Abstracts, Seminar 13 |
The abstracts are copied as received. |
Children´s Reading in Times of Crisis
Dr. Hanan Karkaby-Jaraisy , Israel
BA Ronald Ssentuuwa, Uganda
Educational consultant & author Vijaylakshmi Nagaraj , India
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“Palestinian Oral Fairytales and the World of Children Living in Nazareth- an Arab Palestinian Town in Israel ”
This thesis was submitted for the degree of "Doctor of Philosophy" by Hanan Karkaby-Jaraisy it has been approved by the faculty of Humanities and the Senate of the Hebrew University at June 3 rd , 2007 This work was carried out under the supervision of Prof. Galit Hasan-Rokem
Abstract; This is a multi- disciplinary thesis which examines the connection between the world of oral folktales, specifically fairytales, in the Arab Palestinian society in Israel today, and the internal and external world of Arab Palestinian children living in Nazareth . The empiric research also studies the communicative affects of the mutual interaction between the narrators on one side, and the children on the other, considering the narrators' attitudes toward their tales- the tales which were chosen by them to be told - and the reactions of the children on the same tales. The field works demonstrated that the specific tales chosen by the narrators seemed to be personally meaningful for them, and are connected with their personal life history, hence influencing the messages being communicated to the children, whether consciously or unconsciously.
The demand for this research seems to be vital after the lack in empiric field research which studies Palestinian folktales concerning children from the point of view of the children themselves. The research population included about 90 children and five narrators. The children's age ranges among 3-10, but most of them are between 5-8, kindergarten age to 2nsd class. This age was called by Bettelheim "the fairytale age". The narrators were chosen among different personal and professional roles and generations: one grandmother, mother, teacher, and two professional narrators: a woman and a man. This variety among the narrators was intended to permit a comparative analysis of the narrators, and to examine how different narrating approaches and skills, and different texts may affect the sessions' dynamics and the relations between the narrators and the children. In addition, the research examined the narrative session as an artistic experience in its performance aspects using a holistic context approach as the theoretical background. The results of the analysis were done in a qualitative interpretative approach of narrative analysis.
Main results and conclusions: The wonder world of oral Palestinian Arab fairytales of the past seems to interest and attract young children in the Arab Palestinian city of Nazareth even today. In their verbal reactions and spontaneous expressions, the children revealed a rather partial and selective internalizing of the tales. They chose, probably unaware, some items and issues that were personally interesting for them, and were related either to their internal or to their' external real world. The same conclusion is valid on the level of moral and values, and only a partial influence of the narrator's attitudes appeared to effect the children reactions. Moreover, the children expressed critical positions toward some traditional and conformist attitudes. In the versions they revised, the children transformed the narratives into their own language, replacing some of the existential anxieties and plots of the narrators' original versions of the tales, with other plots and matters that concern them more in their real life, and which in a way closely reflect their real interests and needs. On the artistic level, the children grasped the gaps in the performance skills among the narrators. They evidently reacted with more enjoyment and higher involvement to the better performance and to intimate and personal contact as it was observable by the video recording.
I, Dr. Hanan Karkaby-Jaraisy, propose myself to share the Seminar sessions, introducing my Ph.D thesis which is dealing with a very close topic to the Congress theme.
I'm an Arab Palestinian woman (age 46) living in Nazareth at the Galilee in Israel . I'm married and a mother of 3 daughters. I work at the Academic Arabic College for Education at Haifa in Israel , as a lecturer for children and folk literature. An abstract for the thesis is included.
I'm looking forward to hear from you. sincerely, Hanan Karkaby-Jaraisy address: 6036/9 Nazareth 16000 Israel
(21) Reading in Crisis: Experience in Northern Uganda
This paper discusses children's experiences reading and searching for reading materials in Northern Uganda . In last 20 years Northern Uganda has been raided by war under the Lords Resistance Army (LRA). Children in this region are deprived of their right to access education, though government of Uganda introduced Universal Primary Education (UPE) in 1997, which resulted into a rapid increase of access to education from 2.7 millions to 7.2 millions children. It is unfortunate that approximately 65% of children in Northern Uganda do not access education, thus limited access to reading materials. Important to note is that children have become night commuters and camps are their homestead, but they are not hesitant in searching for reading materials and education. Therefore this paper draws conclusions based on interventions from this war torn area, on how children are striving to access reading materials as night commuters, with their homes mostly on streets of Gulu town and camps.
