In Part 2 of this mini-series that we titled Inequality, we discussed the false dichotomy of structural inequality vs individual and cultural failings, and the importance of the often-overlooked aspect of place in this conversation.
In this post, we'll look at two place-based education non-profits that can serve as an inspiration for the next phase of Operation Einstein, and discuss potential models for collaboration.
Blog Post Contents
The Harlem Children’s Zone
Among education circles, The Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ) is renowned for its refreshing approach to education. It not only adopts a place-based approach by geographically focusing on Central Harlem, but also a truly unique cradle-to-college-to-career model.
Its founder, Geoffrey Canada, drew on his own experience as an impoverished black youth, a teenage black parent, and a Harvard-trained educator to ask one big question:
"What would it take to change the lives of poor children: not one by one, through heroic interventions and occasional miracles, but in big numbers, and in a way that could be replicated nationwide?"
Canada came to a controversial yet highly interesting conclusion: "if you want poor kids to be able to compete with their middle-class peers, you need to change everything in their lives".
In a analogy that seems both poignant and prescient in light of the current pandemic, Canada describes poverty as a "disease that infects an entire community".
Focusing on the often ignored aspects of place and community, Canada looks beyond just education, and describes failing schools, broken homes, and widespread violence as "symptoms of poverty" that cannot be "treated in isolation"
In creating the HCZ, Canada's goal was an incredibly audacious one: to "heal" the entire Harlem community.
Whatever it Takes
The journey of the Harlem Children's Zone is described in a great book called "Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to change Harlem and America".
The book describes the trajectory of Geoffrey Canada's life and how it led him to found the HCZ. It also provides an objective look at the success and limitations of the HCZ, such as educational progress of students in the HCZ and the cost of providing such extensive services.
Structural vs Individual
Like any important discussion about poverty, Whatever It Takes doesn't shy away from the controversial debate about the causes of poverty. It succinctly describes how social science research from major universities constantly shifted the needle back and forth between structural vs individual factors.
Given that I discussed this debate in part 2 of this series, I thought it'll be helpful to digress a bit from the HCZ and look into what this book adds to the debate.
The book highlights how "anyone who tried to look for causes of poverty inside the lives and homes of poor people, instead of in the broad structures of the economy, would hear a very specific criticism from some on the left: they were promoting a deficit model and blaming the victims of poverty".
But the book makes clear that ignoring the individual and familial causes of poverty mean that broad structural efforts to uplift the poor and reform the economy would only be half the solution. It thus introduces the human-capital perspective which sees poverty in more than economic terms.
Researchers could now reply:
Of course poor people have deficits. That’s what poverty is: a lack of resources, both internal and external. But those deficits, whether they were in income or knowledge or even more esoteric qualities like self-control or perseverance or an optimistic outlook, were not moral failings. The appropriate response was not to deny them or excuse them, nor was it to criticize them and cluck about them. It was to solve them.
The human-capital perspective paved the way for the Harlem Children's Zone and its controversial assertion that "poverty is a disease that infects the entire community".
It shifted the discussion beyond the false dichotomy of individual vs structural, and encouraged recognition that both factors are equally valid because poverty is ultimately the intersection of race, class, and place.
Without this fundamental recognition, the HCZ could not have received the funding it needed to test out its controversial ideas, and address both structural and individual factors through a place-based, and cradle-to-college approach.
Cradle to College
What exactly does a cradle-to-college approach entail? How does it differ from traditional education systems?
In the Singapore context, for example, most students go through early childhood education in pre-schools and kindergartens. We then enter a government primary school, take PSLE, and enter either an independent or government secondary school.
We then take the O Levels or N Levels, and decide what path of post-secondary education we would like to embark on. Many of us choose the JC route, or the polytechnic or ITE routes are equally acceptable and recognized. Does the Singapore education system not entail a cradle-to-college approach either?
Personally, I feel there are two main factors that truly distinguish the Harlem Children's Zone: place and data.
Place
The HCZ believes that college is the primary means of breaking the poverty cycle of intergenerational, but "the pathway to college begins when a child is born and doesn’t end until a student has graduated and has the tools to thrive in a fulfilling career".
The HCZ's aim is to provide "community-responsive and wraparound youth programs that support children and their families in every way" from cradle to college to career.
As you can see from their website, they have a comprehensive list of programs that cater to each year of a child's development:
Early Childhood: Baby College & Harlem Gems
Promise Academy Charter Schools: Elementary, Middle & High School
Youth Programs: a cut above (character-building), arts & civic engagement, employment & technology center
College & Career: educational & career guidance experts (ECG)
Unlike the Singapore educational model, where many of us are used to travelling to schools far away from home, the HCZ focuses on geographical proximity. Its schools and programs are only open to residents within the Central Harlem community.
