Proposal for Cross-Cultural Communication of Cultural Diversity

CPR
Cultural Peace Respect
Project

Dr. Frank Pio Ed.D,
Proect Creator/Director

I. Summary

Recent developments on the world stage:

The World Trade Center bombings in New York, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the continued Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the unresolved Canadian government confrontations with Native Canadian Aboriginals over Land Claims have claimed lives on both sides of the barricades.

Because of the globalization of information, such events where diverse cultures, particularly, Arabs, Jews, Christians and Aboriginals are perceived to be in conflict are translated to other parts of the world, where they often contribute to the worsening of unrelated situations, misunderstandings, mutual misconceptions, erroneous beliefs, negative attitudes and lack of trust among each other.  The mutual stereotypes which still pervade in many communities and culturesaround the world can often lead to mindless and collective violence by one community against the other. As a result education is viewed as a major vehicle for the transmission of ideas, attitudes, and beliefs. This means that educational content and access to classrooms can become valuable commodities in restoring understanding and tolerance of each other. Educational content and teaching approaches can also provide powerful means to change attitudes, preserve cultural diversity, and promote peace and acceptance, and a willingness to settle conflicts without resorting to violence by respecting all citizens of the world.

This has prompted government agencies, educational institutions and individuals around the global too re-evaluate the importance of reinforcing the above mentioned values and beliefs in our educational system.

The purpose of the CPR proposed project is to provide educational support for cultural identity, peace, and respect, in particular among disadvantaged marginalized children of culturally, linguistically and diverse ethnic backgrounds – Ojibwe Natives, Ethiopian Jews, Bedouin Arabs, Palestinian Arabs and Christians - from schools (Grade 4 classes) in Canada, Israel and Palestine. CPR would provide opportunities for exchange of information in learning about each other cultures and acquire knowledge of their languages (English, Hebrew, Arabic, and Ojibwe), traditions and world views through a global community internet art based foundation of teaching and learning

CPR is requesting funding for this project from regional, national and international agencies.

The total anticipated budget is $184,50 0.00.

II. Introduction

Everyone is different. Some differences are visible while others are not. According to Webster’s Dictionary “Cultural diversity is the variety of human cultures in a specific region, the differences in ethnicity, language, nationality, or religion among various groups within a community, organization, or nation.”

Unfortunately, there have been many dramatic changes in world over the past two decades that have put many cultures at risk of losing their philosophical and spiritual foundations of beliefs and traditions because of political, religious and economic instabilities based on attitudes, prejudices, and stereotypes about particular groups or peoples, and fear of the unknown and a desire to maintain the status quo. With so much at risk the importance of educating our youth – the future leaders – in preserving their cultural heritages has never been more important.  There is a global community need to educate young people in developing skills to communicate and work collaboratively and live peacefully with those of differing cultures. 

As a result there has been a huge generation of interest in many parts of the world including Canada, in the development and implementation of educational programs in schools designed to help disadvantaged young people become competent and responsible citizens within democratic systems that value cultural diversity and peace for all. Within this framework: knowledge of the world and our place in it; skills in participation and critical thinking; attitudes of accountability and accepting responsibility for ones actions and values of freedom, human rights, coexistence and cooperation are integrate components in developing tolerance and acceptance of cultural diversities.  One method in addressing this issue is through “sister schooling”. 

Sister schooling is dedicated to promoting cross-cultural understanding by connecting schools around the globe. Classrooms separated by border, culture, and geography are united through similar interests and common principles. Students participate in collaborative projects ranging from art, literature and social development to science, and technology. By connecting classrooms worldwide, academic settings are used to conquer ignorance, bridge cultural gaps, foster tolerance of inequality and racism and create international friendships.

What makes this project unique and exciting is bringing together cultural diverse ‘in need’ young children ages 9 to 11 years old as representatives of North American Aboriginals, Christians, Arab, and Jewish cultures, in addressing beliefs and values about themselves, self empowerment, cultural identity and their right to be citizens, within an online art project where art is the language of communication.  Also, CPR believes that focusing on teaching young children at this age level rather than older children (13 years and up) recognizes the importance and ability of influencing a child’s personality, attitudes of social behavior and responsibilities. It is during these years that a more permanent sense of ourselves and our relationship to those around us and to the world is established. As a result, learning is heightened and subsequent patterns of behavior are established that have far-reaching implications. More investments is needed in these years in order to bring about a clear understanding of the significance and ramifications of cultural diversity.

