Open Society Education Update

"If we want Roma children to succeed in school, we must build our pedagogy around the needs of Roma children and stop trying to make the Roma child to fit into the box of the traditional European model."

Joszef Choli Daroczi

Professor of Romology

Teacher's College in Zsambek, Hungary

SCHOOL SUCCESS FOR ROMA CHILDREN

MEETING HELD IN CLUJ, ROMANIA

Roma children in the region of East/Central Europe do not have equal access to education for a variety of reasons. The systems of education in these countries have not succeeded in providing adequate services for Roma children. Many Roma children never go to school, few Roma children complete primary school, fewer still complete secondary school, and attendance at university is rare.

In mid-December, EPSU staff and Foundation education program officers met in Cluj, Romania to launch the "School Success for Roma Children" initiative. As requested by the OSI Board, EPSU will provide special support to Foundations that are working in this area. The Cluj meeting was designed to be a first step in developing a comprehensive regional approach to improving the quality of education and ensuring school success for Roma children.

Over a dynamic three days, participants discussed the many strategic issues that must be considered when developing programs in Roma education. The lack of knowledge about Roma history, language and culture was identified as a major underlying factor in the complexity of the issues Roma populations face throughout the region. The group also agreed that Foundation programs have to try to work systematically to solve the issues surrounding school success for Roma children, and that they should work collaboratively with existing Foundation programs (both national and regional) to achieve greatest impact.

One of the highlights of the meeting was a presentation by Choli Daroczi Jozsef, a Hungarian Roma educator, poet and translator. It is perhaps he who summed up the understanding reached at the meeting the best when he said, "We must get to the point, through teacher training and other programs, where the different values of Roma and non-Roma communities can work together."

For a copy of the report from the Cluj meeting on "School Success for Roma Children," including the text of Mr. Daroczi's address, contact Eva Badar <badare@osi.hu>.

ROMA LANGUAGE CLASS IN ALBANIA

The Soros Foundation Albania has sponsored a Roma language program in a small village with a concentrated Roma population. Children learn to read and write the Romanes language, and an ABC book has been developed in Romanes. The class is taught by two local volunteers. The Soros Foundation has provided furniture for the classroom, teaching materials, publication of the ABC book and other support. The Foundation is interested in contacting experts in the field of Romanes language to provide advice on the materials and teaching methods. For more information on this program, contact Alketa Klosi, aklosi@osfa.tirana.al.

PARTNERSHIP WITH MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES IN ROMANIA

Romania has the largest Roma population in Europe. According to official statistics, there are 400,000 Roma, but other estimates range from 1.5 million to 2 million. The Soros Foundation has initiated several programs in schools, health education, and community development. In Cluj, the Foundation has developed a partnership with Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) to help get Roma children into school. The main components of the program are a) development of links between the school and the Roma community through the work of liaison officers, b) provision of basic school materials (notebooks, pens) and clothing for Roma children to attend school, and c) providing access to health services. "I love school! I want to keep coming to school," said one Roma girl who had never been to school before the MSF involvement. MSF and the Soros Foundation recognize that work still needs to be done in the field of teacher and school administrator training, but the first and most important steps have been taken to get children in school. For more information on this program, contact Liviu Matei, lmatei@office.soroscj.ro.

EMPHASIS ON LANGUAGE AND INTEGRATION IN HUNGARY

The Soros Foundation Hungary has established Roma education as a high priority in its education programs. The education strategy for Roma children includes four main points: 1) Developing a network of enthusiastic and dedicated teachers at all levels to work with Roma students, 2) Promoting access of Roma children to early childhood development programs, 3) Support Roma students to have access to and succeed in higher education, and 4) Develop school models for drop-out Roma children. In its programs, the Board favors an integrated approach. That is, the Foundation aims to support programs that help Roma children succeed in the mainstream education system. Separate programs are only supported if they have a strategy for eventual integration. Secondly, all programs focus on language as an important component of school success for Roma children. The Hungarian language of instruction is different from daily conversational Hungarian and is even difficult for young Hungarian students. Roma children (even those who do speak conversational Hungarian) have difficulties in understanding the language of learning in Hungarian schools. The Foundation aims to support Roma children in learning Hungarian for the purpose of participating fully in Hungarian education institutions. For more information on this program, contact Adel Rozsavolgyi at <rozsa@soros.hu>

