Center for African Education

Research and Fieldwork

CAE

Current Projects
 

The Center for African Education is excited to announce a new partnership with UNESCO-IICBA. The Center and IICBA will be teaming up on several capacity building initiatives to promote teacher education and training as a means of achieving social and economic progress in the countries of Africa. Such initiatives will include:

 

a)     Technical assistance for strengthening teacher training institutional capacities;

b)    Training teacher education personnel of African countries in the United States or in beneficiary country or countries;

c)     Development of technical missions;

d)    Assistance for design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects;

e)     Secondment of TC-OIA experts and/or interns, exclusively to perform duties at IICBA Headquarters in Addis Ababa

Past Projects

African Muslim Immigrant Literacy Initiative (AMILI)

Teachers College, Columbia University and the Center for African Education (CAE) are leading the field of educational research on the experiences of Muslims in New York City. Based on ethnographic research conducted by its faculty and students, the CAE recognized the pressing need for additional, in-depth research on African Muslim immigrant girls attending New York City public high schools. This particular immigrant population is at risk of poorly integrating into American society due in part to the considerable challenges they face in attaining literacy skills vital to their preparation for high school graduation, college, and citizenship.  Without adequate literacy skills these girls lack the power to direct their lives as Muslim American women. Barriers to the girls' success, which result from perceived incongruence between traditional religio-cultural beliefs and practice and unfamiliar American social systems and values, may be overcome by increasing dialogue with Muslim communities and addressing systemic shortcomings in the nation's immigrant education policies and practices. Misunderstandings between immigrant communities and social institutions, such as schools, may be ameliorated, perhaps even eliminated, with increased cooperation among schools, religious communities, families, and students. Successful dialogue will be multilateral and equally inclusive of all perspectives.

The African Muslim Immigrant Literacy Initiative (AMILI) aims to develop literacy skills, improve school performance, and increase high school graduation rates among African Muslim immigrant girls by providing accessible tutoring services and building strong, sustainable relationships among their school, mosque, and families.

AMILI is imperative because it directly facilitates the development of essential literacy skills in an overlooked and underserved group of young people who have the untapped potential to become future leaders in their local communities as well as productive American citizens. AMILI -'s goal is two-fold:

1)      to provide a literacy program that will directly impact school performance

2)      to create a school-mosque-family network that will support the girls through high school and encourage their continued success throughout life.

 

Pictures from January 2007:

Tutors Ameena and Kasia with students Khadiatou and Janet.




Khadyatou and Ameena working on the computer.




Fatoumata with Carrie working on history.