It should be noted that educational programs promoting cultural diversity are not necessarily the panacea for what “ails us” or in solving the pandemic problems of the world, but at the same time school programs addressing cultural diversity offer the development of guidelines that foster the free flow of culture and ideas, the acceptance of cultural multiplicity, respect for cultural heritage, the promotion of cultural legacies and an openness to partnership and change around the world.

I can only hope this proposed CPR project will do the same in promoting cultural acceptance, peace and respect for all. Also, to see the CPR project expand as a long term endeavor into schools in Africa, India, China, South America, and other areas of the world.

III.               Needs/Problems

CPR’s aim is to provide educational support for cultural identity, peace, and respect to underprivileged young people from around the world. The proposed project would raise cultural awareness, tolerance and recognition of diversity among marginalized children of culturally, linguistically and diverse ethnic backgrounds from schools (Grade four to six classes) in Canada, Israel and Palestine. CPR would provide opportunities for exchange of information in learning about each other cultures and acquire knowledge of their languages (English, Hebrew, Arabic, and Ojibwe), traditions and world views through a global community internet art based foundation of teaching and learning – The Directional Model of Teaching Art based on the teachings of the Ojibwe Native’s (Manitoulin Island Northern Ontario Canada) Medicine Wheel. CPR would facilitate cross - cultural communication with people from other cultures in a way that minimizes misunderstandings and maximizes ones potential to create strong cross – cultural relationships for peace, cultural recognition and respect.

In order to prevent any problems of misunderstanding with the project’s objectives and curricula, communication between project schools, teachers, and administrators will be in English, while art will be the language for the children. Students will also have opportunities in learning the basic constructs of each participating culture’s language and each individual school will also create their own website in their own language.

IV.            Goals/Objectives

·         CPR would link 6 elementary schools in Canada, Israel and Palestine through the internet, based on the Sister Schooling concept.

·         School #1 - Lakeview Public School - an Ojibwe Native School on Micheegan Reserve, Manitoulin Island, Northern Ontario with the Micheegan School Board. Canada

·         School #2 – St Francis of Assisi - a multi-cultural inner city Catholic Elementary School with a high immigration population in Toronto with the Toronto Catholic District School Board Ontario Canada.

·         School #3 - as yet named Jewish school in Toronto Canada

·         School #4 - Yona Bogula – an Israeli Ethiopian Jewish School in Kiriat Moshe, Rehovot with the Israeli Education Department  Israel

·         School #5 - El AKha - a Bedouin School in Rahat Israel with the Israeli Education Department  Israel

·         School #6 - Latin Patriarchate Elementary School Birzeit in Ramallah Palestine. The student population is made up of Arab Muslims and Christians.

·         Course curricula would be delivered via the projects website, on-site teaching and related project schools individual websites.

·         A multi-media art based website would be created connecting the schools in communicating their views and perceptions of themselves and the world around them utilizing an array of multi-media tools and art base mediums (i.e. drawings, paintings, sculpture, ceramics, digital photography, digital video cameras, computers, scanners and printers) that will be shared by all project schools.

·         A grade 4 class from each school would be the ambassadors for the project in their school and in the community. They would be responsible for disseminating the information to the rest of the school and community though innovative projects, website, assemblies and newsletters in their respective languages.

·         Each school would also develop their own school website to facilitate awareness and learning of the project for the school and fellow students and their neighboring communities.

·         The Centre for Creative Communications at Centennial College in Toronto Ontario Canada would be coordinating the creation and development of the main website and provide assistance with each respective schools websites.

·         The Centre for Creative Communications at Centennial College in Toronto Ontario Canada would assist in helping to find a suitable company that would maintain and host the site(s).

·         To endeavor to support cultural understanding of diverse communities and to develop more acceptance and tolerance by focusing on the similarities of all people and celebrating their differences. 

·         To build a sense of identity and respect for themselves and their communities.

·         To teach generosity, encourage success in schools and provide support for students in need of a better education, plus instilling integrity, unity, and freedom of self and purpose.

·         To create equality in schools

·         To provide workshops for the teachers involved in the project. The workshops would be conducted in July or August of 2008 for one week at a site conducive for facilitating educational and artistic initiatives.

·         To promote the concept of “Is It Art?” within the context of the body of work that this project will produce by students, teachers, artists and community members.