MENTORING PROGRAM FOR SECONDARY STUDENTS: Fewer than 1% of Roma students graduate from secondary school in Hungary, compared to 50% of the majority. In order to support Roma students to succeed in school and to develop a network of dedicated teachers, the SF Hungary has established a scholarship program for Roma students in secondary school. Students must apply jointly with a tutor for support. Together, the tutor and the student must develop their program for cooperation with the aim at raising the academic performance of the student. Training is provided for the tutors, and reports on progress are required after each semester. This program, as developed by SF Hungary, is only available to Roma students at gymnasium or the traditional academic high school. The equivalent of $35 per month is provided to the student and $20 per month provided to the teacher (representing about 10% of the monthly teacher wage). Liz Lorant, Director of Regional Programs, was so impressed with this scheme that she has developed it into a Regional program that will be announced in February. For more information on this program, contact Adel Rozsavolgyi at <rozsa@soros.hu>

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLS CONFERENCE

IN ALBANIA

Many Foundations are currently exploring the idea of the 'democratic school' -- what does it mean? who are the actors? and how can the Soros network support and encourage a democratic school environment? The Albania Education Development Program (AEDP) has worked hard in the past year to take a look at the issues surrounding community involvement in education. As part of an information and public awareness campaign, the Community office of AEDP sponsored four 'studios' over the past year. These meetings provided an opportunity for parents, teachers, policy makers and journalists to meet and discuss areas of interest. As a result of these series of studios, the AEDP is currently planning a National Conference on Community Involvement in Education Issues, to take place from 7-9 April, 1997.

The organizers of the conference would like to include the experiences of other Soros Foundations which have been working in this area. To share your Foundations' experience, or for more information about the National Conference, contact Blerinda Idrizi at the AEDP at <bidrizi@aedp.tirana.al>

COMMUNITY SCHOOLS IN HUNGARY

Csaba Lorinczi, a Canadian-Hungarian educator, has developed a Community Schools model in Hungary that may be interesting for other countries in the region. In cooperation with the Mott Foundation, the SF Hungary has established a network of Community Schools with aim to make education a lifelong process and involve local communities to share in the responsibility. "The socialist government here destroyed the sense of community. For forty years, the Cinkota village in Hungary, a Slovak community, had no Grape Harvest Festival," said Mr. Lorinczi. The Community Schools program worked toward rebuilding community traditions such as the Grape Harvest Festival with the school as the focus point. Programs like Challenge Day bring together family teams, including a grandparent, parent and child, to compete in educational and fun activities in a school fair atmosphere. "In Hungary, parents are working two or three jobs, the grandparents are not involved in the child's life," said Mr. Lorinczi. "This program aims to bring families together and get them involved with the school." The Foundation provides funding for the Community School Coordinator at the school, and brokers a relationship with the local government to cover the costs of the Coordinator position after three years of the program. The program also provides training for the Coordinators, material support to the school such as computer labs (which can then be used for adult education programs in the evenings and on weekends) as well as program funds. For more information on this program, contact Csaba Lorinczi at the SF Hungary: (361) 315 0303, fax: (361) 315 0201.

KYRGYZSTAN INVITES NETWORK PARTNERS FOR WORKSHOP ON COMMUNITY AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT

Trainers from Hungary, Lithuania and Albania were invited to work with the SF Kyrgyztan's network of pilot school leaders at the beginning of December. The five day seminar in Bishkek focused on local administration/school partnerships, and parent/community involvement in schools. In preparation for the seminar, EPSU worked with the Institute for Local Government and Public Service (ILGPS) to identify local government officials who could travel to Kyrgyzstan to talk about their practical experiences working with schools. The presenter team was made up of a Hungarian mayor, school administrator, and teacher; two Lithuanian school directors; two staff from the Albanian Education Development Project, specialists in parent associations; a Hungarian community schools specialist; and an EPSU staff member. Besides lecture-style introductory presentations, the seminar also included lots of small group work and school visits. It was easy to see from the enthusiasm of the Kyrgyz school directors why the network of pilot schools has been successful and is ready to work on community outreach activities.FOCUS ON EPSU...

