POWERS AND COUNTERPOWERS Profile: Malala Yousafzai Image copyright Reuters Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai wrote an anonymous diary about life under Taliban rule in north-west Pakistan. She was shot in the head by militants for daring to go to school. In 2014 she became the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Accepting the award in Oslo she said she was "humbled" and proud to be the first Pashtun and the first Pakistani to win the prize. Malala Yousafzai first came to public attention through that heartfelt diary, published on BBC Urdu, which chronicled her desire to remain in education and for girls to have the chance to be educated. When she was shot in the head in October 2012 by a Taliban gunman, she was already well known in Pakistan, but that one shocking act catapulted her to international fame. She survived the dramatic assault, in which a militant boarded her school bus in Pakistan's north-western Swat valley and opened fire, wounding two of her school friends as well. Image copyright Birmingham Hospitals Trust
Reading our own stories: Boom in Arabic children's books AMMAN - Taghreed Najjar was a teenager when she started creating stories. A voracious reader growing up in a Jerusalem boarding school in the 1960s, her first tales were fantastical narratives about her three-year-old brother, told to her younger siblings. They took on a life of their own, and soon Najjar was compelled to commit them to paper. “Back then we didn’t really have any authors or writers that I could look to,” she told Middle East Eye. In those days, Najjar said, there was little in the way of quality, original children’s books for Arabic audiences: the market was dominated by imports from the West, English language books that were more often affordable and highly valued by parents. Publishing houses like Kalimat, which has produced more than 155 books since its 2007 beginning, and Asala, founded in 1999, have garnered powerful reputations for producing great children’s writing. Turk’s debut Ayn? Turk hasn’t been the only person to notice this. Still, problems remain.
Strange Fruit, chanson qui dénonce les lynchages couramment pratiqués dans le sud des États-Unis | Strange Fruit (en français : étrange fruit) est une chanson. La chanteuse afro-américaine Billie Holiday l’interpréta pour la première fois en 1939, au Café Society à New York. Ce poème écrit en 1937 par Abel Meeropol compte parmi les réquisitoires artistiques contre les lynchages couramment pratiqués dans le sud des États-Unis ; elle est en outre considérée comme l’une des premières manifestations du mouvement pour les droits civiques dans ce pays. Le « Strange Fruit » évoqué dans le morceau est le corps d’un noir pendu à un arbre. Strange fruit (Les fruits étranges) Southern trees bear a strange fruit Blood on the leaves and blood at the root Black body swinging in the Southern breeze Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees Les arbres du Sud portent un étrange fruit, Du sang sur les feuilles et du sang aux racines, Un corps noir qui se balance dans la brise du Sud, Étrange fruit suspendu aux peupliers. .. for the sun to rot/for the tree to drop/Here is a strange and bitter crop.
Literacy Matters - Literacy Lesson Plans Literacy lesson plans You may be wondering where the literacy lesson plan units came from. Literacy Matters was formed in October 2000 by Sue McCaldon and Andrea Bernstein. We had worked in schools and then in a Local Authority supporting schools in implementing the literacy strategy. We had been chosen to work in the original pilot because of our ground breaking work in improving kids’ literacy skills. An easier life for teachers! One of the first things we wanted to do was make the life of a teacher easier. Inevitably things in education are always changing and last year the renewed literacy framework was introduced. The teaching sequence in the renewed framework rarely identifies specific resources and leaves you to find them yourself. The resource will not go out of print! Are these resources free? Or click on one of the year group links on the left.
Interview With Nadine Kadaan: Syrian Children's Book Author and Artist Nadine Kaadan, a Syrian children’s book author and illustrator, has published over 15 beautifully illustrated books helping children come to terms with issues of war, disability and more. We spoke to her about the inspiration and process behind her work, her love for her home of Damascus and the importance of preserving Arab culture through children’s stories. Illustration, The Jasmine Sneeze | Courtesy of Nadine Kaadan I always knew that this is what I wanted to do; I have a great passion for tales, colors, and the magical world of children’s books. At the age of 10 I started to write and illustrate stories, photocopy them, and sell them to children in my school. As someone who grew up in Damascus, the scenes of the old city naturally inspired my style; I always loved tales and legends that come from this ancient culture. I don’t have a specific routine in my work; I actually try to avoid being systematic in my art process. Illustration | Courtesy of Nadine Kaadan
Post-vérité: chacun choisit de croire ce qu’il a envie de croire – Ère numérique L’émission « 20h55 le jeudi » sur France 2 a présenté en exclusivité ce 15 décembre un dialogue entre Vladimir Poutine et Nicolas Sarkozy qui avait été enregistré lors du G8 en 2007. On découvre l’ancien président français sortant groggy de l’entretien après une conclusion peu diplomatique de son homologue russe : « Si tu continues sur ce ton je t’écrase […] » Deux jours après la diffusion de ce documentaire, je tombe sur une interview de Jean-David Levitte, l’ancien conseiller diplomatique de Nicolas Sarkozy. Ce cas anecdotique me paraît cependant symptomatique de l’ère post-factuelle: dans un premier temps le lecteur est attiré par une publication racoleuse (en l’occurrence diffusée par la première chaîne de TV publique française, à priori crédible). Cette année 2016 a vu le débat d’opinion basculer dans une contestation systématique des faits.
Book List Fake news : peut-on répondre à la désinformation Depuis l’élection de Trump (voir nos deux précédents articles : « Trump : les 5 échecs des nouvelles technologies » et « Facebook, une entreprise politique ? »), la question de la propagation de fausses informations semble révéler d’une véritable crise de confiance dans notre système médiatique et politique, comme l’expliquait récemment le chercheur en science de l’information Olivier Ertzscheid. De partout, les esprits s’agitent pour tenter de trouver des réponses. Des solutions… concrètes ? Les solutions relèvent de trois grandes catégories synthétise-t-il : faire vérifier l’information par des éditeurs humains, avoir recours au crowdsourcing (c’est-à-dire à la foule des internautes pour classer le bon grain de l’ivraie en permettant à des gens d’avoir un statut de vérificateur par exemple), ou trouver des solutions techniques ou algorithmiques. Mieux comprendre la diffusion de la désinformation Plus qu’un problème d’éducation, nos biais cognitifs en question La solution ?
Book List: Picture Books about Muslim or Middle Eastern Characters In case you haven’t noticed, there’s been a lot of talk lately about the need for more diversity in books. We already know that the population of the United States is rapidly changing, and people have been demanding books that reflect this. From the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign to this recent article from School Library Journal, the demand for diverse titles grows louder every day. One category we often get asked about is recommendations of books featuring Middle Eastern and Muslim characters, so we thought we’d put together a list of some favorites: Note that we have not read every book on this list, so we always recommend doing some of your own research to determine cultural accuracy. And if you have any additions, please do leave them in the comments! More book lists: Children’s Books About Transracial Adoption Picture Books About Travel
Songwriter's Notebook: Aurora Massacre -- a poem In the wake of the Aurora Massacre, pundits of all stripes are saying the same things they always say after all the massacres. In this sort of situation, poems are better, even if they may be just as inadequate as any other form of communication. There is also an audio version. Aurora Massacre The survivors will hug and tell their stories With flashing lights the living and the dead Will be taken to the morgues and to the hospitals We'll hear about the last words that they said At least if it was a notable occasion Like if it happened just down the road from Columbine If the victims numbered in the dozens The murder plan especially malign The governor will talk about the senselessness The madness that must explain the crime Some will ask about the guns, six thousand rounds of ammunition He bought legally all at the same time If the murders were especially dramatic This man will have his week of fame But by around this time next year Just a few will remember his name