IJJJIJL £r~t MAR 2)8 20 J/' sesameworkshop. Gary £. Knell President and Chief Executive Officer
March 12,2002
The Honorable Kofi Annan United Nations Secretary-General United Nations Headquarters New York, NY 10017
Dear Mr. Secretary-General:
Thank you again for taping an appearance on Sesame Street last December Your visit to the set was an honor for the crew and staff who were there, and I am sure the segment's message of cooperation means a lot to the children who WclTCnGQ It.
Now I am writing about a new initiative undertaken by Sesame Workshop I've always been proud that the Workshop has a long tradition of promoting respect and understanding among children. But the events of the last year and the to°bSe donf^ ^ °* ™T ^^ tOday' have convinced metha t a lot more needs
I would like to invite you to make a keynote address at a meeting in May this year hriHntWHUPHa \T'!"^ ^ f0r ^ me«]a tobrea k down stereotypes bndge d.vides, and help our children become productive citizens of a world ' community. In attendance will be a select group of leaders from around the world who represent m dja, education, international institutions and non?3SrnS? organizations J believe that - together - we can create a coalition of partners from around the world to identify the strongest curricula and develop meaningful educat.onal content that will provide our children with a "passport" for our new
The meeting, organized by the Workshop, will explore next steps and opportunities for creating this passport. It will be held at The Pocantico Conference Center of The Rockefeller Brothers Fund in Tarrytown, about one hour north of New York City. The Summit will start at 5 PM on Tuesday May 28 c±°± H6 ?V 4 ? Or!Thursda V' MaV 30, and we would be honored if yo'u could attend at any time that is convenient for you.
One Lincoln Plaza New York Ny 10023 tel 212 875 6876 fax 212875 6111 MAR 2 9 2002 [email protected] EOSG/CENTRA www.sesameworkshop.org Elizabeth Nisbet will follow up with your staff to discuss your participation. She may be reached at (212) 875-6716 for additional information.
With
Gary E. Knell President and Chief Executive Officer
Enclosures: An Initiative to Promote Mutual Respect and Understanding Sesame Workshop brochure sesameworkshopn
An Initiative to Promote Respect and Understanding
Now more than ever, the children of the world urgently need our help in developing values that foster respect and understanding. We believe that education is key to a long-term solution and media can play a critical role.
Egypt's First Lady, Suzanne Mubarak, recently noted at an event celebrating the Egyptian production of Sesame Street, "In view of the contradicting currents in the world, our need for presenting our society, and especially our children, with targeted programs grows greater. Programs that develop their tolerance, strengthen their deep rooted values and ensure their benevolence and brotherly love and peace."
The events of September 11 reinforced the Sesame Workshop's conviction that more must be done to help children understand that they are citizens of a world community that crosses national, racial, religious and ethnic boundaries. In response, the Workshop is seeking partners to undertake a major initiative dedicated to research and development of media content to foster respect and understanding among children of ages 2-14.
For more than three decades, Sesame Workshop, a non-profit organization committed to education, has used the power of media to help children reach their highest potential. Sesame Street revolutionized children's media by demonstrating - for the first time - that cognitive and social skills can be taught through the medium of television. It also pioneered a new process, the Sesame Workshop model, of combining research and curriculum with production in a way that ensures that the "lesson" is communicated to and retained by its intended audience.
Sesame Street became not only an extremely popular and effective children's show in America, but in the world, as well. These producers, working with local childhood education experts, were able to create local versions of the series that included culturally-relevant educational goals, sets and Muppets.
From its inception, Sesame Street depicted a pluralistic and diverse landscape, helping young children to understand the heterogeneity of American society in a healthy and positive way. Through the years, Sesame Workshop has applied its "model" to target older age groups and new subject areas. It has tackled ever more challenging societal and developmental problems, including disabilities, death and natural calamities. Internationally, it has co-produced adaptations of Sesame Street that helped overcome divides and demystify the differences among children in countries such as Russia, South Africa and Egypt. In the last few years, the Workshop has even begun to work in areas plagued by ethnic and religious strife such as Israel/Palestine, Macedonia and Cyprus.
iilitia Sezam (Russia) Sesame Street (U. 5} A New Initiative
The Workshop envisions four broad action areas to the Initiative:
"A- Identifying the developmental needs of children concerning respect and understanding and creating an educational curriculum with measurable impact.
