Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 1

My conversation partners are 1) H. Nashabe:  A School principal in Lebanon, who is also an AdvancED field consultant and lead evaluator. 2) E. Kazantani: An English teacher in North Greece. Fortunately, these two educators have been so generous with their time, despite their hectic schedule.
Because Mrs. Nashabe works at a high tuition private school, she could not report any direct experience related to poverty. However, she did share her concern that public schools in Lebanon and some of the Arab countries serve less advantaged children and are failing to meet academic and social goals, whereas private schools provide better education; compelling affluent families to choose only private schools to enroll their children in. The reason for this, she explained, is the weak structure and unsystematic policies that govern public schools (H. Nashabe, personal communication, January 20, 2013). This confirms what I have repeatedly noticed, through our readings this week, that schools’ curriculum quality and professional development strategies, accompanied by capable teachers play a major role in supporting disadvantaged children and improving their performance. On a more positive note, she conveyed that occasionally, she obtains scholarships through her community network for gifted students, who are recognized for their distinguished performance on the academic or sportive or artistic level. Yet, she still worried because these children may get frustrated on several occasions; when they are faced with financial challenges and social bigotries from their peers. She stated that this shows “the schism that has been taking place in our society where the poor no matter how excellent they are have no good place in the upper stratum of the society” (H. Nashabe, personal communication, January 20, 2013). This even more underlines the impact of poverty on educational equity.

 

My second source, on the other hand, shared personal experiences that helped me in my further understanding of poverty and its impact on children. Because of the economic crisis that has been affecting Greece for the last few years, E. Kazantani has encountered several incidents, in which some of the students fainted at school, because they did not have any breakfast. Recognizing the painful fact that many students (2 out of 25) were having no food to eat, the school administration and teachers arranged for providing these children with breakfast. They did it discretely; for example, through giving the food to a classmate, who would offer it in turn to his or her friend. She was startled that some of the children even asked if they could take the food home. She stated that subsequently, the Greek government will allot meals to some schools for the deprived children (E. Kazantani, personal communication, January 26, 2013). Kazantani added that many Greeks, particularly in Athens, have lost their jobs, and a big number of people left the cities back to their home villages, which caused the children to switch schools in the middle of the school year (E. Kazantani, personal communication, January 26, 2013), this issue calls for serious consideration from the school staff, as it subjects the children to additional stress and puts them at further risks, socially and academically.