importance of both sharing our work and acknowledging the work of others. The Internet is a social contract designed for learning as sharing. If you find the perfect article to address an issue you wish to explore for an assignment, go ahead and post it, but you must cite it and give credit to the author its only a means, not an end; use it to reinforce your point, not in place of your point. Chasing after students in order to determine if an essay has been plagiarized is a waste of time and humiliating; its not teaching its policing. Thats another reason why your blog posts should be public. If you copy and paste the work of others 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. Reputation should be your biggest motivator. CITATION FORMAT: Though we wont take points off for the citation format you use, the preferred citation style for this course is the APA Format. Here is a Quick Guide to APA Format to guide you along.

Grading Criteria
This is non-credit course professional development course, available for Continuing Education Units (CEUs). Grading will be based upon participation (discussion) assignments. 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 quality.

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[4-5]: MEETS REQUIREMENTS: Satisfies the expectations of the assignment with professional use of sources. Demonstrates core competency. [3]: NEEDS WORK: Basic treatment of the ideas, but needs to dig deeper in order to show core competence. [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. Should there be any issue about making deadlines, you will need to contact me in advance.

This is the Beginning | Access to Education (Part 1)


WEEK 1 KEY THEMES: Introduction to the Issues | Numbers and the Stories | Challenges and Opportunities DUE DATES and CHECKLIST
Preparation and Introduction: the syllabus, survey and your profile Readings, and Media Assignments and Activities Questions, Conversations and Connections Please see the Girl Rising Curriculum produced by the Pearson Foundation

BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW


This is not the end. It is the beginning. (Sokha Cambodia, Girl Rising) The film, Girl Rising, opens with Sokha, a Cambodian girl in a golden costume, dancing in slow motion. Suddenly, the camera shifts to the broader context Sokhas previous life picking trash. This week well focus on the statistics and stories of girls around the world. Well use publicly available clips from YouTube, featuring Girl Rising, to provide dramatic testimony and support for research on the connection between educating girls and affecting social change. Families, worldwide, prefer to send their girls to school, yet accessibility, availability, affordability, and acceptability of schooling is bound up with economic, cultural, political, and historical complexities. For example, the positive impacts of eliminating school and uniform fees can be contrasted with unintended negative consequences like corruption, the need for teachers to seek additional sources of income (tutoring), and lack of follow-through. No easy solutions. Well start with getting to know each other, getting organized, and diving into the facts of girls education today. Please complete a short survey on your background and interests Please respond to the email invitation to join www.girlsneedtoknow.org (more soon)

EDUCATING GIRLS | Johns Hopkins University School of Education with Teachers Without Borders

Please fill out your profile on the www.girlsneedtoknow.org site. Youll get an invite

MEDIA, READINGS, and WEBSITES TO REVIEW


Sokhas Story (YouTube video from Girl Rising) Because I am a Girl: (UN International Day of the Girl) Slide show on girls' education (infographic) Gender Equality Quality and Statistics (data-base) Women as a Force for Change (Kristof, New York Times)

QUESTIONS, CONVERSATION AND CONNECTION


For 15 years, Ive been asking the same question of teachers, worldwide: What do you see outside your window? How has your view through your window shaped your perspective on education? Its quite open ended. Many have described pastoral scenes, brick walls, bars, a lack of a window, rain. In 2000, their answers were so compelling that I dropped everything and founded Teachers Without Borders. This year, I wrote the following piece for a book I am titling, Outside My Window: Teachers Defying the Odds. The first part of the question is the same: What do you see outside your window? The second part is different: If you were working exclusively on the issue of girls education, what, then, would you likely be seeing outside your window? The same view? A different neighborhood? A different country? A more tragic or hopeful scene? Would you leave your job? Would it be another state/province or in another country? Most importantly, why? Please post your response to the course blog and respond to at least two other colleagues. NOTE: I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE you to add video or photographs. If you worry about privacy or, in fact, if you worry about authorities who might judge (or punish) you not only for this assignment, but also for taking this course, then please let me know and well post it in a space accessible only to your fellow students.

