International Center for Everybody's Child

Recommendations of International Scholars

On the tenth anniversary of the Rwanda genocide, in preparation for the development of the proposed International Center for Everybody’s Child, an International Forum was convened at Hofstra University to raise awareness of the trauma experienced by children living in areas of extreme poverty, armed conflict and natural disasters. Speakers who teach or provide aid in these areas of international concern were invited to participate with researchers and teachers from around the world whose work focuses on language, literacy and learning in families, schools and communities. Particular emphasis was placed on conversations about the local/everyday experiences of children, and the multiple ways in which language and literacy, as naturally occurring social and psychological resources within the families, schools and communities, can be used to increase the resilience of children who have experienced mass traumas and live in areas of armed conflict. The intended outcome of the forum, realized through this proposal for the International Center for Everybody’s Child, is the development of working partnerships and collaborative initiatives which can be undertaken by teachers and researchers from the international community working with teachers and researchers who live and work in areas of armed conflict around the world.

The specific recommendations developed at the forum are to:

1. Provide emergency short-term response and long-term sustainable support;
2. Connect with existing international organizations and local NGO’s;
3. Provide immediate aid/support for children in the aftermath of a catastrophic event by activation of an international network of teachers and scholars; as well as physicians, psychologists and psychiatrists acting in an advisory capacity to the teachers and scholars;
4. Participate in the reconstruction and rehabilitation in emergency situations through the provision of long term support for local teachers facing locally identified problems, and difficulties identified through the rapid assessment of organizations such as UNESCO and UNICEF;
5. Provide long term support by sharing existing knowledge about teaching, learning and instructional knowledge across cultural contexts through:
   1. development of mutually constructed dialogues and participatory approaches;
   2. development of culturally and linguistically relevant educational activities and materials;
   3. development of opportunities and incentives for teacher participation in local training and college courses;
   4. development of long-distance learning, degrees and research opportunities;