•*• Building a global network of partners to share resources, talent and knowledge to create educational multimedia projects.
* Providing technical assistance and growing local capacity toward sustainability.
•fr Creating a body of educational content across multiple media (television, radio, online, interactive and print materials) that provides children with greater awareness of their own cultures, introduces children to other cultures and fosters respect and understanding.
The projects developed within the initiative will use curricula that have a special ability to promote the core values of respect and understanding. They may focus on such areas as world music, comparative religion, geography, history, resilience, conflict resolution and health.
Sesame Workshop is undertaking this significant initiative in support of innovative efforts expected to span 5-10 years. In the beginning phase, resources will be used to conduct research, begin creative evelopment and pilot concepts and ideas. In later phases, the Workshop expects to build on these efforts to develop projects that are long lasting and sustainable with measurable impact on the lives of the children of the world.
A New Coalition
The first major step will be to hold a summit on May 28 at the Pocantico Conference Center of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund that will bring together senior decision makers - educators, representatives of governmental and non-governmental organizations, broadcasters, producers and funders - from around the world. There we will shape a plan; create specific next steps towards developing media projects; form preliminary partnerships in research, development, funding and distribution; and publicly announce the initiative and the development of a coalition in support of its efforts.
Our dream? We hope the result of this initiative will be to help nurture a new consciousness among children that they are "citizens of the world," and that such citizenship holds the promise of a global community that crosses national, racial, religious and ethnic boundaries.
With a committed coalition of partners, we think this initiative can shape attitudes and change behavior. We take inspiration from the words of Margaret Mead, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
Tahalani Sesame (South Aftica) Atam Stmstm (Egypt)
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disparity in opportunity that poverty creates. So, too, was it the model for addressing gaps in mathematics achievement in this country (Square One TV), literacy !,.. , .-..-.•• .-. We bring (The Electric Company and Ghostwriter), and science and together the greatest talents technology (3-2-1 Contact and Cro). across disciplines to turn It continues today with, among other activities, media that ideas into action, channeling strengthen resiliency among preschoolers (Dragon Tales), children's natural attraction and the only 24-hour cable channel and online site to media in constructive ways. dedicated to educating and entertaining children ages The results are words, pictures, music, and magic that two through twelve (Noggin). make a difference in children's lives — a positive, lasting, measurable difference.
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This was the model established first by Sesame Street, now the single greatest educator of young children in the world, and then a revolutionary response to easing the Sesame Worksho "work."
Because research is our anchor and our compass. Children around the world benefit from Workshop activities. It informs every step in our process, from defining needs - in South Africa, where most children lack access to preschool and curriculum goals to guiding content development education, Takalani Sesame on television, radio, and through and measuring impact. community outreach helps all South African children learn. Our efficacy is well documented in the more than 1,000 -' In Egypt, where the majority of young girls lack studies on record of Sesame Street alone — one of the most literacy skills, 'a/am Simsim teaches about numbers and revealing concluding thatteens who watched Sesame Street letters with a special emphasis on educating girls. as children had better grades in school, read more books for pleasure, had higher levels of achievement motivation, -• In Russia, Ulitsa Sezam helps prepare children for life and expressed less aggressive attitudes than those who in an open society. 1 watched rarely or not at all. 4 ' And Sesame English, a broadcast-based, multimedia project,
' Anderson, D.R., Huston, A.C., Schmitt, K.L., Linebarger, D.L., & Wright, J.C. (2001). Early helps children worldwide learn conversational English. childhood television viewing and adolescent behavior. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 66(1, Serial No. 264). Altogether, children and families in almost 150 nations have 'Schoffman, 5. (2000). Personal impact study: RecfioySumsum/Sfiara'a Simsim (unpublished research report). New York: Sesame Workshop. embraced Sesame Street to meet their needs. Arafat, C. (2000). Palestinian father study: Rechov Sumsum/Shara'a Simsim (unpublished research report). New York: Sesame Workshop. We apply our expertise to some of the most difficult issues Cole, C.F., Zidan, W.T., Leavitt, L, Tidhar, C., Fox, N., Lesser, G., /ung, F., Arafat, C., Killen, M., £ Richman, B. (2001). The educational impact of Rechov Sumsum/Shara'a Simsirn, a Sesame of our time, effecting change in places where the barriers Street Television Series for Israeli and Palestinian children. Submitted for publication. among people are so high, and the animosity and acrimony so great, many feel they are insurmountable. Two projects in particular are showing promise with respect to teaching children principles of tolerance and mutual respect.
