Monday, October 11, 2004

Pakistani educators study at OSU

By OSU News Service

A program designed to encourage educational improvement and innovation in Pakistan, and begin breaking down cultural stereotypes in that country and in the United States, will begin this fall when a group of 18 rural Pakistani educators come to Oregon State University to study teacher education.

Two other groups of Pakistanis will study at OSU during winter and fall terms of 2005, and the program may be renewed for an additional three years. It is funded by a grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development to the Academy for Educational Development. OSU is one of three universities participating in the program, along with the University of Montana and George Mason University.

The first group will arrive on campus in mid-September, where they will begin meeting with OSU faculty and students, visiting Oregon schools, observing other forms of education through Extension programs and internships, and taking in local sights, from OSU's Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland.


"One of the main goals of the program is to begin addressing the literacy rate in Pakistan, which is as low as 20 percent in rural areas," said Michael Dalton, assistant to the dean in OSU's School of Education and project co-director. "In some cases, they are training teachers to go into schools that are mud huts, with no electricity, where the students sit on cinder blocks and recite passages.

"There is no sense of scientific exploration and discovery, or examination of complex issues," he added. "We hope to help them broaden that approach to education."

Pakistani educators will be at OSU through mid-December, learning new ways to deliver science education to teachers in Pakistan's equivalent of grades kindergarten through eight. Additional groups of teacher educators specializing in English as a second language and math education are anticipated next year.

"One of the things we plan to do is introduce them to concepts like the Wildlife Stewards program in Extension, where students at local schools improve the habitat for birds and other wildlife on school grounds," Dalton pointed out. "It's a great way to introduce science and ecology lessons through hands-on, practical experience.'

OSU's School of Education is partnering with the university's English Language Institute on the grant. Language institute director Deborah Healey, who is co-director of the project with Dalton, said her organization will take the lead with the English language education component and facilitate many of the cultural opportunities for the Pakistanis.

"We'd like to explore some long-term relationships between OSU and Pakistani institutions and faculty," Healey said. "Real educational change and innovation come from sustained activity over time."

Sam Stern, dean of OSU's School of Education, has met with several administrators from Willamette Valley school districts who are excited about the possibility for cultural exchange with the Pakistani contingent.

"Islam is the fastest growing religion in the United States," Stern said, "yet we get hung up over stereotypes and really don't know very much about the people of Pakistan or the Middle East. One of the benefits I see of this program is to begin breaking down those stereotypes and getting to know the people."

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