(2008). No Good Wars: Teaching the History of Modern American Wars as a Means of Resisting Current Ones. College Teaching, v56 n2 p67-73 Spr. In the fall 2005 semester, the author designed a course in the history of America's modern wars hoping to encourage students to criticize and oppose the country's current aggressions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Surveys of student attitude change suggest that the course did promote criticism but did far less to facilitate student activism. The author concludes that instructors may need to model activism in addition to offering historical evidence…. [Direct]
(2009). Out of Sight, Out of Mind. Or Is It? The Impact of the War on Children in the United States. Childhood Education, v85 n6 p342 Aug. The war in Afghanistan began in October 2001 and the war in Iraq began in March 2003. After each war started, discussions addressed how it might be affecting American children and how adults could talk to children about it. In this article, the authors discuss the impact of the war on children in the United States. The authors believe that the war is taking a toll on children in the United States–a bigger one than the general public or educators seem to be willing to acknowledge. The authors also believe that this denial has led to a failure to develop adequate strategies for trying to counteract the harm the war is causing children in the United States….
(2006). Progress and Pain in Afghanistan. Chronicle of Higher Education, v52 n21 pA44-A48 Jan. Academics in Afghanistan, with help from abroad, are struggling to repair the damage done to the country's higher-education system by decades of occupation, civil war, and fundamentalist Taliban rule. However, sporadic foreign aid, a lack of basic resources, and overwhelming demand leave plenty of room for improvement in the otherwise remarkable recovery of the country's universities…. [Direct]
(2011). The Children of Military Service Members: Challenges, Supports, and Future Educational Research. Review of Educational Research, v81 n4 p566-618 Dec. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have led to concerning psychological, behavioral, and academic outcomes for children in military families. Of the 1.2 million school-aged children of military service members, only 86,000 actually attend schools administered by the Department of Defense on military installations throughout the world. The remaining military children attend schools administered by civilian public schools, private schools, and other civilian-run educational agencies. At present, there is a knowledge gap in educational research regarding military-connected schools and students. Given the lack of educational research on military children, the primary objective of this review is to outline findings from noneducational disciplinary empirical literatures that are of direct relevance to schooling for educational researchers who want to conduct studies on military-connected schools and students. The authors reviewed studies on military children and their families that examined… [Direct]
(2011). Traumatic Brain Injury: Looking Back, Looking Forward. Exceptional Parent, v41 n2 p30-32 Feb. This article is the eighth of a multi-part series on traumatic brain injury (TBI). Historically, TBI has received limited national attention and support. However, since it is the signature injury of the military conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, TBI has gained attention of elected officials, military leaders, policymakers, and the public. The past seven \Exceptional Parent\ articles have discussed and explained the medical aspects and daily life challenges faced by a child, teenager, young adult who incurs a TBI and the impact on the family. They explain the differences between mild, moderate and severe TBI. The continuum of rehabilitation (inpatient, community integration, & lifetime of care) is explained and how an individual proceeds through each stage to obtain his/her highest level of functioning. The articles review the different types of rehabilitation interventions and the important role of caregiving, the importance of immediate screening, as the earlier a TBI is identified… [Direct]
(2011). Educating Children in Conflict Zones: Research, Policy, and Practice for Systemic Change–A Tribute to Jackie Kirk. International Perspectives on Education Reform Series. Teachers College Press Inspired by the work of the late Dr. Jacqueline Kirk, this book takes a penetrating look at the challenges of delivering quality education to the approximately 39 million out-of-school children around the world who live in situations affected by violent conflict. With chapters by leading researchers on education in war and other conflict zones, the volume provides a comprehensive and critical overview of the links between conflict and children's access to education, as well as a review of the policies and approaches taken by those offering international assistance in this area. Empirical case studies drawn from diverse contexts–Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, and Uganda (among others)–offer readers a deeper understanding of the educational needs of these children and the practical challenges to meeting these needs. This inspiring collection: (1) Extends the legacy of the work that Jacqueline Kirk passionately pursued in her lifetime; (2) Includes several pieces of Jackie's… [Direct]
(2010). Ethical Challenges of Military Social Workers Serving in a Combat Zone. Social Work, v55 n1 p9-18. Often faced with ethical challenges that may appear extraordinary, military social workers comprise a distinctive subgroup of the social work profession. From the unique paradigms in which they practice their craft, obvious questions about how military social workers address the ethical challenges inherent to their wartime mission arise. Using a concept mapping design, this qualitative phenomenological study addresses some of the ethical challenges faced by 24 military social workers who were deployed during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (combat operations in Afghanistan). The results visually display approaches to dealing with the ethical concern of balancing the needs of the client and the needs of the military combat mission. Most participants reported that they used clinical judgment rather than moral reasoning when dealing with such situations. Other ethical concerns are also explored: confidentiality and privacy, conflicts with commanders, relationships… [Direct]
(2010). Unruly Bodies: The Rhetorical Domestication of Twenty-First-Century Veterans of War. Quarterly Journal of Speech, v96 n1 p46-68 Feb. Veterans of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq with visually identifiable injuries possess "unruly" bodies that render the story of war in efficient, emotional terms. The injured veteran's explicit connection of war with injury motivates state and mainstream news discourse that domesticates veterans' bodies, managing representations of injured veterans through three dominant strategies. First, dominant discourses invoke veterans' bodies as metonymy of the nation-state at war–bodily well-being operates as a metonym for both the nation's health and for the condition of the war. Second, veterans are domesticated by strategic placement in contexts that regulate their range of movement, especially amputees, who are often framed as having already overcome any limitations imposed by their war injuries. Third, dominant visual discourse domesticates veterans' bodies by ascribing a strategic "telos" to them, shifting the meaning of the injuries away from their origins in state… [Direct]