Kschov Sumsum/Shara'a Simsim, a unique partnership among Sesame Workshop, and Israeli and Palestinian coproducers, demystifies the differences among peoples in this region and, in so doing, begins to build appreciation and respect for one another.2
- Nashe Maalo is a Macedonian television series coproduced with Search for Common Ground to instill these ideals in ethnic Albanian, Macedonian, Romany (Gypsy) and Turkish youth. While Rechov Sumsum/Shara'a Simsim and Nashe Maalo Also successful are a number of bilingual (English and differ with respect to audience and approach, research Spanish), multiple-media projects addressing such issues as indicates that each positively affects the way children literacy, health, and safety. Among them is Sesame Beginnings: view themselves and their neighbors.1 Viewers express Language to Literacy, endorsed by the American Academy of less fear of the "other" and, especially evident among Pediatrics, which helps caregivers advance literacy and younger audiences of the Israeli-Palestinian production, establish lifelong learning skills in the very young. a willingness to play with one another. Smail beginnings with profound possibilities. 'Najchevska, M. £Cole, C. (2000). Lessons from Nashe Maalo: A research report on what ethnic Albanian, Macedonian, Roma and Turttishyouth learned from watching Nashe Maa/o (unpublished research report). Washington, DC. Common Ground Impact studies make clear that Sesame Workshop activities Productions, Search for Common Ground in Macedonia, and Sesame Workshop. make significant contributions to learning among older, ' KRC Research and Consulting (1994). An evaluative assessment of the Ghostwriter project (Report No. 6416) Sesame Workshop: Author. Nielsen New Media Services (1993) school-age children as well. Ghostwriter stuo>, Wave /: March 1993 and Wave /: May 1993 Florida: Sesame Workshop. Char, C., Miller, B., Isaacson, S., & Briscoe, K. (1993) A naturalistic study of Ghostwriter use in after-school and school settings. Massachusetts: education Development Center. * On? multimedia literacy project, Ghostwriter, motivated 'Hall, E., Fisch, S., £sty, £., Debold, £., Bennett, D., {.Solan, 5. (1990). Children's viewers to enjoy and value reading and writing.1 problem-solving behavior and their attitudes toward mathematics: A study of the effects of Square One TV (Vol. 1-5). New ybrk: Children's Television Workshop. * Square One TV responded to the nation's need for 'Fay, A.L, Teasley, S.D., Cheng, B.H., Bachman, K.M., & Schnakenberg, J.H. (1995). Ch/ldren's interest in and understanding of science and technology: A study of the e/fects improved math education, bolstering the development of of Cro. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh, learning, Research and Development Center. problem-solving techniques.5
" Cro, our animated adventure comedy, increased children's interest in doing and learning more about science and technology. These effects proved especially strong for girls and low science achievers.'
We also provide parents and caregivers with practical strategies to help their children learn and grow. Free to those in low-income and at-risk populations, our materials vf ~r" reach their targets through an array of distribution channels, including an extensive network of national and community outreach partnerships and the Web.
Sesame Solutions online has proved a valuable resource, creating communities for parents and caregivers to share concerns, trade tips, and receive expert counsel. To this end, we're developing a media literacy project and two new programs, Sponk, and Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat, in addition to continuing our work with Noggin.