ACTIVITIES AND WRITING


No additional writing or activities (other than filling out your profile, completing the survey, posting your response to the discussion (Outside My Window), responding to others, and doing the reading.

What if a Girls Life Could be More? | Access to Education (Part 1I)


WEEK 2

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KEY THEMES: Overcoming Barriers | The Data of Development and Girls Education | The U.N.
Millennium Development Goals: Progress and Challenges DUE DATES and CHECKLIST Background/Overview, Readings, and Media Questions, Conversations and Connections Writing and Activities Please see the Girl Rising Curriculum produced by the Pearson Foundation

EDUCATING GIRLS | Johns Hopkins University School of Education with Teachers Without Borders

BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW


What if a girls life could be more? (Azmera Ethiopia, in Girl Rising) Make no mistake about it Azmeras story is not limited to Ethiopia. Depending on how you interpret the research, we could be making progress, worldwide, or going backward. You decide. According to the United Nations, the 8 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. Girls education is woven throughout explicitly and implicitly. MEDIA, READINGS, AND WEBSITES TO REVIEW

Azmeras story: Maaza Mengiste, Meet the Writer from Ethiopia from Girl Rising Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Post 2015 Agenda (websites) MDG 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women: UNICEF Educators Guide to the MDGs: Taking It Global UN Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI) Global Advisory Committee (video) World Bank eAtlas of Gender: (sortable database) UNICEF Girls Education Campaigns

QUESTIONS, CONVERSATION, AND CONNECTIONS


Do the Millennium Development Goals have any bearing on your local work with girls and women? How might these goals affect your work? Please post your discussion topic and respond to at least 2 colleagues.

WRITING AND ACTIVITIES


Choose ONE of the following (2 pages, maximum) How might the Millennium Development Goals, particularly MDG 3, affect your work? Look at the details and research behind the slogans. Be specific and cite research on the MDGs, as well as research. If so, how? Review Teach UNICEF Lesson Plans and Units: Millennium Development Goals, along with Young People Tackle the MDGs. How would you integrate this into your classroom? What would you change? What would you keep the same?

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I Will Come Back Every Day | Girls Education in Emergencies (Part 1)


WEEK 3 KEY THEMES: Introduction to the scope of education in emergencies | Interagency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) | INEE Toolkit DUE DATES and CHECKLIST
Background/Overview, Readings, and Media Questions, Conversations and Connections Possible Guest Speaker(s) Group Collaboration Please see the Girl Rising Curriculum produced by the Pearson Foundation

BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION


I will come back every day until I can stay. (Wadley Haiti, in Girl Rising). In Haiti, Wadley started January 12th, 2010 innocently enough getting ready to go to her school nearby and playing with flowers in bloom. In the afternoon, a 7.0 earthquake, the largest of its kind in 2000 years, devastated the country, leaving 230,000 dead, countless homeless, and schools destroyed. Resilient and steadfast, Wadley insisted that she attend a makeshift school, despite her lack of money to pay for her uniforms. Wadleys story is wrapped up in a larger picture of education in access to schooling. Imagine the resilience it takes to maintain or attend school in or after a disaster. Today, over 2.5 years after the earthquake, the streets of Port-au-Prince are littered with enough rubble to pave a four-lane highway from the capitol city to Los Angeles. Poorly designed buildings, a dense population, a shallow earthquake zone, poverty, and little or no earthquake education made it so cataclysmic. It continues to be a natural, a national, and an international disaster. Access to education makes front-page news. In Pakistan, Malala Yousafzai, the 16 year-old Pakistani girl shot by the Taliban for her efforts to attend school, has become a household name. In Afghanistan, a generation of children knows only war. A recent New York Times article, Despite Education Advances, A Host of Education Woes (July 21, 2013) describes the world outside Afghanistans windows the culture and context of schooling, the good news and bad news of education and development, gender equity and education emergencies: prevention and planning, intervention and reconstruction. Institutions, worldwide, must cope with new intra- or international thugs, human trafficking, dwindling resources, youth-targeted paramilitary recruitment campaigns, war, and a capricious susceptibility to the ravages of climate change. Fragile states cannot maintain their schools and