·         The curricula and course work for the project schools 3, 4, & 5 will be conducted by classroom teachers, plus artist’s visits from The Ramat-Eliyau Art Workshop in Rishon-Le Zion. Students in Israel will also visit the workshop’s school for enrichment programs during the project.

·         To research, create develop and incorporate the aims and objectives of CPR a curricula with the cooperation of all schools, administrations, teachers, artists, and community members from their respective schools during Jan./08 to June/08, while finalizing the curricula at he teacher workshop 2008. The pilot project would start during the school year Sept. /08 to June/09. CPR hopes this project will grow and develop into a permanent program and spread its message around the world.

V.               Participants

·         St. Frances of Assisi Elementary School Toronto Catholic District School Board Toronto Canada

·         Lakeview Public School (Ojibwe) and M’Chigeeng School Board of Manitoulin Island Ontario Canada Tel: 705-377-4988

·         A yet unnamed Jewish school in Toronto Ontario Canada.

·         The Centre for Creative Communications at Centennial College Toronto Ontario Canada http://www.centennialcollege.ca/future/ccc_index.jsp

·         Nate Horowitz Dean The Centre for Creative Communications at Centennial College nhorowitz@centennialcollege.ca

·         Yona Bogula Elementary School (Ethiopian Jews) Israel Tel: 0524401124

·         The Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews (IAEJ) http://www.iaej.co.il/pages/about_us.htm

·         Danny Admasu is a Social Activist and Director of the Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews. (IAEJ) is a non-profit organization working to further the cause of equal access to educational and employment opportunities for all Ethiopian Israelis.

·         El Akhel AKha Elementary School (Bedouin) Rahat Israel

·         The Bedouin Parent Association of Israel

·         Haled El Talalka is a member of the Bedouin Regional Town Parents Board and Director of the El Akhel AKha Elementary School Parents Committee. Tel: 050-5379470

·         Latin Patriarchate Elementary School Birzeit Ramallah Palestine

·         Abdallah Abu Rahma is the Director of Palestine’s Against the Wall and a Teacher at the Latin Patriarchate Elementary School Birzeit in Ramallah Palestine. Tel: 0547258210

·         The Ramat-Eliyau Art Workshop in Rishon-Le Zion Israel is a non profit organization whose aim is to improve ways to merge art and learning and to support children in the community and give them an opportunity to experience the creative language of art and learning. re_sadna@walla.co.il

·         Gil Goren is the Director of the Ramat-Eliyau Art Workshop. Tel: 972-3-9617477

·         Israel Committee for Equality in Education (HILA) is a grassroots training and advocacy organization dedicated to confronting inequality in the educational system in Israel.  http://www.hila-equal-edu.org.il/index.asp

·         Ami Steinitz is a Art Curator and Social Activist Israel Tel: 0523312349

·         Yehoshua (Shuka) Glotman is an artist and group facilitator  Israel http://www.zilumhai.com/

VI.            Pedagogical Model for the Curricula

The pedagogy model for the project will be based on the Directional Model of Teaching Art/DMOTA where art is the foundation for all subject matter taught

In this directional teaching model which is derived from Ojibwe Medicine Wheel and its philosophy: East/History represents beginnings and the history and origins of the subject being taught; South/Philosophy represents strength and endurance and the beliefs and values of the concept being taught; West/Art represents the creative element in developing a body of work in any format reflecting the subject matter being taught and incorporating what they have learned from (history) and (philosophy); and finally North/Education symbolizes knowledge and wisdom and offers students the opportunity in combining all three previous sections into a educational format and presentation, that would address the subject being taught and its subsequent concepts.

The Goals of the DMOTA would Increase Interpretative and descriptive skills in subjects being taught where art is utilized as a teaching tool; encourage and educate personal responses and expressions in understanding; raise awareness of art as a foundation for subjects being taught; and its role within society.

This circular model of DMOT is derived from the traditional Ojibwe’s view of a circular vision of existence, where the whole idea of one becoming not only allies of nature and the environment, but becoming a participant in the cycle of life.  It is an organic view of life. The circular vision conveys a sense of security that comes from seeing life as a revolving affair which is constantly reinforced by a multitude of things found in Nature.  This circular language is found in the changing seasons, the cyclical movement of day and night, in the directions, in the winds, in the elements and in life. 

