Critical Challenges and Opportunities: Education in Emergencies,

Chronic Crisis, and Early Reconstruction Contexts

WINTER 2009

Mondays, 4-6pm: January 26 – March 9 2009

Adjunct Professor Allison Anderson, INEE Director (Office Hours by appt: )

Wars and natural disasters deny generations the knowledge and opportunities that an education can provide. Education in emergencies, chronic crises and early reconstruction is a necessity that can be both life-sustaining and life-saving. It sustains life by offering structure, stability and hope for the future during a time of crisis, particularly for children and adolescents. It also helps to heal bad experiences, build skills and supports conflict resolution and peace building. Education in emergencies saves lives by directly protecting against exploitation and harm and by disseminating key survival messages, such as for landmine safety or HIV/AIDS prevention. Uneducated children and adults are vulnerable to a future of poverty and violence and lack the more complex skills needed to contribute to their society's peaceful reconstruction and development.

While initially not considered a component of humanitarian response, in recent years there has been an increased recognition that education is an important element of humanitarian work and a consequential rise in education programs in crisis settings. Moreover, increasing interestin state fragility and the role of education in contributing to and mitigating conflict and violence has become a topic of much discussion amongst policy-makers and practitioners. This seven-week practicum is designed to give students from a variety of disciplines a background in education in emergency, chronic crisis and early reconstruction contexts.Sessions will focus on preparing students to understand the importance of education in these settings; to understand the connections between education and the current discourse on fragility; to reflect on the ways in which education interfaces with protective or non-protective forces in these settings; and to articulate the best practices and minimum standards for implementing education programming across these settings.

Class Objectives:

To understand and assess education programs as part of a short term response to humanitarian needs during conflict and natural disasters and long term peacebuilding efforts.

To provide knowledge necessary for graduate students who plan to work as practitioners in humanitarian / development organizations or government institutions.

Class Requirements:

The class entails a combination of readings, lectures, student presentations, group work and guest speakers to elucidate the challenges inherent to the availability and provision of education in countries affected by conflict.

Class Participation: Class attendance and participation is required. The class has been designed to be interactive and provides ample opportunities for your participation. For each class, students will be asked to read through background literature and come prepared to contribute to class discussion. Each participant has a different background and active participation enhances the learning of all members of the class.

Student-led Discussion: You will have an opportunity to lead a discussion of the readings along with a few other students. During the first course meeting, groups will be formed and assigned a class meeting for which the group must prepare an activity or discussion questions to lead the entire class through for approximately 30 minutes. Three general points are worth stressing with regard to the presentations/discussions:

  1. All members must actively contribute to the preparation and delivery of the group presentation.
  2. The primary objective of student-led discussions is to delve further into the readings and topics assigned for that week. Presentations/activities that stray from the topic—regardless of how creative they are—will be marked down.
  3. In preparing, please assume that all students have read the material and are ready to discuss. Therefore, summarizing should be an extremely brief component and instead the focus should be on leading a discussion that allows students to address the larger questions, contradictions, and implications of the content in the readings.

Analysis and Advocacy Brief Project and Presentation:Students will work on one project over the course of the class, developing an analysis and advocacy brief (8-12 pages) on the utilization of an inter-agency tool to enhance quality education in emergency and recovery contexts. Each project will entail carrying out a general analysis and documenting concrete examples of how education in emergency practitioners and policy makers have used inter-agency tools to enhance their work and improve education services and policies. Information will be gathered through document reviews and interviews with field practitioners and policy makers, with the guidance of the INEE Coordinator for Minimum Standards and the INEE Director.

Method of Evaluation:

Class attendance, participation and leading discussion on readings: 40%

Advocacy brief project and presentation: 60%

Course outline

January 26: Introduction to education in emergencies – what is it, how did the field develop and how it is evolving?

Class will trace the rise of education in the humanitarian response and review the current understanding of what “education in emergencies” means. What is the justification for providing education in humanitarian contexts? What types of interventions are included in “education in emergencies”? When did education interventions first start to appear in humanitarian responses? Why has education been left out of standard humanitarian response for so long? How has the recent rise of education in humanitarian settings come about? What are the international legal foundations that underpin education in emergencies? What is changing in the field and who are the key players in the field today? Where are the continuing gaps in the field?

Guest Speaker: Gerald Martone, Director of Humanitarian Affairs at the International Rescue Committee, on education as a critical and legitimate humanitarian concern

Readings:

  1. Martone, G (2006) in Standards put to the test: Implementing the INEE Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, Chronic Crisis and Early Reconstruction, Humanitarian Network Paper Available at:
  2. Burde, D. (2005). Education in crisis situations: Mapping the field. USAID, 74. Available online: http://www.columbia.edu/~dsb33/Assests/BurdeEdCrisis11-11-05%5B2%5D.pdf.
  3. Nicolai, S (2008). InterAgency Standing Committee Education Cluster Updates (2008). Available online:

February 2: Why is quality education critical in humanitarian settings and fragile contexts? The dialectical relationship between education and fragility, state stability and peace.