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protect education. The refugee population, worldwide, is growing alongside a youth bulge. Teachers, students, and schools are often unable to establish normalcy, no less move forward. It is a daunting undertaking. What are the standards and protocols? Amidst the human development nightmare of feeding and educating one million displaced Syrians in Jordan, what happens to educational systems as a whole, and the education of girls in particular? What are the issues to consider when an emergency strikes? Why build schools if children and teachers will be attacked? In the face of powerful evidence about the return on investment in disaster prevention and planning, how can it be that only 2% is spent on emergency education, including aid after a disaster? Yet amidst tragedy, there are heroes, and one network needs special mention: The Interagency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE), responsible for establishing the standards that govern coordination support for prevention, planning, and global aid. Today, when an emergency breaks out, INEE has made it mandatory for educators to be part of first-responder teams. This week, well focus almost exclusively on INEEs work. And, of course, there are the unseen heroes teachers. Youll meet them in the article, Education Under Attack. The largest professionally-trained group in the world and a true development army, teachers know who is sick or missing or orphaned by AIDS. They count the children in emergencies, create child-friendly spaces, and provide desperately needed psychosocial support for families. An innocent girl, Wadley, wants to go school. In her way is earthquake debris, corruption, the cost of a uniform, a lack of transparency, neglect, and a lack of an education about the science of earthquakes and the lives that could be saved, if only there were a plan. This issue is not for the faint of heart. In your discussions and interactions with organizations, please understand the feelings of those who may have experienced this first hand. For those of you who wish to explore this issue in greater detail, we are also offering a course, ASAP: Education in Emergencies.

READINGS AND MEDIA

Wadleys Story: (Meet the Writer from Haiti, Edwidge Danticat) from Girl Rising Schools as Battlegrounds: Human Rights Watch (video) Despite Education Advances, A Host of Education Woes (New York Times) International Day of Disaster Reduction: (October 12th) Step Up Women & Girls: the invisible Force of Resilience Education Under Attack: UNESCO Interagency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE website) INEE Pocket Guide to Gender: (document)

POSSIBLE GUEST SPEAKERS

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Sharon Ravitch, PhD Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and Senior Advisor to the Minister of Education of Haiti; Yolande Miller-Gandvaux, PhD, Senior Program Officer for USAIDAfrica; Solmaz Mohadjer, Director of Emergency Education for Teachers Without Borders

DISCUSSION: (Optional)
What is your gut reaction to all of this? What do you notice? What strikes you as odd or missing? What do you worry about?

WRITING/ACTIVITY: FUNDING CHANGE extended deadline Google Presentation


Alone or in a group you form, the task is to take the perspective of a donor providing funds OR as an organization seeking funds for girls education in Haiti focusing on one of the four themes: (1) access to education (b) education in emergencies (c) public health (d) empowerment. Clearly theyre related, but try to focus on one of these areas. Both choices are similar, but they vary in terms of the perspective the giver and the receiver. CHOOSE ONE of the following: CHOICE 1: (Funders Perspective): You have $50,000. You cant start an organization or initiative. You can only support an organization or network already operating in, or for, Haiti. Funds can be used for (a) organizational capacity or (b) a particular project. Be prepared to explain your rationale. Read this New York Times article: How Charities Used Donations for Haiti Choose three criteria for selecting the organization for its work on girls education. You dont have to prioritize them. Some examples: Is it the organizations track record? Its follow through on equitable policies? Its focus on local leadership? Its transparency? Its impacts and clear reporting? Its judicious use of funds? Its ability to scale and sustain itself? Its partnerships? Youll have a template for creating a slide show using Google Presentation. This will allow you to collaborate if you want to work as a group AND make it possible for the public to see your work in real time. The template for your group presentation can be found here. Theres a place for notes (like in Powerpoint). Feel free to customize it.

