Team members of the College's Afghan Education Project are rewriting that country's curriculum and elementary school textbooks as the focus of their work in the country while also promoting greater student participation in the teaching and learning processes.  Financed by the United Nations Children's Fund, the group finds the work painstaking, but rewarding.  The College began its work in Afghanistan in the 1970s, but left it unfinished after the Communist coup in 1978. 

Barry Rosen, head of the team, said, "I felt we should return and pick up the work.  Our motives are our history here, and that education is the way to change lives."  Professor emeritus Margaret Jo Shepard who is also working with the team in Kabul added, "One of our tenets is social justice.  The aim of [Teachers College] is to help poor people and immigrants, and educating Afghans so they can make a difference."  Some of the textbooks have already been tested in Afghan schools with the aim of encouraging critical thinking by students. 

The article, entitled "Afghan Students Are Back, but Not the Old Textbooks," appeared in the December 27 edition of the New York Times. 

Published Monday, Jan. 3, 2005