The second stage of the Teachers Exchange Programme (TEP), organised by the Qattan Centre for Educational Research and Development (QCERD), commenced on 28 September. A delegation from the Centre and Palestinian teachers will be visiting Woodrow First School in the UK as part of the second phase of TEP. During this stage, the teachers will carry out the teaching plans they had developed in the first stage of the programme last April, in Palestine.
TEP is part of the 'Comprehensive Development of Kindergartens in Jerusalem' project, implemented by QCERD and the Early Childhood Resource Centre, with funding from the Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development channelled through the Welfare Association.
The second stage of the programme aims to empower Palestinian teachers by offering them meaningful educational experiences, and giving them the opportunity to carry out diverse sessions using the Mantle of the Expert Approach in British Schools, as well as introducing them to the cultural context of British schools in general, and early learning education in particular.
Woodrow First School is one of a number of schools in Britain that apply the Mantle of the Expert, as an approach to integrative education for early childhood development. The approach has had a tangible effect on the curriculum and class environment, as well as the educational and social life inside the school and its surroundings.
The first stage of TEP was implemented last April, where five teachers from Woodrow First School, their head teacher, and Mantle of the Expert specialist, Professor Luke Abbot, visited six Palestinian kindergartens, and worked with Palestinian teachers to apply the approach across various classes and subjects.