CHOICE 1I: (Organization or NGO Perspective): You represent an organization working in Haiti and need $50,000. Youve been in operation for at least three years. You need to demonstrate the three most important criteria for being selected. Your policies? Transparency? Proven track record? Sustainability? Capacity for scale? Community support? Your ability to demonstrate self-reliance? A breakthrough on a consistent barrier that others have not managed to accomplish? Your capacity to collaborate and pool resources with other civil society organizations? Read this New York Times article: How Charities Used Donations for Haiti Acknowledging that there is donor-fatigue and suspicion out there, youll need to demonstrate your credibility by focusing on those three criteria

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Your group also has to scan the field to determine what other organizations are doing similar work and how your organization fills a particular niche or is known for its ability to collaborate Youll have a template for creating a slide show using Google Presentation. This will allow you to collaborate if you want to work as a group AND make it possible for the public to see your work in real time. The template for your group presentation can be found here. Theres a place for notes (like in Powerpoint). Feel free to customize it.

Between Bulls and Mosquitoes | Education in Emergencies (Part I1)


WEEK 4 KEY THEMES: Connecting one emergency education issue with global development | Group collaboration as social change agent DUE DATES and CHECKLIST
Background/Overview, Readings, and Media Questions, Conversations and Connections Group Collaboration Continues Please see the Girl Rising Curriculum produced by the Pearson Foundation

BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW


Some communities in Tajikistan believe that earthquakes are caused by a bull, living beneath the earth, who when bothered by a mosquito cause the earth to rumble. We start from there. - Solmaz Mohadjer, Director of Emergency Education for Teachers Without Borders Think about Wadleys community for a moment. At the first sign of any civil unrest or natural disaster, many people run indoors for protection. Unfortunately, schools are attacked or collapse in an earthquake. Soon, families become building phobic. If they were uncertain about sending their children to school before the quake, theyre convinced now the school will kill my child or take her away. We are focusing on earthquakes because they crystallize the issues of education in emergencies: policy, preparation, and programs and tie together issues of access, emergencies, and public health. The 20-minute video, Between Bulls and Mosquitoes, focuses on Teachers Without Borders earthquake science and safety program as one of many efforts to engage a global community (teachers, government leaders, scientists) in efforts to connect education and disaster reduction.

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New research on girls and women in disaster risk reduction (DRR) has revealed a shift from reactive disaster response to long-term proactive disaster risk and vulnerability reduction (Making Disaster Risk Reduction Gender-Sensitive, pg. 2), along with a need for a genderfocused, rather than women-focused, approach designed to strengthen sustainable development. Disasters do not discriminate. Women hold up half the sky; men hold up the other.

READINGS AND MEDIA


Between Bulls and Mosquitoes: Teachers Without Borders (earthquake science and safety) Parsquake: Earthquake Education in the Global Persian Community Making Disaster Risk Reduction Gender-Sensitive: United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) Toward a new post-2015 Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (Recommended)

GUEST SPEAKERS/WEBINARS
Depending upon scheduling of speakers listed in Part I, we may extend or reschedule webinars. Stay tuned.

DISCUSSION: CULTURE and EMERGENCIES


Please post your immediate reactions on the Discussion space and comment on two other colleagues posts. You might want to look at the issue of culture (Bulls and Mosquitoes), education initiatives (Parsquake) or policy (UNISDR report and post-2-15 agenda).
)

WRITING ASSIGNMENT (continues from the previous week)


There is no writing assignment this week in order to give you time to focus on your Funding Change assignment.

Do You See it Now? I am Change | Girls Education & Public Health (Part 1)
WEEK 5 KEY THEMES: The Data of Development and Girls Education | The U.N. Millennium Development Goals: Progress and Challenges DUE DATES and CHECKLIST
Background/Overview Readings and Media Discussion Post

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Webinar: Iftikher Mahmood, MD, FAACP (exact date to be announced) Writing and Activities Please see the Girl Rising Curriculum produced by the Pearson Foundation

BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW


Look into my eyes. Do you see it now? I am change. (Amina Afghanistan in Girl Rising). Public health is the science and art of protecting and improving the health of communities through education, promotion of healthy lifestyles, and research for disease and injury prevention. Public health works to prevent health problems before they occur.2 The lack of education is, inherently, a public health issue. The Indian schoolchildren who died from eating tainted school lunches were not the victims of poisoning, per se, but from poverty. Resilience alone cannot feed children or protect them from the ravages of neglect, sexual violence, and civil unrest. Accurate, practical, and engaging education in formal and non-formal settings, combined with teacher professional development, psychosocial services, and effective and enforceable policies, can make a difference. This week we will explore a story from Afghanistan, child marriage, girls health, and genderbased violence.

