 |
 |
| RESOURCE CENTER | |
|||
 |
|
|
||
|
EVENTS ACTIVITIES | |
News
Vicky Colbert in the News
It seems that everyone wants to help spread the good news lately about Escuela Nueva!
For starters, Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR), one of the most widely read business school publications, has an article on Vicky Colbert in its current issue.
SSIR Managing Editor Eric Nee spoke with Escuela Nueva’s founder about her efforts to change the way children are educated. SSIR is the go-to source for innovative solutions to social problems; we are honored to be included among its community of social entrepreneurs. 15 Minutes with Vicky Colbert can be accessed by online with by subscribers. Don’t have a subscription? Download the PDF here.
From the other side of the quad, Stanford Magazine also lauds its notable alumna. In Class Notes, Vicky talks about how she started an educational revolution in her home country of Colombia to help the children most in need. As a result of Escuela Nueva, “children not only show stronger academic skills, but also develop measurably better self-esteem and social skills.” To learn more about how Vicky helped reform the Colombian school system, read the article here.
ENI Goes Web 2.0!
Escuela Nueva International has announced plans for a full ENI web 2.0 presence! This effort will include a series of new, online endeavors that will enable more people to get involved more easily with the work that ENI does at home and abroad.
Leveraging the lessons learned from peer institutions, ENI’s first leap into the social-web environment came when it partnered with Papilia, a cutting edge fundraising organization that brings new functionality and participatory features to online donations. With the success of the Papilia partnership, ENI now proposes to bring its unique content and expertise to a to-be-created ENI Online Community.
The ENI Online Community’s core is our newly live and content-rich blog. This blog will feature a broad spectrum of authors from within ENI, and also from the broader community of specialists in Escuela Nueva and international education.
On ENI’s part, we have two goals of the ENI web presence: first, to create an active and engaged community of supporters; and second, to establish Escuela Nueva International as the English-language hub of Escuela Nueva-related news and activities.
Beyond the blog, there will also be presences established on the major social-networking and media-sharing sites — including, but not limited to, Facebook, YouTube, and others.
In the political realm, online participation and fundraising has proven itself a major boon to the candidates and organizations that engage in it. There is no reason that nonprofits of any size cannot take these lessons and apply them to their own benefit. Promoting sound and effective education for children and communities is a cause greater than any transient campaign — and with this endeavor, ENI stands ready to reach out to our online community to make a lasting difference in international education.
Stay informed on the growing online presence of ENI by regularly checking for updates on our website. Check out pictures from our activities around the world on our new Flickr page, www.flickr.com/eninternational. If you are interested in becoming a contributor to the ENI blog, please contact us at blog@eninternational.org with ideas and article topics.
Vicky Colbert discusses the need for Escuela Nueva at the World Economic Forum
Davos, Switzerland
January, 2008
During a panel discussion on quality education for all, Vicky Colbert stressed the potential for child-centered, community based learning in developing countries.
There is continuing concern about the quality of education in Latin America. While enrolment is up, the quality of learning remains sub-standard, one of the key factors retarding the competitiveness of Latin countries.
The Inter-American Dialogue "Report Card on Latin American Education" gave the region a "D," or poor grade, for its test scores; the state of schools in poor, rural and indigenous communities; national standard setting; and efforts to improve teacher quality. This session sought to delineate some possible solutions for achieving a higher quality educational system, focusing especially on ways to stimulate cross-sector collaboration among governments, private companies and academia to boost innovation and quality.
Vicky Colbert, Founder of ENI, told participants about the unique, successful experience of her foundation’s education initiative in Colombia. Colbert said the private sector has picked up considerably where the government has slackened, and has helped disseminate an effective learning model into the communities where their workers live. "One of the best indicators of quality education is the performance of workers in the labour market," said Colbert. "Our school is a cost-effective model with proven results. To have sustainability and innovation, you need resources, and you need to have measurable results to continue to attract those resources. It’s absolutely critical that companies get involved. They have an interest in boosting the capacity of their worker pool."
Click here for more information on the World Economic Forum and quality education for all.
Forging Connections at UTK
November, 2007
Escuela Nueva's Founder and CEO, Vicky Colbert, and ENI Program Director Erin Krampetz participated in the Citizenship, Literacy, and Media (CLM) film and speakers series at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Organized by ENI Board Member and UTK assistant professor Jenn
Fishman, CLM brought together students, teachers, and local community members for conversation with experts in documentary filmmaking, international education, and social entrepreneurship.