Biographical data of Ronald Ssentuuwa Ronald Ssentuuwa is graduate student of Makerere University Kampala Uganda pursuing Masters of Science in Information Science with a Bachelor's Degree in Library and Information Science. He currently works with Makerere University as a part time Librarian in the school of Industrial Fine Art ; he works as a Saving Newborn Lives program Support Coordinator Save the Children, prior to this he was an Assistant Library in the same organization. Ronald is a member of Uganda Library and Information Science Professional Association (ULIA), Reading Association of Uganda (RUA) and Uganda Children's Writers and Illustrators Association (UCWIA). He works for the Uganda Children's Writers and Illustrator's Association as Communication and Development Officer in the Association which a National Section for iBBY in Uganda . Presented a paper “reading for Children, Opportunities and Challenges: experiences from Uganda ” . He has experience and expertise in information services to rural communities; he is proactive in advocating for reading activities and children's literature in Uganda .
Ronald Ssentuuwa Save the Children USA Uganda Country Office PLOT 1148, Block 244, Ggaba Road P.O. Box 26345, Kampala Uganda Tel: +256 – 41 – 510 – 582 Mobile : +256 – 774 – 217 – 836 Email: setuwar@gmail.com
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READING - A Soothing Balm
The worst crises in recent times that affected children was the Tsunami. In India Nagapattinam in Tamilnadu bore the brunt of it. Hundreds of children became orphans and homeless. Their secure happy life was shattered and they required emotional and psychological help . I went to Nagapattinam with my books and puppets. The tsunami orphans, though still in a state of shock came to pick up books hesitantly. They saw , touched and turned the pages rather listlessly. Gradually the colourful illustrations attracted them and then they started reading . I noticed the change. They emerged from their silent cocoons and spoke, smiled , asked questions and took a book and went to a corner of the shed to read . The first step towards emotional healing had taken wings. They wanted to fly like “Jhilmil the Butterfly.” The humorous stories made them laugh, the mystery stories excited them, the book on magic fascinated them . After days of trauma and nightmares of the Tsunami they slowly but surely found solace in books. As a facilitator I gave them value added emotional support through storytelling. There is no doubt that in times of crises children find reading a soothing balm.
Reading as a Therapy I spent many hours every week in the cancer ward of a hospital helping children cope with the painful treatment they were undergoing. I would jump around like Jojo the monkey puppet or walk like Balaram the elephant. “ I like the story of the “monkey and the elephant, please may I read the book,” asked Lakhbir.The effects of the chemotherapy tiring him . My bag of colourful books attracted the children who were suffering . For a couple of hours they forgot the sufferings and had fun reading. Lakhbir was in pain one day when he asked me to read him a story from his favourite book which ‘squeaked' when pressed. I held his hand and helped him press “ squeak.” The noise fascinated him and he smiled . He took the book ,kept it under his pillow and slept. The next day I learnt that he was no more. I had a lump in my throat and tears glistened in my eyes . The other children tugged at my arm and looked at my bag of books . I spread them out on a table and the children picked their choice. Reading brought joy to their world of pain.
Biographical Data. Name : Mrs Vijaylakshmi Nagaraj
Occupation : Educational consultant, author, storyteller and Social worker
I have authored several children's books and written research oriented articles on children's literature. I conduct workshops for teachers and focus on : a) integrating storytelling to text book learning. b) Storytelling and dramatization I conduct training pgmes for librarians . I do storytelling in rural areas, hospitals and for developmentally challenged children. I conduct puppet making workshops using eco friendly products. I train children to make and use puppets .
Mailing address :
Mrs Vijaylakshmi Nagaraj D/114, Sena Vihar, Kalyan Nagar, Bangalore- 560043 Karnataka, India Contact no : + 91-80-25423842 Email : vijaylakshmi.nagaraj@gmail.com
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