Mountains Beyond Mountains (MBM)

Mountains Beyond Mountains – Resource Guide 2
Dr. Terry Furin, Department of Education

I will be using this book in an undergraduate and graduate course on elementary school social studies pedagogy and in a doctoral course in our Educational Leadership program co-taught with Owen Gilman concerning leadership and communications.

Elementary Social Studies

Establish background concerning Haiti by exploring its history, geography, political structure, and current economic situation that makes it one of the hemisphere’s poorest nations. This background will include issues regarding the Western European exploration of this hemisphere and the plight of the indigenous peoples (including the role played by Jesuits). In doing this we will use Sherman Alexi’s The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven and a book for primary-aged children by Jane Yolen entitled Encounter. I will probably introduce this unit through graphic examples of Haitian “boat people” attempts to get into the U.S. only to be forcefully rejected. This may lead to a discussion of U.S. immigration policies as a restrictive beacon of hope to the world by contrasting our policies regarding Cuban and Haitian refugees. We will also experience current Haitian culture through some examples of music, poetry, literature, etc.

Following this introduction we will discuss the need of alleviating world problems in the context of those problems (missionary work in impoverished cultures). This will lead more directly into MBM. In addition, I will probably want to consider questions regarding:

• Paul Farmer’s family background relative to his current work (are there circumstances in his early life that enabled or hindered his becoming a missionary with such zeal?);
• the personal cost of his mission (substantive, ongoing family connections);
• references with other famous missionaries (especially Albert Schweitzer and his “cathedral within” philosophy);
  

Doctoral Course (Communications and Leadership)

We will explore Farmer’s style of leadership with particular focus on transformational leadership as it relates (or does not) to him and Partners in Health. In this context we will consider the importance of both a sense of mission and a vision to manifest it, as well as the sustainability of this work.

We will discuss in depth the importance of a personal sense of mission as manifested in Farmer’s life. We will conduct this discussion in the context of the relative instability of school leadership positions and the enormous pressures that often lead to suicide and other dysfunctional behaviors.

We will also consider Kidder’s writing style and the impact of this type of writing/communication. We will examine his research for the book relative to quantitative and qualitative research issues that students are currently considering for their own dissertations.