The University of Rochester's Warner School of Education will host a Rochester area film premiere of Schooling the World: The White Man's Last Burden at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 25 in Hoyt Auditorium on the University of Rochester's River Campus. The event is free and open to the public.
Shot on location in the Buddhist culture of Ladakh in the northern Indian Himalayas, Schooling the World, a 60-minute documentary by Lost People Films, challenges the treasured belief that modern schooling is always good. The film addresses the impact education programs have on intact traditional cultures and looks at the failure of institutional education in delivering its promise of ending poverty both here in the United States and in developing countries. Additionally, it examines the hidden assumption of cultural superiority that inclines us to think that we can or should determine how other people should raise and educate their children and the damaging effects this has on sustainable agricultural and ecological knowledge, extended families and communities, and elders and ancient spiritual traditions.
A panel discussion, moderated by doctoral student Joseph Henderson, will follow the screening. Panelists will include Mary Jane Curry, a Warner School associate professor of education; Daniel Reichman, a University of Rochester assistant professor of anthropology; Charles Temple, a Hobart and William Smith professor of education; and Stephanie Waterman, a Warner School assistant professor of education.
During the discussion, panelists will continue the debate on the role of schools in developing countries as well as in our own country. Additionally, they will look more broadly at the idea of schooling as an institutional vision of education and what qualifies this approach as being effective and/or harmful in creating a better life for indigenous children. They will also share what is gained and lost when we export our model of education across the developing world.
A sign language interpreter will be provided for the event. For questions about the event, please contact the Warner School Assistant Dean at (585) 275-2308. To learn more about Schooling the World, please visit schoolingtheworld.org.
About the Warner School of Education
Founded in 1958, the University of Rochester's Warner School of Education offers master's and doctoral degree programs in teaching and curriculum, school leadership, higher education, counseling, human development, and educational policy. The Warner School of Education offers a new accelerated option for its Ed.D. programs that allows eligible students to earn a doctorate in education in as few as three years part time while holding a professional job in the same field. The Warner School of Education is recognized both regionally and nationally for its tradition of preparing practitioners and researchers to become leaders and agents of change in schools, universities, and community agencies; generating and disseminating research; and actively participating in education reform.