A21SC TIMELINE
A21SC TIMELINE
Embedded Files
2015
2015
Our starting point
Our starting point
As bilingual education was gaining traction and the entire educational system being challenged to advance innovative practices, BNCs were instilled by the U.S. State Department to embark on a very promising learning journey. The BNC network was encouraged to repurpose environments and materials so as to offer people who came to our American Spaces a vivid, one-of-a-kind learning environment to connect with U.S. culture, other people, ideas, projects, tools and machines, and to create something of value for themselves or their community. The IRO at the time, also the original sponsor of this project, Elenita Tapawan, described the three-challenge statements as follows:
- To lengthen the education arc with the notion that learning continues outside the classroom in collaborative and interactive spaces of American Spaces;
- To embrace the maker movement as an essential education approach for achieving 21st century information literacy and digital skills;
- To convey the relevance of Smithsonian content and maker activities as established by the IIP-Smithsonian partnership for advancing U.S. foreign policy goals;
- To equip American Spaces with non-traditional resources and unconventional ideas to enable them to become the highest performing centers for in-person as well as virtual engagement of local and regional audiences;
- To have a mission-focused and policy-oriented calendar for American Spaces.
Support from the Smithsonian
Support from the Smithsonian
THE IDEA BOOK
Smithsonian designers created an Idea Book and a Content and Programming Book, which provided design concepts, furniture recommendations, Smithsonian resources, programming concepts, and digital strategies to the global network of American Spaces. The Idea book was both extremely inspirational and the look and feel suggested was implemented very successful. Most BNCs upgraded their classrooms, common areas, and libraries to incorporate the design elements and foster an innovator mindset.
THE PROGRAMMING BOOK
The Content and Programming Book, however, posed a bigger challenge for two main reasons: First, most BNC students are between 10 and 18 year-old English learners that face challenges when coping with authentic content-oriented materials. Second, nearly every BNC uses their own English curriculum. Fortunately, the enthusiasm for Maker-Centered Learning (MCL) opened some space for BNCs to be willing to experiment. All the program plans designed at the time reside in the project’s wiki: English Hub .
Smithsonian content and programming session at an American Spaces training session in Brasilia, Brazil led by Aviva Rosenthal and Lauren Appelbaum (2015). Photo credit: United States Government.
Important guidelines in 2015
Important guidelines in 2015
- Casa Thomas Jefferson and PA Brasilia were the lead implementers;
- The programs should meet the five core programs. However, programs in Portuguese, as an exception, could happen if they are perceived as strategic;
- Teachers could bring students to the space and show what's happening. However, students should walk in on their own, as the project should not disrupt the classroom.
Strands of Action
Strands of Action
Casa Thomas Jefferson had the opportunity to design learning environments to address mission goals in our libraries in a strategic and engaging fashion and timely pass on knowledge and implementation tips to the BNC learning community. So, a careful action plan was designed by the head of innovation at the time, Carla Arena, to make sure CTJ would rise to the challenge.
Our action plan was divided in three strands:
Teamwork and Internal Expertise Strand - Engage librarians in ongoing professional development opportunities (training sessions, meetings, webinars, online communities, etc. ) to prepare and empower them to create and implement their own programs;
Community Strand - Strengthen the participation of CTJ students and local community in the CTJ American Space programs, activities, and workshops in the main areas below, and increase the number of visits to the Space;
Communication Strand - Advertise the CTJ American Space programs, activities and workshops to CTJ students and the local community to enhance understanding and interest about US-related topics.
Success Stories
Success Stories
It is important to stress that CTJ was selected to pilot this project, but the overall purpose was to multiply efforts among the Binational Center network in Brazil – 37 institutions. The strands of action approach helped us to achieve several goals:
Bring the library into the 21st century - teaching multiple literacies through print and digital content.
Enhance experience through Smithsonian-inspired designs and high-quality material.
Provide excellent data for the consideration of duplicating modular aspects of the project at BNCs.
Build internal expertise - Resource center staff in a design for plotter educational program
The challenges
The challenges
In a country with nearly 50 American Spaces, mostly comprised of independent BNCs, nearly every BNC uses their own English curriculum. BNCs sometimes opt to augment some of their materials with ECA and IIP content. Most of the BNCs use eLibraryUSA, too, as a resource tool, but not many use the platform for coordinated activities. With all the different USG resources available to BNCs competing with their own standardised curriculum, it can be challenging to get all of the BNCs to use our resources consistently.
In general, BNCs agreed that aligning their vision and mission statements with ICS goals was vital to their success, but many were facing severe financial troubles and were unable to step forward with the implementation of a new project that required a dedicated paid staff.
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