This teaching model emphasizes connections and relationships among people of varying cultural and ethnic origins.  DMOTA works with ideas and concepts, and among phenomena; it stresses skills, knowledge (including content), values and beliefs, cooperation in working together in and outside the classroom, enabling the student of art to function well in the acquisition of knowledge. The DMOTA endeavourers to create a “whole” learning experience.

During this project questionnaires and interviews will be conducted with teachers, students, administrators, artists and community members to identify any difficulties and ascertain what and if there is a need for resources that could be created to facilitate the projects success for the future and to disseminate information on this project.  Photographs and video will also be utilized to document the projects process.

VII.        Curricula

The CPR will base its curriculum on the DMOTA and what is meaningful for each student/child.

Workshop
The workshop will be held at as yet named location in Europe that facilitates this type of project initiative encouraging harmony and respect and artistic expression. Also, Europe has been chose for its geographical location to assist all participants in the amount of traveling time needed to attend this workshop. One location example could be the ‘Jourparjour’ site http://www.jourparjour.net/  in Geneva Switzerland Tel. 0041 (0)26 663 83 23. The tentative date for workshop will be during the summer months of July-August /08 (as this is the only time project teachers will be on their summer break) depending on the accessibility of the site(s) and participants. If no group workshop is held or if project teachers are unable to attend group workshops, teachers will be given individualized instruction at their respective schools. Also, the site location and dates will depend on availability and funding received for the workshop.

Project Website and Individual School websites

The Centre for Creative Communications at Centennial College will be responsible for creating and developing the project website and assisting students, teachers and interested community members in creating and developing respective project school websites. The project website should be ready by end of June/08 and the individualize schools websites will be created during the course of the project - the first 2 to 4 months. The TCDSB will host and maintain the websites.

Project Classrooms
Curricula will be formatted according to each schools educational calendar (i.e. start of the school year for Israel begins in mid Oct./08 as compared to Canadian school year Sept/08), therefore the start of curricula timetable for participation among the project classrooms will begin approx. in mid Oct./08, but the orientation for the project will begin Sept/08 (visits with principals, teachers and community members to review schedule and implementation of the project).  The schedule of the curricula timetable will also have to take into effect each respective school’s secular and religious holidays. Each classroom will require one computer, fax machine, scanner, photocopier, digital camera and video camera and tripod plus course materials (see detailed budget). The curricula will be developed during the winter and spring months Jan. to June/08 and completed approx by July/08.

Project Schools
Each project school will receive one additional computer and scanner. The computer and scanner will be place in the school entrance hall or reception area just outside the school office, in order to facilitate dissemination of the project material and to allow the rest of the student population and community members to participate in the project.

The Ramat-Eliyau Art Workshop

A portion of the art curricula (40 to 60%) for the two schools in Israel will be held at the Ramat-Eliyau Art Workshop. They will need 2 desktop computers for the project plus a fax machine, scanner, copier, digital camera and video camera and tripod.

VIII.     Timetable

IX.             Budget

.

               Harboring of Project Funds and accounting for the project will be provided by

  M’Chigeeng School Board of Manitoulin Island Ontario Canada Tel: 705-377-4988

X.                Evaluation

There well be 4 quarterly meetings with all the project schools and staff to discuss progress of the project. Final meetings will also be held with everyone at the end of the project.

As yet to be determined.

XII.         Appendix

Frank Pio  “Directional Model of Teaching Art in the Lower East of NYC”
Dennis E. Fehr, Kris Fehr, and Karen Keifer-Boyd.  (Eds.).  Real-World Readings In Art Education: Things Your Professor Never Told You   Falmer Press. New York. 2000

Educational Grants                                                                              1994/95/96/97

New York City Board of Education, Seward Park High School and the Alumnae Assoc. New York City, New York, United States provided funding for NYU/SPHS Summer Arts Programs 1994/95, and DMOT research project 1996/97.

Education Award                                                                                1995/96/97    

New York University, Art and Art Profession Dept.  New York City, New York, United States. 1.Grant for the New York University/Seward Park High School Summer Arts DMOTA Program ‘‘   2.Grant for research into the Directional Model of Teaching DMOT.

Education Training Grant                                                                                1994
New York University, School of Education, New York City, New York, United States

Grant for the New York University/Seward Park High School Summer Arts Program. 

I am presently on an official leave of absence from the Toronto Catholic District School Board Toronto Ontario Canada.

Request for more information and CV – frank.pio@tcdsb.org