The Education Program Support Unit (EPSU) is in its second year of providing support to National Foundation education programs. In 1995-96, EPSU provided the following programs and services at the request of our Network partners:

• Conferences and Workshops: Education for an Open Society Conference, School Effectiveness and School Improvement, Human Rights and Civic Education, School Success for Roma Children
• Consultative Visits to seventeen National Soros Foundations
• Resource Packages delivered to all Foundations in Textbooks, Human Rights and Civics, School Improvement, and Comparative Educational Policy
• Study Visits: EPSU assisted in organizing visits of Haiti, Bosnia, Slovenia and Kyrgyzstan to Albania, Czech and Slovak Foundations to Montreal, Canada and Kyrgyzstan to Hungary
• Newsletter: Open Society Education Update issued six times per year
• Other: Direct training of school leaders, program management workshops for foundation staff, referral of specialists, compilation of foundation education programs, database of human rights and civic education specialists, lists of textbooks

WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT 1997!

EPSU's 1997 strategy has been developed to respond to the evolving needs of Foundation education programs. While continuing to respond to all types of requests, EPSU will focus on four priority areas:

1. Support National Foundations in developing education program strategies and program management skills: Support the start-up of new education program initiatives; assist in the development of donor partnerships; provide professional consultations; provide training workshops for Foundation staff in program management, monitoring and evaluation; review the strategic planning process and foundation education strategies.
2. School Improvement and Educational Leadership: Identify foundations' needs and priorities, support development of local models and disseminate experiences, develop training materials and resource packages, train local leaders (emphasis on train the trainer model), explore potential degree program development (e.g. Diploma in Educational Administration), support local and international institutional linkages, stress community involvement in school improvement, and explore the role of technology in school improvement and leadership.
3. Improvement of instruction through a) teacher education: develop foundation's awareness of new models of teacher education internationally, both pre-service and in-service, pilot project linking teacher training and school improvement, link human rights and civic education to teacher education programs, explore partnership with HESP in pre-service teacher education; and b) educational materials: provide technical assistance on the content and methodology of new educational materials, support training programs for the introduction of new texts into the classroom, encourage communication about lessons learned among foundation textbook programs, continue to collect and disseminate information on published educational materials.
4. School Success for Roma Children: create an advisory team to develop regional strategy with national guidelines, support foundation in developing programs to help Roma children succeed in school, provide professional support to pilot projects, identify best practices and disseminate.

EPSU will continue to provide the same services to Foundations through study visits, conferences, newsletters, consultative visits, and any other areas that foundations feel are priorities. We hope that by focusing on these four areas, EPSU will be able to provide solid technical assistance, support the sharing of experience, and respond to needs in specific content areas. To support this strategy, EPSU has hired several new staff members. EPSU STAFF CHANGES:

SUSAN RONA, DIRECTOR OF EPSU: Many of you know Susan from her work as Senior Advisor in Education and Training at EPSU. She has taken on the role of Director of EPSU, effective January 1, 1997. Susan is a Hungarian born Canadian, and has been a practicing educator for 25 years as a teacher, school administrator, regional director, consultant and trainer. For the last 18 years she has been involved in alternative education for dropouts and students at risk. Since 1985, she has been active in the Hungarian educational scene, among other things collaborating in the design, implementation and training of teachers for the Belvarosi Tanoda, an alternative high school for dropouts in Budapest. Susan has been based in Budapest since September 1994, coming at the request of the Soros Foundation-Hungary to support the design of educational programs for Roma, and to be part of a team of experts designing and implementing training programs for teachers and administrators in Hungary. After one year with the Foundation she joined EPSU as a Senior Educator. Her role with EPSU has been to support the development of educational leadership, Roma education and the development of programs for dropouts in the Soros network.