That not only makes it efficient for students to commute, but also fosters long-term partnerships and trust between the HCZ and the community.
Community Ownership
Many of the kids in the HCZ come from broken families. And these kids who've seen a revolving door of fathers enter and exit their lives certainly don't need to be served by a sushi train of volunteers who move on every month.
These kids need father figures and safe spaces in their lives. And that's what the spatial focus of the HCZ provides, through support systems and structures that follow these kids from cradle to college.
Furthermore, the HCZ paradoxically ensures that it can have a large-scale impact by limiting the geographical scope of its program to the specific neighborhood of Central Harlem.
In the US, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, functions similar to Singapore's Ministry of National Development. In the early 2000s, HUD pioneered a radical program called the Moving-To-Opportunity (MTO) program.
By the nature of its role, HUD was acutely aware that poverty was often concentrated in specific neighborhoods. These neighborhoods, no matter how much resources were pumped into them, somehow provided much less opportunity and social mobility for the families living there.
HUD thus adopted the controversial perspective that cultural and environmental factors were to blame, and pioneered MTO as a pathway for families to "escape" from these poverty-ridden neighborhoods by relocating to mixed-income and safer neighborhoods.
While the results that came out of the MTO experiment are mixed, many researchers have generally come to the consensus that educational attainment has improved among the families that have moved.
But MTO was ultimately an experiment. Simply because it's not possible to move an entire neighborhood to opportunity, and leave behind a ghost town in its wake.
Essentially, MTO doesn’t change the community. It only changes a few lucky families who were fortunate enough to be part of the experiment.
The HCZ adopts a completely opposite approach, and focuses on uplifting rather than relocating the community. Through its cradle-to-college approach, it aims to change the lives of the children in Central Harlem on a large-scale.
Its hope is that these children who have grew up in Harlem and remain deeply committed to their ‘hood can help change the nature and culture of their entire community during their educational journey, and even return after college to pay it forward.
Driven by Data
The second factor that truly distinguishes the HCZ is its focus on data. In an age where educational models are shifting towards fostering a culture of inquiry and shifting away from pen-and-paper examinations, the HCZ may seem antiquated for its focus on test scores.
But there's a good reason for their focus. Because the HCZ needs to justify its extensive funding, and ensure that funds are being utilized for programs that actually work.
In the US education system, students in both public and charter schools are required to take a national assessment every year that evaluates their reading and mathematical ability. If you'd like to read more about these tests, they are known as the Iowa Test of basic skills in Math and the TerraNova achievement test in English.
The closest assessment to this that we're familiar with is perhaps the UNSW tests that we also had to take every year. Similar to the UNSW tests, where we get achievement bands such as High Distinction, Distinction, Credit, the Iowa Test and TerraNova test rates students against their peers and identifies whether they're above, at, or below grade-level.
For students that are below their grade-level, these tests can even identify how far below these students are so lessons can be customized accordingly to their current ability. This is one of the key reasons why the HCZ has been able to consistently uplift its students despite all the odds being stacked against them.
While the Singapore education system is moving towards reducing our reliance on tests, we should also be aware that we may also be losing valuable data at the same time.
For low-income students who disproportionately struggle in school, many of them are placed in after-school tutoring programs run by self-help groups such as CDAC and Mendaki, or NGOs such as the Heartware Network.
Many of these programs focus on helping students complete the homework that they are assigned in school. But volunteers attached to these students have little idea how these students are performing respective to their peers, and thus their relative ability.
For a P4 student whose mathematical ability is far below his grade-level, it doesn't make sense to attempt to guide him in mastering decimals, BODMAS, and modelling techniques when he is struggling with the basic times table.
But unfortunately, similar scenarios are happening in many of these tutoring programs.
And perhaps most worryingly, many of these programs don't make a concerted effort in collecting data and tracking their students' progress over time. Without these data, there is no justification that these programs are having a tangible effect, and there is thus also no justification for change ...
ReadAble
The success of the HCZ is inspiring, but it can also be daunting. After all, the HCZ is almost like a mini Education Ministry and National Development Ministry put together. It has full-time employees, its own school infrastructure, and extensive funding from philanthropists and hedge funds.
The HCZ is also specifically crafted for the needs of the Central Harlem community, and may not be directly adaptable to Singapore's unique context.