READINGS AND MEDIA


Meet the Writer from Afghanistan: (Zarghuna Kargar: Aminas Story Girl Rising) Ending Child Marriage Via Education: (Care video) Standing Up to Early Marriage: Melka (video from 10x10) Girls Health and Education: Igniting Change Worldwide (1-hour video recommended) Sheryl WuDunn: Our Century's Greatest Injustice: (TED video from author of Half the Sky)

DISCUSSION: MY QUESTION IS
Post your reaction to the readings with a question, starting with: My Question: XXXX. An example: My Question: Why is so little spent on preventative public health education in the development world? Please refer to the readings when explaining why you have asked this question. Please limit your response to paragraph, plus responses to two colleagues posts.

WEBINAR

What is Public Health? http://www.whatispublichealth.org

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Iftikher Mahmood, MD, FAAP Founder, Hope Foundation for Women & Children of Bangladesh. We often hear about the global agencies and the mass efforts in development. This is a small organization working in one of the poorest communities in the most densely populated country in the world. Born in Coxs Bazar, a small seaside port town in Bangladesh, Dr. Mahmood completed both his medical training in Bangladesh and his Pediatric Residency at Brooklyn Hospital in New York. Well learn more about his work and what he needs to make a difference in the community where he was born.

WRITING ASSIGNMENT
Were going to look at public health assets, as well as liabilities, in a community we choose. (3 pages, maximum). Heres how this will work:

Consider your community in light of public health, education, and girls. Choose one public health issue that means something to you. Describe the problem. Cite research from articles, databases, and articles in local publications Draw a circle 50 miles or kilometers around the your community in order to discover what public health education ASSETS (people, programs, and projects) are directly accessible to your community (particularly girls) around this issue. EXAMPLE: Port Harcourt, Nigeria | HIV-AIDS infections of youth (ages 14-23) within 50 kilometers | Assets: mobile vans that demonstrate condom use; health workers dispatched from the local hospital; school training in both the science of HIV-AIDS and relationships between men and women.

What are your communitys assets to address this public health issue and education issue, particularly for girls?

NOTES: Copy the template (Appendix II) to help you along Give yourself a time limit for researching this because it can feel like a never-ending experience

FOR THE CURIOUS FREE TECHNOLOGY FOR EMERGENCY EDUCATION


CDC Widgets & Gadgets - The Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) now provides a wide range of free public domain software widgets & gadgets for use on your computer systems or web sites focused on public health & safety FrontlineSMS - An award-winning free and open source software product that can turn a laptop or mobile phone into a central communications hub. Proven to be very useful in emergency management or humanitarian crisis situations. Global Disaster Information Network (GDIN) - An international organization focused on providing reliable information about disasters, both manmade and natural. They also provide information to disaster response and relief organizations on ways of helping the

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survivors of different disasters, as well as guidance on preventing or responding to future disasters. InSTEDD - Innovative Support to Emergencies, Diseases, and Disasters (InSTEDD) is a non-profit collaborative organization focused on the design and use of open source technology tools to help partners enhance collaboration and improve information flow to better deliver critical services to vulnerable populations during man-made crises or natural disasters. Open ISES - This software development project and associated community are dedicated to creating free & open source software, tools and instructional materials for the Emergency Services Community, Civilian Emergency Response Teams, and others Sahana Foundation Projects - A free and open source Disaster Management system addressing the common coordination problems during a disaster from finding missing people, managing aid, managing volunteers, tracking camps effectively between government agencies, non-government organizations (NGO), and the victims themselves Ushahidi and Crowdmap - A non-profit tech organization & project specializing in developing free & open source software for information collection, visualization and interactive mapping data related to man-made crises and natural disasters.

