In March 2018, teacher forums organised several events. These served as initiatives taken by male and female teachers who work independently across Palestinian governorates. Teachers receive moral and material support from the Educational Research and Development Programme (ERDP) of the A. M. Qattan Foundation (AMQF).
Medical field visits
Involving 11 students from the Al-Haj Mohammed al-Najjar Secondary Boys School, the Khan Yunis Teacher Forum organised two field visits to medical centres.
On Tuesday, 27 March 2018, the first field visit was made to the Dar al-Salam Hospital laboratory. During the visit, students learned about the thalassemia screening test, relevant medical devices, and scientific principles. The test should be conducted before marriage to avoid having children born with thalassemia.
The visit allowed an opportunity for students to draw a link between the information they learn at school to their daily lives.
On Wednesday, 28 March 2018, the Khan Yunis Teacher Forum also organised another field visit to the Artificial Kidney Section at the Nasser Medical Complex. In addition to introducing the difference between natural and artificial kidneys, students learned how an artificial kidney technology functioned.
Hamdan al-Agha, Coordinator of the Khan Yunis Teacher Forum, stated that the forum sought to promote partnership with local schools and institutions to implement science projects.
Readings
Via videoconference, teachers of the Khan Yunis Teacher Forum, a teacher initiative supervised by the AMQF, participated in a seminar with Amin Darawsheh, a research from Ramallah. The seminar was jointly organised with the ERDP Library at the AMQF premises on Saturday, 17 March 2018.
The seminar revolved around Lev Vygotsky’s Imagination and Creativity in Childhood. Darawsheh used a reflective reading approach to explore content of the booklet. Participants asserted they were in dire need for these concepts. In their opinion, the school environment in Palestine is inadequate in terms of the range of experiences it offers to children. Creativity needs to be transformed into a day-to-day method and practice.
Imagination and Creativity in Childhood establishes that imagination lays the foundation for all creative activities. Vygotsky raises questions about how creative activity develops, the causes of creative activity, and the psychological mechanism in which imagination is grounded. Vygotsky then discusses how children’s imagination is different from adults’ and investigates the difficulties associated with creativity.
On Thursday, 22 March 2018, the Khan Yunis Teacher Forum also organised a session that involved a focused reading of “A Teacher and a Student in Tracks of Learning”, an article published in the Ru’a Tarbawiyya Quarterly. The session brought together students and teachers of the Al-Ma’arri Secondary Girls School.
Participants discussed and exchanged ideas about the article, elaborating on all the concepts it introduced. Initially, participants learned how to use and transform imagination in the classroom into an art product, such as pictures or creative writings. This way, children’s potential will be unleashed to think and search for alternatives to learning methods. Ultimately, storytelling, art and play techniques will be used in the learning process.
Mohammed Shubeir, the reading session moderator, employed dialogue, brainstorming, and the Six Thinking Hats approach to introduce key concepts and terms in the article. In the second part of the session, an interactive workshop was held to further discuss the article.
Both events are part of a series of seminars on educational publications, including books or articles published in the Ru’a Tarbawiyya Quarterly. These seminars are supervised by the Khan Yunis Teacher Forum.
Commemorating the Land Day
In commemoration of the Land Day, the Ya’bad Teacher Forum screened Be Quiet, a film by Palestinian director Sameh Zoabi. Organised in collaboration with the Tura Village Council’s Library and Library Network, the screening event brought together a number of students and residents of the Tura village, as well as members of the Youth Council and Local Council in the village.
The screening featured opening remarks on the Land Day, unity, and liberation. In the ensuing discussion of the film, a dialogue addressed the concepts of identity, land, homeland, and belonging.