Tunisia: Coming Soon
January 20th 2008 15:03
I've recently started a PhD program in Social Foundations of Education-- my area focus has been on international education, which I'm still trying to hone further to perhaps a region or country, or a specific issue (such as HIV/AIDS education or some similar global problem). One project I've become involved in is an educational partnership between my university and the University of Tunisia.
One international issue that I've been studying recently is colonial and post-colonial governments and the way that a colonizer's infrastructure (systems of government and other government services) are carried over even after the colonized country has become independent. Often these systems don't fit the new country, and efforts are sometimes, but not always, made to restructure.
Tunisia is one such case. The French system of education has until recently been in place in higher education in Tunisia, and the university is working to establish a more appropriately Tunisian system of education that reflects the nation's own identity, behaviors, and values rather than imposed French ones that remain as relics of the colonial past. It's a long and difficult process to restructure such a large piece of the government as education, but for something that is so integral in forming the minds and cultures of younger generations, few would argue that it's worth it.
One international issue that I've been studying recently is colonial and post-colonial governments and the way that a colonizer's infrastructure (systems of government and other government services) are carried over even after the colonized country has become independent. Often these systems don't fit the new country, and efforts are sometimes, but not always, made to restructure.
Tunisia is one such case. The French system of education has until recently been in place in higher education in Tunisia, and the university is working to establish a more appropriately Tunisian system of education that reflects the nation's own identity, behaviors, and values rather than imposed French ones that remain as relics of the colonial past. It's a long and difficult process to restructure such a large piece of the government as education, but for something that is so integral in forming the minds and cultures of younger generations, few would argue that it's worth it.
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.) For me, then, New Zealand is a cultural wonderland where Moari-Pakeha (white) relations in the government and elsewhere are model quality for other post-colonial nations of all levels of development, including the U.S. I'd like to do a comparative study between NZ and Hawaii, which I think could really benefit from NZ's policies, since Hawaii has a lot of problems with Hawaiians being forced into tourism jobs and are gradually becoming unable to afford the real estate of their own home all because Dole pineapple farms wanted to own Hawaii. But that is neither here nor there-- the point is, I'm VERY interested in NZ for a lot of reasons, but really advocate it as a travel destination for others 