He was Strong, but I was Stronger | Girls Education and Public Health (Part 1I)
WEEK 6 KEY THEMES: Data on Gender Equality | Gender Violence DUE DATES and CHECKLIST
Background/Overview, Readings, and Media Conversations and Connections Writing and Activities Please see the Girl Rising Curriculum produced by the Pearson Foundation

BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW


He was strong, but I was stronger. (Yasmin Egypt, in Girl Rising) Writer Mona Eltahway addresses issues of gender-based violence for the story of Yasmin, an Egyptian girl in the film Girl Rising. This tragedy, however, knows no borders. It is reflects several themes we have addressed to date access to education, education in emergencies, and education and public health. We will examine the implications of Yasmins story.

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READINGS AND MEDIA



Yasmins Story: Meet the Writer from Egypt: Mona Eltahawy Screening Tool to Identify Female Survivors of Gender-Based Violence: (article) Why Tackling Violence Will Unleash the Potential of Millions of Girls (Girl Effect infographic) Gender Equality Must be a Development Priority in Its Own Right: The Guardian World Bank Education Statistics and www.GapMinder.org (data tables)

DISCUSSION: VIOLENCE and PUBLIC HEALTH


What have you learned about the public health issue of violence against girls? How might that translate into the classroom? What does Yasmin teach you?

WRITING (NONE)
The reading/data analysis is dense this week. Focus on the conversation and connection. There are no other additional writing assignments this week.

Education and Empowerment


WEEK 7
KEY THEMES: The data of girls education and gender equality | Inspiring action | Models of change

DUE DATES and CHECKLIST


Background/Overview, Readings, and Media Conversations and Connections: Join BRAC or GRAMEEN Writing and Activities Please see the Girl Rising Curriculum produced by the Pearson Foundation

BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW


Thats when I learned to never give up. (Ruksana India, in Girl Rising).

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RUKSANAs story involves access to education (India has the largest number of children out of school), but it does not end there. It certainly intersects with public health (the disasters that can befall the homeless in megacities), but here too safer streets do not an education make. Nor her story about disaster mitigation, though dense populations in megacities are particularly vulnerable. Its about the connection between poverty and human rights, economic development and dignity, education and empowerment. Here, two organizations shine: The Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) is spreading solutions born in Bangladesh to 10 other countries around the world a global leader in creating opportunity for the worlds poor. What started out as a limited relief operation in 1972 in a remote village of Bangladesh has turned into the largest development organization in the world. (BRAC website) The Grameen Foundation helps the worlds poorest, especially women, improve their lives and escape poverty by helping to provide access to appropriate financial services (such as small loans and savings accounts), new ways to generate income, and important information about their health, crops and finances. (Grameen website).

Now theres nothing to stop me. Nothing in the world. Nothing in the universe.
(Mariama Sierra Leone, Girl Rising) MARIAMA is a modern young woman, comfortable with technology and herself, but she lives within a context that, initially, thwarts her ambitions to be of service to others. She perseveres, nonetheless because of mentors. Mentors and networks are the key to social change, and so this last session addresses the power in numbers. These past eight weeks, weve touched on four themes in the field of girls education: (1) access to education, (2) public health and education (3) education in emergencies, and (4) education and empowerment. One may be thinking, I know more, but now what? These next two sessions are devoted to womens empowerment and change.