This session will discuss the ways in which complex emergencies, protracted refugee, chronic crisis, and early reconstruction settings effect education, and the role of education, as well as the ways in which education can effect crises or fragile contexts. Why has there been a rising interest in education in the humanitarian setting? What role has education traditionally played in war and peace? How is the recent attention to state fragility influencing the education in emergencies field and vice-versa? When does education protect children in conflict and when does it not?
Readings

  1. Conflict and Education Research Group, Oxford University (2008). DESK STUDY: EDUCATION AND FRAGILITY. NY: INEE. Available online:
  2. Rose, P., & Greeley, M. (2006). Education in fragile states: Capturing lessons and identifying good practice [Electronic Version], 41. Available online:
  3. Save the Children, Where Peace Begins (2008) Available on-line:

Supplemental readings for student-led discussion:

  • Bush, K. D.; Saltarelli, D. 2000. The two faces of education in ethnic conflict: towards a peacebuilding education for children. Florence: Innocenti Research Centre, UNICEF.
  • Smith, A.; Vaux, T. 2003. Education, Conflict, and International Development. DFID. Education and Conflict: Research, Policy and Practice.Forced Migration Review Supplement, July 2006.

February 9: What are the INEE Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, Chronic Crisis, and Early Reconstruction (INEE Minimum Standards)?

This class will provide an overview of the purpose, development, and use of the INEE Minimum Standards. Why were they developed -- what were the reasons for and against? How and by whom were they developed? What were the debates in the field during their development? What are the Sphere Minimum Standards and how do the INEE Minimum Standards follow and diverge from Sphere? What is the INEE-Sphere Companionship Agreement? What is the content of the standards? Who uses them, where and for what? How can you use them?

Readings

  1. Handbook on Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, Chronic Crisis, and Early Reconstruction Contexts. INEE. Available on INEE website (and will be handed out on first day of class):
  2. Anderson, A et al (2007). Standards put to the test: Implementing the INEE Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, Chronic Crisis and Early Reconstruction, Humanitarian Network Paper Available at:

Supplemental reading for student-led discussion:

INEE Contextualisation Case Studies:

  • INEE case-study: the contextualization of the INEE Minimum Standards by Community-based education providers in Afghanistan (2008)
  • INEE Case Study: Donor Use by CIDA (2008)
  • INEE Case Study: Use by the Government of Norway (2008)
  • INEE Case Study: School Rehabilitation in Iraq (2007)
  • INEE Case Study: Responding to an educational emergency in the occupied Palestinian territory (2007)

February 16:How do you implement education interventions in emergency settings? Assessment, Inter-Sectoral Linkages, Nonformal Education, Child Protection, and Psychosocial Adjustment.

Class will provide an overview of best practices for implementing education programs at the early on-set of an emergency. How do you conduct assessments for education programs in the early stages of an emergency? What are techniques for assessing children’s wellbeing, especially in sensitive contexts where family or community members may be exploiting or abusing children? What are the first steps in setting up an education intervention and how do you link with other sectors like health, water and sanitation, shelter? What is the purpose of “safe and child-friendly spaces”? How can you support children’s psychosocial wellbeing through early education interventions? What types of non-formal education activities are most appropriate to early education interventions? Who are the key players for setting up an education program in the outset of an emergency in refugee, IDP, and other settings?

Readings

  1. Nicolai, S.; Triplehorn, C. (2003). The role of education in protecting children in conflict. Humanitarian practice network paper. London: Overseas Development Institute. Available online:
  2. INEE Good practice guides. Please review at
  3. Initial Assessment of an Emergency
  4. Schools: Child Friendly Spaces
  5. Assessment of out of school youth and youth leaders
  6. Assessing and analyzing community non-formal educational needs
  7. Training to Meet Psychosocial Needs
  8. Handbook on Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies. INEE.See Community Participation; Initial Assessment; Access and Learning Environment categories.

Supplemental reading for student-led discussion:

  • Betancourt, T. S., R. Winthrop, et al. (2002). "The IRC's emergency education programme for Chechen children and adolescents." Forced Migration Review 15.

February 23: How do you implement education interventions in protracted refugee and chronic crisis settings? Formal Education, Teacher Training, Community Education Committees, Curriculum Selection and Development.

Class will provide an overview of best practices for implementing education programs in protracted refugee and chronic crisis settings. How do you move from non-formal education in an early emergency to formal education? When should this move happen and why should it happen? Who typically are teachers in a crisis setting? Do teachers need to be prepared differently to work with students in crisis settings from how they are normally trained to work with students in stable, “peaceful” settings? How does the community need to be mobilized to support education in crisis contexts? What is a community education committee and what would they typically be asked to do? What curriculum should be selected for formal education programs? When should a curriculum be adapted and changed? In refugee settings, what language should be selected as the language of instruction? Who are the main actors in implementing formal education programs in refugee, IDP, and other contexts? What are the gaps in refugee education? Without access to secondary school, what options do refugee youth have?