But there's a Singapore non-profit that Operation Einstein can look to instead.
Like the HCZ, ReadAble also puts the idea of place at the center of its philosophy. It also adopts a cradle-to-college model, and has a strong focus on educational pedagogy.
Place-Based & Family-Based
ReadAble’s place-based approach allows it to be rooted in the community. Interestingly, ReadAble started out as a reading program conducted inside the rental flats themselves as its core team could not find a suitable venue.
While ReadAble now conducts the bulk of its programs inside the resident committee centre (RC), it continues to maintain strong ties with the families, and conducts a range of programs for preschoolers all the way to their mothers.
This focus on the family is a crucial but often overlooked component of educational services.
In his best-selling memoir about growing up in rust-belt Appalachian, Hillbilly Elegy , J. D. Vance attempts to draw on his experience of being immersed in an environment of concentrated and intergenerational poverty and identify possible measures that can help uplift these communities.
Here’s what he has to say:
“Any successful program would recognize what my old high school’s teachers see every day: the real problem for many of these kids is what happens (or doesn’t happen) at home. There’s fewer emotional and financial resources when the only people in a neighborhood are low-income. Put the lower-income kids with those who have a different lifestyle model, and the lower-income kids start to rise up.”
~ J. D. Vance, Hillbilly Elegy
What exactly does putting lower-income kids with those who have a different lifestyle model mean?
Conventional wisdom would point to the Moving To Opportunity program run by the US Department of Housing and Urban Department (HUD) which we discussed in part two of this mini-series.
But there is increasing recognition that merely uprooting these low-income families to so-called mixed-income neighborhoods ignores the many ties that they have in the community.
Which is why in the US, the Moving To Opportunity has been suspended and replaced with the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative which is based on the HCZ. It aims to uplift communities in place by empowering families who remain in the community.
ReadAble adopts a similar approach to the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative and the HCZ. It ensures its volunteers commit a minimum of six months which allows them to forge long-term relationships with the family.
And with its place-based approach, ReadAble is not only able to influence one family at a time, but also the family’s neighbors, and eventually the entire neighborhood. Interestingly, the following piece from one of ReadAble’s very own beneficiaries highlights the importance of these close ties.
CountAble
While ReadAble’s original focus was on literacy, it has since expanded to include a new initiative called CountAble in Feb 2019. The aim of CountAble is to enable ReadAble’s existing beneficiaries in pre-school and lower primary to learn maths effectively in school.
Gamification
What’s notable about CountAble as compared to other mathematics tuition programs is that its structure is deeply rooted in educational pedagogy.
Recognizing that conventional instructional methods may not be as effective for children who are already somewhat struggling in school, CountAble follows a C-P-A model of learning.
Collaborations: ReadyAble
As of 30 Jan 2021, these are the roles that ReadAble are recruiting for:
Volunteer Teachers (ReadAble & CountAble)
Lesson Planners (ReadAble & CountAble): Volunteers are strongly encouraged to attend weekly sessions in order to better understand students' learning needs
Mathnufacturers (CountAble): CountAble makes and packs their own manipulatives and lesson materials to keep costs low. Volunteers who are unable to commit to regular sessions can pitch in once every 2-3 months.
But what I’m really interested in is ReadAble’s partnership initiative which is known as ReadyAble.
Like ReadAble’s original vision, Einstein recognizes the power of the written and spoken word in learning. As we highlighted in a precious post, 5 Reasons to Engage Operation Einstein, our signature Mini-Stein storyline is intricately woven into our small group sessions.
And like CountAble, Einstein shares a similar philosophy of learning through play. Our STEM camps have tons of hands-on modules like ice cream making, PET Rockets, and Potato Pirates. And we focus on the learning from these cool activities by doing our best to make abstract concepts and ideas relatable, and link them to our daily lives.
Operation MakeAble
Given ReadAble’s place-based focus, and its shared philosophy with Einstein, future OTs could consider collaborations through the ReadyAble platform. The working title for this Einstein chapter is Operation MakeAble.
We could start with a trial session of our small-group sessions, and see how the kids participate in our stations. We can then adapt our other session plans accordingly, and begin conducting our various camp electives on a monthly basis.
One question that we might be asked is how does Operation MakeAble fit into the larger picture and approach of ReadAble.
My personal opinion is that Einstein‘s ultimate goal is not just to share our love for science and STEM, but also foster a love for learning and a culture of inquiry in the students that we engage. Our pedagogy is grounded in the Feynman Technique of learning, and inspired by WIRED's videos where complex scientific concepts are broken down into five different levels.