READINGS, MEDIA, and WEBSITES


Ruksanas Story: Girl Rising (video) Women Deliver (website and organization) Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women CEDAW) Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee BRAC (website) Grameen (website) Interview with Meet the Writer from Sierra Leone: (Aminatta Forna Girl Rising) Partnerships for Girls Education: OXFAM One Billion Rising: Global campaign against violence against women and girls Girl Effect The Headlines

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Recommended

The Gender Audit Handbook: Interaction - recommended Is Global Development the Answer to Ending Poverty in the Developing World? (The Guardian) SEE Model (Simulations in Equity for Education): World Bank recommended

TWO-PART ASSIGNMENT: RESOURCES (Google Template see below)


Part 1: Extending Resources from Educating Girls I hope you have benefited from the readings and resources. It is, by no means, an exhaustive list. Id would like to enlist you in creating a catalog of additional resources for these four themes so that the course gets better and better, the more we teach it. Please access this Google Document: Educating Girls Course Resources. This is a shared effort, so please do not write over someone elses work. Only those who have the link (i.e. colleagues in this course) have access. There are four tabs at the bottom, one for each of the four themes: (1) Access to education (2) Education in Emergencies (3) Education and Public Health, and (4) Education and Empowerment A resource can be a person, as well as an organization, a news aggregator, a lesson-plan repository whatever you believe will enhance this course Column D is for your name. When weve collected the resources, well combine them in a searchable and public resource bank on a site Im developing: http://GirlsNeedtoKnow.org site and will connected that site to a large social network. In other words, your contributions will get visibility

Part 1I: Connecting and Collaborating Organizations and networks matter, and they need you, as you probably have seen when doing the assignment on funding (donor or recipient organization). Heres what I would like you to do: Join BRAC, Grameen, or any other global womens network focusing on development and education Identify an area that stirs your personal or professional aspirations Participate in a conversation and describe the nature of the conversations you have joined there Post a discussion topic on what youve learned (you can be quite brief, but include a link to the discussion or organization)

DISCUSSION (Optional) WHAT HAS CHANGED? Earlier in the course (the survey), I asked you to write down your list of how you ranked the four issues. Please take another look at that list. How does it feel? Has it changed? Strengthened your conviction?

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COURSE EVALUATION: to be posted soon

A Final Note
Thank you so very much for participating in this course. Together, we have created a new community, and though we may not have been able to meet each other faceto-face, weve met this global issue headon. From here, well grow and strengthen the course and, I hope, grow and strengthen our ties to each other. All good things begin in hospitality and, for the time being, end in gratitude. On the Girls Need to Know site, please post a thank you to your colleagues for their efforts on behalf of girls education, worldwide.

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Appendix I: Girls Education and Public Health:


My Community Template Presentation

Your Name Date Course: Educating Girls Johns Hopkins University School of Education and Teachers Without Borders

MY COMMUNITY ASSETS

NAME OF COMMUNITY
What kind of community it is, where.details

AN ISSUE WE FACE AND THE CHALLENGES WE MUST ADDRESS


Describe it here. Best to be as specific as possible. If its HIV -AIDS, for instance, what are the numbers that make this a real problem in your community? Cite the research

ASSETS WITHIN 50 MILES/KILOMETERS CONNECTING PUBLIC HEALTH AND EDUCATION


What are the assets that someone in your community can access (and even know about)? Cite your sources here, including an interaction with someone working directly in this area.

REACTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS


Were you surprised by what you learned? Worried? Suspicious or pride affirmed? What new issues come to mind? What would you do to address these issues? Why do you feel this way?

Appendix II: Johns Hopkins University School of Education Policies


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 reco rds For full policy and misconduct proceedings, see the Academic Policy section of School of Education.
The School of Education defines academic misconduct as any intentional or unintentional act that provides an unfair or improper advantage beyond a students own work, intellect, or effort, including but not limited to cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, unapproved multiple submissions, or helping others engage in misconduct. This includes the misuse of electronic media, text, print, images, speeches and ideas. Any act that violates the spirit of authorship or gives undue advantage is a violation. Students are responsible for understanding what constitutes academic misconduct. Please note that student work may be submitted to Turnitin.com, an online plagiarism detection tool, at the discretion of the course instructor. If student work is deemed plagiarized, the course instructor shall follow the policy and procedures governing academic misconduct as laid out in the School of Educations Academic Catalog.

Late Work Policy


Educators are some of the busiest people in the world and so we understand how understand how the tyranny of the urgent can get in the way of getting work in on time. 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 (or your group) so that no one is caught off guard. That said, excessive lateness can 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 class. 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.

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

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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 410516-9734 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. ------

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