As guests in residence, Colbert and Krampetz discussed their plans for bringing Escuela Nueva to 1.5 million new children by 2010. On campus, their presentations included a public talk, a live video conference with UNICEF New York and UNICEF Bogotá, classroom visits, and a special session with university faculty and administrators eager to brainstorm about future programs, including Escuela Nueva student internships and teacher-researcher fellowships.
In a week packed with activities, two special events stand out. First, Colbert and
Krampetz were interviewed by National Public Radio affiliate WUOT. To listen to this interview, click here.
Second, Colbert and Krampetz visited the historic Highlander Center. Founded in 1932, Highlander boasts a variety of adult and youth education programs that promote community leadership and action research. Nearly twenty years ago, Highlander founder Myles Horton and Brazilian educator Paolo Freire met in Tennessee to talk about their shared commitments and concerns. Following in their footsteps, Colbert and Krampetz rediscovered a kindred organization along with a like-minded group of inspiring educator-activists.
CLM gave ENI an important chance to forge new connections with the academy and with local communities in the U.S. Both on the ground and online, ENI works to build strong networks among people who care about improving education around the world.
Bill Clinto
n Awards Vicky Colbert with the Inaugural Global Citizen Award!
Kicking off the Inaugural Clinton Global Citizen Awards at New York’s historical Carnegie Hall in September, President Clinton and CGI members celebrated the work of Vicky Colbert, an extraordinary person whose success in helping others has created lasting, positive social change.
Honorees were selected from among hundreds of citizens and leaders from a range of fields including government, non-governmental organizations, private sector and media/entertainment/sports. The four chosen were distinguished by their vision, ingenuity, demonstrated commitment to creative positive social change, and the measurable impact of the projects they initiated.
Click here to view a video of Vicky Colbert speaking about the success of Escuela Nueva as part of a working session on Excellence in Education.
The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) is a non-partisan catalyst for action, bringing together a community of global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to global problems. In 2005, President Bill Clinton and the William J. Clinton Foundation launched the Clinton Global Initiative to help our world move beyond the current state of globalization to a more integrated global community of shared benefits, responsibilities, and values. The Clinton Global Initiative brings together a carefully selected group of the world's best minds and most distinguished problem solvers to focus on practical, effective measures that can be taken now. These leaders - from a wide variety of political, ideological, religious, ethnic, and geographic backgrounds - include current and former heads of state, top business executives, preeminent scholars, and representatives of key non-governmental organizations.
Today, more than 5 million Escuela Nueva methodology |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Building a Community of Practice
ENI kicked off 2008 by launching a new initiative in the Connect program area. In January, Denise Sauerteig, ENI Program Officer, went to Guatemala City to attend an exciting workshop hosted by the Academy for Educational Development (AED). Backed by funding from USAID, AED is helping to kick start a Community of Practice amongst key implementers of the Active Schools methodology, such as Escuela Nueva, in Latin America and the Caribbean. This effort by AED is aligned with ENI’s own efforts to improve communication amongst key stakeholders in the Escuela Nueva movement.
As Director of the Connect program, Denise enjoyed brainstorming with her international colleagues on how to bridge the communication divide that often exists between organizations, teachers, and students in developing countries. Eight countries were represented at the workshop, spanning the American continents from Guatemala to Peru, Honduras to Paraguay, as well as a special addition from Ecuatorial Guinea, the only Spanish-speaking nation in Africa.
As the Escuela Nueva learning method has traveled around the world and been adopted by over fourteen countries, it has often taken on new names yet maintained the same core principles. It is child-centered and community-focused, enabling the student to become an active participant in his or her own education. For this reason, the learning method is often known as Active School, or Escuelas Activas in Spanish.
The result of the workshop was the launch of an online community to support implementers and educators of the Active Schools methodology in Latin American and the Caribbean. This network aims to reach EFA goals by making effective changes at the school and system level to improve education coverage, completion, quality, equity, and learning outcomes.
Community members have posted over 100 Spanish-language messages sharing their visions, ideas and activities on the online discussion boards. ENI is partnered with this network on the Global Learning Portal, a network of international educators helping to bridge the divide between the donors, students, teachers, and curriculum developers. The network aims to exchange information that will increase the numbers and ways that students are served, promote higher and more consistent program quality, and enhance long term sustainability of programs using Active methodologies.
As both a pioneer and participant in the Active Schools movement, Escuela Nueva believes in supporting and collaborating with like-minded organizations that are part of our community. Click here to visit the Active Schools community hosted on the Global Learning Portal.