EGLE PRANCKUNIENE, VISITING FELLOW: Egle, who has been Director of the Transformation of Education Program in Lithuania has agreed to work with EPSU on a one-year Visiting Fellowship. Egle will concentrate on assisting foundations in developing programs that aim to improve schools and educational leadership in which she has three years of experience from her work in Lithuania. Egle moved to Budapest with her husband and two children, and started work on Monday, January 20.

PETER RADO, SPECIAL ADVISOR: Peter comes to EPSU after several years of experience in education and has served as Director for Minority Education of the Hungarian Ministry of Culture and Education. He has been working with EPSU in developing strategy in education programs for Roma children. Peter will continue to work with EPSU on a half-time basis as a Special Advisor in supporting the development of national Soros foundations' education programs to promote school success for Roma children and minority education issues.

JOHANNA CRIGHTON, SENIOR ADVISOR: Johanna an education specialist with extensive experience in the region of East/Central Europe and consulting experience in the Soros Network, will work with EPSU as a Senior Advisor. She will concentrate on supporting national Soros Foundations in strategy development. Johanna will continue to be based in Cambridge, England but will be available to EPSU and the Network 10 days per month, effective January 20, 1997.

EVA BADAR, PROGRAM ASSISTANT: Eva has worked with EPSU for over 18 months and has extensive experience in coordinating EPSU conferences and events in her role as Administrative Assistant. We are pleased to announce that Eva has been promoted to the position of Program Assistant, providing support to the School Improvement and Roma priority areas.

ANDREA FELD, PROGRAM ASSISTANT: Andrea has worked as Executive Assistant to Katalin Koncz, Executive Director of OSI Budapest. Andrea will begin working as a Program Assistant at the EPSU on February 3, 1997. Andrea will be responsible for supporting the Foundation Strategy and Instructional Improvement priority areas.

Please join us in welcoming our new colleagues. Feel free to call on any of us at EPSU to assist you!

UPCOMING EVENTS...

ROMA STUDY VISIT IN HUNGARY, FEBRUARY 24-26: EPSU invites all interested Foundation Executive Directors and education program officers to participate in a study visit February 24-26, to learn about Hungarian models of Roma education programs. The meeting will include school visits, meetings with Hungarian policy makers, and other programs which target Roma populations within the Soros Foundation network. This meeting will also provide an opportunity to build on the work done in Cluj (see above), and discuss further program ideas and regional strategy for promoting school success for Roma children. If you are interested in participating, or more information about the study visit, contact Nancy Green at <greenn@osi.hu>.

PUBLISHING COORDINATOR'S MEETING TO INCLUDE TEXTBOOK ISSUES: OSI Regional Publishing Center (RPC) of OSI Budapest is organizing a meeting for foundation publishing coordinators which will take place in Budapest on March 10-11. The RPC decided to expand the scope of the meeting to cover textbook publishing issues. An additional day (Sunday, March 9) will be devoted exclusively to textbook development and publishing; the program for this day will be organized jointly by the Regional Publishing Center and the Education Program Support Unit. For more information, contact Darius Cuplinskas at cuplinsk@osi.hu, or Egle PRANCKUNIENE at pranckuniene@osi.hu.

NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PRESCHOOL EDUCATION IN ALBANIA, MARCH 11-12 (TENTATIVE DATES): The Albania Education Development Project (AEDP) is sponsoring a conference to provide an overview of the pre-school situation in Albania and develop recommendations on national preschool policy. There are several innovative programs to improve pre-school education who will be partners in delivering the National Conference: 1) Step by Step, supported by Soros, 2) Reggio Emilia, supported by UNICEF, 3) Froebel, sponsored by SOS Kinderdorf, 4) Montessori, and several other religion/charity based kindergartens. As preparation for the conference, the AEDP has sponsored several round-table meetings on pre-school issues as well as development of a video and printed materials on the different models. For more information, or if your foundation is interested in participating, contact Ilir Duka at iduka@aedp.tirana.al, tel/fax: 355 42 30506.