Sponk, a comedy-improv game show with online audience participation, models essential coping skills, ericournges a sense of humor, ond gives eight- to twe!ye-year-oid children opportunities -to engage with the positive assets of risk-taking.
Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat, helps five- to eight-year- olds reconcile their natural desire for autonomy and individuation with the equally powerful wish for the security that family, culture, and tradition provide. Especially Kids doo't Stand Still. Neither do we. relevant are the centrality of a lead female character and an introduction to Chinese culture and tradition.
Hoggin, our joint venture with Nickelodeon, provides Ou? work 'brings us into contact with a constantly changing children ages two to twelve with online and on-air world. And with change comes new needs among new opportunities to ieorn. The only 24-hour kids' "thinking generations of children that lead us in new directions. channel," it devotes the afternoon to the needs of older Among them is: children, weaving programming from our two libraries * Protecting the domain of childhood, particularly with new kid-driven content. for children ages six to twelve.
Older children are increasingly experiencing the consequences of what we've termed sprawl, the phenomenon of adult preoccupations spilling over into a child's world. Through new and provocative research, we've learned of widespread fears about guns, violence, and death that cut across gender and class. We've also learned that girls - at younger and younger ages - respond to increasing sexualization and sexual imagery that deeply affect gender identity and stereotyping. Our research made clear that these children yearn for engaged adults, especially extended family, and that grandparents, aunts, and uncles may provide an important balance for children to cope with adult information overload.
We're working on a number of projects that address these concerns. While we can't create a world entirely impervious to adult encroachment, we can enhance children's abilities to respond to sprawl in healthy ways and create media tailored to their specific interests and needs. A related initiative focuses on creating programs and A second project maximizing the possibilities of interactivity activities to help kids (younger and older) be more resilient for children is Sesame Music Zone. This unique online site, — a quality so important in today's world. hosted on sesamestreet.com, is part of our Sesame Street Music Worfcs initiative which introduces young children to the Dragon Tales responds directly to this need, modeling benefits of listening to and making music. the value of persisting at a task and acknowledging small victories along the way. Research shows that Dragon Jaies In Sesame Music Zone, children discover and play with has a positive effect on children's pursuit of the challenges sounds in the world around them, and visit different in their lives and their establishment of collaborative environments to experiment with a wide range of sounds. relationships with others. Dragon Tales viewers are Children can even compose their own opera: short comic significantly more goal-oriented and more likely to pursue operas about everyday life — a birthday celebration, for challenging experiences than nonviewers.7 example, or taking a bath.
These findings demonstrate that Dragon Tales successfully While music has always played a central role in our activities, nurtures those skills that are deemed critical by educators — mounting research linking early engagement in active the "three Rs" of early childhood education: resilience, music-making with a child's development inspires us to use relationships, and readiness.' interactive technology in new and meaningful ways.
At a time when funding for arts education has been * Maximizing (^tcfcsc;iv!rv eliminated from so many school budgets, we're using the power and appeal of Sesame Street across multiple We're hard at work bringing together the best of new platforms to help children build meaningful connections interactive technologies. In one project, Tiny Planets, we to music. use the appeal of CGI animated shorts to stimulate a sense 'Rust, L. (2001). Sum/native evaluation of Dragon Tales: Final Report (unpublished of curiosity and wonder about the world and to engage research report). New york: Langbourne Rust Research, Inc. preschoolers in an active exploration of scientific topics. 'As stated in the framework estublished by the National Institute of Early Childhood Development and Education within the By drawing on the strengths of interactive media, we plan U.S. Department of Education. to develop applications of Tiny Planets that will nurture preschoolers' natural interest in science while developing their problem-solving skills.
The Sesame Workshop Model
From the beginning, we saw our work as an experiment in which educational advisors, researchers and creative teams acted as equal partners - equal partners united by a shared vision. This partnership continues today,
Creative, educational and research teams function as inseparable parts — a collaboration that is single-minded in its purpose and in its commitment.