Guest Speaker: Jennifer Hofmann, INEE Coordinator for Minimum Standards, on implementing quality education in northern Uganda

Readings

  1. Karpinska, Z (2008). Evaluation of the INEE Minimum Standards in Uganda. Available online:
  2. Kirk, Jackie, Winthrop, Rebecca (2006). Home-based Schooling: Access to Quality. Education for Afghan Girls, Journal of Education for International Development.
  1. Handbook on Minimum Standards in Education in Emergencies. INEE. See Community Participation; Assessment; Teaching and Learning; Teachers and Other Education Personnel sections.

Supplemental reading for student-led discussion:

  • Bird, L. (2003). Surviving School: Education for refugee children from Rwanda 1994-1996. Paris, UNESCO International Institute for Education Planning.
  • INEE (2002). INEE Good practice guide: training and capacity building.INEE website,
  • Pre-service, in-services and in the school
  • Teacher observation and lesson planning
  • On-site Teacher Training and Support

March 2: How do you implement education interventions in post-conflict/early reconstruction settings? Rebuilding Education Systems: Teacher and Student Certification, Educational Concerns of Youth, including Vocational Education and Accelerated Learning; Reintegrating Children Formerly Associated with the Fighting Forces, and Peace Education.

Class will provide an overview of best practices for implementing education programs in protracted post-conflict/early reconstruction settings. How does education affect return and reintegration of displaced populations? What are key steps to take prior to return of displaced populations to their home communities to ensure that teacher training and student learning in exile is recognized by the home country government? How should relevant Ministries be supported in this setting? How should out of school youth, including recently demobilized child soldiers, be supported in pursuing education? When and how should vocational education and accelerated learning programs be implemented? How should the education system of the home country be supported and revitalized? What are the best approaches to integrating peace education in schooling?

Guest Speaker: Mary Mendenhall, Academic and INEE consultant, on challenges and successes in reaching quality education within the transition from emergency to recovery in Angola.

Readings

  1. Buckland, P. (2005). Reshaping the Future: Education and Post Conflict Reconstruction (first three chapters). Washington DC, The World Bank. (this book will be distributed to students during the first class).
  2. Lowicki, J. (2005). Youth Speak Out: New Voices on the Protection and Participation of Young People Affected by Armed Conflict. New York, New York: Women’s Commission for Women and Children.Available on-line:
  3. INEE. 2001. INEE Good practice guide: training and capacity building.Available on-line:

Supplemental reading for student-led discussion:

  • Pugh, M. (1998). Post-conflict reconstruction: Social and civil dimensions. The Journal of Humanitarian Assistance. [Availableonline:
  • Slim, H. (2000). Dissolving the difference between humanitarianism and development: The mixing of a rights-based solution. Development in Practice, 10(3&4), pp. 21-25. [ATTACHED]

March 9: Analysis and Advocacy Brief Project Presentations and Course Conclusion through a Disaster Management Lens

Students will briefly share outcomes from their advocacy brief project and discuss outstanding questions/issues/conclusions through the lens of disaster risk reduction and management.

Readings (all available on

  1. International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (2007). Word into Actions: A Guide for Implementing the Hyogo Framework. Geneva, Switzerland.
  2. International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (2007). Disaster Risk Reduction Begins at School: What Can Be Done. Geneva, Switzerland.
  3. International Conference on School Safety (2007). Ahmedabad Action Agenda for School Safety.

Supplemental reading for student-led discussion (available on ineesite.org/resources):

  • Let Our Children Teach Us! (ISDR, 2006)
  • Towards a Culture of Prevention: Disaster Risk Reduction Begins at School (ISDR, 2007)
  • Linkages between the INEE Minimum Standards and Disaster Risk Reduction (INEE, 2008)

Critical Challenges and Opportunities: Education in Emergencies,

Chronic Crisis, and Early Reconstruction Contexts

Analysis and Advocacy Brief Project Assignment

Students will work on one project over the course of the class, developing an analysis and advocacy brief (2-6 pages) on the utilization of an inter-agency tool to enhance quality education in emergency and recovery contexts. Each project will entail carrying out a general analysis and documenting concrete examples of how education in emergency practitioners and policy makers have used inter-agency tools to enhance their work and improve education services and policies. Information will be gathered through document reviews and interviews with field practitioners and policy makers, with the guidance of the INEE Coordinator for Minimum Standards and the INEE Director. More information will be presented in the first course meeting.

Project 1. Develop an analysis and advocacy brief on the applicability of the INEE Minimum Standards

The objective of this project is to develop a simple brief making the case for the applicability of the INEE Minimum Standards in different contexts, including conflict, disasters, chronic crises and stable settings (this list can potentially be expanded upon). The whole document should be framed around the idea that the INEE Minimum Standards represent a tool supporting safe, relevant, and quality education no matter the situation a country is in or considers itself to be in. For each context, the brief will include a general analysis and concrete examples of how INEE members have use the INEE Minimum Standards to enhance their work and improve education services and policies. Information will be gathered through document reviews and interviews with INEE members. This project will be supervised by the INEE Coordinator for Minimum Standards:

Project 2. Develop an analysis and advocacy brief on the use of the INEE Minimum Standards in education assessments