We encourage our beneficiaries to constantly ask “Why?” throughout our sessions, and engage in deductive reasoning to figure out the answer. We also nudge them to share their knowledge with one another, which helps to reinforce what they’ve learnt and builds confidence in each child.
A Blended Model of Operation Einstein
Ultimately though, we still have to bear in mind that the safety and health of our volunteers and beneficiaries are our utmost priority.
Since RI has imposed a moratorium on volunteering for 2021 due to concerns over virus transmission, we are considering moving towards a hybrid model of Operation Einstein.
One of the few viable paths forward for our RI organizing team and volunteers is to move towards a semi-digital version of Einstein.
Drawing on our existing programs, OT4’s Idea Bank initiative (which we‘ll highlight in future posts!), and online resources such as KiwiCo (which we recommended in part 1 of this mini-series), we’re looking into the possibility of creating DIY Science Kits for our beneficiaries.
In these DIY-Stein boxes, we‘ll provide the necessary household materials and instructions to carry out a series of themed activities. The exact details are still in the works, but one option is to make the instructions crystal clear so kids can carry out the activities on their own with minimal guidance. The other option is to have some sort of virtual unboxing session, where all the kids will open the box together over zoom and our OT will guide them through the DIYs.
While this DIY-Stein initiative may not be as meaningful or effective as face-to-face sessions with our beneficiaries, it at least allows us to work around the school’s restrictions and provide an opportunity for the next OT to utilize their talents.
At the same time, we recognize the importance of physical sessions, and we’ll look to maintain a physical presence, and specifically focus on a place-based approach.
In the midst of this ongoing pandemic, it is heartening that we have received requests from some schools and student groups to start their own Einstein chapter. In light of this, we have begun to look into how we might possibly coordinate all of these different chapters.
Our preliminary idea is to encourage each chapter to focus on a place-based approach. We can pool our shared talents and resources towards creating and improving our programs, but we’ll each focus on a specific neighborhood when executing these programs.
The following infographic shows what we’re planning for the revamped organizational structure of Operation Einstein:
Due to COVID-19, many schools have yet to resume in-person volunteering, and that may pose a sizable challenge to these new Einstein chapters. So while waiting for schools to allowed volunteering to resume, our existing OTs will pioneer and pilot this place-based mentorship approach.
Proposed Timeline
OT4’s term will last until May, and they’ll then handover Einstein to the next batch of juniors, OT5. To smoothen this pilot process, we are currently looking at the 2nd Half of 2021 to start the process of implementing this hybrid model of Operation Einstein.
We’ll start work with OT5 on the DIY-Stein kits, and also begin formulating partnerships with partner organizations to begin place-based mentorship sessions. Once these details are firmed up, we’ll begin recruiting volunteers for our pilot sessions.
Given the restrictions on volunteering by most MOE schools, one group of potential volunteers that we’re looking at are the fresh JC grads who have just received their A Level results and are waiting to begin university. We‘ll definitely also contact our former Einstein volunteers who have been instrumental to our growth over these years.
Dual Synergy
While we're moving towards a hybrid model, we are not treating our virtual and physical sessions as mutually exclusive. When we make prototypes of our DIY-Stein boxes, we will still need to test them out before shipping them out, and that is best achieved through our physical place-based sessions.
One of our main selling points has always been that we've made most of our programs free as a STEM non-profit. But our partner organizations recognize that they’re actually paying it forward because engaging our services allow us to develop and improve our programs for other beneficiaries. We dare to certify our programs as kid-friendly and state that it is part of our value proposition only because these activities have been tested by kids.
Conclusion
While we’ve mentioned ReadAble in detail in this post, it’s not the only organization that we can partner with in piloting place-based sessions. Another great organization is Life Community Services which runs EduGrow.
According to their website, EduGrow is a family-centric, early intervention program that aims to enable low-income children residing in Marine Parade to achieve upward social mobility. Because of its focus on neighborhoods, Life Community Services is able to focus on mentoring children and their families over the long-term. It has even recently set up a new premise to cater to Marine Parade residents called The Hut which is located at 35 Marine Crescent.
But before we start contacting these organizations, we are still left with one big question: where are we gonna get funding?
Since RI is now discouraging volunteering, it doesn’t make sense for us to follow our past approach of applying for its CE fund. And it’s also pretty awkward for us to go to a new partner organization, propose a collab, and ask them to fund our programs.
So we’re now looking into other avenues for funding, and we’ll cover this in the next part of this mini-series. Stay tuned for Part 4!
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