ASSOCIATION FOR SUPERVISION AND CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT (ASCD) ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, MARCH 22-25: The "Leading the Vision: Connection World Communities of Learners" Conference of ASCD will include exhibits and information on the latest trends and programs in education, mainly in North America. In addition to the three-day conference, there will be several one-day, two-day, and three-day institutes offered prior to the conference, including: Curriculum Development, Assessment, Project-Based Learning, Cooperative Learning, Creating a Culturally Sensitive Classroom, Differentiating Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms, Helping School Teams Lead Successful Schoolwide Change, Teaching Gifted Students in the Regular Classroom, and many others. For more information, or if your foundation want's to become a member of ASCD (which includes a regular newsletter Education Update, a subscription to Educational Leadership, and invitations to conferences) send email to: member@ascd.org, or call (703) 549 9110, or visit the web site at: http://www.ascd.org.

EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION FOR INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION ANNUAL CONFERENCE, DEADLINE FOR MOBILITY GRANTS FROM TEMPUS/PHARE: The EAIE Annual conference will take place November 20-22 in Barcelona, Spain. The theme of this years' conference will be "Boundaries and Bridges in International Education." The deadline for applications for individual mobility grants from TEMPUS/PHARE programs is February 14, 1997. Contact EAIE for an invitation letter, eaie@eaie.nl, tel: 3120 625 2727, fax: 3120 620 9406. Apply for mobility grants through your local TEMPUS/PHARE office.

BULLETIN BOARD

FREE BOOKS AVAILABLE FOR CHILDREN: OSI-Paris has announced a new opportunity accessible to all interested Soros Foundations and affiliated institutions: providing books for children and youth through Biblionef International. Biblionef is a book-providing agency established in the Netherlands, France, Portugal, Belgium and Surinam. The agency provides new books free of charge world-wide to children and adolescents with no access to good reading material. Biblionef has already sent large quantities of new books in French to countries in Central and Eastern Europe, including Russia. Contact: OSI-Paris; e-mail: sorosfr@worldnet.net (Reprinted with permission from the Soros Foundations NewsFlash, November 26, 1996 issue).

To contact Biblionef directly, send messages to Ms. Dominique Pace, including: a) what type of project you want to support (schools, libraries, etc.), b) what type of books are needed (age groups, fiction, educational books, etc.), c) approximately how many books are needed. Ms. Pace's phone and fax are (33 1) 42 72 73 19. If you prefer email, send your message to OSI-Paris and they will transmit them to Biblionet <sorosfr@worldnet.net>.

PROJECT ICONS FOR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: The International Communication and Negotiation Simulations (ICONS) Project offers opportunities for college and university students to participate in computer-assisted international relations simulations, conducted over the Internet. An ICONS simulation involves classes of students at various colleges and universities around the world. Country teams are linked via the Internet to a University of Maryland host computer. A scenario, which launches the exercise, outlines the state of the world based on present-day facts. The International System simulation lasts five weeks, and is set in the contemporary world. Some topics have been: the spread of nuclear weapons technology, human rights, world health, foreign debt restructuring, etc. Universities must pay a fee of $500 for the five-week course or $300 for the three-week course which covers technical costs of developing and maintaining the scenarios. For more information about Project ICONS, contact Beth Blake at bblake@bss2.umd.edu or visit the web site at http://www.bsos.umd.edu/icons.

PROGRAM SUMMARIES, DEADLINE FEBRUARY 15: Only two foundations have turned in copies of their education program summaries, and this is not enough for us to compile them and send them back out to you! Please send us whatever documents you have available that outline your education programs for 1997. We will compile them and send them to all education programs in the Network. But, this does not work without your help! Send program summaries to Eva Badar at badare@osi.hu, fax: (361) 327 3101.

This newsletter, which focuses on national Soros Foundation initiatives in education for school aged populations, is issued periodically by the Education Program Support Unit (EPSU) at OSI Budapest. Contributions to the newsletter are welcome. Please send any contributions, comments or questions to Heather Iliff, email: iliffh@osi.hu; tel: (361) 327 3100, fax: (361) 327 3101.