(2010). Veterans Returning from War into the Classroom: How Can Colleges Be Better Prepared to Meet Their Needs. Contemporary Issues in Education Research, v3 n1 p39-52 Jan. Colleges throughout the country are bracing for a large influx of returning veterans over the next couple of years and the question is whether they can meet the needs of this population. There is a paucity of empirical literature on Iraqi and/or Afghan veterans' adjustment in the college arena and the factors that mitigate the attrition rate and facilitate success. This research offers a glimpse into the lives of the veterans returning into college life. An important implication of this research is to better inform educators, mental health professionals and administrators with regard to policy making, program development and restructuring efforts. A qualitative research design using structured interviews to obtain information about returning veterans from Afghanistan and/or Iraq was used in this study. This study discusses the many challenges that soldiers face when they return into the classroom. Experiencing symptoms of PTSD is an issue exacerbating the transition into student… [PDF]
(2008). Beyond Borders: Reading "Other" Places in Children's Literature. Children's Literature in Education, v39 n2 p95-105 Jun. The author analyzes two texts, Gloria Whelan's "Homeless Bird" and Deborah Ellis's "Parvana's Journey", in an attempt to explain some of the problems and difficulties associated with those texts. The author examines Whelan's representations of India and finds troubling binaries associated with that text. In comparison, the author finds Ellis's depictions of Afghanistan more nuanced and complex. The author also discusses student reception of both texts and offers ways to problematize some of their reactions…. [Direct]
(2012). Integrating Critical Thinking in the U.S. Army: Decision Support Red Teams. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, n136 p29-40 Win. Perhaps now more than ever before the U.S. military is called on to perform tasks that are outside its normal/traditional purview. Recent wars–Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq, for example–have demonstrated the need for the U.S. military to do more than find and defeat a clearly defined enemy. At all levels of the war theater (conflict area), the military is involved in assisting with security, facilitating governance, peacekeeping, and helping to establish the opportunity for economic stability. To address the broader issues facing the military, new programs have been introduced that allow commanders greater flexibility to better understand the operating space for which they are responsible. And many of these new programs bring with them a rise in educational opportunities unique to the military. The Department of Defense has developed several initiatives either to anticipate or to react to enemy actions. One of the more innovative concepts developed by the U.S. Army is the Decision… [Direct]
(2006). Meeting EFA: Afghanistan Home-Based Schools. Case Study. Academy for Educational Development Years of conflict and instability have taken a heavy toll on education in Afghanistan. While the government rebuilds its public education system, formal schools fail to reach many of the country's children. Girls remain particularly underserved as a result of the looming effects of the Taliban's sanctions against educating women. Among the reasons why girls' access to education remains limited are: the significant distance from home to school, government schools tend to be dominated by male teachers, and cultural beliefs which undervalue girls' education. Nongovernmental organizations in Afghanistan are promoting community-based or home-based schooling as one approach to increasing education access, especially for girls. This case study examines the model and outcomes of the home-based schooling program developed and implemented by the International Rescue Committee in Afghanistan…. [PDF]
(2013). Credit Where Credit Is Due: Working with Our Service Members to Provide Credit for Experiential Learning. Community College Journal, v84 n1 p20-24 Aug-Sep. The awarding of prior learning credits for military students goes back to World War II, when the American Council on Education (ACE) first translated military training to college credit. Since then, the practice has expanded. More than 2,000 colleges and universities accept military training as a form of credit, explains Cathy Sandeen, ACE's vice president for education attainment and innovation. Two trends contribute to the appeal of experiential learning at community colleges colleges: (1) the federal government and the Obama administration have asked the nation's community colleges to double graduation rates by 2020, and (2) as the U.S. military draws down troop deployments in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan, millions of veterans are returning home. The majority of these veterans have access to G.I. Bill funds and a desire to translate the experiences and knowledge picked up during their military service into civilian degrees–and, for many, gainful employment. Colleges and… [Direct]
(2012). From Combat to Campus. Academe, v98 n5 p33-36 Sep-Oct. Soldiers are returning from war to college. The number of veterans enrolled nationally is hard to find. Data from the National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics identify nearly 924,000 veterans as "total education program beneficiaries" for 2011. These statistics combine many categories, including dependents and survivors. The US Department of Veterans Affairs notes that veterans often use their benefits in more than one state, making it difficult to get a sum total of state statistics. The veterans are in the author's art classes. Teaching studio art courses has an advantage when it comes to revealing what is important to each student: personal expression is part of their work. As an artist, the author had done many oral-history-centered mixed-media exhibitions with sound in the past. She had asked people questions about a variety of topics and recorded their answers. It is a way for her to explore topics about which she is curious. In this article, the author… [Direct]
(2007). Adult Literacy Education and Human Rights: A View from Afghanistan. Globalisation, Societies and Education, v5 n3 p315-331 Nov. In this article, we argue that adult literacy as part of international development is an issue of both human rights and women's rights. We explore this by presenting a case study of the effects of one innovative adult literacy program in Afghanistan that places men and women, as well as various ethnicities, together in the same classroom as couples, using principles that social psychological research has shown can reduce inter-group tension and interpersonal discord. We focus on interviews with the married couples taking part in this program. They learn to support each other's learning, and to treat each other with respect and kindness in spite of differences. These interviews indicated that they felt their newfound literacy skills had changed their daily lives, their view of themselves and their relationships with spouse, family and community, even nation. Since the vast majority of Afghans cannot read or write, the findings stand as a reminder that literacy education can have… [Direct]